A couple of weeks ago we began a mini-series entitled “The
Struggle is Real.” This is a fitting title for our journey through Romans 7 as
Paul guides the reader through overcoming those struggles that keep them from
growing in Christ through the process known as sanctification. As we continue
our journey, it will become exceedingly clear that, as with many existential
issues we face in life, our struggle is not as simple as it initially appears
or isolated to one problem. Instead, the issues that stand in our way are often
multifaceted and complex. Like a set of hurdles on an athletic track, once one
hurdle is scaled, another is approached.
Examples of the greater complexities of life’s issues
abound. Being given to drink might betray a pattern of health that might reveal
a problem with self-control that might stem from a chemical, genetic,
environmental, or psychological problem. Accidently overdrafting your bank
account might reveal a problem in one’s budget or an insatiable desire for more
that could be fueled in part by misplaced priorities and/or endorsing the materialism
of our culture. These and other issues demonstrate that when it comes to life’s
struggles, there is more than initially meets the eye.
The same is true with what stands in the believer’s way and
in Romans 7:7-13, we are going to investigate THREE COMPONENTS of Paul’s
teaching on the struggle of sin (and, by the way, the struggle is real).
a. The Clarification
(Sin is the main problem)-7:7
Last time we left Romans, Paul was describing how believers
were supposed to circumvent their struggle with the law. Though all are born
married to the Law and many religiously-minded people are still wedded to its
regulations, the Bible teaches that the Law was intended to be a tutor, not a
bride. Therefore, as in any marriage that can only be broken by death, Paul said
that we have to die to the Law and marry Christ in order to break free from its
supervening condemnation. This is accomplished through Jesus’ sacrifice and
resurrection and results in the believer being free to grow in Christ.
However, many reading these words may have been tempted to
jump to an unfortunate conclusion concerning the law. If we are not to be
wedded to the law and an unhealthy preoccupation with its stipulations proves
detrimental to one’s growth, isn’t the law bad? This is the gist of what verse 7
asks—“What shall we say then? Is the Law sin?”
Another way of asking this might be “Is this our only
problem?” or “Now that we’ve learned how to overcome the struggle of the law,
are we good?” “Is the Law the ultimate issue?” Remember, this entire chapter
deals with the struggle of sanctification and overcoming barriers that inhibit
one’s growth in Christ. This inquirer wants to know if the law is all that
stands against the believer.
The answer is a resounding “No!”—“May it never be!” (7:7).
Again, as before (see 6:2), Paul is emphatic in his response so as to quickly
and effectively divert his audience to the truth. “Absolutely not! Under no
circumstances is the law sin!” he says. After all, how could the law be sin if
God ordained it and asked for it to be imparted to future generations?
Deuteronomy 6:6-7-“These commandments that I give you
today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them
when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and
when you get up.”
If the law was sinful, why would Jesus Himself insist that
he didn’t come to get rid of it, but fulfill it?
Matthew 5:17-“Do not think that I came to abolish the
Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say
to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke
shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished”
Paul continues by saying, “On the contrary, I would not have
come to know sin except through the law” (7:7c). The Hebrew understanding of
“know” that is alluded to here implies “experience.” The law might not be a
suitable bride, but it is an effective tutor, guiding individuals to a real
knowledge and experience of one’s sin.
Galatians 3:22-24-“But the Scripture has shut
up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might
be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody
under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be
revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to
Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
Though this may not be the most positive faculty, it is a
necessary one, for, if anyone is to grow in Christ, they must first come to
know that they have a problem of not measuring up to the Lord’s standards in
and of themselves. This knowledge come by means of the law. After all, as Paul
acknowledges “I would not have come to know sin, except through the law.”
b. The Revelation
(Sin is an active agent of death)-7:7d-11
Next, Paul provides a specific example of how this works and
reveals that sin, not the law, is an active agent behind one’s struggle and, of
course, the struggle is real. He says “for I would not have known about
coveting if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’….” (7:7d). Choosing
carefully from the Decalogue (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21), Paul leans on one of the
more popular and yet less obvious sins. Many in Paul’s audience, especially the
Jews, understood illicit desire as the root of all evil. Therefore, Paul
suggests that he wouldn’t not understand what gives himself over to wicked
desires and evil of all kinds without the particular revelation given in the
law.
However, the law is not to blame nor is it, by itself at
fault—“but sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me
coveting of every kind” (7:8a). Knowledge of the problem, in other words, draws
attention to the problem and leads to ruminations on the problem, preoccupation
with the problem, and, unfortunately, endorsing the symptoms of the problem.
Like the popular scenario of a child doing the exact thing he/she is told not
to do, by knowing what is prohibited in the law, people everywhere are given to
transgress those lines.
Unfortunately, this is realized in many ways today. Not only
have people decided to transgress the written law of God by pursuing
extra-marital affairs, lying, cheating, stealing, and murder, but now people
are taking the added steps of transgressing the natural law of God—gender,
sexuality, life, etc. Sin is awakened by these things and longs to push the
envelope further than it is intended to go.
Ultimately, Paul’s lecture on the struggle of sin can be
distilled down to four principles that are outlined in verses 8b-11. First, “the
Law gives life to sin”—“for apart from the Law sin is dead” (7:8b). If nothing
was prohibited, everything would be permissible, thereby giving no one a chance
to break a command. If there was no distinct line drawn between holiness and
wickedness, there would be no ability to transgress. The standards, lines, and
commands given in the law, in other words, create an opportunity for sin to
rear its ugly face and disrupt our lives.
The second principle is that “knowledge of the law kills the
sinner.” Paul writes “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the
commandment came, sin became alive and I died” (7:9). Paul is not arguing that
before he knew the law he was innocent (certainly he was not). Instead, Paul
was saying that he was ignorant before he came to understand God’s standards
and, there is a blissfulness associated with ignorance of the things of God.
That said, knowledge of the law does activate sin (see 7:8) and then bring
about guilt as standards aren’t kept and rules are broken.
One commentator has said “It is likely that Paul saw Israel’s
encounter with the law as a recapitulation of Adam’s encounter with the
commandment in the Garden. It may be said that Adam was ‘alive’ before the
commandment was given and then, when the commandment came, the serpent took the
opportunity it provided to provoke him to sin, which in turn brought about the
entry of death. In similar fashion, Israel was ‘alive’ prior to the giving of
the law, but once the law came in, sin ‘sprang to life’, provoking her to
transgress the law…” (Kruse, 302). The same is true of us, the law given in God’s
Word and (as Paul argued earlier) is written upon the hearts of men, indicts
sinners everywhere after sin is activated and has its way with those who give
in to it.
The third principle that Paul offers is that “the Law has
the opposite affect many believed it has.” This was especially true of the Jews
in Paul’s day. Many in Paul’s audience believed that following the law promised
life and probably based this on what it saying in places like Leviticus 18:5—“the
person who does these things will live by them.” However, although the law does
hold out the promise of life, as Paul has already made very plain, NO ONE CAN ACCESS
THIS inasmuch as ALL HAVE SINNED. Because of this, the law, which was
originally given so that people might relate properly to a holy God and live
accordingly, brings death, not life. This renders any preoccupation with the
law misinformed and ultimately unproductive—for a sinner (and all are sinners)
the law brings death, not life as originally intended.
The final principle that Paul enumerates in this small
section of this passage is “Sin uses the law for deadly purposes”—“for sin,
taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it
killed me,…” (7:11). Again, it is helpful to illustrate these points by means
of the first sin of man. “Of the first couple it is singularly true that they
were once ‘alive apart from the law’ but that ‘when the commandment came, sin
sprang to life’ and they died. For them especially the words, ‘sin, seizing the
opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the
commandment put me to death’ are true. After all, the serpent, seizing upon God’s
one rule intended to make life great, misrepresented this rule and then used
the rule to get Eve and then Adam to break the rule, leading to their ultimate
death and demise. This vicious pattern is repeated whenever and wherever sin is
activated and laws are present.
c. The Summary (The
Law and Sin do not get Along)-7:12-13
The last component to Paul’s teaching on the struggle of sin
is his summary. Ultimately this summary might be abridged as follows: “The law
and sin do not get along.” He begins this summary in verse 12 when he says “So
then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
Reiterating what he said before (in verse 7), Paul wants everyone to remember
that the law, left unto itself is of God and as such perfect. The law, although
a hurdle in and of itself and a struggle that needs to be circumvented (see
7:1-6), is not the greater struggle—sin is.
In fact, it is sin that has made the law such a struggle and
impossible to uphold. As Paul concludes this passage he says “Therefore did
that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it
was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death
through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become
utterly sinful.”
So What?
The components of the believer’s struggle with sin that Paul
has identified reveal that sin is a nasty customer. So pervasive and acute are
the effects of sin that it is capable of taking what God intended for righteous
living (the law) and turning it into an agent of condemnation and death.
Certainly, a preoccupation with the law is a struggle inasmuch as the law
cannot save; it only points to the Savior. However, there is an even greater
struggle—the struggle of sin that must be dealt with.
Thankfully, there is salvation from this struggle and it is eerily
similar to the salvation one can enjoy from a misappropriation with the law.
His name is Jesus.
Romans 6:5-11 states “Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also
be raised to life as he was. We know that our
old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power
in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we
died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we
died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of
this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again.
Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power
of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So
you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to
God through Christ Jesus.”
Certainly the
struggle with sin is real. However, so too is the salvation that Jesus provides
from the power of sin and death! Do you know this salvation today?
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