Romans 7.15-Paul Does What He Doesn't Understand, Practices What He Hates
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday September 17, 2008
Romans: Romans 7:15-Paul Does What He Doesn’t Understand, Practices What He Hates
Lesson # 227
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 7:7.
Beginning in Romans 7:7 and extending to the end of the chapter, the apostle Paul presents an autobiographical portrait of himself as a Christian failing miserable to live the Christian way of life by keeping the Law apart from the enabling power of the Spirit.
In Romans 7:7-25, Paul reveals his own struggles as a Christian with his sin nature when he attempted to live the Christian way of life by keeping the Mosaic Law apart from the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
In verse 7, Paul poses a rhetorical question that anticipates the false inference from his teaching in Romans 5:20, 6:14b and 7:5 that the Law is equivalent to the sin nature, which he empathically rejects.
He then presents an example with the tenth commandment that prohibits coveting and identifies it as a sin.
Romans 7:7, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVET.’”
Then, in Romans 7:8, Paul teaches the Christians in Rome that because the sin nature seized a base of operations through the tenth commandment, the sin nature produced each and every kind of covetousness.
At the conclusion of the verse he begins to explain why this is the case.
Romans 7:8, “But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.”
Then, in Romans 7:9, Paul teaches that when the tenth commandment became a reality in his life, his sin nature suddenly became active and consequently, he died spiritually.
Romans 7:9, “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died.”
Next, in Romans 7:10, Paul reveals to the Christians in Rome that he surprisingly discovered through his own personal experience as a Christian that the tenth commandment prohibiting coveting, which was intended to give life instead resulted in his experiencing temporal spiritual death.
Romans 7:10, “and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me.”
The apostle Paul in Romans 7:11 teaches that because his sin nature seized a base of operations through the commandment, it deceived and killed him.
Romans 7:11, “for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”
In Romans 7:12, Paul states that the Law is holy and the tenth commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Romans 7:12, “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
In Romans 7:13a, Paul poses a rhetorical question that anticipates an erroneous conclusion that could be inferred from his teaching in verses 7-12 that the commandment caused him to lose fellowship with God and which false assertion, he emphatically refutes.
Then, in Romans 7:13b Paul teaches that the Mosaic Law was given to expose man’s sinful nature and the sin nature’s extraordinarily sinful character.
Romans 7:13, “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”
Last evening, we noted Romans 7:14 and in this passage, the apostle acknowledges that the Law is spiritual, yet he still possesses a sin nature.
Romans 7:14, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.”
Now, in Romans 7:15, Paul relates that as a Christian he did not understand what he was doing because he was not practicing the Law but rather was committing the very thing he hated, namely sin.
Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”
“For” is the “explanatory” use of the conjunction gar (gavr), which introduces a statement that presents the “reason” for Paul’s statement in Romans 7:14b.
In Romans 7:14b, Paul confesses that he is unspiritual and that he is sold as a slave to the sin nature in the sense that he is still tied to it because it resides in the genetic structure of his physical body and won’t be rid of it until the redemption of his body (Romans 8:23), which takes place at the resurrection of the church.
Therefore, the conjunction gar introduces a statement that “explains why” Paul considered himself unspiritual and that he was sold as a slave under the dominion and authority of the sin nature.
It introduces a statement that gives additional information that helps explains Paul’s statement that he was unspiritual and sold as a slave under the dominion and authority of the sin nature.
“What” is the relative pronoun hos (o^$) (hos), which refers to committing personal sin that was in violation of the commands and prohibitions contained in the Mosaic Law.
“I am doing” is the verb katergazomai (katergavzomai) (kat-er-gad-zo-my), which means, “to produce” acts of sin.
“I do not understand” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou (ou)) (oo), “not” and the verb ginosko (ginwvskw) (ghin-oce-ko), “I understand.”
In Romans 7:15, the verb ginosko means, “to understand.”
The word’s meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou, which means, “absolutely not.”
Together, they mean, “I absolutely do not understand” since in context Paul is expressing his confusion as to why he is committing personal sin in violation of the Law when his desire is to obey and please God.
Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”
The second “for” that appears in Romans 7;15 is once again the “causal” use of the conjunction gar (gavr), which introduces a statement that gives the “reason” for the previous statement in the verse.
Now, Paul uses gar to introduce a statement that serves to provide more information to the reader that “explains the reason why” he had absolutely no idea or understanding as to why he committed sin in violation of the Law.
He had absolutely no understanding as to why he committed sin in violation of the Law “because” he was habitually not practicing what he desired to do, which was to obey the Law but rather he was habitually doing the very thing, which he hated, which was disobeying the Law.
“I am not practicing” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou (ou)) (oo), “not” and the verb prasso (pravssw), “I am practicing.”
In Romans 7:15, the verb prasso means, “to habitually practice” and denotes a habit and the process leading to an accomplishment.
The meaning of the verb prasso is emphatically negated by the adverb ou, which emphatically negates the idea that Paul habitually practiced what he desired to do, which was to obey the Law.
Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”
“What” is the relative pronoun relative pronoun hos (o^$) (hos), which refers to obedience to the Law.
“I would like to do” is the verb thelo (qevlw) (thel-o), which is used of Paul’s human volition and is used in relation to obeying the Law and denotes Paul’s “desire” to obey the Law.
“But” is the strong adversative use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a statement that presents a statement that is totally antithetical to the previous statement in which Paul said that he by no means habitually practiced obedience to the Law, which he habitually desired to do.
“I am doing” is the verb poieo (poievw) (poy-eh-o), which means, “to commit” and is used in relation to personal sin.
“The very thing” is the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos (ou!!to$) (hoo-tos), which refers to the personal acts of sin committing by the apostle Paul while a Christian in violation of the Mosaic Law.
“I hate” is the verb miseo (misevw) (mis-eh-o), which means, “to hate, despise, detest” and is used by Paul with reference to the acts of sin he committed in violation of the Law as a Christian.
This attitude of hatred towards the acts of sin, which he committed, indicates he is saved and has a new nature and the indwelling Spirit, who convicts him that these acts are sin and are to be despised, and abhorred.
An unbeliever would not have this antagonism to sin as a believer because the believer possesses a new Christ nature and the indwelling presence of the Spirit who convicts the believer of sin.