In the “I” of the Storm

Launching Out into Romans 7

For chapters 5 & 6 I have used the simple comparisons of dessert to the gift of grace and woodturning to the transformation process that God wants for our lives. In chapter 7 we will see the struggle of “I” in what seems to be a storm between Law and Grace. Is there a simple comparison that would help us? I think so, but…

The more that I studied this chapter the more I realized that understanding the interaction of Grace and Law is really hard to understand. 200 years ago John Wesley concluded, “Perhaps there are few subjects within the whole compass of religion so little understood as this.” One resource that I used has 5 different views from prominent Bible scholars. I realize that the teachings I have received were unknowingly from some of these and probably many more.

Views on Paul’s use of the law:

1. Those who saw contradictions in Paul’s view

2. Those who saw development in his view.

3. Those who argued that the law was no longer valid for believers

4. Those who argued that the law was valid for believers.[1]

I’m going to offer an illustration today that (I admit) is not perfect. But it helps me make sense out of Paul’s teaching…we’ll see if it helps you. It is really simple…ready?

Imagine the Law as a ship. It is good in that it that conducts its mission to carry goods and people.

Imagine “Man” as a pirate of the ship. The pirate tried to make the ship do things that it (shouldn’t) or couldn’t do.

Finally, imagine Grace (Christ) as the new captain. The ship is a sound ship.

In the “I” of the Storm

Well into this chapter we find Paul in a storm. I’ve called it the “I” of the storm because “I” shows up 21 times in 6 verses.

Romans 7:14–20 NIV

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 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. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

It feels like there is a MMA cage match going on with Paul being beaten up by sin, knowing what is good, inability to do what is good, and ongoing sin. We can all identify. The repeated refrain is: “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (v. 15).

Paul describes the law being hijacked by sin. Sin uses the law to provoke rebellion. For example: “Don’t touch the wet paint” makes us want to touch it more. That is why I’m using a pirate as an illustration of the need before Christ. A pirate represents the weakness of human nature (the “flesh”). Even when we agree the law is good, we find ourselves unable to keep it.

You might be saying, “But I thought my old self was crucified with Christ.” Yes, Paul did say this (Romans 6:6), but he also adds, “so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless.” The sinful nature we inherited from Adam is done away with or “rendered powerless.” Obviously, Paul does not mean that this nature ceases to exist at conversion. Otherwise, he would not say, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body … Do not offer the parts of your body to sin” (6:12–13). [2]

Who’s In Command?

I think it helps to understand Romans 7 if we step back from the notion of Law vs Grace. The better question is who is in command, or better still, who holds the authority? So, this is the place to begin

Praise the Lord! We are Free from the Old Pirate

Romans 7:1–6 NIV

Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. 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. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Paul uses the example of marriage (vv. 1–3) to show that believers are released from the law’s authority through Christ’s death. Just as death ends a marriage covenant, our union with Christ ends the law’s claim over us.

Now, let’s make a couple of observations:

1. Paul is not saying that the law about marriage is bad.

He is saying that the death of the husband releases the wife from the marriage law.

2. The Law is the Law (the ship is the ship).

“While we are painfully aware of the Law’s ability to reveal sin, we need to be equally aware of its inability to change our condition. It is somewhat like a thermometer that measures a patient’s temperature but is powerless to remove the fever. According to Edwards (1992), the function of the Law is diagnostic, not therapeutic.[3]

“The law cannot be properly understood unless it moves toward the grand goal of pointing the believer toward the Messiah, Christ.” – Walter Kaiser.

3. Being married to Christ satisfies the Law and in a new way.

“We have been released from the law” (Romans 7:6), that is, released from its power to condemn us. Since we are united with Christ, “we serve in the new way of the Spirit” (7:6). This new way contrasts with “the old way of the written code” (7:6), namely, living under the Law. Formerly, we were guided by a code written on stone tablets. Now the Spirit of the living God writes on the tablets of our hearts (see 2 Corinthians 3:1–3; Jeremiah 31:33).[4]

Jeremiah 31:33 NIV

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

So, remembering back to the “I” of the storm that Paul describes – that MMA cage match and the problem of sin. We see that when Sin is captain (in authority), we have a real problem. We know sin is sailing the ship because the Law revealed the sin. But we realize we have very little power to change things.

Hang On, Don’t Sink the Ship!

Remember that in my (admittedly flawed metaphor) the ship is The Law. It would be easy for us to say, “Well, we no longer have the Law but are now in Grace”. And there are scriptures that are quoted that seem to say that very same thing: one example is,

Ephesians 2:14–15 NIV

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

But, in the context of the entire Gospel is this true? Walter Kaiser says, “Simply ask the apostle Paul the question: “Has grace ‘annulled’ the law?” He will answer without qualification: “Never!”[5]

Romans 7:7–13 NIV

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. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 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.

So, hang on a minute! The ship is sound. The hull, the mast, the sails, the rudder…all are good! The problem was the dread Pirate Sin. The ship, the Law, offered no way to salvation. Paul defends the Law, showing that it is “holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12).

Stott explains: “Our real problem is not the law, but sin. It is indwelling sin which accounts for the weakness of the law. The law cannot save us because we cannot keep it, and we cannot keep it because of indwelling sin” (1994, 204–205). [Hendriksen (1981)] compare[s] the Law to a magnifying glass. Looking at dirty spots through the lens does not increase the size of the spots; it simply makes them stand out more clearly. In the same way, the Law identifies sin, enabling us to see our need of the Savior.[6]

The law itself is not evil; Paul says it is holy, righteous, and good (v. 12).

Pastor Mark’s “I Believe” About the Law

#1 – Grace did not do away with the Law

#2 – The Law consists of the Moral Law – the Ten Commandments.

These express the character of God

#3 – Moral Law takes precedence over Civil and Ceremonial Law

All of the following comes from Walter Kaiser:

Assigning priority to the moral aspect of the law over both its civil and ceremonial aspects can be observed in a plethora of passages found in the prophets. One need only consult such texts as 1 Samuel 15:22-23; Isaiah 1:11-17; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Micah 6:8, as well as texts in the Psalter such as Psalms 51:16-17. The moral law of God took precedence over the civil and ceremonial laws in that it was based on the character of God. The civil and ceremonial laws functioned only as further illustrations of the moral law.

The best authority one could cite for teaching that there was a distinction within the law itself is our Lord. In Matthew 23:23, the Lord taught us to distinguish between the weightier and lighter matters of the law and referred to greater and lesser commandments. If the law were such a monolithic unity, how is our Lord himself able to require of us something that our definitions tell us is impossible?”[7]

#4 – The Civil and Ceremonial laws of the OT point to the Messiah and express the heart of the Gospel.

For example, the Jewish feasts and celebrations illustrate the heart of the Gospel and God’s plan for His people.

#5 – Teaching that claims we must follow all the OT laws is inaccurate.

I believe that the teaching that the Law, in all its parts, has now ceased to be valid because of Christ’s perfect fulfillment of the ceremonial part of the law is inaccurate based on the teaching of Moses, Jesus, and Paul.

The Ship is sound, it just needed the right Captain.

Trust the New Captain of the Ship

In the next 4 verses Paul sets us up for some great news. Sin continues to be a problem…

Paul vividly portrays the believer’s struggle: “I delight in God’s law… but another law is at work in me, waging war.”

but the promise to Eve way back in the Garden is that the serpent’s head would be crushed.

Romans 7:21–24 NIV

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 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. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Paul climaxes with the cry: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (vv. 24–25). Paul knows what the answer to his question will be!

Romans 7:24 NIV

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

This is not an excuse for sin but a recognition of our ongoing dependence on Christ.

What Can We Learn from Romans 7?

The Pirate “Sin” has been identified and needs to be ruthlessly eliminated.

The Ship, the Law, does good things like expose and condemn sin and teach us about Christ, but it cannot save or empower obedience.

Captain Jesus Christ frees us from the penalty of the law, provides Grace, and empowers us through the Spirit (come back next week!)

[1]Kaiser, Walter.

[2]William F. Lasley and Richard Dresselhaus, Romans: Justification by Faith: An Independent-Study Textbook, Third Edition (Springfield, MO: Global University, 2010), 107.

[3]William F. Lasley and Richard Dresselhaus, Romans: Justification by Faith: An Independent-Study Textbook, Third Edition (Springfield, MO: Global University, 2010), 106.

[4]William F. Lasley and Richard Dresselhaus, Romans: Justification by Faith: An Independent-Study Textbook, Third Edition (Springfield, MO: Global University, 2010), 105.

[5]Five Views on Law and Gospel. Greg L. Bahnsen, Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Douglas J. Moo, Wayne G. Strickland & Willem A. VanGemeren

[6]William F. Lasley and Richard Dresselhaus, Romans: Justification by Faith: An Independent-Study Textbook, Third Edition (Springfield, MO: Global University, 2010), 105.

[7] Five Views on Law and Gospel. Greg L. Bahnsen, Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Douglas J. Moo, Wayne G. Strickland & Willem A. VanGemeren