The Struggle is Real Pt. 3 Rom. 7:14-25

So far in our series we have scaled some impressive obstacles that inhibit a believer’s growth. We’ve learned not to become preoccupied with the Law and to trade the tutor of the Law for a suitor (Christ). We’ve also learned that the Law isn’t the issue anyway, sin is the bigger problem and anyone who has died in Christ and been raised with Him through repentance and faith is free from sin and death. However, there is one more hurdle to clear, one more struggle to face, if we are to grow in Christ properly through the process we are given to as we await the glory of heaven. This struggle is the most personal and, in many ways, the most frustrating. In fact, in Romans 7:14-25, you can almost hear the frustration in Paul’s voice as he writes these words to the church in Rome. In this passage, we are going to examine three truths concerning the believer’s internal struggle with the flesh and, in so doing, wrap up our series in Romans 7—“The Struggle is Real.”

a. The Problem (We have a sinful flesh)-7:14-20

Having already explained how to clear the hurdles of the law and sin in Romans 7:1-13, Paul provides his explanation of the third and most personal struggle that the believer faces as he/she grows in Christ—the flesh. He begins by saying “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin” (7:14). This suggests that there are two kinds of phenomena in the world and they are at odds with one another.

The first kind of phenomena is that which is “spiritual” and the Law fits into this category—“For we know that the Law is spiritual.” Spirit as it is used here does not mean ghostly and ethereal. Instead, nearly every time Paul endorses this term in his letters he is speaking of something that is both God-given and inspired. The law certainly fits this criteria. On the other hand, human beings fall exceedingly short of these characteristics. After all, people everywhere are related to the fall both by birth and by their own sinful acts. Instead of being inspired, humans require inspiration. These shortcoming are all help the reader understand what Paul means when he says “flesh.” To make matters worse, this flesh sells every natural human into the bondage of sin! Therefore, not only are people in the custody of the law and under its condemnation from birth, so too are they slaves to sin with Satan and the world’s system as their cruel master. This means that the flesh that adorns humanity renders people at odds with that which is of God, making this the most personal struggle that they face as concerns their ability to grow in Christ-likeness.

As with everything else thus far, this struggle is real. Just listen to the tension that this creates in verse 15—“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate” (7:15). Evidence that people struggle with their flesh is highlighted in the confusion that Paul identifies here—“I do not understand what I am doing.” On the one hand, bondage of the flesh to sin means that people are unable to carry out the good that they want to do. On the other hand, this bondage is also witnessed in the inability people have to keep from doing the evil that they hate.

Paul continues by saying “but if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good” (7:16). Paul’s comment here reveals that he doesn’t just want to do good, he agrees with what the Law says about what is good and evil. In other words, the problem that Paul identifies does not stem from not wanting to do right, nor does it involve ignorance concerning what is right. The desire is there, the knowledge is there.

The problem is sin—“So now, no longer am I the one doing is, but sin which dwells in me” (7:17). “”the apostle lays the blame,….squarely upon sin” (Kruse, 307). Here, Paul is not denying human responsibility for sinful actions, but recognizing “sin” as a power operating within humanity” on a deep level. Sin doesn’t just affect our knowledge (keeping us from knowing the Law, for instance). Sin’s infection is also not limited to one’s desires. After all, Paul believes that, at least for whoever the “I” is in this context, the desire is there and the knowledge of the law is correct. In addition to knowledge and desire, sin has invaded the flesh people are made of—making their problem with sin all the more acute.

Just listen to Paul’s evaluation of sin and its effect on the flesh—“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (7:18). People may desire to do what is good, but because of the sin nature, they are unable to carry it out. This does not mean that people are as evil as they could be, (after all, a TOTALLY evil person would not desire what is good). But this does mean that the capacity to do good is lacking because of this albatross around the neck called sin.

In summary of this first truth Paul reiterates what he has already made plain in verses 19-20—“…For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me…”. In arguing that people are unable to carry out the good they wants to do because of the power of indwelling sin, Paul here identifies which of the two hurdles already described before is really at fault—indwelling sin. The whole of chapter 7 up to this point might read as follows: though a misapplication of the Law is detrimental to one’s growth in Christ, the real struggle people have is with sin and this is made all the more difficult because sin has infected human flesh.

b. The Explanation (There is an Internal Struggle)-7:21-23

As Paul continues his exposition on this third inhibition that keeps people from growing in Christ he draws further attention to the internal struggle inherent within every redeemed person. In fact, that there is an internal struggle is the second truth Paul divulges in this passage. This struggle can be framed by means of two different but related dichotomies. The first is the dichotomy between good and evil. He says “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good” (7:21).

Though it is easy to recognize the battle between good and evil in the world, it is important to acknowledge that this war is also being fought on a far more personal level. In many ways, the believer is a microcosm of what is realized in a more general way around us and what will one day be cured at the end of time globally. Evil has a foothold in the flesh of every person, even though, once redeemed, such a person desires to please the Lord by doing good.

However, there is a second way this struggle can be framed. It is introduced to us in verses 22-23. There, Paul compares what he calls the inner and the outer man. Concerning the inner man Paul says “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,” (7:22). To what/whom is this referring? Perhaps Paul can help us answer this elsewhere.

2 Corinthians 4:16-“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

Ephesians 3:16- “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,”

It would appear that in these passages the inner man refers to the non-physical part of a person—i.e. the soul that is not limited to the body. Though related to and in communication with the body, the soul does not suffer the degeneration that the flesh endures and is, not hard-wired (as is the brain and other faculties) to one’s physical/genetic makeup. It is this part of humanity that distinguishes people in God’s creative order and gives them the ability to relate meaningfully to God. In this “inner man” those who are redeemed joyfully concur with the law of God” and seek to uphold it.

However, this inner man is at war with what might be referred to as the outer man—“But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members,…” (7:23). The outer man battles the inner man and its desire to obey the Law. Nowhere is this basic conflict more clearly explained than in Galatians 5:17-18.

Galatians 5:17-18-“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

Martin Luther seemed to hold a position similar to what Paul describes here—that is the simultaneous righteousness and sinfulness of man. For him, the redeemed are essentially righteous (made righteous by divine declaration/justification) and yet existentially sinful (in the flesh). This means that good and evil, the inner and outer man, and the law of the mind and the law of sin are held in great tension throughout the lifespan of all people, rendering growth in Christ a struggle. “So what I am by nature is in constant conflict with what I aspire to be as a child of God in whom the Spirit of God dwells” (Mounce, 170). Karl Barth said that the one who denies this struggle is the “supreme betrayer of religion” and “the bomb, which he has so carefully decked out with flowers, will sooner or later explode” (Epistle to the Romans, 1933, 268).

c. The Solution (Jesus Christ our Lord!)-7:24-25

Thankfully, Paul identifies the solution to this struggle. However, he articulate this only after he provides his own assessment of his condition in the first part of verse 24—“Wretched man that I am!” Unlike so many in the culture today, Paul had a very low opinion of what mankind was capable of in his flesh, even those who are redeemed. For him, “wretched” is the most appropriate descriptive word for the physical self and its corresponding limitations.

To further tee up his presentation of the solution, Paul asks a question, “Who will set me free from the body of this death?” After all, if natural flesh is sinful and the wages of sin is death, then the individuals flesh hangs around her like a corpse in need of total resurrection, not just rehabilitation. If sin is weakness, it can be worked out; if it is death, it must be completely overwhelmed by some supernatural outside force.

Praise be to God that there is a supernatural force so overwhelming that even sinful flesh is no match—“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” In order to circumvent one’s struggle with the law, one must die to it and remarry a better suitor—Jesus (7:1-13). To scale the problem of sin, one must understand that death in Christ has freed one from the power of sin and death. As with the struggle with the law and the struggle with sin, so too is Jesus Christ the salvation one needs for the struggle of the flesh. “Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God has provided the power to live in the freedom of the Spirit” (Mounce, 171).

Romans 8:2-“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

In Christ, believers find the Holy Spirit who is able to, if submitted to, manage and run one’s life, even one’s flesh.

Romans 6:13-“Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”

This is why Paul encourages the church in Thessalonica later, “do not quench the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). Instead, one must gladly hand over all of himself/herself over to His reign.

In a summary note, Paul concludes the following—“so then, one the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin” (7:25b). To be sure, left unto himself and his own strength, Paul (and any other believer) would continue to live in fierce tension. However, praise be to God that believers are not left unto themselves, but are in Christ and possess His spirit, giving them the power and opportunity to live lives that endorse greater and greater periods of spiritual living free of this tension as they grow in Christ.

So What?

Throughout this series we have confronted the many struggles that stand in the believer’s way as they “work out their salvation with fear and trembling” in the process of sanctification—(becoming more like Christ). As each of these hurdles come into view, the saving grace that Paul continues to reiterate time and time again is Jesus Christ. It really is that simple. The same Jesus Christ that saved you at the moment of repentance and faith (see Romans 1-6) is the same Jesus that will be saving you every day of your life from that moment on. Ultimately, we cannot relieve ourselves from any of these struggles—only Jesus can—“for it God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Therefore, the answer to your struggles today is not how can I be strengthened so as to muscle my way through this or that. The answer is how can I get out of the way and let Jesus be savior of my life in this moment, that moment, this situation, that issue, etc. Then and only then will we find relief from the struggle and grow in the likeness of our Savior.