Sin is mankind’s greatest enemy. It is the reason for all the suffering and death on Earth. Sin is ultimately the cause for all the sorrow that falls upon man. Sin tramples on the glory of God and invokes God’s holy wrath. Apart from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, sin is terminal. Paul says in Ephesians 2:3 that man is “by nature children of wrath”(NASB). Jesus Christ came to earth, died and was raised to life, to set humanity free from the bondage of sin. That is the gospel, and by faith one receives the grace of God. Paul explains that the gospel sets a person free from sin, and enslaves them to 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 to righteousness” (Rom. 6:17-18). So when a person receives this amazing grace of God, what does sin look like in in the life of a believer? Romans 7:14-25 is about the war between the spiritual nature and remaining corruption in Paul's life as a converted man. This battle is the reality of every believer until separation of the original body occurs.
There has been much debate over Romans 7:14-25, whether this passage is about pre-conversion Paul, or Paul’s struggle with sin as a saved man. At a quick reading it is difficult to distinguish whether this is converted Paul or not. This certainly could be a description of a man wrestling with conviction of sin. However, there seems to be a lot of evidence showing that Paul is talking about his battle against sin during his converted state. Matthew Henry says regarding Romans 7:14-25, “It seems rather to be understood as referring to the struggles that are maintained between grace and corruption in sanctified souls (Henry 1708, 2026).
Paul uses very strong language in describing his dealings with sin. His emotion toward sin is hatred. It says in verse 15, “…I am not practising what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate”. This is significant because in other areas of scripture where Paul talks about the natural unregenerate man, he describes their relationship with sin as hedonistic. Ephesians 2:3 says, “among them we too lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind”. Nothing in the verse from Ephesians would lead one to assume that the subject hates their sin. Rather it seems that they are utterly engaged, both mind and heart in their sin as absolute pleasure. Furthermore, Paul says in Romans 1:32 concerning sin, that the unregenerate person gives “hearty approval to those who practise them”. In John Calvin’s exposition on Romans 7:14-25 he says, “this conflict, of which the Apostle speaks, does not exist in a man before he is renewed by the Spirit of God: for man, left to his own nature, is wholly borne along by his lusts without any restraint” (Calvin 1548, 262).
It is true that when someone in their unregenerate state is under conviction of sin they may be overwhelmed with despair. Even Judas Iscariot had sorrow, and understood that he was guilty, but he despaired because he possessed no love for Jesus, or the law of God. True sorrow over sin is a result of hating one’s vices and possessing real love for the Lord. A person may become sorrowful from conviction of sin, but it is not because they hate the sin they engage in. It is because the sting of their conscience and the guilt that burdens their soul crushes any happiness that they hope to acquire from the deeds which they think are pleasurable.
If Romans 7:14-25 is about Paul’s pre-converted state, then he could not say “I delight in God’s law” (Rom. 7:22 NIV). The natural mind always looks at the law of God as burdensome. Delighting in the law of God is the outcome of salvation. It is what God promised of the new covenant. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, ‘declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it…” (Jer. 31:33 NASB). This is exactly what Paul declares about himself in verse 22. In his “inner man” he delights in the law of God. In John Piper’s exposition of this passage he says, “Paul speaks about the Law of God in this passage in a way that sounds like the way a Christian believer would talk about it, not the way an unregenerate, non-Christian Jewish man would talk about it. I am thinking not just of him calling the law "good" (7:16) or even "spiritual" (7:14), but especially 7:22 when he says, "I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man” (Piper 2001). Now it is true that God has written His law on every human beings conscience and on their heart to a certain degree; but it is not in a way like the promise of the new covenant. Paul says in Romans 2:14-15: “for when the gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their heart, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them”. This verse simply means that God has made known to everyone what He requires of them. Notice that through the law being made known to their hearts and consciences they shall be judged by how they responded to that law—“their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing…” (Rom. 2:15). When God writes the law on a person’s heart according to the new covenant, it is a different result. According to the new covenant the person loves the law of God. This is the result of salvation!
There is yet another reason helping to shed light on the proper interpretation of this passage. It is the fact that he speaks in first person. In the first thirteen verses of Romans 7 Paul speaks in third person; but from verses 14-25 he speaks in the present tense. Notice in verse 9 of Romans 7 Paul speaks in the past tense, referring to his pre-converted state: “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died.” Another example of sin and the Law in Paul’s past is found in verse 11, it says, “for sin, taking the opportunity through the commandment deceived me and through it killed me.” In every verse of Romans 7:14-25, Paul speaks in present tense. This is clearly implying that the inner turmoil is an ongoing battle in Paul’s life. If Paul actually meant for his readers to think this was an account of his conviction with sin as an unbeliever, then he most certainly would have written in past tense. To write in the present tense Paul means to say that he is currently struggling with sin as a converted Christian.
By establishing this passage as Paul’s struggle with sin as a regenerated Christian, one can properly study this passage for what it is—namely, all out warfare between the spiritual nature that accompanies salvation and the remaining corruption in the flesh. In the chapters leading up to Romans 7:14, Paul has been exhaustive in teaching his readers that mankind is utterly sinful. Every thought, motive, and deed produced by the natural man is sinful. Paul says in Romans 3:10, “there is none righteous, not even one”. The human race is so controlled by the sinful nature that when someone becomes born-again it does not mean they won’t commit sin again. When a person receives salvation through Jesus the battle with sin starts, and will not end until that person is separated from their natural body. On the subject of sin, J.C. Ryle wrote:
So deeply planted are the roots of human corruption, that even after we are born again, renewed, washed, sanctified, justified and made living members of Christ, these roots remain alive in the bottom of our hearts and, like the leprosy in the walls of the house, we never get rid of them until the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved (Ryle 1879, 5).
The question arises—why do Christians struggle with sin even after being saved? This battle exists because although the Christian’s spirit is made alive, their soul’s abode remains in the natural flesh for the time being. Paul says in Romans 7:18, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh”. By adding flesh on the end of this statement about himself, Paul means to say that there are remnants of the sinful nature striving to take control of his heart. The power of sin may be broken; “for sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Nevertheless, there still arises “sinful desires, which wage war on [the] soul” (1Peter 2:11). Verse 20 says, “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”. Paul is not trying to nullify personal responsibility of sin. Rather, he is implying that the old nature still exists, even though the Christian has a new divine nature. MacArthur wrote, “Paul’s new inner self, the new “I”, no longer approved of the sin that was still residing in his flesh” (MacArthur 2005, 1528). This vicious battle is also described in his letter to the Galatians: “for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another” (Gal. 5:17). This is clearly indicating that within the heart of a Christian, there is a power struggle between the old sinful nature and the new spiritual nature.
Not only do Christians still commit sin even after receiving the grace of God, but even their good works are somewhat tainted by sin. “I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (Rom. 7:21 NIV). The old “I” is always at work, never backing down to take control of the Christian. This reality of the Christian life is what inspired the puritan writer John Owen to write: “who can say that he had ever anything to do with God, or for God, that indwelling sin had not a hand in the corrupting of what he did” (Owen 1656, 29).
The war between the flesh and the Spirit is so fierce and real in the believer’s life that anyone who denies the reality of this battle in their own life ought to examine themself “to see whether [they] are in the faith” (2Cor. 13:5). Certainly there is victory in the Christian’s life; the sinful nature progressively loses its grasp on the believer’s heart as time goes on. But the new divine nature is not satisfied with anything less than perfection. Since perfection is not attainable in this life, the inner turmoil rages on. “The inward man may delight in the law of God, but the old nature delights in breaking the law of God” (Wiersbe 1977, 91). If a person does not feel the friction between the colliding natures, then it most likely means they have not been born-again. It is important to note that it is not the sin in the believer’s life that is a mark for a Christian—far be it! Rather it is the reaction to personal sin of a believer that marks salvation. “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2Cor. 7:10). Both types of sorrow have to do with their own personal violation of God’s law. Godly sorrow is the response corresponding with salvation, whereby one truly despises their sin for what it is. Worldly sorrow produces death because it possesses no hatred for the vice itself, but rather fears the punishment that comes as a result of the sin.
For the Christian to be rid of this inner turmoil, he/she must be separated from the natural body; “for he who has died is freed from sin” (Rom. 6:7). For the Christian, death means separation from sin forever more. Perhaps this is why the psalmist wrote, “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones” (Ps. 116:15). The only other way for Christians to be completely separated from the sinful nature is if the Lord returns during their life on earth. “We know that when He appears, we will be like Him…” (1John 3:2 NASB). When Christ comes back to earth, believers “will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” (1Cor. 15:51-52). So relentless is sin’s pursuit to take back the citadel of the human heart that the complete annihilation of the flesh is absolutely necessary. Only then can the Christian worship God unrestrained.
Since death is the means by which one is released from the struggle against sin described in Romans 7:14-25, perhaps this is what inspired Paul to say, “to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Certainly there will always be sin in a Christian’s life, but that does not mean one should yield to sin. Sin’s relentless pursuit of the human heart is not grounds to give in to the flesh. Our flesh does not want to do the will of God, and strains against the new divine nature of the Christian. The battle described in Romans 7 is often the cause of despair for the Christian, but there is a remedy for this despair. Paul cries out, “who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:24-25). The grace of God, accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, is the cause for rejoicing even in the midst of despair, because “though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). Therefore, Christians ought to be thankful that they are not “under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
REFERENCE LIST
Henry, Matthew. 1708. The New Matthew Henry Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Calvin, John. 1548. Calvin’s Commentaries. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books
Piper, John. 2001. Who Is This Divided Man? Part 3. 24 June 2001. http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/who-is-this-divided-man part-3 (accessed 04 December 2011)
Ryle, J.C. 1879. Holiness. Darlington, England: Evangelical Press
MacArthur, John. 2005. The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.
Owen, John. 1656. The Mortification of Sin. Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications Ltd.
Wiersbe, Warren. 1977. Be Right. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook
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