Scandalous Grace, Part 6: Will the Real Christian Please Stand Up?

July 10,
2010

Scandalous Grace, Part 6

Will the Real Christian Please Stand
Up!
Romans 7:13-25 and Selected Scriptures
Sunday Morning
July 11, 2010
Church in the Boro
Rob Wilkerson

Introduction

How many of you have been quoted out of context before? If you
have, you know what I’m talking about. You answered a question or
made a statement. But someone else who’s got an issue with you took
bits and pieces of what you said, or else took an entire paragraph you
said, but did it out of context. And they did it to make you look like an
idiot, or to beef up their story so others would believe what they were
saying.

I recall this happening to me many times. One of them was when I was
called to the witness stand one day in a lawsuit. I was deposed by a
lawyer earlier, and he asked me questions just like the ones he asked
me when he deposed me. But when the other lawyer got up and cross-
examined me, he just made me flippin’ angry.

He would ask me questions which quoted various snippets of what I

said. The question would generally either be, “Did you say this, Mr.
Wilkerson?” or else he would just assume it by treating like it was in
context and he was being honest and all, and go on with his question.
In both scenarios I wasn’t allowed to explain myself. I was simply
ordered by the judge to answer “yes” or “no.” So the whole stinkin’
thing was a trap. I was misquoted and taken out of context in both
cases in order to be made out to be an idiot. And it was so not fair!

Pastors and theologians and commentators…and all studious

Christians for that matter…do this. And we do it all the time to the
Bible. We have this preconceived idea or conclusion we are shooting
for. And we go into the Bible asking questions shaped by our
preconception or presupposition. Yet we never even ask if our
preconception or presupposition is true! We just assume it is and
operate our Bible study from there.

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The problem, however, is that as we move along the path of Bible

study we end up coming to conclusions about what the author is
saying that aren’t really consistent with what the author was really
trying to say. In other words, we form conclusions that take the author
out of context because inwardly, whether we recognize it or not, we
are often trying to make him say something that supports what we
have presupposed. Sometimes we don’t even know it’s going on.
Many times we do and aren’t willing to be honest about it and admit it
and deal with it.

I believe Romans 7:13-25 is one of those passages. I believe that long

ago, for many years while I struggled incessantly with lust, that what I
read in Romans 7 must have been describing what I was going through
as a Christian. I was going insane inside, and therefore assumed Paul
must have been going insane also. I was completely NOT victorious
over my lust, but inwardly really, really wanted to follow after God. At
least I thought I did. In reality, though I really, really just wanted to
lust…because that’s what I did much of the time.

Years later, however, when I studied it afresh once more, I

rediscovered the originally intended meaning of Romans 7. But first let
me raise and deal with some important foundational issues before I get
into that.

Foundational Issues to Romans 7

The book of Romans is presented in typical legal fashion, making an

opening statement, and then making arguments that build one up on
the other toward a conclusion. Romans 7 is in a sectional unit of
Romans 5-8, coming just after the first sectional unit in 1-4, and
immediately followed by two other sectional units in 9-11, and 12-16.

Each sectional unit is a separate argument Paul is making for the

gospel. His whole effort in Romans is to explain to the Roman
Christians the gospel he preaches so that they will see that he’s on
their team, and support him in his missionary journey to Spain by
becoming a launching pad. Any argument is built on sub-arguments,
all of which build on one another. It’s no different here in Romans.

If we look at the first sectional unit of Romans, chapters 1-4,

we see that Paul is trying to prove that all humanity is condemned in
sin under God’s justice so that the only remedy or solution anybody
can turn to is the only one that actually works! If you wanna be
justified by your own efforts then Paul wants you to know that ends in
death. But if you wanna be justified by God’s efforts in mChrist for

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you, that’s the only way out of judgment. Paul labors to show the good
news that God – the just judge – has provided a way out of His just
judgment, and it’s the mercy of God in the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Next, Paul moves to his next point in Romans 5-8. He begins

with a “therefore,” a word Paul typically uses to lay the next layer of
argument in order to continue building his case. And the next
argument is simple: if you chose to be justified by God in Christ then
you’re now officially at peace with God through Jesus Christ. Paul then
labors to make this fact clear, taking it to the next level by showing
how God did this. When we compare how sin entered the world and
how it enslaved and condemned everyone to death with how perfect
righteousness entered the world in Jesus Christ and how He conquered
sin and death, we see how awesome God’s grace really is.

Justification, being made right with God, and having peace with God
are all ours in Jesus Christ. NO one can take these things away from
us. And the more God’s law is revealed, the more our sin is revealed,
the more our sin is revealed, which all reveals even more the grace of
God that saves us from the law and its just judgment on us.

The end of Romans 5 is found in verses 20-21, and I believe it

is the key to understanding Romans 6 and 7, and what Paul is
trying to explain and argue for there. In Romans 5:20 we read that the
LAW came in so that sin would increase. But where sin increased,
grace increased all the more. In other words, God gave the Law for
one express purpose: to show us how sinful we are and to show how
awful sin really is.

In reality, though, God ultimately gave the Law to build a foundation

for grace. Wherever the Law revealed sin of any kind, grace was
revealed in superabounding measure all the more. So in one verse
then, we have Law and Grace introduced, both of which become the
foundation for dealing with grace in chapter 6 and law in chapter 7.
You see, Paul makes this statement in 5:20, but then anticipates two
questions which will come up out of sheer necessity.

Question 1: If grace abounds where sin shows itself, should we carry

on sinning? Won’t that just make grace abound all the more?

Question 2: If the Law’s entrance into the world only makes sin
increase, then is the Law bad?

Paul deals with question 1 in chapter 6, and he deals with

question 2 in chapter 7. In each case he introduces the issue with

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the same question which shows us that his goal is to anticipate and
answer the questions: “what shall we say again?” (6:1 and 7:7). It is
missing the flow of the argument in Romans 5-8 that causes so many
to miss the point of chapter 7, which led me at one time to
misunderstand what Paul is saying there.

In chapter 6, Paul is arguing that the fact that we’ve died with Christ
Jesus means we are also dead to sin once and for all. “The old man
was crucified once and for all so that the body of sin would no longer
dominate us. For someone who has died has been freed from sin”
(6:6).

His point here is that anything and everything that connected me to

sin has been not just disconnected but completely severed. There’s
nothing whatsoever about sin that can control me or condemn me.
The point of Romans 6 then is to teach me to live like this is just as
true as anything else in my life. And the way I go about living like this
is by NOT serving sin with the parts or members of my body. You see,
the fact that sin’s power and penalty over me are severed doesn’t
mean it is dead. Rather I am the one who is dead. And I’m supposed
to live out of this fact.

A Fresh Look at Romans 7

So if what Paul says in Romans 6 is true of me, then the way I read and
understand Romans 7 is crucial. If I read it one way, then what it
means completely contradicts what Paul just taught me about my new
nature in Christ in chapter 6. But if I read it another way, it completely
compliments what Paul just taught in Romans 6. Let me read the
portion of Romans 7 that is so often debated, and see if you feel the
tension.

7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful?

Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my
sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the
law had not said, "You must not covet."* 8 But sin used
this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires
within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that
power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the
law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for
instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I
discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed
to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took
advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used
the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy,

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and its commands are holy and right and good.

13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good,
cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to
bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how
terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commands for its
own evil purposes.

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and

good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a
slave to sin. 15 I don't really understand myself, for I want
to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I
hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this
shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the
one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in

my sinful nature.* I want to do what is right, but I can't.
19 I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do
what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I
don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is
sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I

want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I
love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another
power* within me that is at war with my mind. This power
makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh,
what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this
life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God!
The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is:
In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of
my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

At first reading, the first few verses call our attention back to the issue
Paul raised about the Law in 5:20. A basic summary of his statement
could be this: just because Law points out your sin and makes you
wanna sin even more, doesn’t mean that Law is bad. It means people
are bad.

The Law of God is holy, righteous, perfect, and good. God Himself
gave it! He wrote it with His own hand! So just because the Law
points out my sin and makes me want to sin even more, doesn’t mean
that Law is bad. It just shows how bad human beings are, as well as
just how awful and heinous sin really is, because it takes something
good and perfect like God’s Law and uses it for evil.

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Now, at first reading, that second portion of Romans 7 I read to you

sounded pretty familiar, if you’re honest. Right? It almost sounded
like something you’d write and say, “Man that sounds like MY
testimony!” I said the same thing about it, and even assumed for
years that because it sounded so familiar and because it sounded like
a struggle I myself was having, that it must be talking about believers.
This sort of comforted me for many years, as I figured that if a man like
Paul struggled with sin like this, then I’m in good company! And then
in 2003 I noticed some things about the passage I hadn’t noticed
before.

What happened was that I was studying and teaching Romans verse by
verse to a group of believers at a local church were I was pastoring. It
was a class called, “The Doctrines of Grace.” And when I got to
Romans 7 I did what I was taught to do: approach the passage like
you’ve never studied it before, trying to see it as objectively as
possible, never reading your own issues or struggles into a text. These
are basic rules of what is called “hermeneutics” which is the science
and art of Bible study and interpretation. There are three guiding rules
my teachers passed down to me, and they have been ones I pass down
to those I teach also.

The First Three Rules of Bible Study & Interpretation

1. Authorial Intent. Figuring out what the author originally intended

to say, that is, understanding what he originally meant by what he
said, is the main goal of interpretation. When you understand who he
was originally writing to, when he was writing, and why he was writing,
you have acquired the authorial intent. And when you get authorial
intent, you get what God intended you to understand, because He’s
the one who inspired it in the first place (2 Tim. 3:16).

2. Context, Context, Context. Context always rules when it comes

to trying to understand what an author is saying. If we let him say
what he is trying to say, and let him define his own terms, and let him
explain it, then we’ll understand what the author was originally
intending to say. Generally an author has a point to make, and when
we read each thing he says in light of the original point he was trying
to make, we better understand each thing he says.

3. Objectivity! Never Subjectivity. When you come to read and

study a Bible passage the aim is to see what GOD was trying to
communicate through the author’s original intent. So when you come
to read and study the Bible and begin bringing your own issues and
questions into your Bible study, the author ends up answering

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questions he never intended to ask or answer in the first place, and he

ends up dealing with issues he never intended to deal with in the first
place. In other words, we make the author say and mean something
he never originally intended.

And it’s so easy to do! We all have issues, concerns, questions,

frustrations, irritations, history, baggage, etc. And all of that is vitally
important to God. He wants to deal with it. But He wants to deal with
it based on what He originally intended to say in the Bible to begin
with. We study the Bible first by seeing what the author was originally
trying to say. And we apply our study second to our issues, concerns,
questions, etc. wherever they apply. When we read our own stuff into
the Bible we make it say something it doesn’t really say and that’s
called misinterpretation. And people do it all the time. Pastors do it. I
probably do it.

And I believe I DID it once when it comes to Romans 7. When I studied

the context of Romans 7, I saw that Romans 5:20 was Paul’s
introductory statement to Romans 6 and 7. Everything Paul said
Romans 6 was about answering the question of weirdos who thought
that sinning more meant they’d see more of God’s grace. Everything
Paul said in Romans 7 was about answering the question of weirdos
who said that the Law of God must be bad since it just makes us want
to sin even more. Therefore, good Bible study says that anything Paul
says in Romans 7 must be about supporting his main point.

What we do often times…what I do often times…is to see Paul making

another point in Romans 7 that isn’t the original one he was trying to
make. We clearly see that he’s addressing the issue of Law in verses
1-12. But somehow we think he makes a break from trying to make
that same point in verses 13-25. But he’s not. He’s simply continuing
to make the same point, namely that Law can not in any way
whatsoever save me or help me walk with God. It possesses no power
at all to sanctify me or draw me closer to God. The only power it
possesses is conviction. Period.

Is Paul Talking About a Believer in Romans 7?

That’s the first argument I stared at back in 2003 that changed my

mind about this passage. I used to think Paul was describing a typical
struggle all Christians have. But this is not the reason he’s writing
chapter 7 in the first place. It’s all about the weakness of the law to do
anything for us or to us except frustrate us.

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The second thing that changed my mind was the actual statements he
made here. They seem to totally contradict everything he said in
Romans 6. And what’s more, they seem to totally contradict
everything he’s building up to say in Romans 8.

So let me do this. Let me give a comparison of some of the statements

in Romans 7 with other things Paul says in Romans 6 and 8 as well as
other statements Paul makes elsewhere. When I do, you’ll see what I
saw, namely that there’s no way Paul is talking about a Christian in
Romans 7:13-25.

Romans 7 Statements Other Pauline Statements

7:14 – “I am unspiritual, sold as a
slave into sin.”
7:15 – “For I do not understand
what I am doing. For I do not do
what I want – instead I do what I
hate.”
7:17 – “Sin that lives in me…”
7:18 – “Nothing good lives in
me…”
7:18-20 – “And I know that
nothing good lives in me, that is,
in my sinful nature.* I want to do
what is right, but I can't. I want
to do what is good, but I don't. I
don't want to do what is wrong,
but I do it anyway. But if I do
what I don't want to do, I am not
really the one doing wrong; it is
sin living in me that does it. I
have discovered this principle of
life—that when I want to do what
6:6 – “no longer enslaved to sin…”
6:17 – “you were slaves to sin…”
6:18 – “you became enslaved to
righteousness.”
6:22 – “But, now freed from sin
and enslaved to God…”
1 Cor. 6:13 – “I will not be
mastered by anything.”
1 Cor. 9:19 – “I am a free man
with no master…”
8:13 – “For I you live according to
the flesh you will die.”
6:7 – “Someone who has died has
been freed from sin.”
8:10 – “But if Christ is in you, your
body is dead because of sin.”
8:10 – “But if Christ is in you…”
1 Cor. 9:23, 26-27 – “ I do
everything to spread the Good
News and share in its blessings…
So I run with purpose in every
step. I am not just shadowboxing.
I discipline my body like an
athlete, training it to do what it
should. Otherwise, I fear that after
preaching to others I myself might
be disqualified.”
1 Cor. 10:13 – “The temptations in

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is right, I inevitably do what is your life are no different from

wrong.” what others experience. And God
is faithful. He will not allow the
temptation to be more than you
can stand. When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out so that
you can endure.”

1 John 3:6 – “Anyone who

continues to live in him will not
sin. But anyone who keeps on
sinning does not know him or
understand who he is.”

In my study one day I came across 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, which is

great testimony of Paul.

“As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated

by you or by any human authority. I don't even trust my
own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but
that doesn't prove I'm right. It is the Lord himself who will
examine me and decide.”

This doesn’t sound like the testimony of a troubled soul struggling over
sin in his life he can’t seem to conquer or get a hold of or stop doing. If
we believe Romans 7 is Paul’s preoccupation with self-examination,
then what’s he talking about in 1 Corinthians 4:4?

He says he has a clear conscience. But if you have a clear conscience,

then you aren’t the troubled Christians Romans 7 is supposed to be
talking about. So what’s going on? Again, it’s a misunderstanding of
Paul’s main point in Romans 7. He’s not trying to explain his struggle
with sin. He’s simply continuing to explain what life is like for the
person who tries to live under law. It only frustrates you. Not only
does it make you want to sin more, it drives you flipping insane.

I don’t believe this portion of Romans 7 is describing the Christian.

And I don’t even really believe he’s trying to describe the non-
Christian. I believe his purpose is to describe what anybody’s life will
be like if they live up under the law. In short, you become a split-
personality, double-minded, frustrated and enslaved to sin. And James
1 describes the double-minded man as a two-souled man who is
unstable in everything he does.

Terry Virgo wrote that, “the Christian life is a call to fight the good fight
of faith. It requires your being strong in the Lord and in the strength of

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his might and taking the whole armor of God. But nowhere else is it
seen as the hopeless cry of a wretched captive” (God’s Lavish Grace,
p. 58). Instead, here’s how Paul describes the Christian life in 2
Corinthians 4.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not

crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.
9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We
get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through
suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of
Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our
bodies.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because

we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in
our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but
this has resulted in eternal life for you.

13 But we continue to preach because we have the same

kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in
God, so I spoke." 14 We know that God, who raised the
Lord Jesus,* will also raise us with Jesus and present us to
himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit.
And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there
will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and
more glory.

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are

dying, our spirits are* being renewed every day. 17 For
our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet
they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and
will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we
can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot
be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but
the things we cannot see will last forever.

The REAL Issue in Romans 7 is the Practical

Relationship of the Christian & the Sin He
Commits

So what’s the issue in Romans 7? I’ll tell you what I think the
confusion is over. It’s about the relationship of sin and the Christian.
It’s easy to make the conclusion that if Paul is not talking about the
believer’s experience in Romans 7 that the believer doesn’t struggle
with sin. But that would be a hasty conclusion. Paul never says we

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don’t struggle with sin as Christians. In fact, just about every letter he
ever wrote points to the contrary. What does he deal with in each
church to whom he writes? SIN!

Surely this is pretty evident in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. The

church there severely struggled with sin. Yet never did he speak of
them or to them or about them in anyway similar to the way I used
to interpret Romans 7.

How about in Galatians? The sin there is very, VERY evident.

Christians were being tempted to return to legalism. And some
were slipping back into fruits of the flesh as opposed to fruits of the
Spirit. Some were stuck in sin and needed rescuing. But again,
there’s no testimony of the Galatians like that which Paul is
supposedly giving in Romans 7.

Similarly in Ephesians and Colossians there’s issues of sin to deal

with, like immorality, false doctrine, disobedient children and
employees, unsubmissive wives, unloving husbands, etc.

In Philippians, there’s relationships in conflict in the body that needs

to be dealt with, as well as discontentment and worry and anxiety.

In the Thessalonian church there’s immorality and false doctrine

and laziness.

So it’s really unfair to conclude that just because a person says the
Romans 7 section isn’t talking about Christians, that person is logically
concluding that Christians don’t struggle with sin. The apostle John
was equally clear about this.

So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but

go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the
truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light,
then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of
Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have
no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the
truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling
God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our
hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that
you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an
advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is
Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is

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the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins
but the sins of all the world. (1 John 1:6-2:2)

Interestingly, for John, it’s wrong to say that you don’t sin. But it’s
even more wrong to say you’re a Christian and go on living in sin. So
it seems that the bulk of Paul’s other writings, brought alongside what
John said there, all points to this conclusion: if Romans 7:13-25 is
talking about a Christian then that person doesn’t have fellowship with
God and is not a Christian. And that’s because a Christian is dead to
sin, he’s not a slave to sin any longer, he has the power to say “no” to
sin, and it doesn’t have any power or control over him any longer.
That’s not the impression I get from the man in Romans 7:13-25.

The Where and the How of the Christian’s Practical

Fight With Sin

So let me give you the impression I do get about Romans 7 in light of

the overall sectional context in Romans 5-8. There’s this larger issue
going on here that has to do with my body, the parts of my body, my
flesh and bones, and this plays a HUGE role for Paul in chapters 6, 7
and 8. This role is often underestimated and usually spiritualized.
Many commentators, for example, have interpreted some or most of
the references to “body” and “flesh” as spiritual references. John
Calvin, for example, explained that the reference to “body of sin” in
Romans 6:6 is pointing to the spiritual mass of sin. Charles Hodges,
another famous Reformed theologian of the 19th century wrote that
“the body of sin” is a spiritual system of sinful desires. Another
famous commentator on Romans wrote that “the body of sin” is a
reference to the power of the old age (Nygren).

But there’s little reason to think this way about this and other
references to “body” and “flesh” and “members” if (1) the literal sense
makes good sense, and (2) the usage of a literal understanding fits the
way Paul uses the word or concept across three connected chapters.
In other words, when we look at chapters 6-8, Paul uses this word or
similar concept 28 times in three chapters! Surely that’s important!
Look at the references with me so you can feel the weight of the
importance of this concept. (All these quotations are from the NET
Bible.)

6:6 – “We know that our old man was crucified with him so the
body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no
longer be enslaved to sin.”
6:12 – “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that
you obey its desires…”

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6:13 (2x) – “and do not present your members to sin as

instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present
yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your
members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.”
6:19 (2x) – “(I am speaking in human terms because of the
weakness of your flesh.) For just as you once presented your
members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more
lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to
righteousness leading to sanctification.”
7:5 (2x) – “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires
aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body so
bear fruit for death.”
7:18 – “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is¸ in my
flesh.”
7:22 – “For I delight in the law of God in my inner being…”
7:23 (2x) – “But I see a different law in my members waging war
against the law of my mind and make me captive to the law of
sin that is in my members.”
7:24 – “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this
body of death?”
7:25 – “Thanks 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.”
8:3 (2x) – “For God achieved what the law could not do because
it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin
in the flesh…”
8:4 – “…so that the righteous requirements of the law may be
fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.”
8:5 – “For those who live according to the flesh have their
outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live
according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of
the Spirit.”
8:6 – “For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the
Spirit is life and peace…”
8:7 – “…because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it
does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.”
8:8 – “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
8:9 – “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God lives in you…
8:10 – “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.”

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8:11 – “Morever if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the
dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will
also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in
you.”
8:12 (2x) – “So then, brothers and sisters, we are under
obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh…”
8:13 (2x) – “(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die),
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you
will live.”
8:24 – “Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our
adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”

When you use a word or concept over and over and over again,
generally you mean the same thing when you say it. You may nuance
it here and there a little bit. But overall, your meaning is generally the
same. Otherwise, you’re not being clear when you communicate.

Surely Paul must mean the same thing by those terms at least most of
the time. Otherwise, Paul is doing doublespeak here, which would
confuse us, and Paul isn’t trying to confuse us. Rather, he’s trying to
make a clear appeal to the gospel he preaches so that he can gain
missionary support from the Roman church.

I believe that properly understanding what Paul means in most of the

references to body, flesh, members, etc. is a key to understanding not
just what Paul is describing in Romans 7, but a key to understanding
where the fight with sin really is, which helps me clarify and simplify
how I am supposed to fight it.

Paul placed the fight with sin squarely in our bodies. You see, when we
were saved by God, our inner man, our soul, was transformed,
regenerated, brought back from the dead, and our souls were made
alive to God in Christ once and for all, forever. 2 Corinthians 5:17
teaches us that when you are saved by God the old is gone and the
new has come. He was speaking of the old part of your inner person,
or your soul. In that chapter he’s describing the ministry of the New
Covenant, which is found in Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31. In both of
those texts, God takes out the heart of stone that hates God and is in
rebellion to Him, and He replaces it with a heart of flesh on which He
writes His commandments, and into which He pours the Holy Spirit,
including the forgiveness of sins.

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Problem is, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:1, this treasure we now

have is trapped inside a jar of clay, meaning our bodies. Here’s how
he described it in verses 1-9.

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken

down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we
will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us
by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary
in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly
bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly
bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live
in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that
we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us.
Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these
dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has
prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us
his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though
we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not
at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by
seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather
be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at
home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body
or away from this body, our goal is to please him” (NLT).

THERE’S where the real struggle is. It’s in our unredeemed bodies, just
like Paul explained in Romans 8:24. “Not only this, but we ourselves
also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly
await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” But until that time,
Paul rightly understands that he must deal with his body, with its
desires, its tendencies. He must fight his body and make himself
master over it, rather than the other way around. He says in 1
Corinthians 9:26 and 27, “So I do not run uncertainly or box like one
who hits the air. Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so
that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified” (NET).
That seems to make things pretty clear.

When I come to Romans 6, 7 and 8 I learn about the grace of God in a

clear way. And when I do, I come to know what grace is and what it
actually did for me, to me, and in me. Grace teaches me where the
fight really is and therefore how to fight it. Paul explained to Titus in
2:11-14.

“For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to

all people. It trains us to reject godless ways, and worldly
desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives
in the present age, as we wait for the happy fulfillment of

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our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and

Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave himself for us to set us free
from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a
people who are truly his, who are eager to do good” (NET).

There’s so much more teaching we need to do on this subject, if for no

other reason than I reference almost thirty passages that talk about
this subject! But I believe that the summary I’ve just given you is the
simplest one that explains the point Paul is trying to make, and
therefore God is trying to make about your struggle with sin as a
Christian. In short, you are dead to sin, but sin is not dead to you. Sin
won’t die until Jesus comes back and throws Satan in hell, burns this
earth up, creates a new one, and gives us a new body in heaven. But
you are dead to sin until all this happens. It’s a true as anything else
you’ve read and believe in the Bible. Therefore God wants you to live
like it’s true. If you live like it’s true, you show it’s true. If you don’t
live like it’s true, you show it may not be true.

Based on these truths about where the fight is, here’s how to fight sin
in your body so that you won’t end up finding yourself to be the insane
person in Romans 7. I’ll close with five things you want to believe
about your body based on who you are in Christ. I’ll repeat them
several times so you can write them down. I’d encourage you to
repeat them to yourself each and everyday so you can clarify and
simplify the fight.

1. My body is that which tied me to Adam and this world and

therefore sin.

2. Through Christ my body’s tie to sin has been severed once and
for all.

3. My body is that which is most susceptible to the world and sin.

4. My body will one day be redeemed and the real me won’t be

trapped inside of it anymore.

5. Until then, my body is a slave of Christ, and therefore to be

offered as a living sacrifice to God, which is the most reasonable
thing to do.

Amen.

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