Who Is the Man of Romans 7?

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the November 25, 2017 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”  Romans 7:21-24, NIV

In chapter seven, Paul equates our relationship to the Law to that of marriage. (vs 1-3) Just as a husband and wife are bound in marriage until one of them dies, so we are bound to the Law until death. Some might say this means that we are under the Law until the day of our physical death. However, contextually this does not make sense for Paul goes on to say that it is the Law that slays us. (vs 10-11) Paul also seems to be building on the thought developed in chapter six that we share in Christ’s death through baptism. (vs 6:4) Therefore our death to the Law seems to occur at the moment of our baptism. This sentiment is echoed in this chapter as well. (vs 4)

Perhaps like a marriage, once we have been slain through the Law we are free to form a new relationship, a relationship with Christ. While married to the Law, sinful passions were aroused in us by that Law. (vs 5) But once severed from the Law by the death brought by that same Law, we find a new life, a new marriage, in Christ evidenced by the fruit we bear. (vs 6) We are then no longer serving under the code of the Law but according to the nature of Christ. Does this mean that the Law is evil? No, for it has a place in bringing us to Christ. As we continue with this chapter and the next, Paul tries to bring greater clarity to this issue.

To be sure, there are other interpretations of Paul’s exegesis on the Law In this chapter. However this may be based on a temptation to read into the text what is not there. This principle is called "eisegesis." We often do this when we feel the need to interpret a text so that it does not negate an assumption we have about God or Christianity. However, a common principle of textual criticism is that the simplest reading of the text tends to be the most accurate.

An example of this can be found in verse four, where we are told that we have died to the Law so that we might belong to another (Christ). Those who wish to preserve the authority of the Law and legalistic obedience to that Law might say that the text is referring to the condemnation under the Law and not the Law itself. Perhaps they feel that support for that viewpoint can be found in Romans 8:1. But this parsing is strained, for if one dies to the Law, then of course any condemnation ends as well. The simplest reading of the text would appear to be that one dies to the Law, not just to the condemnation. Paul then goes on to explain the consequences of that death, which include a release from condemnation, which would be a natural result of dying to the Law.

Continuing with this verse, we are told that we are no longer bound by the Law but now serve something "new." By definition, something new is not the same thing; therefore something new cannot be the same Law which bound us. The text itself reveals to us that what is new is the Spirit. The written code of the Law is called "the old way." Perhaps this is why Christians were called Pneumatikoi (those of the Spirit) in Greek, because in the early church, they understood this principle better than we do today.

Some may find it terrifying to abandon the concrete tablets of the Law for the freedom of a Spirit-filled life. They may fear that if the movings of the Spirit are not controlled by two stone tablets all will go awry. In this they may not understand that the Holy Spirit is God and will never lead those who are His contrary to the will of God.

God is much greater than our understanding, ineffable, and cannot be contained within our thoughts or placed under the control of our understanding. Much less can He be contained in a couple of pieces of stone with writing on them. That reduces Him to the level of being controlled by magical words or enchantments. As long as we allow ourselves to worship such things, we may never be fully surrendered to whatever God wills. We simply will be choosing to not allow Him to work outside of our understanding.

Paul moves on to tell us how death to the Law occurs. (vs 7-13) Some would have us believe that this death is because Paul is somehow vilifying the Law. This is not the case, but exactly the opposite. (v 12) The Law has a holy purpose, for by bringing about our death, it makes possible a new relationship with a Bridegroom Who is already prepared and waiting. Christ is that Bridegroom.  (Mark 2:18-19)

However, spiritually as well as physically, we fear death, and we cling to the Law in an effort to avoid the death we all must pass through. The more we hold on to that Law, the more it slays us until finally we realize we can hold on no longer, and we die to that Law that we so desperately clung to. Only then, when we have lost all hope for life through obedience to a Law that cannot give us life, are we able and willing to enter into marriage to that new Bridegroom, the Lamb of God, the One altogether lovely. In this, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled, for everything, even the Law, has its fulfillment in Jesus.

In verse thirteen, we discover a subtle nuance that helps to explain Paul's thesis a little more clearly. While he has been talking about our death to the Law, he now makes clear that death and the Law are not equivalent. The Law is not death, it is holy (v 12), but it produces death, and the agency of that death is sin, which is disobedience to the Law.

For some, this appears to solve the problem. They must simply be obedient to avoid the death that comes from the Law. However, Paul has already explained that this is impossible in Romans 3:10, 23 & 6:23. Does this leave us with an unsolvable conundrum? Hardly, for Paul has no desire to leave us in the lurch. Instead he is setting us up to provide the solution we need as we shall see as we move on in Romans.

Paul next brings us to a deeper understanding of how the Law slays us. (vs 14-25) While we acknowledge the holiness of the Law, we should also acknowledge our inability to observe it. (Romans 3:10, 23) Even Paul, the great Apostle, admits he has not found the formula for obedience. (v 18)

Some have tried to resolve this tension between the Law and our obedience to it by claiming that this discovery represents Paul before his conversion, but three factors weigh against this. First, this was written well after his "Damascus Road" experience which would have been his moment of conversion. Soon after, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, which is also evidence of his conversion. (Acts 9:17, cf. Acts 2:38) Second, if it were possible at any time to live in obedience to the Law, then through our own righteousness, we would negate the need for a Savior.

Perhaps the third and most effective argument that this was not pre-conversion is the lament of verse 24. That plaintiff cry is not past tense in the Greek. He is writing of an ongoing problem, not a former one. His mind follows Christ, but his body follows sin. (v 23) We might expect then that until we receive new bodies at the Parousia, (1 Corinthians 15:51-57) this will be a problem for all Christians and therefore of intense interest to each of us and not only to the Roman church to which this epistle was addressed. This is perhaps the primary reason that as Christians, we need the continuing grace of God, not only for the momentary event of conversion, but continually as the untranslated flesh remains carnal and filled with sinful desires.

If one decides to look upon the Law, it does not take much effort to see the carnality that exists both within and without the church. This is why the church is often referred to as a hospital for sinners and not a rest home for saints. Those who focus on obedience as the path to heaven often find it hard to understand how this can be and may even refer to those who struggle so with sin as being unconverted. But this attitude is based on a need to defend a legalistic path to salvation. In reality, conversion is only a beginning. We have chosen to change direction, and instead of walking away from God, we begin walking toward Him. This does not mean we will not stumble and fall. We may even get turned around from time to time. However, whenever these things happen, Jesus’ hand of grace is there to pick us up and put us back on the path, so long as we continue to be willing to grasp it.

We may find it disquieting to think that we will continue to struggle with sin even after we have turned toward God. But Paul seeks to give us some relief from our anxiety in the next chapter. There is a blessed hope.