This section of
Romans is considered by some scholars to be the most controversial part of this
letter.
The controversy
is over whether Paul is describing the experience of
An unregenerate man (unbeliever, a non-Christian)
or
A regenerate man (a believer, a Christian)
Is Paul
describing his experience as a Jew under the Law of Moses?
Or
Is Paul
describing his Christian experience under the Law of Christ?
Things that seem
to suggest that Paul is speaking as a Christian:
Paul shifts from the past tenses (of verses 7-13) to
the present tense (in verses 14-25) perhaps indicating that he was describing
his present Christian experience or perhaps he shifts to the present tense for
dramatic effect.
Whereas the mind of people outside of Christ is
universally presented by Paul as opposed to God and His will, Paul describes
his mind in this text as wanting to do good and serve God:
Romans 7:16b - I agree that the law is
good.
Romans 7:18b - For I have the desire
to do what is good
Romans 7:21b - I want to do good
Only the regenerate truly delight in Gods Law
Romans
Response to the above arguments:
Paul is depicting in these verses the frustration and
struggle of the unbelieving Jew as he tries to keep the Mosaic Law in the power
of the flesh.
The unbelieving Jews in Pauls day,
though they opposed God in many ways (e.g. in persecuting His people) were
nevertheless sincere in their delight in the Law of Moses and would no doubt
have agreed that the Law is good. Paul says this concerning them:
Romans 10:2 - For I can testify about
them [the unbelieving Jews in Pauls day] that they are zealous for God, but their zeal
is not based on knowledge.
Things which show
that Paul is speaking as a non-Christian
Jew:
Paul throughout this passage struggles on his own without the aid of the Holy
Spirit
Romans 7:25b - I myself in my mind am a slave
to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Paul describes himself as a slave to sin (verse
14b) a state from which every believer is
released
Romans 6:18-22 You have
been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness . . . When you were slaves to
sin,
you were free from the control of righteousness . . . But now that you have
been set free from sin and have become slaves to God.
Paul describes himself as a prisoner of the law of sin (verse
23), yet Christians are said to be free
from the law of sin and death
Romans 8:2 - Through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and
death.
While Paul makes it clear that believers will continue
to struggle with sin, this passage is not just about a struggle with sin, but a defeat by sin.
In this passage, Paul struggles with the need to obey
the Mosaic Law; yet Paul has already proclaimed that believers are not under the Law of Moses
Romans 7:6 - We have
been released from the Mosaic Law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit,
and not in the old way of the written code.
Having stated
that I do not believe that Paul is describing his personal struggle with sin as a Christian in Romans
7:13-25, I am not saying that Christians
cannot or do not struggle with sin - they do!
There are
numerous places in the Bible which teach that Christians do continue to
struggle with sin, as the following Christians testify:
Job - Then Job answered the LORD: "I am
unworthy-- how can I reply to you? (Job 40:3-4 )
Isaiah - "Woe to me!" I cried.
"I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips (Isaiah
6:5 )
David - Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful
from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5 )
James - We all stumble in many ways. (James
3:2)
John - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8 )
Jesus - "No one is good-- except God
alone. (Luke 18:19)
However, what
Paul has written in Romans
7:13-25 is a description of the struggle and frustration that an unbelieving Jew
would have in trying to keep the Law of Moses - an experience to which Paul
could relate.