A Study of Romans (29)

Introduction

So far in chapter 7 we talked about the Law and salvation or the Law vs. justification;

First we see that the believer, the follower of Christ, became dead to the law;

Second we see how the law revealed our knowledge of sin;

The Book of Romans Introduction

The law taught him about his sin and thus brought him an awareness of a need for the righteousness of Christ available by faith. The believer appreciates, therefore, the place of the law in the purpose of God. The law is good (7:12).

No we are going to see how the law help to open the believers eye to our the fleshes desire for sinful actions.

Contrast

The Book of Romans 1. A Confession Acknowledged (Romans 7:14–16)

The influence of the law is such that man is made aware of important things about himself and his nature. In these verses Paul brings out that awareness.

The law is spiritual - because of whom the law comes, God who is spirit, this makes the law a spiritual concept;

It is not an external action but rather it is a spiritual response within the heart;

The Book of Romans A Contrast (Verse 14)

The nature of the law of God, when rightly understood, is a spiritual nature. This is the thing about the law that drives home to Paul a certain contrasting awareness about himself and about all men.

Man is carnal - man, yes even a follower of Christ, still battles with the desires of his own flesh;

But who is Paul speaking about in these verses;

The Book of Romans A Contrast (Verse 14)

The question is, whose conflict is this? Is this the conflict which a sinner experiences, or is this a Christian’s experience? And, if this is a Christian’s conflict, is it the experience of a defeated, so-called “carnal” Christian? Or is this conflict experienced by a typical, normal Christian, like Paul himself?

How many of you still struggle with a certain sin even though you are secure in your faithfulness to Christ;

Is it normal to experience these contrasting wants;

Robert Picirilli feels this something that “normal Christians” will go through;

The Book of Romans A Contrast (Verse 14)

“Carnal” means, literally, “made of flesh.” When a man—even a saint of God—beholds the very spiritual character of God manifested in the divine standards of the law, he can only confess he lives in a vessel of flesh and that this “flesh” is depraved and sinful, still unredeemed.

Each believer faces a battle everyday between fleshly desires and spiritual obedience;

The Book of Romans A Contrast (Verse 14)

Paul’s confession of “carnality,” then, is not unchristian when that carnality is measured by the contrast with true spirituality and when that carnality is understood to be true of the depraved “flesh.”

Conflict

The Book of Romans A Conflict (Verse 15)

Paul’s acknowledgment of carnality takes on added dimension in terms of the conflict described in verse 15. Here is certainly expressed a sense of frustration that some find hard to reconcile with genuine Christianity.

How do you handle the conflicts between flesh and spirit;

Which is the “real” you;

The Book of Romans A Conflict (Verse 15)

Thus Paul experiences within himself a struggle, a warfare between his fleshly nature and his spiritual nature. I find, then, that there is an ever-present conflict: I want this, but do that; I want that, but do this.

Galatians 5:17

This conflict is not “unchristian” but rather it is a warfare, an ever moving battle raging inside each one of us;

As a follower you are spiritually alive and more apt to face such a battle because a sinner is spiritually dead.

Consent

The Book of Romans A Consent (Verse 16)

The “if” clause in this verse simply restates the conflict already indicated in verse 15. If I have this conflict, Paul says, between good intentions and evil results, then I have to recognize (agree) that the law is good.

The Book of Romans A Consent (Verse 16)

The very nature of the struggle described testifies to the good character and purpose of the law. In other words, even for the Christian Paul, the law continues to set a spiritual Standard which the fleshly nature of Paul resists and is, indeed, incapable of fulfilling.

So the nature of the law is once again proving to be good and beneficial for Christ followers.