Romans 7:13-20

Law and Sin Continued

¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin [not the law], producing death in me through what is good [the law], in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. [The law is good; the villain is sin. Through the light of the law the darkness of sin is revealed in all its hideousness.] ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. [There is something in humanity, even in those regenerate, which objects to God and seeks to be independent. Paul calls this the flesh, which lays us open to the tyranny of indwelling sin. We have been sold as slaves to sin, which masters us.] 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. [“I don’t acknowledge my own actions as mine. I see and approve the better course but follow the worse.”] ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [That is by disobeying the law and sinning, I agree that there is a need for the law as a standard to expose my sin for what it is. Without the law, we easily deceive ourselves.] ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”] 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. [And that is our problem: we cannot keep the law because we lack the ability. We need help.] 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. [The “age to come” has arrived with Jesus, although the old age has not yet passed away completely. Paul (as we are) is caught up in the tension between the two ages. He is like a person living simultaneously on two planes, longing to lead a life in keeping with the higher plane, but sadly aware of the strength of indwelling sin that keeps on pulling him down to the lower plane. Paul paints a picture of life under the law without the aid of the Spirit (“not the ability to carry it out”) portrayed by one who has experienced the liberating power of the Spirit. Christians in general live in these two planes with all the tension this involves. We are subject to the conditions of mortal life and are subject to the law that “in Adam all die.” Spiritually, however, we have passed from death to life, from the realm of darkness to the kingdom of light.]