The Regenerated Man or the Un-regenerated Man? This Is the Question.
EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Jeff Asher | Nacogdoches, Texas
This chapter has proven no small source of complication, confusion and consternation to many dedicated Bible students. Part of the difficulty lies in the English versions which are not completely unbiased in their own assumptions about the passage. Add to this the use of difficult words and repetitive phrases (some of which cannot be avoided) and even the diligent reader gets bogged down. Also, the theological systems and creeds have influenced and prejudiced the minds of many who would study the passage. The pervasiveness of such doctrines as “original sin,” “total depravity,” “limited atonement,” and “human inability” cloud the perception and impede understanding. We are just unaware sometimes of the prejudice we bring to a text. We must strive to be open-minded, seeking an honest encounter with the words on the page.
The title suggests at least one question, the answer to which, is the key to understanding the text. About whom is the Apostle Paul speaking in these verses? It is obvious that at verse 9 Paul takes up the personal, singular pronoun “I.” But, is he speaking of himself presently (that is, at the time of writing the epistle), or is he speaking of himself at some time in the past? Furthermore, when Paul does speak of himself in this chapter, does he consider himself as a regenerated (“born again”) man; or does he have himself in view as an un-regenerated man, in other words as an unbelieving sinner? Is it possible that there is even more to it than that, should we be looking at Paul in a more unique and complex reality that is important to the message of the book as a whole?
Chapter Seven in the Context of the Entire Epistle
It is important to keep before the mind’s eye the structure of this book and the development of its themes. There are two major ideas developed in the Epistle to Rome. These are expressed in a single sentence in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” It is again stated in a more complete and comprehensive fashion in Romans 3:20-26.
“Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier, of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
The primary theme of the book is: “Justification is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus apart from the works of the Law of Moses.” As already observed, this is stated in Chapter 1 and reiterated throughout the book (Romans 3:22, 24, 26; 4:2-3, 5-6, 9, 11, 13; 5:1, 9; 6:16; 9:30-32; 10:3-6). Paul clearly distinguishes between the Law and the Gospel, justification by works of the Law and the obedience of faith. Yet, there is a secondary theme, perhaps subordinate to this one in the first eight chapters of the book, but certainly coming to the fore in Chapters 9, 10 & 11.
This secondary theme is first expressed in Romans 1:16 within the phrase, “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” It is clearly defined in Romans 2:10-11, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” Paul is confident in his epistle that justification by grace through faith is to “everyone” and “whoever” believes on Christ. “There is no distinction between Jew and Greek … whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 2:10; 3:22, 29; 10:4, 12-13). Thus, this great secondary theme is no less important than the concept of justification by grace through faith itself. Justification is not limited to a certain arbitrary number, or social status, or gender, or race; it is “to everyone that believes on Jesus … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Chapter seven must be considered in the light of this great spiritual reality. The Jew could not be justified through any virtue of his physical descent from Moses (Romans 4:1-3, 9; cf. Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8). Children of God are born, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The Jew needed to know why their inheritance was not of the Law, what the purpose of the Law was, and why acceptance by God was not predicated upon their covenant of circumcision and the Law of Moses (Romans 3:21; 4:13; 10:4-5; Galatians 3:19, 21; cf. Philippians 3:9). Paul in Chapter seven answers these questions and explains fully why the Jew needed the Gospel.
Paul Addresses His Jewish Brethren
Paul is addressing Jews, in particular, Jewish Christians. Notice that he not only calls them “brethren” but also “them that know the law” (Romans 7:1). The idea in “know” is to understand, or to be sure about a thing. He makes it clear rhetorically that they are not ignorant or uninformed when he began by asking, “know ye not” or “do you not know?” It is evident that Paul is addressing those in his audience that are well versed in the Law of Moses. Such an appeal was to be expected knowing that Paul had previously anticipated the objections of the Jews in general to the Gospel (Romans 3:1-8), and that he had laid out a well-reasoned explanation of Genesis 15:6 showing that Abraham was justified by faith before and without circumcision (Romans 4). We cannot lose sight of these facts in studying Chapter Seven without missing the point toward which Paul is driving.
There are other context clues which we can consider that establish that Paul is speaking to Jews about being Jews under the Law, to convince and convict them of the superiority and singular efficacy of justification by grace through faith in Christ. For example, in verse six, Paul contrasts the “oldness of the letter” with “the newness of the spirit.” This is certainly a reference to the Law of Moses (Romans 2:29; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6). The Gentiles were never held by the Law as were the Jews (Romans 7:4), though the Jews did seek to seduce them into that bondage (Galatians 3:1; 5:1-4); yet, the idea of “oldness” does not convey the Gentile relationship to the Law of Moses (cf. Ephesians 2:11-12).
Another example is found in verse 9 where Paul affirms, “I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Clearly, Paul is referring to the Law of Moses (7:10). He cannot be describing himself according to the popular doctrines concerning “original sin” in which state one would be, according to the doctrine, born spiritually dead. Neither can he be describing himself as a child of God under the Gospel, because he says of himself: “I am carnal sold under sin” (7:14). Those words cannot describe a believer justified by faith (cf. 1 John 2:1-5; Romans 8:31-39). Paul is describing himself as a sincere Jew under the Law of Moses convicted of sin knowing that there is no justification by the works of the Law. His earnest pleading is: “How can I be saved when the Law condemns me at every turn?” (7:24). Paul in these verses personifies the Jew looking for the consolation of Israel and the knowledge of the remission of sins (cf. Luke 1:77; 2:25-32, 38). By literary figure, Paul uses himself as the prototype of a sincere Jew wrestling with the realities of the condemnation which the Law brought and the continual reminders that there was no efficacy in the sacrifices and rituals of its institutions (Leviticus 16:21; Micah 6:6-7; Psalm 50:7-15; 51:14-17; Isaiah 1:11; cf. Hebrews 9:7-10; 10:1-4, 11). The hope of Israel lay elsewhere, in a new King, a new covenant and a new worship (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 16:60-63; 37:21-38). Paul was, as every earnest Jew, searching for the solution to the devastating reality of the guilt of sin (Romans 7:24).
The Law Has Died and Israel Is Freed to Marry Christ
“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while he husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not int he oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:1-6).
Paul uses God’s law concerning marriage as the basis for an analogy by which he demonstrates to Jewish Christians their relationship to the Law since God has accomplished His purpose through Christ. He states the divine intent of the marriage law as being: One man and one woman until death should separate them both (Genesis 2:23-25; cf. Matthew 5:32; 19:6-9; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:1-12, 39; etc.). Therefore, the Jews are freed from their covenant of the Law by the death of Christ which in effect “nailed the Law to the cross” (Colossians 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:14-16).
Thus, free from their former spouse they could be “married” to Christ (Hosea 2:19-20; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:27). The sect of the circumcision desired to remain under the Law while covenanted with Christ (Acts 15:5; Galatians 2:12; 6:15-16; Philippians 3:2-3). This would be spiritual adultery. It is one or the other, it cannot be both. Paul does not develop in this context all the logical consequences of seeking to be joined to both covenants. He will treat with this more extensively in The Epistle to the Galatians. His conclusion there is: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4; cf. Romans 6:14-17; 11:6). Paul’s objective is not only to establish the abolition of the law, but also to affirm the sanctity of their covenant with Christ which they made by their death to sin and union with Him (Romans 6:20-22). Because of their marriage to Christ they are no longer held in dominion to sin, that is, they were pardoned and being new creatures could live lives of righteous service to God (Romans 6:11-14).
Under the Law they were “in the flesh,” this refers to their condition without the Gospel, specifically, their deadness in sin when their members were the instruments of unrighteousness (cf. Romans 6:6, 12-14, 18; 5:21). “In the flesh” was “when the commandments came” (7:9). It was when they were “carnal, sold under sin” (7:14). At that time, sin “dwells within” (7:17, 21). They were “wretched” (7:24). They did “serve the law of sin” (7:25). “Flesh” is not to be construed as an inherently sinful nature, i.e., an inborn drive or proclivity for sin. Romans 7:9 establishes that men are not born dead in sin because of a sin nature. The “passions of sins” or “motions of sin” neither indicates that human desires are inherently sinful, or that it is the fault of the commandment that men desire sinful things. Rather, Paul simply affirms that the Law identifies sin to the mind. with this new cognizance of sin, the Jew realized that “our members,” the body used in service to sin (Romans 6:12), were bearing fruit until spiritual death, condemnation (6:21). The Jews under the Law was relying upon himself to be righteous, once he sinned there was nothing in his own power, “in the flesh,” that he could do to effect righteousness. He might live blamelessly (cf. Philippians 3:6; Luke 1:6), but that would not atone for those sins which were committed under the Law (Romans 7:10; cf. Leviticus 18:5; Ezekiel 20:11). Living righteously became a futile exercise once “sin revived.”
Verse six introduces the beauty of grace extended to Jewish believers through the Gospel: “We have been delivered from the law.” This is true in two senses. First, they were delivered from it as a system of justification, righteousness by faith having come in. Second, they were delivered from it as the reason for their condemnation, the propitiation of Christ having appeased God’s wrath against them. Paul says: “Having died to what we were held by,” that is, the Law; being “dead” and married to Christ, they were no longer under its condemnation. In Paul’s analogy the Law died (7:1-4). He is not turning the figure around but simply expressing the fact that we are in a dead relationship as far as the Law is concerned. This makes more sense than trying to read Romans 6:2 and 7 back into the text. It is evident that these believers are alive and married to the risen Christ so that they “should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
Paul identifies the covenant by which men truly serve God, the Gospel, as “in the newness of the Spirit.” It is “new” because of its better features and better blessings (Hebrews 8:6; 12:24). It is “of the Spirit” because it is “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1; cf. John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). It is also “of the Spirit” because the Gospel “quickeneth” or “giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6; cf. John 6:63). “The letter” designates the Law of Moses which was a “ministration of death” that “killeth” (Romans 7:10; cf. Galatians 3:10). It is the “new man” (Romans 6:4-7) who walks after the Spirit and serves the Spirit, whereas, it was the “old man of sin” that wanted to serve through the “oldness of letter,” the Law of Moses, only “to bring forth fruit unto death” (Romans 7:5; cf. 6:21-23).
Is the Law Sin?
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the laws is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful” (Romans 7:7-13).
Paul is anticipating and answering an objection raised by the sect of the circumcision (cf. Romans 3:1-8; 4:15; 5:13). It seems ludicrous, but it is posed as an absurd consequence in rebuttal to Paul’s rejection of the Law. The Judaizer rejected Paul’s argument in favor of the Gospel by asserting the Gospel charges the Law with responsibility for sin. However, Paul responds by making it clear that the Law functioned just as it was intended; it condemned sin (Romans 3:19; Galatians 3:19). In the absence of the Law there is no knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20; 4:15; 5:13); sin is dead. But where there is the Law, sin “jumps to life,” that is, it is a reality that cannot be ignored by the conscience. The Law then becomes the occasion by which a man of conscience is slain and compelled to confront the effects of sin upon his soul. Paul puts the blame for spiritual death where it rightly belongs on sin (Romans 7:11, 13). In doing so he exalts the Law as holy, just and good.
Paul is not saying that the Law was imposed arbitrarily. In a universe where there is freedom of choice, there must be right and wrong, good and evil, “For until the Law sin was in the world … it was added because of transgressions.” Paul’s conclusion is the Law is not responsible for sin, but sin necessitated the Law. The Law had the effect of bringing condemnation only because it is not the function of the Law to justify the sinner; the Law only justifies the Law keeper (Galatians 3:10, 12, 21).
Therefore, the Law was given “that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful” (Romans 7:13). Through the Law men “in the flesh” were convicted of their sins (Romans 3:20; cf. Psalm 119:11; 37:31). God’s purpose in the Law was to reveal His disposition toward sin and persuaded the Jew’s of their need for a Saviour. As we have already established, Paul is the prototypical Jew convicted of his guilt by the Law crying out for a means of justification and reconciliation to God.
I Am Carnal Sold Under Sin!
“For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would do I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Romans 7:14-20).
The Law is “spiritual” opposed to Paul being “carnal.” Paul is not comparing the Law to the Gospel, but comparing the Law to himself, himself slain through it by sin (Romans 7:11). The Law approves righteous behavior, behavior that leads to life (Romans 7:10). This is the spiritual character to which Paul refers. It is this contrast which is the basis for the comparison that follows.
These verses, while intriguing by reason of their alliteration in the KJV, are made difficult to the modern reader. Consider them as presented in the NKJV:
“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”
Consider also the MKJV:
“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I know not. For what I desire, that I do not do; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I do not desire, I consent to the law that it is good. But now it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I do not find. For I do not do the good that I desire; but the evil which I do not will, that I do. But if I do what I do not desire, it is no more I working it out, but sin dwelling in me.”
With these two renditions of the text before us, we can begin to understand Paul and the dilemma with which he, and every sincere Jew under the Law, wrestled. That which Paul “did” was sin, transgress the Law, resulting in the death of condemnation (Romans 7:11; cf. Genesis 2:17). Paul is not saying he was ignorant or unaware of what he was doing, or that he was unable to resist the temptation to sin. Rather, Paul affirms that he did not fully grasp the consequences of what he accomplished by his transgression until he was confronted by the Law and the deception perpetrated upon his mind was fully comprehended. Just as Satan had deceived Eve with his lie, “Ye shall not surely die,” so Paul, and ultimately all are deceived (Romans 3:23; 5:14). Is it reasonable to oppose Paul and affirm that men are led into sin fully comprehending the devastating consequences of their transgression (Romans 6:23a)?
What Paul desired was to be righteous, but “that I do not do.” Again, it is not for lack of ability to understand the commandment, neither is it a total inability to repent and turn. Rather, Paul faces the reality that “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” He cannot work his way out of condemnation. The Law requires compliance every time. Successive obedience does not ameliorate prior transgression. In the face of even only one sin (if such were the case), the Law finds fault with the sinner (Hebrews 7:11, 18; 8:8). Sin is a hole out of which one cannot dig himself, “to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I do not find.” Faced with this reality, Paul laments “I am carnal sold under sin.”
As a sincere Jew, Paul had the desire to serve and please God. Yet, Satan deceived him. He yielded and transgressed. In remorse he turned again to God and the Law, but he found nothing there but condemnation and a standard for perfection. In desperation he sought a path to righteousness but found himself entangled more and more in sin. In this predicament, the sincere Jew acknowledged the goodness of God and His Law yearning for fellowship with him while realizing his sins were for him an insurmountable obstacle to that end. “I am carnal sold under sin … O wretched man that I am…”
I See Another Law
“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:21-24).
At this juncture, Paul contrasts “another law” with “the law of my mind.” This latter “law of my mind” is the same as that to which he consented (Romans 7:16) and “the good that I would” (Romans 7:19). It is what he in his “mind” willed to do but could not “perform” because “evil is present” (Romans 7:21). He calls the other law the “law of sin” because do as he would, the guilt of sin was still a reality making his “members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity” (Romans 6:19). This is the “dominion” which sin has in the absence of the Gospel which brings real justification, pardon and forgiveness through the grace of God in Christ (Romans 6:14). If the Jew rejected Jesus, this was the damning predicament in which they remained.
Notice that Paul creates a dichotomy between the “inward man” and “my members,” which he also calls “the flesh.” This “inward man” is the man who wants to serve God and be righteous, free from the guilt of sin. He knows he is a sinner, but the Law of Moses only presents him with condemnation. “The flesh” is the same man in bondage to sin under the Law of Moses. He is circumcised. He wears fringe on his garments. He eats only clean meats and rests on the Sabbath. Yet, none of these things frees his “members” from the dominion of the sins of which he is guilty. He is in “captivity to the law of sin which is in [his] members.”
In desperation this man cries out, “O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death.” For emphasis, notice again how these words cannot possibly be those of a faithful Christian (Romans 6:20-23; 8:1-2). The believing Jew is delivered from the bondage to sin, as are all believers (Romans 6:12-14). Sin does not have dominion over the Christian. His members are not the servants of sin, but of righteousness. They produce not death (Romans 6:16) but fruit unto holiness and everlasting life (Romans 6:21-22). He has yielded himself unto God and by His grace and the power of the blood of Christ unto salvation, he is free from the law of sin and death that once ruled in his members.
“I Thank God!”
Paul’s concluding exclamation of thanksgiving announces the solution to the problem which every sincere Jew faced. Without Jesus the Jews were lost and undone. Jesus, the Christ, was their Saviour who had offered Himself as a propitiation through faith in His blood (Romans 3:25). There is a present cleansing and right standing for everyone who seeks God through the Spirit, i.e., according to the teaching of the Holy Spirit and with a heart, a mind, the inward man who truly desires to do what is right trusting in the merits of the death of Jesus and not in the works of our members according to the teachings of the Law of Moses, “after the flesh” (Romans 8:1-2). When Paul says it is “with the mind,” he has in view according to the faith of the Gospel (Romans 8:3-11; cf. Romans 1:28; 7:23, 25; 8:5, 7, 27; 12:2, 16; 15:5; also Romans 3:22; 4:5; 9:30-32; 10:8). When he says “after the flesh” he has in view the works of the Law of Moses by which no man is justified.
The system of justification by grace through faith has set us free from the dominion of sins and created us as new creatures trusting and obeying the Christ. We are relying upon His death to cover our sins; not our works, nor our lineage, not circumcision or uncircumcision, only the death of the Son of God.
18.10.02 | GROW magazine
