A Parenthesis: Romans 7:7-25

Romans 7:7‑25  •  33 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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Chapter 7:7-25
The Experimental Process Through Which a Soul Passes in Learning to Apply the Principles of Deliverance
At this point in the text a lengthy parenthesis is inserted to show us that getting deliverance from the power and workings of the sin-nature is not obtained by our own strength. This is an important lesson to learn, and in most cases, it is learned slowly. This slowness stems from not understanding that we have not only done bad things, but that we ourselves are thoroughly bad. We must learn that there is nothing in us, naturally speaking, that can empower us to holy living, and therefore, it is pointless to look within for deliverance from sin. The problem is that we are slow to give up on ourselves as being powerless. We think that there is still something good in us—even if it is but a little—and consequently, we try to help the process. But it is a formula for failure. Therefore, it is necessary for us to have some practical experience as to the true badness of our flesh, and thus turn away from ourselves to Christ for practical deliverance. In this parenthesis, Paul illustrates the experimental process through which a person passes in learning to give up on himself, and to apply God's principles of deliverance (as given in chapter 6)—which lead to deliverance and practical sanctification.
The Purpose of The Law
Paul has just taught us that believers on the Lord Jesus Christ are not under the Law because they are dead with Christ (chap. 7:1-6). Many Christians accept this truth intellectually, but believe that even though they are not under the Law formally, it is a good rule of life to follow for holy living. With good intentions, they may attempt to live by the Ten Commandments, or by some other self-imposed set of rules. This is well meaning, but it is not God's way of practical sanctification.
The person who reasons on this line has not learned what Paul has taught us in chapter 7:5—namely that all such efforts are counter-productive and only excite the flesh. Since we not only need to learn this truth doctrinally, but also practically, Paul demonstrates this process in this parenthesis in verse 7-25.
This whole parenthetical passage is written in the first person singular to emphasize the fact that each believer must learn for himself that deliverance from the power of sin is not found in self-effort. Verse 14a is an exception because it is speaking of what is normal Christian knowledge—"We know that the Law is spiritual." As a rule, in the epistle, when Paul speaks of what is common to Christians—either in our standing and state, or our knowledge—he will say, "We have" (chap. 5:1, 2, 11, etc.) or "we know" (chap. 7:14; 8:22). Apart from this one exception, the Apostle uses "I" throughout this passage in portraying the personal experiences of a man, though a child of God, that are not normal Christian experiences.
Who is the Person in the Struggle Described in Romans 7?
Many think that Paul was referring to his own personal experience, because he speaks in the first person. But this could not be so because he says, "I was alive without the Law once..." (vs. 9). Paul was never in that position before he was saved; he was brought up as a strict Pharisee who lived from birth under the Law (Acts 23:6; 26:56But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. (Acts 23:6)
5Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. (Acts 26:5); Phil. 3:55Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; (Philippians 3:5)). If it is not Paul himself, who then is he referring to? Is it an unbeliever? No, it couldn't be an unbeliever because he says, "I delight in the Law of God after the inward man" (vs. 22). Such a desire could only be that of a person with a new nature—that is, someone who has been born again. Is he then speaking of a Christian? Not exactly. While this person is born of God, and therefore, is a child of God, the state in which he is in is certainly not that of a Christian. He says, "I am carnal, sold under sin" (vs. 14). To be in bondage to sin, as this person is, could hardly be a Christian state. A Christian is one who is resting on the finished work of Christ in connection with his sins, and he knows that they are gone. He is thus indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and as a result, he has peace with God and deliverance from sin. This parenthesis does not describe a person in that happy condition.
Quickened But Not Yet Saved
What kind of a person is Paul describing then? It is a quickened soul (a child of God) who does not yet have peace or deliverance, because he is not sealed with the Spirit. The work of God has begun in his soul, but that work is not complete. Hence, the person is quickened, but is not yet saved. As already mentioned, "saved," in the Pauline meaning of the word, when applied to our eternal salvation from the penalty of our sins, has to do with a believer being at rest in his soul through trusting in the finished work of Christ and being sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)). This hypothetical person, described in Romans chapter 7, is not there yet. Strange as it may sound, he is neither saved nor lost! This may come as a bit of a shock to evangelical Christians who teach and preach that all men are either saved or lost, and there is nothing in between. However, this is what Scripture teaches.
Concerning this man in Romans 7, C. H. Brown said, "He is half saved!" He is safe so far as his eternal destiny is concerned (because he has divine life), but he is not saved—in the Pauline sense of the word. Cornelius is a real life example of a person in this in-between state. Before Peter met him, he was not lost. He was evidently born of God, being a God-fearing man, a devout man, and a man whose prayers were respected before God (Acts 10:2-42A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:2‑4)); he was a man of whom the Lord said to Peter that He had cleansed (Acts 10:15, 2815And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. (Acts 10:15)
28And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. (Acts 10:28)). But he was not saved! This is clear from the fact that Peter was to tell him "words" whereby he and all his house could be "saved" (Acts 11:1414Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. (Acts 11:14)).
In this state described in Romans 7, the person struggles to keep the requirements of the Law (or some self-imposed set of rules), but fails because his old nature gets the better of him. His problem is that he is seeking deliverance through his own efforts, and this, he has to learn by experience, is not possible.
"Born Again" and "Saved" Are Not Synonymous Terms
J. N. Darby said, "An inward quickening is never treated in Scripture as salvation; the idea of regeneration has been lost. Cornelius was quickened beyond a doubt, but was told to send to Peter to hear words whereby he might be saved....I cannot say that a man is saved unless his conscience is purged. The Church has lost the thought of being saved. People think it is enough to be born anew. Regeneration is confounded with having life....A desire after holiness would be one evidence of a quickened soul. I do not say he is saved; Scripture does not say so" (Collected Writings, vol. 28, p. 368).
W. Kelly said, "Indeed I think a great vice at the present moment is making salvation too cheap and too common a word. You will find many evangelicals constantly saying when a man is converted that he is saved: whereas it is probably quite premature to say so. If truly converted, he will be saved, but it is unwarrantable to say that every converted person is saved, because he may still be under doubts and fears. 'Saved' brings one out from all sense of condemnation—brings one to God consciously free in Christ, not merely before God with earnestness of desire after godliness. A soul is not converted unless brought to God in conscience; but then one might be more miserable and all but despairing in this state. Does Scripture allow us to call such a one 'saved?' Certainly not. He who is 'saved' is one who being justified by faith has peace with God....Hence, it is a mistake to regard as saved any person who has not been brought into happy relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Lectures Introductory to the Study of the Minor Prophets, pp. 375-379).
The person whom Paul hypothetically describes in this passage in Romans 7 is in the state which Mr. Darby and Mr. Kelly speak. He is, as to his experience, between being born again and being saved. Note: there is no mention here of him trusting in the finished work of Christ or of having the indwelling seal of the Spirit. In fact, you cannot read this passage without being struck with the marked absence of these two things. Yet there is unmistakable evidence that he is born of God—e.g. verse 22.
Four Discoveries
As mentioned, in this passage Paul describes the process through which a quickened soul passes in getting deliverance. It is really a series of four discoveries that a person makes in getting saved—though he may not be completely conscious of it. (We say this because those saved in childhood usually do not experience this struggle to any significant degree, before trusting in the work of Christ, and often go through a similar form of it sometime after they are saved, which Galatians 5:16-1716This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:16‑17) describes. It is similar but not exactly the same. Galatians 5 describes a person with the Holy Spirit, whereas in Romans 7 the person does not have the Spirit.)
These discoveries are depicted in the latter half of chapter 7 as follows:
1) He Discovers the Presence and Activity of the Sin-Nature in His Soul
(Chap. 7:7-13)—In the previous section of the epistle, which has had to do with sins, Paul explained that the Law enlightens the consciences of men and shows them that they have sinned (Rom. 3:19-2019Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:19‑20)). It bears witness to the fact that all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God (chap. 3:23; 1 Tim. 1:8-108But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; 9Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (1 Timothy 1:8‑10); James 2:9-109But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:9‑10)). Now in this section of the epistle, which has been dealing with the subject of sin (the evil nature in man), Paul shows that the Law will also cause a quickened soul to detect the presence of the sin-nature in himself, and thus make him conscious of what he is before God in his sinful state.
Chap. 7:7-8—As mentioned, the first work of God in our souls is the impartation of divine life through new birth (quickening), whereby we become conscious of God in a new way. As a result of having divine life, there will be a genuine seeking after God and after holiness. If a person has had an upbringing in which he has been exposed to the Law—as Paul assumes here—he will earnestly try to meet the demands of the Law. Having limited light, he will assume that law-keeping is the way to obtain holiness, not knowing that it is not God's way of practical sanctification.
Since law-keeping is not God's way of holiness, we might conclude that the Law is useless, even sinful. Paul anticipates this mistaken assumption and says, "What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? God forbid [Far be the thought]. Nay, I had not known sin (the evil nature), but by the Law: for I had not known lust, except the Law said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion [getting a point of attack] by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence [lust]." This shows that the Law certainly has a use. The tenth commandment which Paul quotes here, stands apart from the other nine in that it does not address an evil action, but rather a lust in the heart. We are convicted by this commandment, without having done any specific act of sin, and thus we are made to realize that we have a nature that is corrupt. While the Law surely addresses acts of sin (evil deeds), we hardly need it to tell us that we have done wrong because we have a conscience. But the conscience will not reveal to us our inward state of sin. The Law, on the other hand, causes the awakened soul to discover the presence of his evil nature.
J. N. Darby remarked, "The law has its use, namely, in bringing out the consciousness of what we are—of our state. Was it the fault of the law, this dominion of sin, while we were under it? Nay, it was the fault of sin, and the lust which the law condemned. 'But that,' says the apostle, 'I had not known, unless the law said, Thou shalt not lust.' If he had murdered, he would have known the fact; his natural conscience would have taken cognisance of it. But we are not treating of sins now (as before observed), but of sin. I had not known that, unless the law had dealt with its first movements as evil. Many have committed no crimes—have neither murdered, stolen, nor committed adultery; but who has never lusted? The object here is to detect the evil nature by its first motion—lust. Not, indeed, what we have done, but what we are" (Collected Writings, vol. 26, pp. 158-159). Thus, if we allow the tenth commandment of the Law to search us, it will show us what we are before God as to our nature.
Paul says, "For without the Law sin [was] dead" (vs. 8b). That is, before the Law has its action on a person’s soul, he is unconscious as to the presence and activity of his sin-nature. In that state he is not aware of the workings of sin within because his conscience has not been crossed by the authoritative voice of God's holy demands. The person lives according to the irresistible energy of sin and is carried along unconsciously by its force. In that state, it is not possible for him to be sensible to the presence of the sin-nature, because he is “absolutely identified” with it.
Chap. 7:9-10—He says (hypothetically), "For I was alive without the Law once." That is, in the state of being "sin dead," he was alive to life here on earth under the dictates of sin, but quite unconscious of its power and bondage. But when God began to work in his quickened soul, everything changed. He says, "But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." When the authoritative voice of God in the Law came home to his quickened soul, it stirred sin into action—"sin revived." The Law drew a line and forbade him to step over it. It said, "Thou shalt not covet." Sin promptly responded by stepping over it, and he lusted in his heart after the very thing the Law forbade. And, as a consequence of breaking the Law, the Law condemned him to death as a transgressor, and thus he says, "and I died." He concluded, "The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." That is, the Law sets life before us, saying, "This do, and thou shalt live" (Luke 10:2828And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. (Luke 10:28)), but since he did not keep its demands, it condemned him to death.
M. C. G. said, "Like a bather dreamily drifting with the current. The force of the current, while thus floating down with it, he is not sensible of, since he is temporarily and absolutely identified with it. Every movement of that current is his movement; to him its living energy is but a dead and unknown quantity. But while thus listlessly enjoying the passing moments, a voice from the bank reaches him with earnest authoritative warning as to the falls that lie hidden from view, towards which the treacherous current is surely carrying him. And now what? Put again into terms of Scripture, 'When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.' The warning being heeded, listlessness is banished in a moment. The swimmer, alarmed by his suddenly discovered danger, endeavours by straining every muscle to make headway against the tide that once carried him perfectly undisturbed on its bosom; its living energy he has now become perfectly conscious of; it lives in irresistible power to him now, and with it the sentence of death, for self-effort is proved to be all unavailing, 'I died'" (The Christian Friend, vol. 23, p. 157).
Chap. 7:11-13—Paul says (hypothetically) that sin had totally "deceived" him by making him insensible to his deplorable condition. It also, by the 10th commandment, "slew [killed]" him. The question is: "Who is to blame for this death?" We might think that if the Law provokes lust in the soul and causes death, then surely it must be an evil thing. Far from being evil, Paul says that the Law is "holy, and just, and good." Thus, the Law is not at fault in this death. He then asks, "Was then that which is good made death unto me?" That is, was it the Law that died? He answers, "God forbid [Far be the thought]." The Law had not died; it was he who died! The Law (particularly the 10th commandment) only makes sin to "appear" as it truly is; it brings to light the true character of the sin-nature as being "exceeding sinful."
Thus, the Law will not only cause a man to discover that he has sinned, but if understood properly, it will also show him that his state is exceeding sinful too. J. N. Darby said, "The law applies to man in the flesh; but we have died, we are not in the flesh: when we were, it applied. It applied to flesh provoked sin, and condemned the sinner. But he died under it, when he was under it—died under it in Christ." (Collected Writings, vol. 10, p. 10) This shows that the Law serves a purpose; in condemning lust in the human heart, it manifests the fact that all men have a sin-nature—for who has not lusted? And, in a person's failure to keep the Law, it condemns him to death. But having worked death in him, the Law then has no more application to him, for it has nothing to say to a dead man. Thus, he is free from it! (Chap. 6:7) This knowledge is important in the process of gaining deliverance, for it will not be through the Law. It detects lust, but it cannot deliver a person from it.
2) He Discovers That He Has No Power in Himself to Control His Sin-Nature
(Chap. 7:14-19)—Having discovered the presence and activity of the sin-nature in our souls, we are often slow to accept the true character of the flesh—that it is incorrigibly bad. Since this is the case, we have to learn this sad fact by experience—and it can be bitter and awfully humbling.
Being a quickened soul, the person seeking deliverance will have a genuine desire to please God, and he will respond with an honest effort of trying to control the activity of his sin-nature. Having at this stage of his experience limited light as to the principles involved in God's way of deliverance, he will think that it is his duty to fight the flesh to keep it down. Thus, a struggle begins in earnest. But invariably, in fighting it, he discovers—as Philip Melancthon (Martin Luther's closest friend) found—that, as he said, "Old Adam is too strong for young Philip!" While Melancthon's use of "Adam"—substituting it for the flesh—is not doctrinally accurate, we well understand what he meant.
The actual picture portrayed in these verses is that of a person (as to his conscience) being under the Law, and struggling in the flesh to keep the Law's demands—but continually failing. Instead of finding deliverance by fighting the flesh, the more he struggles, the more it brings him into captivity. He finds no deliverance on that line. In his failure to meet the demands of the Law, he rightly justifies the Law, stating that it is "spiritual" (vs. 14); the problem, he rightly concludes, is with himself—he is "carnal" and "sold (as a slave) under sin (his master)."
Vss. 15-18—Paul describes the struggle: "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the Law that it is good....for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Before proceeding, let us keep in mind that this is not a struggle to be forgiven, justified, and saved from the penalty of one's sins. Rather, it is a struggle for deliverance from the activity of his sin-nature within. Hence, he is not looking for deliverance from sin’s eternal penalty, but from sin’s present power.) There are good things that he wants to do, but he ends up not doing them. And, there are bad things that he doesn't want to do; those he ends up doing! Through repeated failures, he becomes frustrated and extremely unhappy with himself because he keeps doing the things that he hates, and he cannot find the power to stop!
F. B. Hole said, "Let us recall what we learned in chapter 6, for there we were shown the way. Realizing by faith that we are identified with Christ in His death we understand that we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, and consequently, we are to yield ourselves and our members to God for His will and pleasure. Our souls fully assent to this as right and proper, and we say to ourselves, with considerable enthusiasm perhaps, 'Exactly! That is what I'm going to do.' We essay to do it, and lo! we receive a very disagreeable shock. Our intentions are of the best, but we somehow are without power to put these things in to practice. We see the good and approve of it in our minds, yet we fail to do it. We recognize the evil of which we disapprove, and yet we are ensnared by it. It is a very distressing and humiliating state of affairs." (Paul's Epistles, vol. 1, p. 28)
We see from this that desiring to do the good things enjoined in the Law is not enough to give a person power to do them. His desire is right, but he lacks the power. His problem is that he is trying in his own strength to keep the Law and to do what is right and good. This is seen in the repeated use of the first-person pronouns—I, me, my, myself—which occur over 40 times in this parenthesis! Someone said, "He has had an overdose of vitamin I." His mistake is that he is expecting something from himself that will effect this deliverance—or at least help in it. Essentially, he is trying to do it in the flesh, but doesn't realize that well-meaning flesh is still the flesh. He is trying to accomplish something that God has declared to be an utter impossibility—namely, to make the flesh "subject to the Law of God" (chap. 8:7). It shows us that a person might be quite clear in his understanding that deliverance from the penalty of one's sins cannot be secured by his own efforts, but somehow think that deliverance from the power of indwelling sin is something that he can effect through his own effort. The truth is that all aspects of God's salvation—past, present, and future—are by His grace, and by that alone.
As mentioned, the problem is that the person portrayed here is looking in the wrong place for the power for deliverance. He needs to learn that the remedy is not in himself, but in Another. Sad to say, this mistake lies at the bottom of much of today's Christian psychology and counseling. It focuses on the person and his or her problem, which doesn't solve the problem, and in some cases, exacerbates it. There will be no victory through introspection. What the person needs is to get his eyes off himself. However, he will not give up on himself, and cease to look there for the solution, until he understands his true badness. He needs to understand that not only has he done bad things (sins), but that he himself (sin) is thoroughly bad. This is an important lesson to learn, and often painful. J. N. Darby said, "This lesson of no strength is a great deal more humbling to learn than that of the fact that certain sins have been done in some past time of my life." H. Smith said, "The fact that we have no strength is perhaps, the hardest and most humiliating truth to learn." But learn it, we must.
We might ask, "How does a person learn his utter badness?" The answer is, "By trying to live a good and holy life." This is actually the reason why God allows a person seeking deliverance to go through this struggle. In the process, the person is allowed to try everything humanly possible (in his own strength) to get victory over the flesh. In doing so, he will find that there is nothing in him that can do it, and only then will he begin to look elsewhere for help. The more earnestly he tries in the flesh to do what is right and good, the better the lesson will be learnt—for then, the sooner he will find out the truth about himself, and give up looking within. In connection with this, J. N. Darby said, "Study these four words well: 'the flesh profiteth nothing'" (John 6:6363It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)). When we have learnt this to some degree, we will say with conviction, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing" (vs. 18), and cease to look internally for the solution. Note: he does not say, "I do no good thing," but "in me...is no good thing." This, again, shows that this is not a question of what we have done (sins), but what we are (sin). Knowing this great fact about ourselves is an important place to get to in our souls, because there can be no real progress in holiness until we've learned it. This knowledge in itself is not what brings deliverance, but it is necessary in the process.
This truth—that there is no good in man in the flesh—is something that sets Christianity apart from all other religions in the world. The religions of the world teach that there is some good in every man. They think that even though man does bad things, he is inherently good. “The gospel of God” (chap. 1:1), on the other hand, announces that man in the flesh is so incurably bad that God does not attempt to repair or rehabilitate man’s fallen nature. Instead, He starts anew by imparting a new life and nature through new birth, and then works with it in believers to bring them into blessing. As a matter of fact, both natures (the old and the new) cannot be improved! The old nature is so bad that it can’t be improved; therefore, God condemns it (Chap. 8:3), and the new nature which is the very life of Christ, is so good and perfect that it also can’t be improved! The false religions of the world operate on the mistaken premise that man is inherently good and teach that religion and religious practice is what man in the flesh needs—and it (they think) will bring out the good in man, and the world will be a better place as a result. However, the Bible teaches that it's not religion that fallen man needs; it's a new life with a new nature!
Thus, the man portrayed here learns that not only is there no good thing in him—that he is completely sinful—but also that he has no strength to control the flesh—that he is completely helpless. The whole problem with the man described in this parenthesis is that he is looking for something good in that which God has condemned as being no good (chap. 8:3). While he may have mentally assented to the truth that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (chap. 3:12; Eccl. 7:2020For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)), he evidently hasn't learned that "in me, (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing" (vs. 18). This shows that acknowledging certain truths (and even articulating them) is not necessarily the same as knowing them. The word "know" in this verse is "oida" in the Greek, which denotes an inward conscious knowledge, rather than a mere superficial knowledge. Hence, there is a difference between intellectually understanding this truth about ourselves, and knowing it from having a practical realization of it. A case in point is illustrated in a group of students in a Bible school who were studying the fall of man. When the teacher came in, they said to him, "We have found the original sin in the Bible!" He replied, "But have you found it in your hearts?" This is the lesson that is being learned by the man in this chapter.
3) He Discovers That He Has Two Natures
(Chap. 7:20-23)—In the process of the struggle, he makes another discovery—that he has two conflicting natures. He says, "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Thus, he identifies two opposing principles at work in his soul, and he is able to clearly distinguish them: there is the “I” that delights to do good, and the “I” that does evil. People call this a split personality, but the Bible indicates that it's because those born of God have two natures. This makes them the most unique of all God's creatures. Angels, fallen men, and all the animals in the lower creation have only one nature, but Christians have two! One of his natures is lower than that of a beast, and the other is higher than that of an angel!
Resulting from this discovery, the man then sees himself as separate and apart from that evil principle in him. He says, "It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." It is not that he is refusing to take responsibility for the sinfulness of his fallen nature and excusing himself; he is simply identifying the evil principle that dwells in him as being a distinct thing. (Of course, if and when the old nature acts, we must take ownership of the sins that we do and confess them as our sins – 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)). In doing this, the man in this struggle comes to a point where he no longer calls the old nature "I." Instead, he calls it, "sin that dwelleth in me" (vs. 20), "evil is present with me" (vs. 21), "another law in my members" (vs. 23), and "the flesh" (vs. 25). While saying these things, he continues to call the new nature "I." This indicates a progress in his understanding which corresponds with what Paul has taught in chapter 6 in connection with our identification with the death of Christ, our federal Head. Namely, that we have a right to no longer reason from the position of our old Adam standing and our old fleshly nature, but from our new standing in Christ and our new nature
4) He Discovers That There Is a Divine Person Outside Himself Who Can Deliver Him
(Chap. 7:24-25)—Seeing the flesh as a separate entity apart from himself, but still being saddled with it, we have a picture in this man of the new life and nature abhorring the old, and longing to get away from it. He speaks of the old nature and its corruption as though he had a decomposing human body strapped to his back. The new life is anything but happy in this state. This leads him to cry out, "O wretched man that I am!"
Having learned that there can be no help from within, he looks away from himself to someone to deliver him from this condition. He says, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" It is not simply that he looks for deliverance, but for a deliverer. This is important, for if we simply look for deliverance, we might be inclined to try some self-help program, or look for some “key” thought that we think will give us instant victory over the flesh. Many honest believers have been confused about this, and have gone about seeking deliverance from the flesh through asceticism, legalism, etc. But let us note that the question is not, "How shall I be delivered?" but "Who shall deliver me?"
When all self-hope and self-effort to live a godly life is shattered, and he looks to “Jesus Christ our Lord” in faith, he finds deliverance. Consequently, he exults in thanksgiving to God; "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." This then shows us that deliverance does not come from our prayers, or through our knowledge of Scripture, or by trying to turn away from evil thoughts, scolding ourselves, etc., but in simply looking away from ourselves to Christ, and being filled with Him and His interests. As regards victory over this inward enemy (the flesh), we need to understand that all that needs to be done has already been done by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vs. 25—Having experienced deliverance through looking to Christ, he says, "So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This last statement in the parenthesis is mentioned to show that the soul that gets deliverance still has two natures, and will have these two conflicting principles in him until the Lord comes, or until he dies. Some Christians (the Salvation Army Holiness Movement, Methodism, etc.) mistakenly think that upon getting deliverance, the sin-nature gets "burned out" of the believer. However, it is a mistake to think that the flesh is removed from us when we get deliverance from sin. This aspect of deliverance is not from the presence of sin, but from the power of sin. Note again: he uses “I” when speaking of the new nature, but refuses to use it in referring to the old nature. He calls his old nature "the flesh," but will not own it as “I.”
The old sin-nature may still beckon to us, but we have power not to yield to it. We can be deaf to its commands, blind to its enticements, and insensible to its power. An allegory has been used to illustrate this: a sailing crew with their captain are at sea, and for some reason the captain loses his mind and goes berserk. The crew cannot have him as their captain in that state, for he is liable to take the ship off course and drown them all. Hence, they remove him from his post and lock him up in his cabin, and appoint another captain. In his crazed state, through the window of his cabin the old captain still calls out orders to his crew, but they don't listen because they don't regard him as their captain any longer, and do not yield themselves to his bidding. They have yielded themselves once-and-for-all to the new captain.
When Does a Person Go Through This Experience In His History With God?
J. N. Darby said, "Some Christians would oblige souls to have the experience of chapter 7, in order for the salvation of chapter 5 to be true. It may come before. When it does, and acceptance in Christ is seen in simplicity, all the subsequent Christian life is of assured grace, save cases of special discipline. But the acceptance of chapter 5 may be known by itself first (but then, justification and forgiveness applies to what we have done, and is not our being the righteousness of God in Christ): but if so, self-knowledge and our place in Christ must be learned afterward" (Collected Writings, vol. 26, p. 145).
He also said, "I do not believe you ever get out of Romans 7 till you get into it; Perfectionists say that you can jump over it. The fact is, that you cannot get into justification and be delivered from sin till you find there is no hope for you" (Collected Writings, vol. 34, p. 407).
Three Different Soul Conflicts
While Romans 7 is not a Christian experience, properly speaking, many Christians experience it in a modified way. Oftentimes they are experiencing the struggle mentioned in Galatians 5:16-1716This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:16‑17), which is similar, and think that it is the Romans 7 experience. There is, however, a difference in these two soul conflicts. Romans 7, describes a conflict between the two natures in a child of God struggling against each other. This is because he doesn’t have the indwelling of the Spirit. Whereas in Galatians 5:16-1716This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:16‑17), the person is seen as having the Spirit, and the struggle is between the flesh and the Spirit. This conflict results from a believer not walking in the Spirit, because he is in a poor state of soul. Both of these conflicts are not normal Christianity.