30. Romans Chapter 7 Verses 7-14 - Messages In Romans – GENTILES ARE NOT PART OF CHAPTER 7 – NOT THE BATTLE OF THE TWO NATURES - Message 30 Part 2 of 3
ROMANS CHAPTER 7 EXPOSITION – PART 2
It is most unfortunate that these three messages had to be broken into three Parts because it disrupts the flow, but not to do that would give one message of over 8 000 words. Let us continue straight on from where we left off at verse 6 -
[1]. THE HOLY LAW CONFIRMED BUT IT PROMOTED SIN. ROMANS 7:7-12
{{Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? IS THE LAW SIN? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law, for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet,”
Romans 7:8 but sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind, for apart from the Law sin is dead.
Romans 7:9 I was once alive apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died,
Romans 7:10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me,
Romans 7:11 for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me,
Romans 7:12 so then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”}}
(a). VERSE 7
Now comes the explanation for any who were thinking that Paul was rubbishing the Law and condemning it. He comes right out with the question, “Is the Law sin?” or it could mean, “Does the Law make us sin (related to the Jews) and therefore it is a sinful thing?” I remind you yet again that it is Jews being spoken to here. Paul speaks of his experience, which also makes me think he is the one in the rest of this chapter being described. Again IT IS NOT A CHRISTIAN BATTLING TWO NATURES either before or after conversion!
That question about the Law being sin is answered by the strongest negative that can be used. “Certainly not!” (NIV). “May it never be!” (NASB). “By no means!” (ESV). “God forbid!” (AV). “Absolutely not!” (Holman). The Law was given by God for the purposes of righteousness but the failure lay with sinful man who could not keep such a holy Law. He failed, so a better covenant came in by way of the cross. No way is the Law sin! THE LAW GAVE AWARENESS OF SIN.
In the remainder of verse 7 Paul explains his reason for upholding the righteousness of the Law. He argues that without the Law there would not have been knowledge of sin. Earlier he covers similar ground – {{Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”}} Also we have this earlier – {{Romans 3:31 “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW.”}} The righteousness of the Law is established but only through Christ.
Then Paul provides an example, and uses coveting. Because the Law said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” then the Jews knew what coveting was, otherwise they would have been in ignorance. If they were ignorant because God provided no standard for them, how could they be accountable? That is one of the themes of Romans and earlier we had these verses – {{Romans 2:13-14 “It is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. When Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,”}}
In my younger Christian life I used to use terms like, “The Law was holy but we could not keep the Law because it condemned us.” I was placing myself in the context of Romans 7. That was wrong I realised many years later. We as Gentiles were NEVER REQUIRED to keep the Law. It was given to Israel, to the Jews. AND YET!! Commentators claim that Romans 7 is about the conflict of the new nature combatting the old nature in the life of the Christian. Rubbish! The man in Romans 7 is a defeated man. That is NOT a Christian who has victory.
(b). VERSE 8
Verse 8 connects with 7 where awareness of sin becomes the desire to adopt it and participate in it. This has become so evident in the pornography industry. 100 years ago not many followed pornography, but because of so many magazines and the Internet and the legalising of so much, then it became more accessible and people are rushing to it.
The Law, by highlighting a sin, made it more curious and people sought to know it, “to investigate,” if you will. I think that is what Paul is meaning here. When a sin is mentioned in the Law, the corrupt human nature wants to go and explore it. It enlivens the senses.
Paul says the Law made sin alive and in that sense the Law promoted sin. It did that by featuring the wickedness of this sin and that sin, but the evil nature in man then sought to follow that sin more and more. The problem did not lay with the Law that exposed that sin, but with the human heart that is so sinful and corrupt and is ever venturing downwards.
For the Christian, something of the same principle operates, and the awareness of sin should make him/her flee that sin as Joseph did in Egypt with Pharaoh’s wife, but sadly some Christians comply and “explore”.
(c). VERSE 9
Sin produced effect through the law. Sin became alive through the law and then produced death. {{“I was once alive apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died.”}} Before the Law, Paul (a man) was oblivious of death before the Law came into effect. When it did, sin came alive but it caused death. The sin itself and its penalty was described in the Law and associated with commandments, so that those under the Law would all die because of it.
I saw a silly American movie on YouTube about men exploding old mines or something offshore and they opened up a cave or something where it was freezing. Briefly they recovered two frozen dinosaurs, a brontosaurus and a tyrannosaurus. These were taken ashore by cranes and left lying on the beach. That night there was a fierce storm and a gigantic lightning bolt parted and each part zapped a dinosaur and they came alive. That is like the Law zapping the Jews to make then alive to sin where before, sin was frozen.
Would that mean that if God had not given the Law then all would be rosy, and people happy in sinful lives, not having any sin to condemn them? Well the answer is a definite NO and Chapter 1 sets out the whole guilt of the Gentile nations (when there was no Law), and later on, for the Jew too. It is plain and simple – the soul that sins shall surely die.
The Law gave the awareness of sin, which is good. It is like some malady on the body making you aware of a problem you can then take to the doctor to be fixed. When the Law made the people aware of sin, then they could seek the means the Great Physician provided through the sacrifices outlined in Leviticus mainly, and have their problem addressed. The kindness of God gave those sacrifices for the sinner until Christ came into the world to die for the sins of the world.
(d). VERSE 10
{{“and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me,”}} is the outcome. Paul sets out this argument for the one under the Law for the commandment in the Law proved to be death because the Jew could not keep it. Remember again this has nothing to do with Gentiles who were NEVER under the Law. God is not willing that any should perish and the Law was given for life, but caused death in the hearers because their sin condemned them. It was a natural consequence. A commandment meant for life becomes the means of death.
It would only be the stupid person who would say, “That is not what God intended,” as if God had no omniscience. God knew fully the progression of events long before the creation of the world even. He gave a standard so that the descendants of Jacob would know what were the requirements for holiness. Once sin was exposed then, contained in that same Law was the means of addressing sin through sacrifices.
The commandments meant for life caused death, but death would have come anyway. It is that in the Law, a means of escape through the sacrificial covering of God, was also provided. Adam and Eve should have died once they sinned, but the LORD gave them a covering for their sin, and that came about through sacrifice (most probably of a lamb). Exactly the same thing happened through the Law.
(e). VERSE 11
{{“for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived ME, and through it, killed ME.”}}. Remember the “me” can be Paul or the generic Jewish person. NOT A GENTILE! It is almost like Paul is blaming sin for killing him, (or any Jew here) but be careful with this. Sin took opportunity ONLY because of Paul’s sinful nature, his own reprobate and fallen state that loves to latch on to sin. Paul knew very well that the problem was not the commands in the Law, but the old sinful self.
(f). VERSE 12
Now the Apostle steps aside and concludes this part with the base line. {{“so then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”}} The fault would never be in the Law for it is true what is said – holy, righteous, good. How could it be otherwise when it emanated from God? Never put down the Law of Moses as being faulty or deficient. It is the pinnacle of God’s standard of holiness. AND never use the expression, “WE were not able to keep the Law,” because you were not a Jew and can’t relate to the facts and conditions of the Jews regarding the Law.
Paul has concluded that part of the examination. From verse 13 he moves to another examination of the matter of a Jew under the Law. This has nothing to do with the struggle of a Christian with the two natures. It is awful to say that. Gentiles were never under the Mosaic Law and Christians do not live in defeat as we will see as we progress.
[2]. SIN IS SIN AND IS UTTERLY SINFUL – ROMANS 7:13
{{Romans 7:13 “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? MAY IT NEVER BE! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, that through the commandment SIN MIGHT BECOME UTTERLY SINFUL,”}}
Did something good (The Law) become a cause of death? NO NO NO! Earlier we saw that the Law was perfect, but there was a problem, and that was the perfection of the Law itself. No one was able to reach that standard because of the inherent sinful nature that drags people into sin and therefore failure, when trying to attain a standard. That is the key to this chapter.
The Law was given to the Jews as God’s standard of righteousness but clearly, man could not meet that standard. Failure to meet the standard resulted in death, earlier mentioned by Paul in - {{Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and (keep) fall(ing) short of the glory of God,”}} along with this verse – {{Romans 6:23 “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”}}
Death came about through sin and not through the Law, which only highlighted the problem. Death was already part of the human race through the sin of Adam, before the Law came, so the Law was not responsible as being the cause of death that is the subject of the opening of this verse.
Paul says sin was the cause and we know that. What the Law did was to show sin for what it was - shone a torch on it - and that it was the cause of death. The Law was the good means to show the evil working of sin. The ending of the verse, {{“sin might become UTTERLY sinful,”}} is the purpose of the Law. Once the problem is shown for what it is, then the remedy can be sought. God gave that remedy through the sacrificial offerings.
[3]. THE “GOOD” OR DEVOUT MAN UNDER THE LAW - ROMANS 7:14-25
We are developing these arguments Paul is teaching. We will take this carefully.
(a). THE EXPLANATION GENERALLY ACCEPTED AMONG COMMENTATORS
The almost universally understood way of explaining this passage is by saying it is the Believer’s conflict between his sinful nature and the new nature. It is said Paul is outlining this conflict in these verses. I wish to show this CAN NOT be the case, and a quick glance at verse 24 will show a defeated man who can not achieve what he wants. There is nothing Christian about that. We are not defeated people unable to overcome sin.
POINT TO NOTE:- Placing all this in context, we must remember that Paul has been teaching all about the position of the Law, and it is illogical that in the middle of that, he would suddenly jump to the Christian in conflict. NO. Paul is still teaching about the Law here, and the Christian aspect does not happen until verse 25.
Probably the nearest I have found to the correct understanding comes from Alfred Barnes’ Notes on the Bible - [[“The remainder of this chapter has been the subject of no small degree of controversy. The question has been whether it describes the state of Paul before his conversion, or afterward. It is not the purpose of these notes to enter into controversy, or into extended discussion. But after all the attention which I have been able to give to this passage, I regard it as describing the state of a man under the gospel, as descriptive of the operations of the mind of Paul subsequent to his conversion.”]]. I don’t necessarily agree with Barnes about “a man under the gospel,”, but he gives an honest, lengthy examination of this matter.
The language that is employed, we will see, is not the language of a Christian living for Christ. It just is not a Christian at all in focus here, not even a struggling Christian. There is a struggle – YES – but that is the struggle of a man trying to meet the Law’s demands, and he can’t do it.
This problem of interpretation goes back to the Reformation when anything Jewish was set aside, especially by Luther, and some other means of interpretation was found. That will be enough for this introduction and now we will look at the verses.
(b). SPIRITUAL VERSES THE FLESH
{{Romans 7:14 “for we know that THE LAW IS SPIRITUAL, but I am of flesh, SOLD INTO BONDAGE TO SIN.”}}
We have the Law. The Law is the subject of this section. The Gentile man was NEVER under the Law so it can not refer to anyone other than the Jew. Christians certainly have nothing to do with the Law. This is totally Jewish and must remain in that context until verse 25. Why can’t that be seen?
The Law is spiritual because it came from God. It could be nothing else. However the man described here is sinful, a fleshly man who is sold into the bondage of sin. Earlier on in Romans Paul dealt with this bondage, the bondage of/under the Law, which was the problem the Jew faced. We have here a sinful man who is in bondage to sin trying to maintain the righteousness of the Law and so we must be consistent. It was an impossibility, and is why the sacrifices were given.
In the final message we will continue straight on.
