Romans 7:1-25

Overview

In chapter 7, Paul continues to explain why Christians must live under grace, and not under the law. He explained in a very practical way why we lose our battles with the flesh, even when we desire to do what is right and good. Paul was also very open and honest about his personal struggle with his own flesh and the lessons that he learned in the midst of his battles. Paul powerfully declared our complete deliverance from the law, and how this relates to our victory over the flesh. His central message in this chapter is that just as the law could not justify you, neither can it sanctify or change you. Why? Because the law is powerless to do this work, just as you are incapable to change yourself!

What must you know about the Law? Vs. 1-6

It is interesting that Paul began this chapter with a question to capture your attention, “do you not know?” He was asking this question, because many times we don’t understand some of the most important truths that concern our relationship with Christ. When you fail to understand any of the fundamental truths of the gospel, it naturally keeps you in bondage to lies that will hinder you from the growth that God desires in your relationship with Him. Therefore, what did Paul want them to know about the law? Paul explained, “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:1-6).

First, the law has power and dominion over you as long as you live.

Paul begins with a simple and basic statement; that as long as you are alive the law has control and dominion over you. The apostle illustrates this truth of dominion by the law of marriage (Vs. 1-3). Under the Mosaic Law, as long as a husband or wife were alive, they were bound to their marriage vows. These vows had dominion over them as long as they both lived. If either spouse died the other was then set free to marry again. (Paul used this example of marriage not as an exhaustive look at the topic of marriage and divorce, but only as an illustration of the power of the law. It is important to remember that the law gave another reason for divorce that Paul does not address here in this context. The law allowed a divorce because of sexual immorality (Deut. 24:1). Jesus also taught just as the Old Testament law revealed, that divorce was allowed as an exception in the case of the sexual immorality of a husband or wife (Matt. 19:7-9; Matt. 5:32). Paul also addressed the topic of divorce and remarriage, and allowed divorce because of the abandonment of a believing spouse by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:15). It is clear then that Paul was not seeking to give an extensive teaching on the topic of marriage and divorce, but only on the power of the law over a person as long as they lived.

Even under our current legal system, if someone is charged with a crime and dies before coming to trial, the law will not continue to prosecute the person. Why? Simply because they are dead. The law only has dominion over a person’s life as long as he or she is alive. Therefore, when you are dead, all previous relationships are cancelled.

What is Paul’s point? In Romans 7:4, he explains that because you are in Christ, and have died with Christ, you have also become dead to the law. The law cannot hold you in bondage anymore, because that relationship has been severed and cancelled. The old person that you were died with Jesus Christ. You were crucified with Christ that you might live unto God (Gal. 2:19-20). Therefore, because of your position in Christ, you have been set free from the law and its dominion over you, as Paul states, “That you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Your new relationship to God is based on your marriage to Jesus. Remember that Jesus is called the bridegroom, and we the church are called His bride (Rev. 21:9; Matt. 25:1-13). In other words, you are a completely new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). This new relationship with Christ is what enables you to bear fruit unto God in a way that you could never do under the law. In Christ your relationship is based on love, His promises, and your trust in Him. These are the qualities needed for any successful relationship with Jesus. However, under the law a person’s relationship would be based on duty to a command, motivated by fear. Paul’s point is that you are dead to the law and should not attempt to be justified, or sanctified by it. Only by the fruit of the Spirit will you be enabled to bear fruit unto God!

Second, the law arouses your passion to sin (Vs. 5).

In verse 5, Paul explains what happens when you try to do what is right by the power of your own strength. Your sinful passions are naturally aroused to fight against the law, simply because the law forbids what your flesh desires. For example, think about how you react when you see a sign that says; “Do not touch.” Don’t you sense inside that natural desire that immediately wants to touch it? Don’t you think to yourself, I wonder what it feels like if I touch it? To me it looks like everyone has touched it already, so what would it hurt? That is a human law stirring up your naturally rebellious sinful nature. God’s moral law will also do the same. Why is this? Because your fleshly nature is hostile to God, and does not want to be subject to the law of God (Rom. 8:7). The law is like spreading gasoline on the raging fire within your passions. This is why Paul explained to the Corinthian Church, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). This is why the harder you try to obey God’s Law in your own strength, the stronger your sinful desires seem to become.

This is also why Paul affirmed in verse 6 that you have been delivered from the law, having died with Christ to all that held you captive. There is only one way to serve the Lord in the freedom that He has given, and that is to serve in the newness and the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only One who is stronger than the power of your sinful nature. He is the One who alone can empower and strengthen you to think, and do what is right and good. Chapters 7 and 8 of this epistle are given to prove this point.

Third, the law cannot justify you, and neither can it sanctify you.

Paul has already established the fact that the law can’t justify anyone. Paul taught, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Paul wrote to the Galatian church and further explained that, “If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Gal. 2:21). In addition, Paul further clarifies here in Romans 7, that the law cannot sanctify or enable you to change your behavior. Paul also made this point to the Galatian church when he wrote, “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Gal. 3:21). If you want real life and your behavior to be righteous, it must be given through grace, and not by your efforts to fulfill the law. Just because you have a law that declares you must do this or that, does not mean you will have to power to do it. Only the power of the Holy Spirit through the grace of God can empower you to do what He requires.

What does it mean that you have been delivered from the Law, and are dead to it? (Vs. 4; 6)

Whenever you hear of a person’s physical death, it immediately makes you think of their deliverance and separation from this present world. Death for a believer means that their spirit has been separated from their physical body into the glorious deliverance of eternal life. The opposite is also true. When Jesus raised the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue from the dead, Scripture declared that, “her spirit returned” to her body and she arose from her bed (Luke 8:55). Her spirit had departed from her body at death, and now it had returned. The term, “to be dead to the law,” as it is used in verse 4, is describing your departure, deliverance, and separation from the law and its control over you. This is why Paul writes, “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6). Therefore, to be dead to the law is synonymous with being delivered from the law. In a spiritual way you become separated and delivered in Christ from many things. When you became a Christian, you became dead to the power of your old sinful nature to rule over you any longer (Rom. 6:3-6). You are dead to the world and its corruption through lust (Gal. 6:14; 2 Peter 1:4). Here Paul proclaims your deliverance from the law. Let me now give you some further explanation of what it means to be delivered from the law.

First, you are delivered and separated from the law and its condemnation because you are in Christ. The purpose of the law was to reveal to men their guilt before a Holy God, because of their failure to obey His requirements (Rom. 3:19-20; 2 Cor. 3:9). However, the purpose of the gospel is to reveal that all men are delivered and set free from this condemnation, if they will simply believe in what Jesus accomplished for them in His death and resurrection (John 3:16-18; Luke 4:18). Jesus was condemned, so that you and I would never have to experience condemnation. We are free from condemnation from our past sins, our current sins, and when we stand before Him in the future. Paul declared in the next chapter, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). The law could only condemn you, but now you have been delivered from that law. Rejoice in this fact!

Second, you are delivered from the Law as a means of justification, and as a means of sanctification. If you have received Christ and are saved, you received this salvation by faith, and not by fulfilling some law or by performing a list of religious rituals. Your faith in His gracious offer of forgiveness is what saved and justified you in His sight (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:24). It is also important to conclude that you can’t be sanctified and conformed into Christ’s image by following a set of laws. Be assured that if you continue to seek His sanctifying and transforming power by faith, then will you see freedom from your sinful habits and behavior. Paul made a very important comparison between the way we received Christ, and how He now transforms us when he said, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6). In other words, in the same way you received the Lord, which was by faith in His promise of salvation, you should now walk in this same manner with Him. If you received Him by grace through faith, so then walk trusting His grace to conform you into His image and enable you to follow Him. Paul declared that all we need to do is, “receive abundance of grace” for all your needs today (Rom. 5:17).

Third, to be delivered from the Law does not mean that we lead lawless lives. The Law of God (the Ten Commandments) still remains a clear standard for morality today. Jesus said that He came to fulfill every aspect of the Law (Matt. 5:17). Paul also taught that the law was good if a person used it lawfully (1 Tim. 1:8). How can you use the law in a lawful way? He explained that the law was not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless, to show them what ungodly behavior looks like (1 Tim. 1:9-10). The law was used to convict individuals, “as transgressors” (James 2:9). This is why the law is not necessary for a righteous man or woman, who walks after the Spirit, because they are already allowing Him to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law within them (Rom. 8:4). To fulfill the righteous requirements of the law within you, would naturally necessitate an inward transformation that Jesus explained in Matthew 5:21-30 when He taught, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”

Fourth, you are delivered from the law that you might come under a new law. James taught us that we are now under a new law, which he called the royal law of love (James 2:8). Now remember, you have been delivered from one marriage (the law) to be “married to another” (Rom. 7:4). This new marriage (the gospel of Christ) is based on faith and love, not self-effort. You are enabled to walk by this royal law of love, because you have been saved, forgiven, married to Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul will explain in the next chapter that this new law of love is called, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2). You can only walk in love because the fruit of the Spirit produces His love within your heart (Gal. 5:22-23). This “newness of the Spirit” is what enables you to serve with newness of life, and not with “the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6). This means that instead of serving because there are letters and words written on a page commanding you to serve, you are serving Christ because you love Him, and His life within is what motivates your service. If His love is not motivating you to serve in this manner, you need to return to your first love (Rev. 2:4-5)!

Is the Law the problem? Vs. 7-12

Paul now anticipates this question that would naturally arise in the mind of a Jew reading his previous assertions that Christians have been delivered from the law. Paul answered these questions directly revealing the purpose of the Law of God. He wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Rom. 7:7-12). The question is very simple. If we are delivered from the law, does that mean that the law is sinful or evil? Paul declared emphatically, “certainly not!” Remember, this phrase certainly not in the original language means perish the thought. This thought should be completely put out of your mind. In other words, the law of God is not the problem, because it is holy, just, and good. He now explains in more detail what the purpose of the law was, and God’s purpose in giving it.

The law gave us the ability to know what sinful behavior looks like. In other words, the law simply showed us the problem. The problem is my sin! Paul explained that God’s intention for giving the law was to reveal to mankind what was holy, just, and good (Rom. 7:12). That makes the law itself holy, just, and good. However, the revelation of God’s just standard of righteousness also reveals that I am not doing what the law commands. This revelation is the second purpose of the law, to give you the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). Therefore, the problem is not with the law; the problem is with men’s sinful natures that desire to violate this law.

Paul’s personal testimony.

In these verses, Paul revealed his personal struggle with understanding that the law was not the problem, but it was his own sin nature that he was struggling with. To illustrate his point, Paul picked out a specific commandment, “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17). He explained that he once felt that he was very much alive inside, until he realized what this commandment really required. When God gave him this spiritual understanding of what this commandment was actually commanding, Paul declared that he died inside. Why? Because this command to not covet deals with an internal desire, and not an external action such as stealing or bearing false witness. The prohibition against coveting convinced Paul that he was violating the law of God. This knowledge brought death to his soul, because he knew he was coveting on a regular basis.

This knowledge is what brought Paul to one of the most important revelations of his life, that he was a sinner who coveted many things. This revelation also brought Paul to the knowledge that it was his sinful nature that was the problem. Because when he chose to willfully resist coveting, he found another power within him that wanted to covet. He realized at this point that this was not the law, but his sin nature. He declared, “Sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire” (Rom. 7:8). Please read the following verses so you can see his repeated declaration of this concept (Vs. 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23). Once you understand this truth, you will know exactly how to deal with your personal struggles. But as long as you argue with the righteousness and wisdom of God’s commands, blame the devil for your troubles, or charge the church or church people with the primary responsibility for your personal struggles in life, you will never experience victory in your Christian life. Paul battled with these issues in his own life, and his inspired conclusions will set you free if you will receive them. When you are seeking to determine what the source of any problem might be, first examine yourself and your own faults, before you start blaming God or others (Matt. 7:5).

How was Paul alive once without the law?

Paul now explained this very important concept in understanding all believers inner struggle with God’s Law. The only way Paul could have ever, “been alive once,” and been “deceived” by his sinful nature, is when he first came to faith in Jesus. Why do I say this? Because Scripture plainly teaches that, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). Therefore, if the apostle had real life within him, then he had to be referring to his early Christian experience. The context of Romans 6 and 8 would also agree with this conclusion, because these chapters both refer to individuals who are Christians seeking to walk with the Lord.

What happened to Paul was this: When he began to walk with Christ, he experienced that new life and freedom of God’s grace. But then he realized that his heart was still coveting that which was carnal and worldly. He knew that the law was spiritual and dealt with his inner desires and attitudes, but his sin nature was still desiring what was carnal and fleshly (Rom. 7:14). Then his sinful heart deceived him into thinking that he could change himself, and stop coveting sinful things. However, the harder he tried, the worse the struggle became. Many times, we are deluded just like Paul into thinking that we are strong enough to resist and overcome our sin nature by our will power. But Scripture warns us: “Exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). Haven’t you experienced this deceitfulness in your own heart thinking, I can handle this activity? I won’t become entangled. I can play with this sin and not get caught. We fool ourselves into thinking that we are stronger than we really are. Then we fail, and death returns to our soul. This is what happened to Paul. The law, which was holy, just, and good began to condemn him once again, simply because he was trying to fulfill the commandment not to covet.

Paul was warning his readers not to condemn God’s law for their struggles, but to focus their attention on their own sin nature. He explained that it was not God’s good and holy law that brought death to him, but the power of his own sinful nature, and his own covetous desires that produced all of his problems. In fact, the whole experience revealed to him just how, “exceedingly sinful” he really was. This is why he states, “Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful” (Rom. 7:13). Paul concluded that this whole process of learning the purpose of the law was all to reveal to him just how great his need was. This is a very important truth to understand. Without realizing your own exceeding sinfulness, you will always think you are good enough, and you will keep trying to change yourself, which will hinder you from crying out for God’s grace. This is why at the end of this chapter Paul cries out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). Paul will answer this question in Romans 8:2 when he declared, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Therefore, coming to this conclusion of your own need is critical for your own personal growth. Seeing your need will cause you to cry out for His grace, and allow you to then experience the freedom you possess in Christ. In the next verses Paul explains in much more detail exactly how he came to this conclusion that his own will power was insufficient to experience freedom.

My sin nature is the problem (Vs. 14-25).

Paul wrote, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:14-25).

Have you ever questioned yourself like this when your sinful desires seem to be winning? It is so natural to want to know why you are battling with your fleshly desires, and periodically losing this fight. It is also very easy to come up with the wrong conclusions. Have you ever reasoned, If the law is not the problem, then I must be the problem. Am I just an especially sinful person to have all these problems and struggles? Thinking like this seems so logical, however it is not biblical. The Bible teaches that there are no individuals that are uniquely sinful or evil. We are all in one category as Paul has already stated, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). He also declared, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:22-23). Again, Paul taught that, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13). In other words, we all struggle with the same things, because we are all sinners in need of a Savior. In addition, since we are all sinners, we all obtain a righteous standing before God the same way, because there is “no difference” between us (Rom. 3:22). Interestingly, what Paul admits in this chapter is that he was involved in the same struggle that each of us are in today. It is truly liberating to realize that the great apostle battled with the same issues that we all do. Truly there is no difference between us.

Paul speaks of his present circumstance.

From this point in the text, it is quite clear that Paul was speaking about his present experience, and the struggle with his own sinful nature, not some experience he had before he became a Christian. Paul writes almost this entire section of his letter in the present tense. Note these statements by the apostle, “I am carnal, sold under sin” (Vs. 14). “What I am doing, I do not understand” (Vs. 15). “For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find” (Vs. 18). “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (Vs. 24)? Why do I quote all of these verses? Because some have taught that Paul was speaking in this passage about his past experience before coming to faith in Christ. However, this idea cannot be supported from the obvious references listed above, or the grammar that he used. When Paul declared that he was carnal and sold under sin, he used the perfect tense of these verbs, which reveal a past situation that still had present and continuous results today. When he wrote that he didn’t know what he was doing, and that he did not understand what was going on inside him relating to his sin, he used the present tense for all these verbs, meaning that this was presently happening when he was writing these words. In addition, when Paul wrote verse 18, all of the verbs in this verse are in the present tense except for one which is in the perfect tense. In other words, he continually willed to do what was right, and this will was continually with him, but he continually could not find the way to perform what was good. These verses clearly show the present struggle that Paul was having as he wrote this epistle.

What do these statements reveal?

Paul revealed the total inadequacy of his will power.

Paul revealed in these passages exactly what he found in his personal battle with his own sinful desires. He states that his own will power was not enough to win in the struggle against his sinful nature. He describes the complete inadequacy of human resolve and will power. He honestly declared, “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Paul had the will to do what was right, but found that he often actually did what he hated. Paul realized that he didn’t understand how to perform what he wanted to do, or was commanded to do. This struggle continued until he finally understood what the real problem was, which was his sin nature and the power it exerted over his will to do what was right.

He was not the problem.

Paul also came to the conclusion that he (the new renewed man) was not the problem in this struggle. He came to the conclusion that the problem was his sin nature (the old man that also dwelt inside him). This is why he states, “Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. In other words, if he was choosing by his will not to do what was sinful, then the choice of his will proved to him that there was another power drawing him to sin. The real culprit in his dilemma was his sin nature that dwelt within him. Paul knew that he was correct in this assessment, because he realized that he was not choosing to do what was sinful. He knew that he delighted to do God’s will in his inward man (Vs. 22). This delight for God’s law proved that he was truly a Christian, and that he was a renewed individual, because he will later teach that, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7). If Paul was referring to his struggle with sin as an unbeliever, he could never have declared that he delighted to do the will of God in his inner man (Vs. 22). Paul recognized that there was a new man within him, the renewed Paul, who wanted to do what was right. This fact convinced him that this was the reason there was a battle within him that wanted to lead him in the opposite direction.

What was the real problem?

Paul makes abundantly clear in these verses the distinction between what “I will not to do,” and the “sin that dwells in me” (Vs. 20). He realized that there was a big difference between the old Paul (the flesh), and the new renewed Paul (which willed to do good). He determined that it was his old sinful nature that was giving him all the trouble. It wasn’t his new man. Not discerning this very important distinction was the cause of great confusion and condemnation within his life and every Christian’s life. Be assured, it is your sinful nature that drives you to desire sinful things and sinful behavior. When you understand this, then it is quite clear how to deal with the problem.

The solution.

The solution that Paul came up with for how to deal with this dilemma of your will fighting against your sin nature, has already been explained in Romans 6. You must simply reckon yourself dead to sin, and alive to God! This is the solution to the struggle going on within your life. How do you reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God? I would refer you to the notes on this topic in Romans 6:6-13 of this book.

Paul’s conclusions. Vs. 23-24

Paul realized that there were two spiritual laws at work within him. There was one law at work in his members, and one in his heart and mind. Paul declared, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Vs. 22-23). He found that one law wanted to draw him into sin and evil, and the other law exerted influence in the opposite direction. These two laws were the main reason for the struggle within his life. This is why Paul taught the Galatian church, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). He concluded that he was a wretched man that was weak and could not deliver himself from this dilemma of his sin nature. Note that Paul concluded that all hope in himself was gone. Therefore, Paul cried out for a deliverer outside of himself. He said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:24-25). It is essential to acknowledge that Paul was not all together without hope. He still had hope in Christ, and this is why He thanked God as his Deliverer and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have you come to these same conclusions? Have you given up all hope in yourself and your own self-effort to deliver you from your struggle with sin? Are you looking outside yourself for deliverance from the battle with sin, or do you still think you can free yourself by your own will power? Your response to these questions will determine whether you will have a testimony of defeat as found here in Romans 7, or one of victory, found in Romans 8. My hope is that you will turn to God, and ask Him for His grace and power to be applied in your life. Make your plea on the basis and fact that you died to sin once and for all in Christ Jesus. You are free, if you will receive what has already been done for you!