Released from the Law, Still Battling the Flesh

Romans 7:14-25 NLT

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.

Message

Let us briefly review what we learned earlier.

When Christ died for our sins on the cross, our old selves died with Him (Romans 6:3-8). This death of our old selves put an end to our relationship with sin and the law (Romans 6:6-7, 7:4, 6). When Christ was raised to life, we were united with Him in the new life to God (Romans 6:4-5, 8, 10-11, 7:4).

Romans 7:4-6 NLT summarizes these key points:

⁴ So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. ⁵ When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. ⁶ But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

Last week, we learned that God’s law reveals our sin —How sin uses God’s good commandments for evil (Romans 7:7-14 NLT).

Today Paul repeats what he had already said in Romans 7:12-13^a NLT. See verse 14^a.

^14a So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good.

Paul says how terrible sin really is (Romans 7:13^b) and the trouble is with him, for he is all too human, a slave to sin (Romans 7:14^b).

Paul confesses in verse 15:

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.

Through this experience, Paul says the law is good because it teaches him that he is doing wrong but it is not him but sin living in him that does wrong (16, 17). Paul declares “Nothing good lives in me.”, which he calls ‘his sinful nature’ (18^a).

Due to the sinful nature in him,

• He wants to do what is right, but he can’t (18^b).
• He wants to do what is good, but he doesn’t (19^a).
• He doesn’t want to do what is wrong, but he does it anyway (19^b).

In verse 20, he repeats what he said in verses 16 and 17:

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.

Based on the above, Paul has discovered this principle of life (21^a):

• when I want to do what is right,
  • I inevitably do what is wrong (21^b).
• I love God’s law with all my heart (22).
  • But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind (23^a). This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me (23^b).

Therefore, Paul cries out in verse 24, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”

But he thanks God because the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord (25^a).

Paul then summarizes his predicament: In his mind he really wants to obey God’s law, but because of his sinful nature he is a slave to sin (25^b).

Next week, we will joyfully continue to discover how the answer is found in Jesus Christ our Lord.