Romans 7.23-Paul's Sin Nature Wages War Against His Mind And Makes Him Its Prisoner
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday October 1, 2008
Romans: Romans 7:23-Paul’s Sin Nature Wages War Against His Mind And Makes Him Its Prisoner
Lesson # 235
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 7:14.
This evening we will study Romans 7:23 and in this passage Paul writes to the believers in Rome that his sin nature, which resides in the members of his physical body, wages war against his mind and makes him its prisoner.
Romans 7:14-23, “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. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a statement that presents a contrast with Paul’s statement in Romans 7:22 in which he states he joyfully concurs with the Law of God with respect to his new Christ nature.
“I see” is the verb blepo (blevpw) (blep-o), which means, “to recognize” in the sense of coming to understand something as the result of perception.
Therefore, Paul is saying with this verb that he “recognized” or “came to understand as the result of perception” in a spiritual sense through the Spirit a different kind of law in contrast with the propensity to obey and joyfully agree with the Law of God that manifested itself in the members of his physical body.
“A different” is the adjective heteros (e^tero$) (het-er-os), which denotes “another” of a dissimilar nature and contrasts another definite person or thing with another.
In Romans 7:23, the word indicates that Paul recognized a law or propensity that was dissimilar in nature to the propensity produced by his new nature.
Therefore, the adjective heteros in Romans 7:23 is contrasting the propensity of the old Adamic sin nature with the propensity of his new Christ nature.
The contrast is not between the Mosaic Law and the sin nature, which is identified by Paul with the expression to nomo tes hamartias, “the law of sin.”
Rather, the contrast is between the propensity of the old Adamic sin nature to disobey the Law of God with that of the propensity of the new nature to obey and joyfully agree with the Law of God.
This is clearly indicated by the context since in Romans 7:14-22, Paul has been describing conflicting desires, namely, his desire to obey the Law with his desire to disobey the Law.
Romans 7:23, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
“Law” is the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which does not refer to a “principle” as it did in Romans 7:21 or the Mosaic Law as it did in Romans 7:22.
Rather, it refers to a “propensity” since it is describing Paul’s desire to obey the Law and his joyful agreement with the Mosaic Law as noted in Romans 7:14-22.
A “propensity” is an intense natural inclination or tendency towards something.
That nomos refers to a “propensity” is clearly indicated by the context since in Romans 7:14-22, Paul has been describing conflicting desires, namely, his desire to obey the Law with his desire to disobey the Law.
Therefore, nomos in Romans 7:23 refers to Paul propensity that originates with his sin nature and that wages war against the propensity originating from the new nature and that makes him a prisoner of war with respect to his sin nature.
Though, the noun nomos in Romans 7:23 does not mean, “law” but rather “propensity,” it still retains the idea of law in the sense that it speaks of that which binds or controls or that to which Paul was still subject to.
Therefore, in Romans 7:23, the noun nomos is used metaphorically or figuratively for the exercise of the sin nature’s “propensity” to sin against the Law.
Romans 7:23, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
“In the members of my body” indicates that this propensity that is different in character to that of Paul’s propensity to obey and joyfully agree with the Law of God is “located in his physical body.”
“Waging war against” is the verb antistrateuomai (a)ntistrateuovmai) (an-tee-strat-yoo-om-i), which includes the meanings “to make a military expedition, to carry on a military campaign” or “to take the field against” anyone, thus to war against.
Therefore, this verb indicates that the sin nature “wages war against” the mind of the regenerate mind or new nature of the apostle Paul.
This verb resumes Paul’s use of a military analogy to describe his struggle with his sin nature.
It is personifying the noun nomos, “propensity” and is depicting this propensity as a military commander waging war against an enemy.
The verbs antistrateuomai, ‘waging war against” and aichmalotizo, “making a prisoner” resume the military analogy that Paul employed with reference to the sin nature in Romans 7:8-11 where he taught that because his sin nature seized a base of operations through the commandment, it deceived and killed him.
“Law” is the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which once again refers to a “propensity” since it is describing Paul’s desire to obey the Law and his joyful agreement with the Mosaic Law as noted in Romans 7:14-22.
However, this time nomos is not used in relation to sin nature but rather Paul’s new Christ nature.
Thus, it refers to the “propensity” to obey the Law and joyfully agree with it and which propensity originates with his new Christ nature.
Romans 7:23, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
“Mind” is the noun nous (nou$) (noose), which refers to the spiritual desires, purposes and judgments of the regenerate heart or in other words, the new nature.
The “inner man” in Romans 7:22 is directly related to the expression to nomo tou noos mou, “the propensity of my mind” in Romans 7:23 since the latter originates with the former.
Therefore, in Romans 7:23, the noun nous is the mind of the new Christ nature.
“Making me a prisoner” is composed of the verb aichmalotizo (ai)xmalwtivzw) (ikh-mal-o-tid-zo), “making a prisoner” and the personal pronoun ego (e)gwv) (e ), “me.”
The verb aichmalotizo is used in a figurative sense meaning, “to cause someone to become a prisoner of war.”
The word continues Paul’s military metaphor personifying the propensity of Paul’s sin nature to disobey the Law as making him a prisoner of war.
Romans 7:23, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
“Of the law of sin” is composed of the preposition en (e)n) (en) and the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which is followed by the noun hamartia (a(martiva) (ham-ar-tee-ah).
Once again, the noun nomos, means, “propensity” as it did the two previous times in this verse.
Here it is used with reference to the propensity of the sin nature to disobey the Law of God.
The noun hamartia refers to the sin nature as indicated by its articular construction, which is “anaphoric” meaning it indicates that its synonym was used in the previous context, which was the first nomos, “propensity” that appears in Romans 7:23.
“Which is in the members of my body” denotes that this propensity produced by the sin nature that wages war against his new nature and takes him captive exists in the members of his physical body.
Therefore, in Romans 7:23, Paul relates to his Christian readers in Rome that he recognized a propensity in his body that was dissimilar to that of his propensity to obey and joyfully agree with the Law of God, which he mentions in Romans 7:14-22.
This “other” propensity in Paul waged war against the propensity produced by the mind of his new nature.
This propensity produced by his sin nature also made Paul its prisoner.