Romans 7.17-The Indwelling Sin Nature Is The Source Of Personal Sin In The Christian's Life
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 21, 2008
Romans: Romans 7:17-The Indwelling Sin Nature Is The Source Of Personal Sin In The Christian’s Life
Lesson # 229
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 7:14.
This morning we will study Romans 7:17 in which Paul presents the logical conclusion that he possesses as a Christian, a sin nature and which conclusion agrees with his claim in verse 14 and is based upon the evidence presented by him in verses 15-16.
Romans 7:14-17, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 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. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
“So” is the “resumptive” use of the post-positive conjunction de (deV), which introduces a statement that “reiterates” or “resumes” Paul’s argument in Romans 7:14 where he acknowledges that the Law is spiritual but that he is unspiritual because he still possesses a sin nature.
“Now” is the adverb nuni (nuniv) (noo-nee), which is functioning in a “logical” rather than “temporal” sense meaning that it is introducing an inference or a conclusion based upon the evidence presented by Paul in Romans 7:15-16, which proves he has a sin nature that influences him to sin against the Law.
The adverb nuni introduces a statement that presents the logical conclusion that Paul possesses a sin nature that agrees with Paul’s claim in verse 14 that he possesses a sin nature and this logical conclusion is based upon the evidence presented by him in verses 15-16.
“No longer” is the adverb ouketi (ou)kevti) (ook-et-ee), which is used in a “logical” rather than a “temporal” sense expressing an absolute, direct and full negation that Paul is the source of sin in his life but rather his sin nature.
“I” is the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv) (eg-o), which refers of course to Paul as a Christian and is used for emphasis in a contrast meaning that the word emphasizes Paul in contrast with his sin nature.
“The one doing” is the verb katergazomai (katergavzomai) (kat-er-gad-zo-my), which means, “to produce” acts of sin.
The verb’s meaning is negated by the adverb ouketi, “no longer” emphatically indicating that Paul is not the source from which he commits sin.
“It” is the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$) (ow-tos), which is correctly translated and refers to personal acts of sin in violation of the Mosaic Law.
Romans 7:17, “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
“Rather” is the strong adversative use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a statement that presents a strong contrast with the idea that Paul is the source of personal sin in his life.
“Sin” is the noun hamartia (a(martiva) (ham-ar-tee-ah), which refers to the sin nature as indicated in that the word is being personified by the verb oikeo, “which dwells,” which means, “to occupy” as one would a house.
“Which dwells” is the verb oikeo (oi)kevw) (oy-keh-o), which is used in a metaphorical sense for the sin nature “indwelling” the physical body of the believer.
“In me” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv), “me.”
The personal pronoun refers of course to the apostle Paul as a Christian and in particular it is emphasizes the physical body of the apostle Paul since this as we have established is where the sin nature is located.
As we have noted in our previous studies of the book of Romans, the sin nature indwells the human body and not the soul.
As we have noted many times in our studies of the book of Romans, Adam acquired a sin nature when he disobeyed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Romans 5:12a, “Therefore, based on this (principle), just as, through one man, the sin nature entered into the human race.”
This sin nature was passed down to his posterity, i.e. the human race.
Romans 5:19a, “For you see, just as through the one man’s disobedience, the entire human race has been rendered sinners.”
The sin nature entered the human race through the transgression of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Romans 5:12a, “Therefore, based on this (principle), just as, through one man, the sin nature entered into the human race.”
The sin nature resides in the human body according to Romans 6:6.
Romans 6:6, “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power with the result that we are no longer in a perpetual state of being slaves to the sin nature.”
This is the result of the curse that the Lord put on the body of Adam and his posterity according to Genesis 3:18-19.
Genesis 3:18-19, “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Physical death is the result of possessing a sin nature since it resides in the human body.
Our Lord had to die physically to solve the problem of the sin nature since the sin nature resides in the body of every human being.
Our Lord’s resurrection body replaces the sinful body of Adam.
The believer will receive a resurrection body like Christ in order to replace his physical body that possesses the sin nature, the Adamic body.
Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life.”
Romans 6:5, “Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believe this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be united with Him, conformed to His resurrection.”
Christ also died physically in order to deprive the indwelling sin nature its power over the justified sinner and was raised from the dead to permanently eradicate the indwelling sin nature.
In Romans 7:17, Paul is not saying that he is not responsible for his actions but rather, he is attempting to demonstrate his point in Romans 7:14 that he possesses a sin nature, which is source of personal sin in his life.
If Paul was solely responsible for committing sin and was the source of sin in his life, this would not explain why he desires to do God’s will and practices what he does not want to do and even agrees with the Law that his actions are sinful.
If he was solely responsible, then he would not have this struggle but the fact that he does indicates that there is another power that is soliciting and seducing him to do its bidding, namely the sin nature.
This was a wonderful discovery for Paul for it gave him hope that he could overcome sin if he was given by God the power to do so, which God did at the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit permanently indwells the Christian’s physical body as the principle of victory over the sin nature (1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:1-11).
Therefore, in Romans 7:17, Paul is not escaping responsibility for his sinful actions as a Christian but rather he is simply trying to identify for his Christians readers in Rome that he does in fact like they do, possess a sin nature that dwells in their bodies.
If Paul’s Christian readers in Rome do not acknowledge like Paul that they have a sin nature indwelling their physical bodies and that they need the power of the Spirit to overcome it, they will continue to experience frustration over not being able to obey God’s Word.
Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”