Wretched Man
that I am! 

Romans 7 takes us down an unexpected path.  We need to recall that the book of Romans is carefully planned by Paul to deliver a highly valuable body of information, inspired by God to provide great doctrinal truth.  Paul has first given us a careful examination of the problem of sin in the human race (Rom. 1-3, “…there is none righteous”), and a review of the great work of Justification accomplished by God for our Redemption (Rom. 4-5, “…it was accounted to him for righteousness”).   We have now come to Rom. 6-8 which are at the center of the book logically as well as physically.  We have looked at chapter 6 which gives us the glorious picture of our “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3), and we will soon be in chapter 8 to see how God provides for us to be victorious in our Christian life by His Holy Spirit.

But first, Romans 7, and … oh my!  What a curve in the road as Paul expresses to us “how bad it can get” when we struggle with our old sin nature and fail to be an instrument of righteousness (Rom. 6:13).  Paul explains what it means to be free from the Law and how that relates to our breaking free from sin’s tyranny in our personal life.  He is aware that he needs to be very thorough at guiding the Christian into and through the Christian life.  Each of us is a “sinner saved by grace”, and the sinful nature that is inherent in each of us does not go away until we are in heaven in our glorified body.  While we are a new creation in Christ (Rom. 6:4), we still have to deal with our human sinful nature (the “old man”), our unredeemed humanness which still holds on to our sinful flesh and wants us to pursue its corrupted desires (Gal. 5:17 says that “the flesh lusts against the Spirit… so that you do not do the things that you wish”) .  The struggle with sin does not end until we are with Christ in heaven and have our  glorified bodies (1 John 3:2).  So then, how do we proceed to be an instrument of righteousness?

Let’s review some of Paul’s points from Rom. 6…

• we’re baptized into Christ, spiritually we have died and risen from the dead with Him, so we walk in a “new life” (Rom. 6:3-4)
• we’re no longer a slave to sin, we’re unshackled, our old man was crucified so that we no longer obey its sinful humanness (Rom. 6:6)
• we’re to choose to make it true that we’re dead to sin so that we don’t let sin reign in us (6:11)
• we’re to be an instrument of God’s righteousness (6:13)
• we’re told that we should end our attachment to the world and its ungodliness.   We are to “know” (6:9) we are in the living Christ, we are to “reckon” (6:11) that we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we are to “yield” (6:13) ourselves to God as an instrument of righteousness.

Read Eph. 2:1-10 for another view of this major change in our life.  We used to follow after Satan’s deceptive messaging.  Note v.4, “But God…”, He reached into our life and redeemed us and we are eternally one with Jesus Christ.  We truly have a lofty perspective from which we are challenged to faithfully live the Redemption God has blessed us with.   That is why God has given us the book of Romans (and the whole Bible!) and especially Rom. 6-8.  Romans 7 is difficult for many Christians to read.  It seems to come across as showing the Christian as failing in the battle against sin.  Rom. 7:8, “…sin…produced in me coveting of every kind” (the Law told me I couldn’t have it so I desperately wanted it!).  “Sin came alive and I died.” (v.9)  “…sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me” (v.11).   Note the first person perspective Paul chooses to use – he seems to be expressing his own real experience and that makes it very appealing to us to pay attention and get the point.  Romans 7 falls into three sections to take us from being unshackled to the Law to joyful agreement with it, as follows.

Once again, the substance of Romans 7 gives us a lot to look into, so it may be helpful for you to spread the study into two sessions.  Rest assured, your study effort in Romans will reward you for the rest of your life, so take your time and get it right! 

Romans 7:1-6, Freed from the Law

Paul begins this chapter with an awareness that he needs to clarify our relationship to the Law and our old sin nature.  He starts with a life-related legal example involving marriage (note that this passage is not understood to be teaching any principle related to marriage itself).  Paul’s first statement is – the Law has dominion over us all of our life.  Essentially Paul is referring to God’s Law as expressed by Moses (the Torah law), but this first example actually uses the secular law as the context.  When a woman is married, she is bound to her husband as long as he lives.  But if he dies, she is freed of her obligation to the man.

In Rom. 7:4, Paul applies this to the Christian and his relationship to the Law – we have died (in Christ) to the Law.  Important: God’s Law, revealed to Moses and in effect through all of the Old Testament history, was not set aside, it is still active.  It will continue to “arouse” (Rom. 7:5, make aware of and entice).  Our human nature (the “flesh”) is still sinful, and all mankind is ruled by “sinful passions”.  Note for further understanding that Paul describes this “flesh” or unredeemed humanness further in Eph. 2:1-3.   Then, according to Rom. 7:6, the redeemed Christian is unchained, liberated from the influence of this sinful human nature.  We have the ability to live in spiritual godliness, not according to depraved humanity.  Rom. 7:6 is Paul’s summary of these six verses.  We died in Christ and that included dying to the Law and sin.  In Gal. 6:2, Paul tells us we have the new “law of Christ” in our hearts.  The Law can no longer condemn the believer.  We are no longer driven by the Law and sin, but instead, we are driven by the  Holy Spirit.  (Note that Paul proceeds to elaborate our power in the Holy Spirit in Rom. 8.)  The “newness” in Paul’s mind is our being in Christ with resurrected spiritual life.  The fact that we can still be influenced by Law and sin becomes the issue as we proceed further.

Bible Study Journal

• How would you think the Law “arouses” sin in us?
  • • In Rom. 7:4, what purpose are we given since we’re free from the Law?

7:7-12, The Law is righteous and holy

So then, is God’s Law sin?  No, God’s Law is a reflection of His holy character.  Yet by following it, we do know that our sinful heart can be aroused to disobedience.  Tell us we can’t have it and it becomes the only thing we want!  Paul uses the tenth commandment not to covet as the example for which we are all guilty – this is the most convicting commandment because it deals with wrong desires and impacts us all.  But the real fact is that the Law reveals sin, it shines the light on it, and convicts, demonstrates our guilt.  As expressed in verse 11, the Law comes up behind us and catches us in the act of sin, thus demonstrating the power of the “old man”, my sinful nature.  As Paul expresses the perspective of the unsaved man, he is dead (verse 8) because of sin.  Before he (the sinner) was exposed to the Law, he wasn’t dead, there was no guilt.

From Rom. 7:9-11, note that this is the condition that we must find any person in with whom we are sharing the Gospel message.  They must hear and agree with the authority of God and His Word, the unavoidable reality of sin generally and especially personally.  The person must come to the place where he is, without Christ, dead in his sins.

In Rom. 7:12, Paul is inspired at the end of this passage to declare the true character of God’s Law.  It is holy, righteous and good – what excellent praise for God’s Word.  However it is worth noting that the Bible is very clear about God’s judgment on sin.  Tom Constable states it this way:  “It comes from a holy God and searches out sin. It is righteous because it lays just requirements on people and because it forbids and condemns sin. It is good because its purpose is to produce blessing and life.”

Bible Study Journal

• • • In Rom. 7:5, how do these “sinful passions” occur?  Look in Romans 6 to see verses that apply.
    • From Rom. 7:7, what does Paul  ask about the Law being bad and what’s his answer?  How do we proceed to see the law’s value?
    • In Rom. 7:8, what causes the problem – the Law, or sin?  Compare James 1:13-15.

7:13-25, The redeemed person’s struggle with sin

Paul continues to express our problem with sin by describing his own personal struggle in order to help the reader understand God’s desired path for spiritual living.  Paul’s testimony is expressed in the present tense so that we can understand this is an example of not living a successful Christian life.  Paul is sharing honestly about the struggle with the old man, his real life struggle to overcome temptation to sin.  The general understanding in this passage is that our old sinful nature, our “old man”,  is still active in the Christian’s life.  We are actually still “carnal” (v.14), tied to our flesh, until we go to heaven, and the old man can pull hard on our redeemed heart (vv15-17).  The amazing thing is that we can see ourselves choosing to oppose the good of God’s law (v.15).  So, the issue is:  to what extent are we going to allow ourselves to be influenced by that carnality?

The comedy line still rises up:  does “the devil make me do it”?  Not hardly, as v.17 declares, it is the sin that dwells in my old man.  Consider Gal. 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” – the godly Christian still has the carnal old man living in him, but He “chooses Christ”.  It comes down to the choice of who you listen to – the law of sin, or the law of your mind and heart which knows to do righteousness.

Rom. 7:24 is a dramatic close to this passage as Paul pictures the agonizing tension of not being able to rid ourselves of sin.  He calls on God’s forgiving grace as He has given to us salvation through Jesus Christ.  Thankfully, according to v.25, God prevails in our lives through Christ.  We may be flawed because of sin, but we are victorious in Christ.   So we now go to Romans 8, where we learn about the Holy Spirit’s ministry to guide and empower our victory in Christian living.   Romans 8:27, “…in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

Bible Study Journal

• • • What is the bad news in Rom. 7:21?
    • What is the good news in Rom. 7:22?
    • What is the resolution in Rom. 7:25?

As you read through these Bible studies, you will notice many Bible references that provide additional verses related to what is being said in the study.  Please be sure to take time to read these verses and think through how they relate to the current study.  Then make some notes in your Study Journal of what you have learned!