The Struggle with Sin

“The Struggle With Sin”

Preliminary Statement on Romans 7:7-25: This section continues Paul’s discussion from 7:1-6. Paul makes the shocking statement that the Mosaic Law can actually be an unwitting conduit for sin to oppress mankind and lead them into further sinfulness. He shows us in graphic terms how sin does its “terrorizing” work through the Mosaic Law which is “holy and righteous and good” and which the Jews were supposed to live by. Then, in the climax of his discussion, Paul provides the only solution to this spiritual quandary.

1. Read vv.7-8. Here, Paul defends the Mosaic Law from the charge of being “sin”. (a) Why do you suppose Paul had to do that (see 7:5-6)? (b) How did Paul defend the goodness and the holiness of the Law in vv.7-8? (c) What do you suppose Paul meant in v.8b that “apart from the Law sin is dead”?

Answ:

(a) Because he had just said in 7:5-6 that the Mosaic Law aroused in him “sinful passions”.

(b) Without the Mosaic Law, he would not have known what God’s precept or will is such as He does not want us to covet. Also, he said that the Mosaic Law does not directly arouse him to sin. Rather it was “sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind.” Sin personified is to blame, not the Mosaic Law per se.

mankind was without sin before the coming of the Mosaic Law. But, clearly, Paul had already charged earlier (Romans 1:18-32 and 5:12-14) that mankind sinned against God way before the Mosaic Law was introduced into human history. So what Paul means here by “apart from the Law sin is dead” must be understood in a limited sense. In must be understood in a sense consistent with what he has been saying all along about the combustible combination of “sin-personified” and the Mosaic Law, that is, apart from the Mosaic Law sin is not as active or powerful in its effects in tempting a person because there are no intensifying suggestions coming from the Mosaic Law to further fuel the sinful passions within a man.

2. Read vv. 9-11. Here, Paul uses the rhetorical “I” (representing the Jews) to state his point of what happens before and after the receiving of the Mosaic Law. (a) Sin is personified in this passage. According to Paul, what did sin do after the commandment was given? (b) What Old Testament incident does Paul’s description of sin remind you of? (c) Do you find the description of sin’s deceptive activity to be true today? Cite some examples.

Answ:

(a) Sin became alive (v.9). Sin “deceived and killed me” (v.11).

(b) It’s interesting to note that sin-personified is said to have “deceived” me and through it “killed” me. This scenario should remind us of the fall of man in Genesis 3 where the serpent (a personification of evil/sin) also deceived and in the process killed our first parents Adam and Eve. (See Paul’s reference to the serpent’s “deception” in II Cor. 11:3.)

But often they sin because they are “deceived” by sin-personified (e.g., sinful passions within, the devil’s temptation, etc.). There is a “sin principle” at work in the world we live in that is driving us to transgress against God and even using God’s righteous Law as its instrument of wickedness. Example: When we have an addiction or a strong attachment to something that is not wholesome, (and if we’re honest, we would have to say that all of us have an addiction or an unwholesome attachment to something), the more we know that it’s wrong and we shouldn’t do it, the more it seems that we want to do it. The reason for this phenomenon is not just it’s our will, but it is also because there is a “sin-principle” at work in the world we live in. Some examples of such modern addictions or unwholesome attachment are: alcohol, drugs, pornography, the internet, computer games, compulsive gambling or shopping, etc.

3. Read vv.12-14. (a) How did Paul describe the law (v.12, 14)? (b) How did Paul describe himself, that is, the “I” of v.14? (c) What do you think those descriptions mean?

Answ:

(a) “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

(b) “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.”

(c) [Here. I want people to just give their own impressions on what the graphic description “sold into bondage to sin” means. But essentially the answer we should be looking for is someone who is enslaved or subjugated by sin. They are powerless to overcome sin and are at sin’s mercy.]

4. Read vv.15-23. This section is Paul’s graphic description of what it means to be “of the flesh, sold into bondage to sin” (v.14). (a) What dilemma did Paul discover in himself as he (or the “I” Paul is referring to) tried to keep the law? (See vv. 15, 19) (b) How did Paul explain his inevitable moral failures (or the moral failures of the “I” he is referring to)? (See vv.16-17, 20) (c) But notice in vv.18-19 and vv.21-23, who is ultimately responsible or culpable for the sins committed by the “sin which indwells me”? (d) Some people may feel that this is not a fair assignment of culpability or responsibility. But how would you argue that it’s the best way to assign culpability or responsibility for human sinfulness?

Answ:

(a) He finds that “I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate

(v.15).” And “he good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want (v.19).”

(b) It was sin which indwells him that was causing him to do the things he does not want to do.

(d) Ultimately, there is no easy way to resolve this issue. There will always be a tinge of “unfairness”.

But if we look at it strictly from the standpoint of justice, it might make sense. There is no question

that sin-personified (call it Satan or the devil, if you wish) will be dealt with one day. God will judge

this sin-principle. But the fact that we allow ourselves to do sins bidding (no matter how powerful it

is) does not exempt us from God’s judgment. It might cause Him to ameliorate the punishment for

sin. But it doesn’t change the fact that, as just Judge, He must punish not just the instigator (the sin-

principle) but also the perpetrator (mankind who follows the strong influence of the sin-principle).

Example of this point: a soldier in Nazi Germany who was commanded by his officers to commit an

act of atrocity against the Jews. Since the officer has authority over him and has strong influenceover

him, it can be said that it’s almost impossible for the soldier to refuse the officer’s bidding. But if the

soldier obeys and commits the crime---even though commanded by the officer---he will be held

accountable for the crime even though he was only following orders and realistically had no

recourse to say “No”. This is the recognized international law today (see the Nuremberg trials).

Perhaps, this analogy from the world of criminal justice can help us ease our concern on the

“fairness” issue at hand.

5. In vv.14-25, Paul describes the struggle between “I” and sin. (a) Who is the “I” Paul is referring to? Is he referring to a Christian or to non-Christian? State your reasons. (b) How could your determination of the “I” in this passage affect your understanding of the Christian life?

Answ:

(a) There are arguments for both sides. Let me state them for you. (These reasons are taken from Douglas Moo’s The Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary: Romans 1-8, pp. 471-476)

A. 5 Reasons in support for the “I” in Romans 7 as referring to Christians:

1. The “I” must refer to Paul himself, and the shift from the past tenses of vv.7-13 to the present tenses of vv.14-25 can be explained only if Paul is describing in these latter verses his present experiences as a Christian.

2. Only the regenerate truly “delight in God’s law” (v.22), seek to obey it (vv.15-20), and “serve” it (v.25); the unregenerate do “seek after God” (3:11) and cannot “submit to the law of God” (8:7).

3. Whereas the “mind” of people outside of Christ is universally presented by Paul as opposed to God and His will (cf. Rom. 1:28; Eph. 4:17; Col. 2:18; I Tim. 6:5; II Tim. 3:8; Titus 2:15), the “mind” of “I” in this text is a positive medium, by which “I” “serves the law of God” (vv.23, 25).

4. The “I” must be a Christian because only a Christian possess the “inner man”; cf. Paul’s only two other uses of the phrase in II Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3:16.

5. The passage concludes, after Paul’s mention of the deliverance wrought by God in Christ, with a reiteration of the divided state of the “I” (see vv.24-25). This shows that the division and the struggle of the “I” that Paul depicts in these verses is that of a person already saved by God in Christ.

B. Reasons in support for the “I” in Romans 7 as referring to non-Christians:

1. The strong connection of “I” with “the flesh” (vv.14, 18 and 25) suggests that Paul is elaborating on the

unregenerate condition mentioned in 7:5: being “in the flesh.”

2. The “I” throughout this passage struggles “on his own” (cf. v.25) without the aid of the Holy Spirit.

3. The “I” is described as being “under the power of sin” (v.14b), a state from which every believer is released (6:2, 6, 11, 18-22).

4. As the unsuccessful struggle of vv.15-20 shows, the “I” is a “prisoner of the law of sin” (v.23). Yet Rom. 8:2 proclaims that believers have been set free from this same “law of sin (and death).”

5. Even though Paul makes clear that believers will continue to struggle with sin (cf., e.g., 6:12-13; 13:12-14; Gal. 5:17), what is depicted in 7:14-25 is not just a struggle with sin but a defeat by sin. If then the “I” in Romans 7 is portraying a Christian living his normal life, it would seem that it would be too negative a depiction of the Christian life to be consistent with Pauline theology found in Romans or in his other epistles.

C. The best answer: In my opinion, the best answer is that Paul is referring to a non-Christian, specifically, a Jewish non-believer who knows the Mosaic Law and who senses his own inability to keep the Law. In Romans 7, Paul uses the “I” to represent himself as a Jewish individual prior to conversion but also himself in solidarity with the rest of the Jewish people who have received the Mosaic Law and who are struggling to keep the Law because of sin that indwells mankind.

Some of the more compelling reasons that the “I” in Romans 7 is referring to a non-Christian is that the “I” is said to be “sold under sin” in v.14b whereas Paul says that every believer has now been “set free from sin” (6:18, 22). Moreover, the “I” is said to be “imprisoned by the law [or power] of sin” (v.23) but the believer is said to be “set free from the law of sin and death” (v.8:2).

(b) The determination of the “I” in Romans 7 as a non-Christian is important because it establishes that, while Christians can still struggle with sin, he is not defeated by sin as portrayed in the “I” of Romans 7. The believer in Christ is able to lead a life of consistent and progressive sanctification (though not necessarily perfect sanctification). Practically speaking, then, the believer in Jesus Christ must not settle with a mediocre attempts to lead sanctified lives. They are without excuse if they do.

6. Read vv. 24-25. (a) Why did Paul call the condition he described in vv.14-23 “the body of death” (v.24)?

(b) According to Paul, what is the solution to slavery to sin that he described in vv.14-23?

Answ:

(a) Because such a behavior in one’s physical body---even though a person is well meaning---can only

lead to God’s righteous judgment. And based on God’s holy standards, such an action is deserving of death as a deserving just punishment.

(b) Jesus Christ.

Personal Application:

(a) Have you ever had an experience similar to what Paul described in vv.14-23 as a Christian?

(b) If your answer is “No”, how would you describe your most intense struggle with sin as a Christian? And do you think an intense wrestling with sin is actually good? Why or why not?

(c) If your answer is “Yes”, are you bothered that you can’t kick an old sinful habit? Why or why not? And what do you practically to help you “win” in your struggle with sin?