Romans Part 7: Between Two Natures

[Robert]

In part 6, we looked at how we should walk in regards to sin. Now we pick up in chapter 7; here, Paul uses an example to further cement the point that the Lord is making through his writing:

"Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man." (Romans 7:1-3, NASB)

When a married woman's husband died, the marriage was ended and she was free of any other obligation. On that same note, we are bound likewise to sin before we are crucified with Christ:

"Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:4-6, NASB, emphasis mine)

Just as a marriage ends with the death of either spouse, our bondage to sin ends when we die to sin through Christ. We are no longer held captive to sin but begin a new life in Christ, as our old life has ended in the death of our old selves.

But then that brings up a new question: does that mean that since the Law showed us to be sinful and sin slew us, that the Law is sin?

"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.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 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, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful." (Romans 7:7-13 NASB)

The Lord explains that the intent was not that the Law was to destroy us, but sin used the opportunity to wreak destruction through its' conviction. Galatians chapter 3 explains the law's purpose:

"Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:19-26, NASB, emphasis mine)

The Lord points out here the purpose of the Law: to lead us to Christ. Having "shut up everyone under sin", it concludes all of us as guilty and therefore in need of a saviour; we have no recourse other than Jesus Christ because no man or woman can be justified in their own ability or "righteousness". The law points out that we cannot pay for our sin on our own.

In the next passage, God's inspiration flows through Paul as he relays his own struggle as an example of why we cannot keep the Law through our own ability and power:

"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me." (Romans 7:14-20, NASB, emphasis mine)

The flesh, corrupted by sin, holds no good thing within it and will sin when given its' preference. Paul admits that when he does not want to do something, it is the sin within him that wishes to do so and not him. There are limits to human willpower, and sooner or later, when given occasion, the flesh will find a way to do what it craves. This does not mean that, like the gnostics believe, all matter and thus flesh are evil while all spirit is good; what it does mean though is that we cannot of our own selves will ourselves to be sinless or good enough. But it doesn't end here; Paul explains further:

"I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:21-25, NASB, emphasis mine)

If we take this to mean that Paul is serving God with his mind but with his flesh the law of sin simultaneously, that explains why the common interpretation is that we'll end up sinning anyways. But when the letter to the Romans was written, it was not broken into chapters and verses; rather, it was expressed as a letter with various parts and concepts within. Taking that into account, let's include the beginning passages from Chapter 8 in order to complete what is being said here:

"I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Romans 7:21-25, 8:1-2, NASB, emphasis mine)

Now consider this: what if the Lord is trying to tell us something different? Could we be assuming it is simultaneous, instead of a choice between the two? What we see in Paul's description is a man conflicted between two diametrically opposed points: to serve the Lord in the spirit, or the flesh and thus sin. We continue on in Romans 8:

"For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.." (Romans 8:3-8, NASB, emphasis mine)

This shows us that rather than serving both simultaneously, we serve one or the other; if we recall what the Lord said through Paul in chapter 6:

"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification." (Romans 6:16-19, NASB, emphasis mine)

Jesus Christ spoke on serving two masters at the same time as well; though it was money, he showed that it was not possible to serve God and another master simultaneously:

"The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matthew 6:22-24, NASB, emphasis mine)

No matter who the other master is, you can only have one master. And as the Lord said Himself in this passage, "The eye is the lamp of the body".

Where we have our focus on is what will command our attention, and if we have our attention on the Lord then we live by the spirit:

"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:12-17, NASB)

God here makes it plain; not only can we NOT serve two masters, but that in order to serve him, BY THE SPIRIT we must "put to death the deeds of the flesh." We cannot do so according to our own power, or by our own choice. If we truly seek to live unto the Lord and serve him, we must NOT look for any excuse to sin but instead live BY the Spirit and allow the spirit to live IN us. This does NOT mean that we won't ever sin; we are still in our fallen bodies and we do make mistakes, and the Lord has provided for that:

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. " (1 John 2:1-2, NASB, emphasis mine)

God will forgive and cleanse us if we sin, but we are not LOOKING to commit sin; instead we aren't feeding the flesh's desire and are living as "the new man". This is repentance; not merely sorrow for our sin, but seeking to change the direction we have been going in and instead walking with the Lord.


And we can only do that if we don't make excuses TO commit sin.



In Part 8, we will examine the second half of Romans 8 and see that despite whatever happens in this world, Christ has the victory.


I bid you all peace.


YBIC,


-Robert

[Saved2011]

Been waiting FOREVER for this!! haha

Thanks for posting another one Robert!

[Robert]

Sorry for the wait, Saved 2011. But this was a tough one for me, and I needed to be in prayer and be certain that I was in the word before I wrote a single letter! It's all too easy to write what we THINK scripture means and not what is actually says.

Thanks for being so patient! :)

[mattfivefour]

Brother Robert, this article is absolutely correct doctrinally! And will be of immense comfort and direction to countless Christians confused by the life they live in comparison to the life the Scriptures outline.

W. Leon Tucker —a wonderful and learned Bible teacher, a true man of God, who pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention (and is, incidentally, the author of one of the best studies in Romans ever published)— has said, "We hear so much about what we must do, that one would think there was nothing that He had done. ‘Do,’ ‘Do,’ we hear on every hand, and how seldom do we hear ‘DONE.’ Thank God, in a world of so many unfinished things there is one thing finished. ‘It is finished’--the work of the Saviour is finished, said He who did it, and no one yet had ever been able to point out an unfinished thing in that redemption work . . . . The done takes away the ‘do.’ ‘DO’ means human endeavor, DONE means Divine accomplishment. ‘Do’ is possible to human attainment . . . ‘Do’ is possible to man. ‘Done’ is alone possible with God. ‘Do’ satisfies the flesh, ‘Done’ is grasped by faith. ‘Do’ is the exercise of human energy. ‘Done’ is the display of the Divine initiative . . . . We are not to be crucified with Christ, we were crucified with Christ . . . . The work of the cross was the crucifying death blow to our old sinful self. Every blessing, every experience, every victory, every deliverance known to the Christian life, comes as the result of the Work of the Cross. It was there God dealt once with sin; that sin need never be dealt with again apart form the Cross. We can never exhaust the results of the work of the Cross. There is enough and to spare. God never gave to any sinner or any saint anything that was not the issue of Christ’s Cross. Certainly the cross is the highest display of God’s wisdom and God’s power.”

Like him, you here have clearly indicated to those who live an unvictorious Christian life and wonder "Lord, is this all there is?" that this is most definitely not all that there is. There is VICTORY in the Cross. And in your article you have shown that we should not stop at Paul's statement that he does what he doesn't want to do and doesn't do what he wants to do. That is satisfying to the flesh; but the Spirit would have us go on to the truth that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" that is found in the flesh (which is another name for human self-effort). It is not self-effort that will give us the victory but simply by "reckoning (λογίζομαι, logizomai=to account, to consider, to regard) ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to Christ." (Romans 6:11) And when we do that daily, taking up our cross (which is a figurative way of saying we reckon we no longer have our own life) then we can say with Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God ...." (Galatians 2:20)

Brother in this article you have truly correctly divided God's Word. Good job. And thank you on behalf of all those who will be helped by this.

[ShilohRose]

Amen and amen.

[Hannah]

Some people question the Word of God and because they cannot fully understand it And they use their inability to interpret God's Word to try and justify the Sin because in their human thinking they have judged the scriptures they cannot agree with as, cruel or 'too strict' or 'just impossible to achieve'. Hence we get Christians saying in essence they do obey God's Word because as they feel they are observing everything they agree with. However we have been given the Holy Spirit to reveal God's Truth to us and even though we reject part of God's Word we cannot receive or accept we know in our hearts that what we are doing is not quite right. I would hope people understand the uncomfortable feeling they get as they do this is from God tapping them on their shoulders and trying to get them to be open and teachable so the Holy Spirit can show them His Truth and enable them to properly understand and interpret His Word so that they can put their lives in line with God's commandments and stop finding excuses for their own sins or condoning of other people's sins.

This is my own observation with Christians who have open sin in their lives and when you confront them about it they will often defend themselves with God can't possibly expect us to be able to not [blank] it is just impossible because [excuse] .

I do pray for God to help us all see the areas we are still in ignorance (willful or genuine) so that we can be set free from our own areas of Blank and no longer run around making excuses but are willing to lay it before God. Obedience has so much blessing. Disobedience will attract God's discipline for one thing and you reap what you sow. I really don't want to be harvesting what sin produces in my life.

[Robert]

Brother Robert, this article is absolutely correct doctrinally! And will be of immense comfort and direction to countless Christians confused by the life they live in comparison to the life the Scriptures outline.

W. Leon Tucker —a wonderful and learned Bible teacher, a true man of God, who pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention (and is, incidentally, the author of one of the best studies in Romans ever published)— has said, "We hear so much about what we must do, that one would think there was nothing that He had done. ‘Do,’ ‘Do,’ we hear on every hand, and how seldom do we hear ‘DONE.’ Thank God, in a world of so many unfinished things there is one thing finished. ‘It is finished’--the work of the Saviour is finished, said He who did it, and no one yet had ever been able to point out an unfinished thing in that redemption work . . . . The done takes away the ‘do.’ ‘DO’ means human endeavor, DONE means Divine accomplishment. ‘Do’ is possible to human attainment . . . ‘Do’ is possible to man. ‘Done’ is alone possible with God. ‘Do’ satisfies the flesh, ‘Done’ is grasped by faith. ‘Do’ is the exercise of human energy. ‘Done’ is the display of the Divine initiative . . . . We are not to be crucified with Christ, we were crucified with Christ . . . . The work of the cross was the crucifying death blow to our old sinful self. Every blessing, every experience, every victory, every deliverance known to the Christian life, comes as the result of the Work of the Cross. It was there God dealt once with sin; that sin need never be dealt with again apart form the Cross. We can never exhaust the results of the work of the Cross. There is enough and to spare. God never gave to any sinner or any saint anything that was not the issue of Christ’s Cross. Certainly the cross is the highest display of God’s wisdom and God’s power.”

Like him, you here have clearly indicated to those who live an unvictorious Christian life and wonder "Lord, is this all there is?" that this is most definitely not all that there is. There is VICTORY in the Cross. And in your article you have shown that we should not stop at Paul's statement that he does what he doesn't want to do and doesn't do what he wants to do. That is satisfying to the flesh; but the Spirit would have us go on to the truth that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" that is found in the flesh (which is another name for human self-effort). It is not self-effort that will give us the victory but simply by "reckoning (λογίζομαι, logizomai=to account, to consider, to regard) ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to Christ." (Romans 6:11) And when we do that daily, taking up our cross (which is a figurative way of saying we reckon we no longer have our own life) then we can say with Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God ...." (Galatians 2:20)

Brother in this article you have truly correctly divided God's Word. Good job. And thank you on behalf of all those who will be helped by this.

Thanks Bro. And thanks to you as well Hannah, for your insight on this.

[Elijah's Mantle]

Robert it was worth a waitin on
very good read

Thank God, in a world of so many unfinished things there is one thing finished. ‘It is finished’--the work of the Saviour is finished, said He who did it, and no one yet had ever been able to point out an unfinished thing in that redemption work . . . . The done takes away the ‘do.’ ‘DO’ means human endeavor, DONE means Divine accomplishment.

[NUmarcus]

Thanks again for these Robert!

[NUmarcus]

But this was a tough one for me, and I needed to be in prayer and be certain that I was in the word before I wrote a single letter! It's all too easy to write what we THINK scripture means and not what is actually says.

Question:

I'm not trying to be critical/contentious/silly or other, so please excuse me in advance if this appears in that light. I have read through many of your studies and posts now and I have seen you speak to this many a time. The same with mattfivefour and others. I have read quotes like "The Lord laid it on my heart," or "I was strongly convicted."

1. How do you know it is the Lord? Is it something that mature Christians have developed a sense for through bible study, prayer, and experience?
   
2. Further, is this a feeling (may not be correct word) of "I need to speak to John Doe about X," or "I need to put together a study on Matthew or John or what have you because I'm seeing people struggle with Y,"....an unshakeable feeling/thought/need to complete some task or other?

[soundingthealarm]

Question:

I'm not trying to be critical/contentious/silly or other, so please excuse me in advance if this appears in that light. I have read through many of your studies and posts now and I have seen you speak to this many a time. The same with mattfivefour and others. I have read quotes like "The Lord laid it on my heart," or "I was strongly convicted."

1. How do you know it is the Lord? Is it something that mature Christians have developed a sense for through bible study, prayer, and experience?
   
2. Further, is this a feeling (may not be correct word) of "I need to speak to John Doe about X," or "I need to put together a study on Matthew or John or what have you because I'm seeing people struggle with Y,"....an unshakeable feeling/thought/need to complete some task or other?

Can't speak for Robert but bet it's very similar and look forward to his and Adrian's reply

Jeremiah said it best, "it is like fire shut up in my bones"

I believe it very similar that when God desires to speak through us..He lays something on us that overwhelms our current thoughts. It will come to my hearing and then it's hard to think of anything else til I let it go to writing or speaking or if I'm at a grocery store and see someone and try and walk down another isle but am compelled to go back and yet try to go to the other side of the store ...arguing with God it's just me...that right there usually confirms it's not because my flesh is kicking and screaming

I filter it through God's written word "Does it line up?"
I check my motives..."my carnal man opposes God" is this to glorify God or Self? redemptive? reconciliatory?

I've learned what God has called me to do and say through time in His Presence and have also learned what He has not called me to do or say ..through trial and error

[mattfivefour]

We who are Christ's are ALL indwelt by the person of the Holy Spirit. Do you think that He just sits there in us, mute throughout our lives, unable to speak as God? Or merely works some kind of mysterious power in us to change us, unseen, unheard, unnoticed? No. He speaks to us. And He manifests Himself in thoughts and actions. I don't know about anybody else, though I have heard it from many mature Pastors and Teachers whom I have known, but I KNOW when God is speaking to me ... be it through His Word, or through that still, small voice that His Holy Spirit whispers inside us. After all, Christ Himself said, "My sheep know my voice." (John 10:27) And when God lays something on my heart it is, indeed, like "fire in my bones". It is so overwhelmingly strong—yet gentle—that I just KNOW it is Him. Satan tries to imitate God, but while he may transform himself into an angel of light, he cannot imitate the character of the Holy Spirit. I know Christ's voice.

But we are not left to operate on just "knowing". God has given us two objective evidences that we are correct when we believe God has spoken to us. The first is His Word. If God speaks to us it will align 100% with Scripture. The second, and equally important proof, is that when we do what God has said it always bears good fruit. You see, God ALWAYS confirms His word. Now there is also a subjective evidence— the deep, abiding peace of the Holy Spirit within that we are operating in God's will. When the three criteria—the two objective and the one subjective—are all in evidence, then we can know that we have heard from God and obeyed Him in that which He has given us. But this is not something that is intellectually apprised; nor can I describe or explain it to somebody else, other than what I have already said. When a person loves God with all of their being and seeks to obey Him, daily seeking to surrender their entire being, body soul and spirit, to Him and His service —not through self-effort or struggle, but through faith and rest in Christ— when their heart is thus wholly for Him, they will know. This frustrates many theologians and intellectual pastors and teachers who think that their years as a Christian or their extensive learning should give them a leg up on others. No. God chose mainly uneducated fishermen and other similar people to build His church. The greatest evangelists have been not the intellectuals but simple men who, like Gideon, simply believed God. Read Judges 6:11-7:25. In the midst of the narrative, you will see four key things about Gideon— he had a seeking heart; he knew he was weak; he was willing to obey; he trusted God completely. And with nothing more than that and the voice of God leading him, he overcame a fierce and powerful enemy that flesh could never have defeated. So it is with us.

I pray this helps.

[Robert]

Mattfivefour and Soundingthealarm nailed it dead on.

The Lord speaks through the Holy Spirit, whom through our thoughts or the written word speaks to us. And when the Lord speaks, He will confirm that it is indeed Him speaking and not leave us in doubt or wondering if "we heard correctly".

[NUmarcus]

Thank you for your collective patience and your replies. I do appreciate it.

[Meg]

When you are truly being convicted by the Holy Spirit, as vague as this sounds, you'll know it. First, if its about a known sin, thats pretty obvious, but if its about some life decision, the feeling of discomfort will be persistent. Thats how you tell, every time you think about the issue, it'll just feel wrong. If that starts happening, pray about it, asking for confirmation, and the issue should come clear.