The Righteousness of God: The Struggle with Sin
Chapter 6 declared victory over sin. Chapter 7 describes the struggle with sin. Both are true.
The law is holy, righteous, and good. But we are not. The law exposes sin but cannot overcome it. It reveals the disease but does not heal it.
And so the Christian cries: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Released from the law
"So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."
Paul uses a marriage analogy. Death breaks the marriage bond. The wife is free to remarry.
Similarly, we died to the law through union with Christ's death. Now we belong to the risen Christ. The purpose: to bear fruit for God.
The law could not produce fruit, but union with Christ does. Service shifts from external code to internal Spirit.
We are released from the law to serve in the new way of the Spirit.
The law is holy
"What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law."
The law is not sin, but it reveals sin. It exposes internal sin (coveting), not just external acts.
Sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. The law provokes rebellion. Forbidden fruit becomes desirable.
Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. The law's purpose was to show the path to life, but because of sin, it became an instrument of death.
The law is good, but we are not.
Sin becomes utterly sinful
"Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful."
The law magnifies sin's sinfulness. Sin's perversity is exposed by using something good (the law) to kill.
The law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold as a slave to sin. The conflict is between the spiritual law and the fleshly self.
Sin becomes utterly sinful when it turns God's law against us.
The war within
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."
Internal conflict defines the human condition under sin. The will is divided. Wanting good but doing evil reveals moral inability.
This is the anguish of knowing what is right but being powerless to do it.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. Doing what I hate proves the law is good. The problem is not the law's standard but my inability to meet it.
The will desires good, but the power to perform is absent.
Sin living in me
"As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me."
This is not excusing sin but diagnosing it. The true self desires good; indwelling sin produces evil.
There is a distinction between the regenerate self and remaining sin. This is the tension of already-not yet: justified but not yet glorified.
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
No good dwells in the flesh.
Delighting in God's law
"For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me."
Two laws (principles) at war: the law of the mind (agreeing with God's law) and the law of sin (indwelling corruption).
The regenerate person loves God's law. In my inner being I delight in God's law. This shows a transformed heart.
But war language depicts intense conflict. The mind serves God's law; the flesh still struggles with sin. This is the Christian's present reality.
The battle is within.
Who will rescue me?
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?"
A cry of desperation. Wretched means miserable, afflicted. The body of death is this mortal body marked by sin and death.
The question expresses helplessness and longing for deliverance. The tension remains until glorification.
But the cry of despair turns to thanksgiving: Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Christ is the rescuer.
Final exhortation
Romans 7 describes the struggle between the regenerate mind and the remaining flesh.
The law is holy, but we are not. It reveals sin but cannot overcome it. Internal conflict marks the Christian life: wanting good, doing evil.
Do not be surprised by the struggle. Do not be discouraged by the war within. This is the already-not yet: justified, being sanctified, awaiting glorification.
Delight in God's law. Agree with His standard. But recognize that deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord, not through your effort.
The tension will remain until the resurrection. But even now, thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ.
Closing prayer
Father, we confess the struggle within us: the desire to do good and the inability to carry it out. Thank You that the law is holy, even though we are not. Thank You for delivering us through Jesus Christ our Lord. May we delight in Your law while trusting in Your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.