Part 5. Romans 7, the end of the law

• Part 1. Theories on the Atonement
• Part 2. Christus Victor
• Part 3. His victory over the Condemnation Identity
• Part 4. Life Without the Condemnation Identity
• Part 5. Romans 7, the end of the law

Romans 7 says you will always struggle with sin… does it?

If you never left God’s presence, would you ever sin again? 

We know that we won’t sin once we are in His presence. If the belief that you will always sin remains in you, then the real problem is that you don’t believe that you can remain in the presence of God for the rest of your life. 

John 15:9-12,16-17 NKJ
[9] “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. [10] If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. [11] “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. [12] This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [16] You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. [17] These things I command you, that you love one another.

God believes that you absolutely can remain and that you can also bear fruit from remaining. 

The condemnation identity is usually the reason why we don’t believe we can remain in God‘s presence forever. Let us first deal with what scripture says.

I know your brain is saying yeah but, what about Romans 7? The fact that abiding is commanded by Jesus in John 15 means that it is possible. Let me remove the obstacle of Romans 7 so that you can say yes to abiding in God’s love for you and discover how great His love truly is.

When you start reading at verse 14, you are stuck in Paul’s flashback as he relives the condition he was in under the law. You might say that you’ve heard this argument before and to you it is obvious that Paul is speaking in present tense. The problem is the ministers who told you this refused to acknowledge the previous verses where Paul sets the stage and declares that all of the struggle was in the past. Once you see the context of what surrounds verses 14 to 25, you will have to conclude that those verses are Paul describing what life was like when he used to live under the law. There actually is no other conclusion once those Scriptures are in context. Let me show you.

Romans 7:4,6 NASB
[4] Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. [6] But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

See he is setting the stage that there is only struggle for the one who is bound to the law, but Christ is offering freedom.

Romans 7:5 NASB
[5] For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. [6] But now we have been released from the Law…

Do you see how he quite clearly declares that a person’s sinful passions are a working of the law? Also notice how these three verses are all in past tense.

He goes on to talk about how sin dominates the man who is under the law. 

Romans 7:8-11 NASB
[8] But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. [9] I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; [10] and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; [11] for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

When you read this your first instinct should see Paul before his conversion as Saul the Pharisee. A man who loves the law yet struggled with sin. Again notice how all of this is past tense.

Everything he has just stated goes to prove that the law only produces sin and that any man who seeks to perform the law will always struggle with sin, because the law gives power to sin. Here Paul is actually drawing a stark contrast to the things he said in Romans chapter 6.

Romans 6:2-3,6-7,14 NASBS
[2] May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? [3] Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? [6] knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; [7] for he who has died is freed from sin. [14] For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 

Notice how sin as your master is tied directly to the person who is under the law. Don’t gloss over these verses. If you are struggling with sin then your problem is a law problem not a sin problem.

In Romans seven the word “law” is mentioned 23 times, Twenty Three times, 9 of those times it is mentioned within the problem verses. In fact, Romans seven mentions the law more than any other chapter in Romans and even any other chapter in the entire New Testament. Romans seven is the law chapter. The purpose of Romans seven is to describe what life looks like for anyone who tries to adhere to the law. Paul subscribes the sin problem specifically to adhering to the law. 

Romans 6 described in 6 different ways how you have been set free from sin and should no longer be a slave to it. When Paul starts his reliving tale in Romans seven, he starts by describing himself as a slave to sin, the very thing that he said he was set free from in Romans six. 

Romans 7:14 NASBS
[14] For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

Contrasted with:

Romans 6:14 NASBS
[14] For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 

Romans 6:6 NASBS
[6] knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

This one phrase, “sold into bondage to sin,“ should tell you everything. 

Do you see how they directly contradict each other. If Romans six is true, then Romans seven must be a man living in a lie.

Always keep in mind that he already stated that this Romans seven experience was a previous experience.

Romans 7:5-6 NASBS
[5] For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. [6] But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

As Paul concludes describing his flashback of wrestling he says this. 

Romans 7:22-24 NASBS
[22] For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, [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. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

When you read these three verses it should be painfully obvious that Paul is describing a person that is trying to keep the law and failing. But we know this behavior is something Paul has told us to not do. If you strive after the law you will fail. It is designed by its very nature to cause you to fail. There is no way to be free from sin by trying to resist. That doesn’t make trying to resist sin bad. In fact a person who struggles with sin should still try to resist, but also know that this not where your freedom comes from. Your freedom only comes from surrendering to Christ in your mind and in your emotions. It is God’s revealed truth that sets us free, not resisting and not repenting. They are merely the starting point. 

After Paul cries out in frustration, “who will save me oh wretched man that I am,”Paul then declares that it is Christ who sets us free. 

Paul then gives his recap, and let this be a nail in the coffin of this theology that lies, saying we were always destined to struggle with sin till we die. 

Romans 7:25 NASBS
[25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Now who does he say he’s serving with his mind? Is he serving Christ or is he serving the law?

Now contrast that verse with this verse from Romans six

Romans 6:20,22 NASBS
[20] For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. [22] But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

See how being free from sin and also enslaved to God results in sanctification. This is very different from when a person is trying to serve the law and becomes in slave to sin. 

This concepts Paul calls the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus”. It is a spiritual law that demands life and freedom for anyone who is in Christ Jesus. This new law set you free from the Mosaic law of sin and death.

Let me show you a contrast between Romans 7 and Romans 8. 

Remember this verse from Romans seven were Paul says he’s a slave to sin? Notice also he says but I am in the flesh.

Romans 7:14 NASBS
[14] For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

Now compare that with Romans eight. 

Romans 8:9 NASBS
[9] However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

The very fact of Paul says he was in the flesh in Roman seven means he’s talking about a time before he had received the Spirit of God. A time before he received Christ.

See, when you take Roman seven in contact with Romans six and eight, it is impossible to see any other truth except that Romans seven is an illustration of what life looks like for a man who is under the law.

Let us come out of this way of thinking and stop reading these 11 verses in isolation. Romans seven is a warning to believers not to accept a law back into their life.

1 Peter 1:15-16 NASB
[15] but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; [16] because it is written, “You SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Every apostle in the New Testament puts forth this view that sin should be abnormal for the Christian. You may ask, “why does it matter so much?” If you want to have the authority over the demons, than they should not have the ability to control you with temptation. If you are to ever release the kingdom of heaven to someone who is lost, than the kingdom of darkness should not have a stronghold in your life. If you’re going to be someone who releases God’s life, than you should not be subject to struggle with death because of sin. If you’re ever going to gain dominion over death and raise people from the dead, than sin should not be your master, for the wages of sin is death.

If all the apostles treat sin as if it is abnormal for a Christian, then why does 1 John 1:8 seem to suggest that if a Christian says he doesn’t sin he is lying? To answer this let us see how John feels about sin in the life of a Christian. 

1 John 1:6 NASB
[6] If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

1 John 2:1 NASBS
[1] My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

1 John 2:6 NASBS
[6] the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1 John 3:5-6 NKJV
[5] And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. [6] Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

These Scriptures demonstrate that John does not believe it is normal for a Christian to sin. If what I am saying is true, then what is going on in 1 John 1:8?

1 John 1:8

Were you aware that one of the main goals our 1 John was to highlight the problems of the heresy called gnosticism?

Let’s first consider what the meaning was behind the verses that talk about the antichrist.

1 John 4:2-3 NKJV
[2] By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, [3] and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

1 John 1:1 TPT
We saw him with our very own eyes. We gazed upon him and heard him speak. Our hands actually touched him…

What was the significance of a person recognizing that Jesus has come in the flesh?

At the time of the writing of first John there arose a great heresy within the church that led many believers astray. They promoted the idea that salvation was not of faith but rather that it was given to anyone who gained special knowledge. These people were known for their lawless lifestyle, their lack of love, and believing that Jesus was a spirit being who never actually had flesh. They believed all of the natural realm was evil (therefore Jesus had to be only a spirit being pertending to have a physical body), but if you gained their special knowledge you could live as a transcended spirit being and nothing you did would be counted as sin. Many of them professed that they didn’t have any sin because they thought they had this special knowledge. 

The verse in question is addressing this gnostic heresy. 

1 John 1:7-8 NASBS
[7] but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

John is writing to believers so that they will not get taken in by the deception that the gnostics are preaching. The gnostics were rejecting the need for a savior. John is saying that this belief has no truth in it and anyone who excepts the idea that they don’t need Jesus because they can’t sin, has deceived themselves. John is NOT saying that we will sin the rest of our lives. 

1 John 2:1 TPT
[1] You are my dear children, and I write these things to you so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we continually have a forgiving Redeemer who is face-to-face with the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

Let God embrace you. In the enfolding of His love, He will destroy any area of darkness and set you into freedom. You only have to come and surrender, allowing yourself to be vulnerable to His truth.