Question: Would you please explain in brief detail Romans, Chapter 7, beginning in verse 14.

Romans 7:14. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22.For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23. but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25.Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Thanks and God bless.

Dennis

 

Answer: Dear Dennis,

I will try, given the limitations of my time as well as the fact I do not know what your specific question is. Assuming a general overview:

  1. The book of Romans is an argument that proceeds from chapter to chapter, being constructed brick by brick. It is very much like a legal argument, in which Paul answers objections to the gospel, builds upon conclusions he makes having answered objections and having proven his point. Therefore, in order to fully understand Romans 7, we really need to begin at the beginning. This would be the best way for you to understand Romans 7.
  2. The main subject of this passage is the inward struggle with sin that we all have – Paul is sharing his own example in the hopes of helping us see our own, in short, this passage clarifies and recalls the points Paul has already made – the experience of any Christian struggling against our sinful human nature, trying to keep the law on our own.

Paul has consistently stressed that no one – not the pagan, not the Jew, not the Christian deserves to be saved, we have all sinned and we all deserve the death penalty. But the gift of God (not something we earn, but something we are given by his grace) is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. The pagan doesn’t know the law, and therefore is not keeping it – the Jew and the Christian fail in that they know the law but fail in trying to keep it.

Therefore, all of us are "reduced" to having to trust in the finished work of Christ for our salvation. Having been saved, Paul also clearly makes the point here in Romans 7 that our position in Christ does not mean that we are immune from sins’ temptations or Satan’s fiery "darts." We can overcome sin only in and through Jesus Christ, and never on our own. We can never stand up to sin and Satan on our own, for we are not good enough, strong enough, etc. to do so. Paul makes this point decisively in verses 24 and 25.

Hope this general overview helps.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht