[𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘖𝘋 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴”, 𝘣𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘦.]

At the beginning of chapter 7, Paul reiterated what he has been claiming all along – that we are free from the obligation to the Law and its penalties.  

He offered this analogy:  a man and wife are bound by their marriage covenant only as long as both of them are living.  If a man or woman dies, their widowed spouse is no longer obligated to their wedding vows and is therefore free to enter a new marriage. 

We died with CHRIST, therefore we have been released from the Law and are free to enter a new covenant established by the blood of CHRIST.  “Now we can serve GOD, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit” (7:6).

In our Emmaus study, William MacDonald commented on an important clarification from Paul’s statements (p72):

“Notice that Paul does not say that the Law itself is dead.  GOD’s holy standards have an ongoing and valid ministry in producing conviction of sin.  Believers are no longer joined to the Law; they are now joined to the risen CHRIST.  One union has been broken by death, and a new one has been formed.  Now free from the law, they can bring forth fruit for GOD.”

The Law that was given to Moses, intended as guidelines for the fledgling nation of Israel, remains the most detailed revelation in Scripture of the holy standards and desires of GOD’s heart for His people.  

Praise GOD, through JESUS we are no longer obligated to follow the Law as a means of obtaining right standing before GOD (which we were never capable of doing).  But that does not mean we no longer hunger to know GOD’s heart or desire to follow His commands.  

In fact, the opposite is true!  Those touched by redeeming grace, drawn by love into a restored relationship with the Father, and given the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, have also been granted new hearts and natures that delight in bringing joy to the Father’s heart, rather than sorrow or grief.

We want to know Him.  We want to do what pleases Him.  We want to be used by GOD as He works to accomplish His will and fulfill His purposes.  The commandments and guidelines given to GOD’s people are still a fantastic way to learn how to do so.  We simply choose to do so willingly, as our hearts respond in gratitude, loyalty, and a desire to grow nearer still nearer in relationship with Him.

William MacDonald stated it this way (p72):

“In His death, CHRIST fulfilled all the claims of the Law by paying its awful penalty.  Therefore, the Christian is free from the Law and from its inevitable curse.  There can be no double jeopardy.  We are now set free to serve in newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. 

Our service is motivated by love, not fear; it is a service of freedom, not bondage.  It is no longer a question of slavishly adhering to minute details of forms and ceremonies but of the joyful outpouring of ourselves for the glory of GOD and the blessing of others.”

.   .   .

Although Paul believed these truths to be indisputable, he used the rest of chapter 7 to speak honestly about the perplexing reality we all face: though redeemed by grace, welcomed into right standing before GOD, and indwelt with the Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom and power to choose what honors the heart of the Father, we still fail.  We are still sinners.  We still have a sin nature within us that battles for control.

Paul became very open and vulnerable about his personal struggle to choose GOD’s commands, for two reasons:

• The Law raised his awareness of sin, stirring in him the powerful desire to do what had been forbidden.  “At one time I lived without understanding the law.  But when I learned the command… the power of sin came to life, and I died.  I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.” (7:9-10)
• Even when he wanted to do what is right, the sin within him was powerful enough to tempt him to do what is wrong and he felt helpless to overcome it.  “Sin used what was good [the Law] to bring about condemnation to death.” (7:13) … “The sin living in me does wrong.” (7:17) … “When I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love GOD’s law with all my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind, making me a slave to sin that is till within me.” (7:21-23).

I found Mr. MacDonald’s comments in this section helpful (p 75):

“In describing the struggle between the two natures, Paul finds himself indulging in things he doesn’t want to do and practicing things he hates (7:15).  And in thus committing acts which his better judgment condemns, he is taking sides with the Law against himself, because the Law condemns them too (7:16). So he gives inward assent that the Law is right.  This leads him to conclude that the culprit is not the new man in CHRIST, but the sinful, corrupt nature that dwells in him (7:17).  

But we must be careful here; we must not excuse our sinning by passing it off to indwelling sin.  We are responsible for what we do; all Paul is doing here is tracking down the source of his sinful behavior, not excusing it.

There can be no progress in holiness until we learn what Paul learned himself – that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing (7:18).  To confirm the hopelessness of the flesh, the apostle mourns that although he has the desire to do what is right, he doesn’t have the resources in himself to translate his desire into action.  The trouble, of course, is that he is casting his anchor inside the boat.”

Paul nearly despaired at the acknowledgement of his own helplessness:

“What a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life dominated by sin and death?  Thank GOD!  The answer is in JESUS CHRIST our LORD.” (7:24-25)

Praise GOD we have a Savior who not only stood in the gap for us at the cross but continues to step in to do for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves.  Our only answer will always be in CHRIST alone!  

He promised to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  He promised to send His Spirit to guide, teach, correct, and comfort us (John 14:26).  We can cry out for His help, His wisdom, and thank Him for His tireless work in transforming us into the image of His Son (James 1:5, Romans 8:29).

Our failings will never alter our standing in CHRIST.  As a friend from church reminded us recently, “our faith is not in our faith (or in our ability to live lives that please GOD), our faith is in the eternally immovable, once-for-all FINISHED work of CHRIST to secure our redemption!” 

We may be a work in progress for the remainder of our days, but we can walk in confidence, trusting the LORD to complete the work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6).

As we concluded our study of Romans 7, I really appreciated these thoughts from The Gospel Coalition:

“Romans 7 shows us who we were and who we now are.  Is a Christian a saint or a sinner?  Does he or she have a new nature or a sin nature?  The answer is yes – in that order.  We must hold these two realities in tension.  We are both saints and sinners.  

We are redeemed sinners.  This is an important doctrine because it reflects the Biblical reality Paul sets forth in Romans 7, and also because it gives us both humility and confidence.  

If I believe I am only a sinner but not a saint, I will remain prone to self-pity and despair, and joy will be elusive.  If I believe I am only a saint but not a sinner, I am neck-deep in pride, cloaking myself in the rags of self-justification.  

And yet, while both of these realities are true, we must see that the Bible teaches that what now fundamentally defines me is the new life I have been given in CHRIST.  While I remain fallen as long as I live, my fundamental identity is as a redeemed, new-hearted child of GOD.”

.   .   .

We look forward to digging into Romans 8 next week to learn more! Paul did not stay in a place of despair.  As his letter continued, he explained in greater detail how believers are enabled to live a life worthy of the grace we have received!

I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which GOD has called me heavenward in CHRIST JESUS.  (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)

RESOURCES:

“The Letter to the ROMANS,” by William MacDonald, Emmaus Worldwide, 2020, Revised 2023.

The Bible Project, video summary of the book of Romans, Parts 1 & 2.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/romans-1-4/

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/romans-5-16/

“Knowing the Bible: Romans”, by Jared C. Wilson, The Gospel Coalition,  thegospelcoalition.org .