ROMANS: THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

Pastor Jonathan Falwell 

Romans 7:1–25 (NKJV)

1. The power of the law

Vss 4-6 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. 5For 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. 6But 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.

• Paul uses the illustration of marriage in verses 1-3 to describe the relationship with the law
• Once Christ had died and risen again, we were freed from the bondage to the law and ‘set free’ in the “newness of the Spirit”
• Harold Willmington said, “As long as the husband lives, his wife is bound to him; when he dies, she is free to marry another. Likewise, the law and the sinful desires it arouses have no more claim over the believer; he or she is now free to be united with Christ.”[1]

1. The weakness of the law

Vss 7-13 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.” 8But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 13Has 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.

• Paul describes the purpose of the law while also revealing the weakness of the law
• He states the law is what has allowed people to see what sin really is; it is like a mirror revealing the sin within us
• Martin Luther said, “The Law of the Ten Commandments is the strength of sin because it creates self-knowledge.”[2]
• Vernon McGee put it this way, “Paul will now show that the Law is good; it reveals God’s will. The difficulty is not with the Law; the difficulty is with us. The flesh is at fault.”[3]
• “Paul says that the law reveals the human proclivity to sin. Why is this of value to the spiritual seeker? Because it settles, once and for all, the absolute moral bankruptcy of the human condition.”[4] – Kenneth Boa

1. The struggle within

Vss 14-21 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For 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. 16If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18For 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. 19For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

Galatians 5:17–18 (NLT) The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

• Max Anders said, “Paul tells us that victory over sin is not the result of living under the law. Instead, it is the result of actively yielding to the Spirit.”[5]
• Paul accentuates what we all already know; we want to do the right thing but we keep messing up

Romans 7:18–20 (NLT) And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  20But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

• We must do what we can to continually “die to self” and live by the Spirit
• How do we do this?
  • Know the Word
  • Focus on the Word
  • Live by the Word

1. Victory in the struggle

Vss 22-25 22For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23But 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. 24O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25I 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.

Romans 7:21–25 (NLT) I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart.  23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

• Paul gives us a great statement of encouragement: Even though we keep messing up, Jesus gives us everything we need to overcome
• We can never allow ourselves to quit or feel as if we can’t make it, we must have full confidence in the power of God in our lives to help us be what God calls us to
• “Is there any deliverance? Of course! “I thank God that there is Someone who shall deliver me—Jesus Christ our Lord!” Because the believer is united to Christ, he is dead to the Law and no longer under its authority. But he is alive to God and able to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit.”[6] – Warren Weirsbe

[1] H. L. Willmington, Willmington’s Bible Handbook (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997), 669.

[2] John Hunt, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations, (Logos Edition, 2000).

[3] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Epistles (Romans 1-8), electronic ed., vol. 42 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 127.

[4] Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, vol. 6, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 224.

[5] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 64.

[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 537.