Paul continues his explanation, to Jewish readers, of the value of the (Jewish) Law
Romans 7: 1-6, From the Law to Christ
Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Paul argues, from a common example of the day, that Christ has freed us completely from the old restrictions (slavery) to the Law and our selfish desires.
Romans 7:7-11, The role of the Law
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
The commandments of the Law created (or at least revealed) Paul's selfishness.
The Old Testament quotation in verse 7 is from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:17, also in Deuteronomy 5:21.
Romans 7:12-13, The Law taught me to recognize sin
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
Romans 7:7-11, The role of the Law
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
The commandments of the Law created (or at least revealed) Paul's selfishness.
The Old Testament quotation in verse 7 is from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:17, also in Deuteronomy 5:21.
Romans 7:12-13, The Law taught me to recognize sin
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
Paul insists that the (Old Testament, Jewish) Law is good in that it makes sinfulness clear.
Romans 7: 14-23, Despair
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. 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. 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.
So I
find this law at work: When 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 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.
Paul's cries out, as a religious person trying to "be good", that ultimately he is incapable of righteousness. His cry of despair has been echoed by Christians over the two thousand years since.
Romans 7:24-25
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
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.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
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.
Rescue from despair comes through Jesus, the Messiah. Paul continues his explanation of this transformation in the next chapter.
So the question here is whether he is talking about himself before or after conversion. I believe mostly the latter, apart from that early part where he says sin killed him. A few reasons why out of the text if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteYes, elaborate!
ReplyDeleteOk, I'll come back to this tomorrow. Where's Romans 8, BTW?
ReplyDeleteOh, nevermind. I see it.
ReplyDeleteSo, the most important clue to whether Romans 7 is talking about pre- or post-conversion is the chapter's place in the argument. The argument of Romans is linear and logical. In the first 3 chapters he analyzes what we could call the human condition, concluding that all are hopeless sinners. In 4 and 5 he explains the nature of Christ's atonement as the only means of solving that problem through his substitutionary atonement that satisfied God's righteousness, and explains that faith in him is the only means of salvation apart from works of the law. So Romans 6 anticipates one logical next step a person might take (and that some in every age do), "let's whoop it up!" So, he explains that it's nuts to plunge back into the practices that killed us in the first place. The rest of chapter 6 explains the theological basis upon which we "die to sin and live to righteousness." But now there's a problem--what sort of guide, measure, rule, do we have for righteous living? Living by the Law appears to be the obvious answer, except for the fact, Paul explains in the first part of the chapter, that that effort was a part of the problem. Remember Romans 2, and just for good measure, Paul gives an example from his own experience about how the law produced coveting in him. The second half of the chapter then addresses the struggle that is inevitable for a Christian still living this side of the Resurrection--residual sin still dwelling in his flesh sometimes just overtakes him despite his deepest desire to live righteously.
ReplyDeleteThe point where the topic shifts from the Law's effects before conversion to that after is v. 14 where the verb tense shifts from past to present and the discussion itself shifts from his past condition to a present, ongoing struggle. This is the second important clue to the point of the discussion in Chapter 7. And it is a struggle that finds resolution only in the glorious affirmations of Chapter 8--No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit setting me free from the law of sin and death, life in this present condition betwixt conversion and the Resurrection as groaning the the pains of childbirth, and over all, the promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
There is one more theological and experiential reason why I'm convinced this is the best interpretation of this passage, and that is that those who read Romans 7 as referring exclusively to the pre-conversion Paul generally manage to sneak some sort of legalistic approach to the Christian life back into their teaching on sanctification. The most insidious of these are the Keswick Holiness teachers--a view of sanctification that I have come to regard as the bondage of Egypt since Augustine, Luther, and Calvin, Hodge, and Warfield set me free from it. I'm never going back.
Thanks!! A nice summary.
DeleteYes, the verb tense change at verse 14 certainly puts the second half of the chapter into the "present", in which Paul is still very aware of his continuing selfish desires and his ongoing struggles to live in the Spirit.
When I finally caught the main themes of Galatians and Romans (some time ago!) I too decided I was not returning to religiosity and its legalistic restrictions. Following the Holy Spirit was easier and usually a lot more fun!