The Slavery of Sin Under the Law Part 2

Introduction: The Carnal Man

Last week we explored the nature of the carnal man in what is one of the most debated portions of Scripture. We saw that Paul cannot be talking either of a believer or an unbeliever, since either of these options would contradict what Paul has already said about believers being free in Christ and unbelievers being slaves in their minds to sin. In order to uncover his real identity, we had to go back in the context to the question Paul is asking, “Did that which is good (that is the law) bring death to me?” Paul is in danger of losing his Jewish audience and forfeiting the entire OT if we does not answer this question correctly and give a good answer, and thankfully he does so by bringing in this hypothetical man who desires to keep the law and do it, but is unable to because though the law is spiritual and from God, he is of the flesh.

Today, we will uncover his struggle with the law of sin and the law of God and see how we may benefit from viewing the law rightly in the context of the grace given us in the Gospel.

The Mind Held to the Law vs the Sin that Dwells In Me

As Paul describes the carnal man, he pictures a man who’s mind is in agreement with the law. He does this to prove that the law is not what brings sin, the the death that results.

If the mind is in agreement with the law in this hypothetical scenario, than it cannot be him who is sinning. It is rather the sin in his flesh that is sinning. In this scenario, sin and the law are artificially separated so show that sin dwells in the body apart from the law, with the law being fixed in this person’s mind and sin coming out in the body.

He does what he hates, so vindicating the law in his mind. He agrees with the law, but the flesh is still subject to sin. This is because the law is spiritual, and since his mind agrees with the law his mind is spiritual as well. What is carnal is his flesh, which continues to produce sin. Therefore, it is not he who does it, since his mind is captivated by the spiritual law, but sin that does the work in him.

This works in reverse as well. Vs 19, he does not do the good he wants to do either, because sin forbids doing good as the law demands.

Since what he does is against his well, he is not the one who sins. His mind, in a sense, represents the law abiding in his mind. But the fact remains, he is still going to die. The sin that is produced in his flesh is the “body of death” mentioned in verse 24. He is going to die because of his sinful flesh. If it were the law that brought death, his mind being captive to the law would save him from death. But as it is, he will still die, not because of the law which captures his mind, but because of sin which captures his body. This is ultimately how Paul is answering the question raised in verse 13, “did that which is good, then, bring death to me?” No it cannot be, because even if someone where to completely agree with the law in their mind, and thus be unwilling participants and in a sense not responsible for the sin they commit, they will still die because sin dwells in them.

Sin is a nasty disease which affects the entirety of a person. But in this hypothetical scenario, even if someone where to have their mind free from sin, the sin at work in their flesh would ultimately bring death to them. So it is not the law that brings death, even though the law is a catalyst for sin to be increased, it is the sin that is already there in the human nature that produces death.

Two Laws at War

By verse 21, Paul has shown that the law cannot bring death, rather it is sin that produces death. but he pushes the point further. He speaks of two laws at work in the person at once, the law of God, which he calls the “law of my mind” in verse 23, and the law of sin that dwells in his members, that is, in his body and flesh.

The law of his mind is the law of God, what he has received from God through special and natural revelation has been completely agreed with in his mind. This isn’t the struggle of an unbeliever, who cannot agree with the law of God, nor it is the struggle of a believer, who sometimes struggles to believe God’s Word and thus falls into sin. This hypothetical man shows us the dichotomy between the law of God and the law of sin. His mind is made up concerning God’s law, but he will never be able to keep that law because of the law of sin.

The law of sin is his fallen master. Even though he would rather be on the side of the law of God, he is enslaved by the law of sin. This law demands submission to all that is evil and hateful to both God and man. It is to be a slave to destruction, a slave to sickness, and slave to death.

Deliverance from Death in Christ

Paul concludes with a great cry, “wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” The sin is in his body, it is part of his DNA. Even with a mind totally willing to follow the law, his body is captive to sin.

This highlights what Paul says later in 8:2. The law was weakened by the flesh, and so is unable to save.

Whether it is the written law or works based on our own view of right and wrong, the law of God by common grace makes itself clear through consciences and by special grace through his written Word. However, it is not enough to save because no matter how well we respond to that grace, we still live in a body of sin and death. Even if someone where thoroughly converted to do all that is right, the body of sin would cause them to continue to sin and thus lead them to death. It is a body so corrupted by sin that will always lead them to death.

Your good works, therefore, will never be able to save you. Adhering to the law, whether it is a philosophy of morality created in your own mind, or the actual law of God revealed in the OT, doing your best to adhere to that law will not save you from the body of sin and death.

This is why Paul cries out like he does. Who can save me if this is so? I think many, if not all, pass through a stage similar to this when they get converted. They sense their own unworthiness, their own poverty of spirit, before the law of God. In tears into their hearts and rattles their bones. The fear of God takes hold in their mind, and they sense the divine justice that would not endure their sin for another moment if not held back by grace. They see their inability to keep the law of God. They see, in a moment of clarity, their moral ambitions gone, destitute, a tower of ash. Why? Because sin continues to lurk in them and not only does it poison their bodies it has poisoned their mind all their life until that moment of clarity. That is caused by the Holy Spirit moving and giving them such clarity. They are no longer able to enjoy this body of sin and they give out a tear-filled cry “wretched man, wretched woman, that I am. Who will save me?”

This is why the Apostle cannot help but give a great, doxological cry in verse 25, “thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” He does this before concluding this part of the argument in the last sentence of the verse, “so then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” This concludes the state of this carnal man. He serves the law of sin with his body, even though he, in his mind, serves the law of God. What a wretched state to be in. The interjection of thanksgiving is something Paul can hardly help but vocalize. For to be in such a condition would be a hell on earth if it were not for the very next verse, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Next week we will get into how the law of the Spirit of life sets us free from this law, and that is what happens when someone does truly come to know Christ. They call out to the one who can save them from this body of sin and death, and that is Jesus Christ. That is why we must be made free from the law, even though the law was not the agent that caused death. Since the law causes sin to abound, being under the law will only lead to death. But in Christ, we are free from the law and the body of sin and death by embracing a third law, the law of the Spirit.

This means that, in the new covenant, we are not under the law of sin, to do what our sinful desires seek, we are not under the law of Moses or even of our own minds, which links us to the body of sin, but we are under the law of the Spirit which bids us follow Christ and live like him, the perfect God man.

Conclusion

Our inability to perfect our minds to conform perfectly to the law of God makes this scenario impossible, and we must recognize our human weakness.

Even if we were to cause our minds to agree with the law of God perfectly, we would be unable to save ourselves through the law because of indwelling sin.

In Christ, we have freedom from the law of sin through Jesus Christ. He alone is the one who can raise us up to immortality and incorruptibility.

Let our final hope rest in Christ. Although you are a sinner, he is a great Saviour. Though you have broken the law, he is willing and able to free you from the power of sin under the law and present you living in Christ.

As Christians, we are reminded again to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let us then consider him who is our life, who is able to save us from this body of death. In Him, our sins are all in the past, even the ones we fall into at times here are in the past. Let us not submit again to that law of sin which bound our flesh once and kept us in the path of death, but let us strive for life in Christ. Let us walk by faith, walking in righteousness, knowing we are not under the law but under grace, no longer under sin, no longer destined for death, and no longer carnal.