Category: Sanctification

“I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:25

In Romans 7 the apostle Paul talks about his struggle to grow spiritually when he placed himself under the Mosaic Law. After saying that we are now under grace and not the law (6:14-15), he begins by saying that “the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives” (7:1). Paul illustrates this truth by referring to “the law” which binds a wife to her husband until he “dies” (7:2a). But when he dies she is “released from the law of her husband” and is free to remarry (7:2b-3). Since believers died with Christ (cf. 6:2-10) they “have become dead to the law” so that they are no longer under any obligation to keep the Mosaic Law because they are now under grace which avails them to the power “of the Spirit” that enables believers to obey God (Rom. 7:4-6).

Paul’s own experience warns believers not to look to the Law to grow spiritually (Rom. 7:7-25). The result will be defeat. Paul describes his early Christian experience whereby he looked to the Law which only reveals sin without correcting the problem (Rom. 7:7-12). Verse 9 particularly shows that Paul was “alive” in fellowship with God “without the Law” (6:8, 11, 13), but as soon as he tried to include the Law in his Christian life, he “died”experientially when his sinful nature aroused sin to a greater degree which broke his fellowship with God. 

Paul shows that the Law is not to blame for our broken fellowship with God, but “sin” was to blame (7:13). The Law was like the bait that brought sin to the surface. Paul strengthenshis argument about the goodness of the Law by saying the Law “is spiritual,” but he is “carnal, sold under sin” because of his fallen nature which he still possessed (7:14). Sin is still appealing tothe believer especially if he places himself under the Law to grow in his Christian life. 

In Romans 7:15-25 Paul uses the present tense to describe his present struggle as a result of trying to use the Law to grow spiritually. This struggle is between the new “inward man” or born-again-self (Romans 7:22; cf. Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; I John 3:9) and the “old” disposition or sinful flesh. For example, Paul writes, “For what I [the new] will to do, that I [the old] do not practice; but what I [the new] hate, that I [the old] do”(7:15b). Within every believer there are two competing dispositions – the flesh against the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-17) – which fight to gain control over the Christian. 

It is possible that Paul struggled for years to live the Christian life by trying to fulfill the Law inhis own strength. He explains that even a desire to do what the Law says results in evil that he had no intention of doing (Rom. 7:18-19). He summarizes, “Now if I [old disposition] do what I [new disposition] will not to do, it is no longer I [the person’s desire] who do it, but sin [sin principle dominant in the old nature] that dwells in me” (7:20).

Paul discovered from his experience of trying to grow spiritually under the Law that there is aspecific “law” deeply rooted in his being that exposed his sinful nature and the reason why he could not keep the Law’s commands (7:21). Paul explained his desire for God’s Law even if he cannot carry it out, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man” (Rom. 7:22). The “inward man” is something within believers that can be “renewed” daily and “strengthened” by the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 3:16). Paul equates the “inward man” to “the law of the mind” (7:23a). Paul identifies another law which is “the law of sin” which had defeated or brought “into captivity” Paul’s inward man because at that time when Paul was under the Law his fallen nature was stronger (7:23b).

Having experienced this fruitless battle of trying to grow spiritually under the Law (7:14-23), Paul cried out, “O wretched man that I am!” (7:24a). He acknowledges that an inner desire to do good and obey the Law could not overcome his sinful flesh or disposition. He wants to know who can deliver him from this “body of death” or sin’s power that dwells in his physical body (7:24b; cf. 6:6). Paul concludes by introducing the discovery he made during this struggle early in his Christian life about how to experience victory over sin. He thanks “God” who “through Jesus Christ our Lord” supplied the means to “deliver” him (and all believers) from this struggle between his inward man (“with the mind I myself [new disposition] serve the law of God”) and “the flesh” (old disposition) (7:25). The solution is revealed in Romans 8 – walking in the Spirit.  

In summary, the key to gaining victory over sin in our Christian lives is to focus on our relationship with Jesus Christ, not rules. Rules tell us what is wrong, but they do not provide the power to grow. Only a relationship with the living Lord Jesus Christ can transform our lives. We must look to our Savior, not our sin, if we are going to become more like Him.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lust.” Romans 6:12

For a believer in Jesus Christ to overcome the power of sin in his Christian life, he must… 

1. “Know” that he is “united” with Christ in “His death” and “resurrection” (6:2-10).

2.  “Reckon” or count it to be true (6:11). 

3. Yield or “present” himself to Christ as “alive from the dead” for God’s possession and use (6:12-13). The issue in overcoming the power of sin in his life is surrender. He can either surrender to sin’s control or Christ’s control in his life. That is what it means to present himself. Notice that a believer now has a choice not to “let sin reign” or control him so that he “should obey it in its lust” (6:12). God does not promise to keep him from having lust or fleshly desires. But He does make provision for him so he does not have to let his fleshly desires be “the boss”in his life. He does not have to do what his fleshly desires are telling him to do. The believer is to present himself to God because “sin shall not have dominion over” him since he is “not under law [which arouses sin] but under grace [which gives him a new identity to overcome sin] (6:14). 

4. “Obey” Christ as his Lord (6:15-23). One reason Christians may not be seeing more victory over sin in their lives is because they have positioned Jesus as their Savior, but not as their Lord. This is why Paul writes, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness” (6:16). If we obey what sin tells us to do, we will experience “death” and “more lawlessness” in our Christian lives (6:16, 19). But if we obey what the Lord Jesus tells us to do we will experience “righteousness,” “holiness,” and “everlasting life” (6:16, 19, 22). 

Tony Evans illustrates what Paul is saying in Romans 6 when he refers to performing a wedding ceremony. Near the beginning of the ceremony, Tony asks, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” Usually it is the father who says, “I do.” When that happens, the father can sit down because Tony is done with him because the bridegroom steps up to take the place of the bride’s father. He and the bride now stand before the minister, they go through the service, and then Tony closes by saying to the couple, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Then the audience stands and receives the new Mr. and Mrs. ______________. 

The young lady has been changed because she is now under a new authority when her father presented her to be married to the bridegroom. She has entered into a new relationship. The first man is overruled by a newer man because the woman has transferred identities. 

Romans 6 tells us that we have transferred identities the moment we believed in Christ for salvation. So when the old man called the flesh starts to tell us what to do, we can respond, “I have a New Husband now. I have a new name. I am not going to listen to you.” We must yield ourselves to Christ every day. We can begin each day by saying, “Lord Jesus, I am married to You now. I am under Your authority, so please tell me what You want me to do and help me to do it.”