Scripture
Billy Sunday was a well-known evangelist at the start of the 20th century. In preparation for a series of evangelistic services in a large city, Sunday wrote a letter to the Mayor of that city in which he asked for the names of individuals whom the Mayor knew had spiritual problems and needed help and prayer. Imagine Billy Sunday’s surprise when the Mayor sent him a city directory!
The Mayor understood what we intuitively know and the Bible explicitly affirms (in Romans 3:23): all of us struggle with sin. The apostle Paul describes this struggle with sin in Romans 7:14-20 in the context of God’s law. Let us read Romans 7:14-20:
"14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." (Romans 7:14-20)
Introduction
The last half of Romans 7 is one of the most debated sections of the entire Bible. Godly people throughout the ages have disagreed over how to interpret this passage.
This is a section of the letter in which the apostle Paul is speaking of himself, describing a fierce internal struggle with sin.
The fundamental question in this section over which there is so much debate is this: Of what stage in his life is Paul speaking? Is he speaking of the present, that is, of the time of his writing the letter—when he was a mature Christian? Or is he speaking of himself as he was in the past, before his conversion to Christ?
This is an important question. Before we look at the text in detail, it is vital that we understand whether or not Paul is talking about himself as a Christian or as a non-Christian in this section. To that end I want you to notice two changes in Romans 7:14-20.
First, notice the change of tense in the verbs. In the previous section, verses 7-13, the verbs are predominantly in the past tense. Therefore, they appear to refer to Paul’s past experience—before he was a Christian. So, in verse 9b Paul says, “sin came alive and I died.” In verse 11 he says, “sin . . . deceived me.” And in verse 13 he says, “Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means!” These are all verbs in the past tense, and they refer to his life before his conversion to Christ.
But now, from verse 14 onwards, the verbs are in the present tense, and refer to Paul’s present experience as a Christian. So, in verse 14 Paul says, “I am of the flesh.” And in verse 15 he says, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”—all present tense verbs.
And second, notice the change of situation. In verses 7-13 Paul describes how sin sprang to life through the law and killed him; it finished him off, spiritually speaking. But in verses 14-20 he describes his fierce continuing conflict with sin, in which he refuses to admit defeat, but is an active combatant against sin.
Now these two changes seem to suggest that what Paul is portraying in verses 7-13 is his life as a non-Christian, and in verses 14-20 is his life as a Christian.
However, some commentators (from the Greek Fathers onwards) have rejected this view. They cannot conceive how a Christian, let alone a mature Christian like the apostle Paul, could describe his Christian experience in terms of such a fierce conflict—and indeed a conflict that he seems not to be winning. They argue that Romans 7:14-20 must describe Paul’s non-Christian struggle with sin.
Yet there are two traits in the apostle Paul’s self-portrait in verses 14-20 that led the Reformers, and have led most (but admittedly not all) commentators since, to believe that these verses are actually the self-portrait of Paul the Christian. The first is Paul’s opinion of himself, and the second is his opinion of the law. Let’s look briefly at each in turn.
First, notice Paul’s opinion of himself. What is his opinion of himself? Paul says in verse 14: “I am of the flesh [unspiritual, NIV].” And in verse 18 he says: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh [sinful nature, NIV].”
Now who but a mature Christian believes and talks of himself like that? A non-Christian is characterized by self-confidence and self-righteousness, and would never acknowledge himself as a “wretched man”—which is Paul’s further description of himself in verse 24. Only a mature Christian reaches the place of both self-disgust and self-despair. It is he who recognizes with disheartening clarity that nothing good dwells in his flesh. It is a Christian who acknowledges that he is a “wretched man” and cries out for deliverance (see verse 24).
Second, notice Paul’s opinion of the law. Paul calls God’s law good in verse 16. That is, he acknowledges that the law is good in itself, and he longs with all his heart to obey it. He even says in verse 22, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being.”
This is not the language of a non-Christian. The non-Christian’s attitude to the law is given to us in Romans 8:7, where he says that “the mind that is set on the flesh [i.e., the mind of sinful man, NIV] is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
However, far from being hostile to God and his law, Paul says that he delights in it. Paul’s hostility is reserved for what is evil.
From these two points I am convinced that Paul is speaking of himself in Romans 7:14-20 as a growing, maturing Christian. He is speaking as a Christian who has been given a clear and a proper view both of his own flesh (or, sinful nature, in the NIV) and of God’s holy law. His position is that in his flesh there is nothing good, whereas God’s law is the good that he desires.
So, the question is this: Why does Paul describe his experience in terms not only of conflict but of defeat? Why does he say not only that he wants to do good, but that he does not and cannot do it?
The simple answer is this: In Romans 7:7-13 he has shown that as a non-Christian he could not obey God’s law. In verses 14-20 he shows that even as a Christian he still cannot obey God’s law. . . by himself. He can recognize the goodness of the law, he can delight in the law, and he can long to keep the law, none of which was possible to him as a non-Christian. But his flesh, which was his undoing prior to his conversion, is still his undoing after his conversion unless—and this is vital—the power of the Holy Spirit subdues his flesh. Paul teaches us about the work of the Holy Spirit and how he frees Christians from the control of the flesh in Romans 8. So, you will just have to keep coming back to learn more about that!
So, both sections, Romans 7:7-13 and 7:14-20, emphasize that (whether we are Christians or non-Christians) the flesh nature is our big problem.
Lesson
Now, let us turn, for the remainder of our time, to a closer examination of Romans 7:14-20. What does Paul teach us about our struggle—as Christians—with sin?
It is helpful to see that in Romans 7:14-20 Paul says precisely the same thing twice over, no doubt for emphasis. The first section is verses 14-17, and the second section is verses 18-20. These two sections are almost exactly parallel. So, it seems best to look at them together.
I. Our Condition—Inborn Sinfulness (7:14, 18a)
First, each section begins with a frank acknowledgement of our condition, which is that of inborn sinfulness.
Paul begins with a sober admission of what we are in ourselves and of what we know ourselves to be.
Paul says in verse 14 that although “we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”
And in verse 18a Paul says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh [i.e., sinful nature, NIV].”
In other words, Paul is saying, “This is what I am even as a Christian. Though the law is good and spiritual, I am of the flesh. I am unspiritual. I am carnal. Sin dwells in me and assaults me, and I am no match for it. Rather, in myself, and if left to myself, I am its slave, its reluctant, resistant slave.”
I was converted to Christ at the age of nineteen. Even though I attended church prior to my conversion, I nevertheless cared nothing for the things of God. I sinned regularly and flagrantly against God’s law. Why? Because I was of the flesh and—apart from the general restraint of the moral law—God was not in my life.
But then, at age nineteen as I said, I was converted to Christ. The Holy Spirit convicted me of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), and regenerated me so that I was converted to Christ. I became “a new creation” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
And from that moment of regeneration God the Holy Spirit began indwelling me. He did not remove my flesh, or sinful nature. My flesh is still in me. That is what Paul is saying in this text: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” (7:18a). I still have my flesh. But, now as a Christian, I also have the Holy Spirit living in me. And this is how God views me. He no longer views me as one with only a sinful nature (or, flesh), but rather as one who is a new creation in Christ. This is what one commentator calls the “authentic I.”
So, this is the first thing we must know. Even though we are Christians, even though the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian so that we are in fact new creations in Christ, we still have inborn sinfulness resident within us.
II. The Result—Constant Conflict (7:15, 18b-19)
Second, each section continues with a vivid description of the result of our inborn sinfulness—constant conflict.
Paul says in verse 15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
He continues in verses 18b-19: “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
Someone once said after reading these verses that Paul must have been a golfer! Because all golfers know that what you want to do you do not do, and what you do not want to do, that is the very thing you do. But the issue is so much more serious than a game of golf because it involves our flesh (i.e., our sinful natures).
The conflict in the Christian is between the flesh and the Holy Spirit. That is why Paul says in Galatians 5:17, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Let me stress again that this constant conflict is the conflict that every Christian, who knows the law of God, loves it, wants it, yearns to obey it, but who finds that still by himself he cannot obey it. His whole being (his mind, his heart and his will) is set upon the law of God. He longs to do good. He hates to do evil—he hates it with a holy hatred. And if he does sin, it is against his mind, his heart, his will; it is against the whole tenor of his life. This is the constant conflict that every Christian experiences. It is the conflict that takes place between his flesh and the Holy Spirit living in him.
On October 31, 1999, a full airplane took off from JFK International Airport, New York, on a routine flight to Cairo, Egypt.
The final report of the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that, a short time after take-off, the pilot set the plane to autopilot, and then left his seat and went to the back of the plane. The relief first officer then disengaged the autopilot. He proceeded to move the throttle levers from their cruise power setting to idle, cutting the engines. Seconds later, the airplane began to pitch nose-downward and descended into a freefall.
The horrified pilot rushed back to his seat in the cockpit. He began battling the first officer for control of the plane. The pilot pulled back on his controls, desperate to bring the nose of the plunging Boeing 767 up, while the suicidal first officer pushed his own controls forward to keep the airplane in its lethal dive.
The result was the tragic crash of Egyptair Flight 900 into the Atlantic Ocean, south of Nantucket, Massachusetts. It killed all 217 people on board.
The battle in that airliner’s cockpit is a picture of the conflict in the life of every Christian. It is a picture of the combat that takes place between the flesh—trying to destroy us—and the Holy Spirit—seeking to deliver us.
I understand that long-time actor Mickey Rooney is a committed Christian. He once said, “I’ve given my life to God, and I try to do the right thing, but inevitably, and unfortunately, I do the wrong thing. . . .”
That is the constant conflict in every Christian.
III. The Conclusion—Indwelling Sin (7:16-17, 20)
Finally, each section ends with a conclusion (couched in identical words) about the cause of our inborn sinfulness that results in constant conflict—indwelling sin.
In verses 16-17 Paul says, “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
In verse 20 he gives the same conclusion: “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
Who, then, is to blame for the good I do not do and the evil I do? This is what Paul clarifies here for us.
It is not the law, for in fact Paul says that it is good (7:16). Besides, in wanting so eagerly to do good and to avoid evil, Paul is in fact endorsing and approving that it is good.
Twice Paul says, “It is no longer I who do it” (7:17, 20). Paul is not actually saying he does not do it, but that it is not what his deep inner self, renewed in Christ, wants to do. He is affirming that he is dominated by sin.
This is how theologian R. C. Sproul puts it:
"Paul is not denying personal responsibility for his sin. What he is saying is the real I, the new I, the person that I am in Jesus Christ, is not doing that. It is the old self who has been put to death with Christ that is gaining the upper hand here. Now, that does not mean that there are two distinct personalities, nor does it mean that the Christian is schizophrenic. A person who lived 20 years ago in Cincinnati and now lives in Boston is still the same person. He does not behave exactly in the same manner as he did twenty years ago, but he is still affected by influences from his past life."
As John Blanchard says, “Our sinful natures are neither removed at our regeneration nor refined by our sanctification.”
Condition
Let me close by first summarizing the teaching of these two parallel sections. First we notice our condition: even as Christians we have our flesh in which there is nothing good, and (left to ourselves) holds us captive. The result of this condition is constant conflict. This constant conflict is between our flesh and the Spirit living in us. The conclusion, therefore, is that the cause of this conflict is indwelling sin.
What Paul is seeking to do in this section of God’s word is expose the depravity of our flesh, and to convince us that only the Holy Spirit can deliver us.
What we need to know today is that an honest and humble acknowledgement of the hopeless depravity of our flesh, even after we become Christians, is in fact the first step in holiness.
To speak quite plainly, some of us are not leading holy lives for the simple reason that we have too high an opinion of ourselves.
In 1990 Time magazine reported on a math test given to thirteen-year-olds from six countries. The South Koreans received the best scores while the Americans received the worst.
Those taking the test were also asked to respond to the statement, “I am good at mathematics.”
Only 23 percent of the Koreans responded affirmatively to that statement—the lowest percentage of “yes” responses—while the Americans came in number one with the highest number of “yes” answers.
Charles Krauthammer observed, “American students may not know math, but they have evidently absorbed the lessons of the newly fashionable self-esteem curriculum wherein kids are taught to feel good about themselves.”
Clearly, these American students had an exaggerated opinion of themselves—at least in relation to other math students from around the world.
Too many of us have an exaggerated opinion of ourselves in relation to our ability to overcome sin. The only way to deal with sin is along the road of self-despair. We must despair of our own ability to conquer sin. By ourselves we cannot conquer sin. The power and subtlety of our flesh is such that we dare not relax for one moment. Our only hope is unceasing vigilance and dependence upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We shall talk more about that in the weeks to come.
There are two errors to avoid in thinking about our struggle with sin. First, we must not ignore sin. Those who ignore sin are revealing that they may not be Christians. In fact, Paul says that “the mind on the flesh is death” (Romans 8:6).
Brothers and sisters, we sin every day against God. That is why we must daily examine ourselves in light of God’s law to see how we have sinned against him. And we must then deal with our sin by confession and seeking forgiveness.
If you are having trouble thinking of areas in which you may be breaking God’s law, I suggest that you take the Westminster Catechisms, both the Shorter but especially the Larger, and examine yourself in light of the questions that deal with the Law of God. The Westminster divines did us a great service by elaborating on each of the Ten Commandments and showing us many, many ways in which each law is broken.
And second, we must not think that we will ever be free from sin in this life. There are some who teach sinless perfection in this life. But that is not the teaching of Scripture. We must never think that we will ever be able to rise above sin. We will never do so in this life. Rather, what Paul teaches us is that until we meet the Lord we will struggle with sin.
Growing, maturing Christians do not ignore sin. Nor do we believe that we will ever rise above sin—in the sense that we will attain sinless perfection. But rather we will have a growing sense of our own sinfulness. This will lead us to look to Christ and depend upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For he alone subdues our flesh. And as we do that we will grow in holiness. Amen.
