The Flesh and the Spirit

Like most sincere Christians, I struggle with sin. And it's a passionate struggle. There are sinful tendencies within me that I simply despise, and yet secretly love. Here lies the problem. There are things that I do that I wish that I didn't do. My desire to become like Christ requires me to resist these sinful tendencies. I think that most of Christians can say that's true with them as well. So often throughout church history, struggling Christians have found comfort in texts such as Romans 7 and Galatians 5.

However, the more that I study Romans and Galatians the more I realize that these passages have often been misinterpreted. My opinion is that most of us have read our struggle with sin into these texts and, as a result, have failed to grasp the meaning of Paul. Let's take a real quick look at Romans 7:13-25 for now. (In the future, I hope to post on Galatians 5).

Paul writes,

13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For 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. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me (ESV).

The first thing that I want to point is this--it is crucial to our understanding of the text that we correctly identify the beginning of this paragraph. Some folks want to start with v. 14 (See the NIV). However, I believe that v. 13 marks the beginning of the paragraph. Why? Because v. 14-25 provides the answer to the question asked in v. 13. If we miss this, we miss Paul's whole argument. Throughout Romans, Paul uses a Q-and-A format. This is how he operates. In v. 13 we have the question that sets the agenda for v. 14-25. And what's that question.

13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?

What's Paul talking about? The Mosaic Law! The Law was a good thing, a spiritual thing (i.e. inspired by the Spirit). And yet, as the previous verses demonstrate, it brought death to Paul. The Law made Paul realize his own sinfulness. It revealed the inadequacy of his own human attempts to please God. The Law said not to covet and Paul coveted. The problem was clear. Paul was spiritually dead. So here's the issue. How could the Law, being a good thing, bring death to Paul? Look at the answer.

By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

It wasn't the Law's fault that Paul died. The power of sin which controlled Paul was to blame. And thus, the power of sin used a good thing, the Law, to bring death to Paul. Paul continues to illustrate this in v. 14-25. Look at how Paul describes himself in these verses.

• I am of the flesh
• Sold under sin
• I do not understand my own actions
• I do not do the thing I want
• I do the very thing I hate
• Sin dwells within me
• 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

This does not describe the Christian. This is a description of a Jewish unbeliever. The Jews believed that they had a right status with God simply because of their ethnic heritage and possession of the Torah. Paul argues again and again that this does not cut it. In fact, the very thing that they were so proud of--the Torah--proves that they stand condemned as covenant breakers. They did not keep the Law nor did they have the ability outside of Christ to do so. That's why Paul adds in v. 21-25.

21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

If we stay in the context of ch. 7, the passage is clearly not discussing the struggle of a believer with sin. Now does this mean that Christians no longer struggle with sin? Clearly not. There are plenty of other texts that illustrate that, but Romans 7 isn't one of them. It deals with the struggle of an unbelieving Jew relying on Torah observance to please God.