Enslaved to Sin: A Second Glance at Romans 7
By Michael W. Adams and Geoff Volker
If you want to grow in your understanding of Scripture, sometimes you
have to be willing to admit when you have misunderstood the Scriptures. This can
simultaneously be a very thrilling and humbling experience. It can be thrilling because
you see something new in God’s Word that you never saw before. But it can be
humbling because if you are a teacher, you might have to publicly admit that you have
misinterpreted the Scriptures. If you combine the number of times we have taught
through Romans 7 over the last twenty years it would easily exceed 150. Unfortunately
the vast majority of the opportunities we have had to teach through this chapter of
Scripture, we have had a serious misunderstanding of the text. We used to believe that
Romans 7 was talking about a believer struggling with sin. 5 years ago we might have
said that this understanding of Romans 7 is rather obvious. Now we believe that we were
overlooking some things that we now believe are obvious. In this article we will be
taking a journey through Romans 7 and pointing these obvious things out. We hope that
once you see these things for yourself that you will react as we did by saying, “Of course
Romans 7 is about an unbeliever! How could I have ever thought anything else?”1
Before You Leave, Make Sure You Have the Right Bags!
Whenever we approach any passage in Scripture, we always carry with us theological
baggage. From the meaning of a particular word or phrase, to an understanding of an
overarching theological concept, we all have this baggage or a set of presuppositions. It
is a good thing to have these bags, provided you have the right ones. If you have the
wrong theological baggage about the meaning of words or concepts, your ability to
understand the Bible will be severely handicapped. So, before we set off on our journey
through Romans 7 we want to make sure you have the right bags to take with you.
Bag #1: What is a Believer?
A crucial concept that you must understand in order to get a handle on Romans 7 is
the difference between a believer and an unbeliever. If you don’t have a biblical
understanding of this difference, it will be impossible for you to draw a biblical
conclusion as to whether Romans 7 is about a believer or an unbeliever. Certainly an
unbeliever does not have his sins forgiven. God is still angry with him because Christ
has not paid the penalty for his sin. This is a description of the unbeliever in terms of his
relationship with God. But there is another description of the unbeliever in Scripture that
focuses on his life. In Ephesians 2 Paul describes the unbeliever as dead in sin and a
follower of Satan:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to
live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also
lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of
wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3).
In the book of 1 John the Apostle John describes unbelievers as those who love the world
or those who hate their brothers. In chapter 3 he calls them children of the devil:
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is
righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil,
because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God
appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will
continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning,
because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God
are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is
not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother (1 John 3:7-10).
In the book of Romans 6:20 Paul refers to the unbeliever as a “slave to sin” and not under
the “control of righteousness”. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 Paul refers to the unbeliever as “the
man without the Spirit.” And finally in Romans 8:7 Paul writes that unbelievers “cannot
please God.”
In contrast to the unbeliever, the believer is described as someone who is at peace
with God (Romans 5:1). He is someone who has His sins completely forgiven because of
the work of Christ on the cross. But there is also another description of the believer in
Scripture that focuses on his life. The believer is no longer dead in his sins, because he
has been “made alive in Christ” (Ephesians 2:4). Believers are slaves of righteousness
(Romans 6:18). They do not continue to live in sin and they are not children of the devil,
but rather they “cannot go on sinning, because (they have) been born of God” (1 John
3:9). In Romans 8, Paul refers to believers as those who are have the Spirit and are
controlled by the Spirit (8:9). A final brush stroke to finish the portrait of a believer is
found in Hebrews 10:14. The author of Hebrews brings together both the believer’s
standing before God and the change that God brings about in his life. In the context, the
author of the book of Hebrews is contrasting the ineffective work of the Levitical priests’
many sacrifices with the effective work of Christ’s one sacrifice: “because by one
sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14).
This verse gives a description of the two things that Christ purchased for all those whom
He represented. First, he speaks of the forgiveness of sins that makes the believer
“perfect” in God’s sight. We call this justification. The believer is declared perfectly
righteous, or sinless, because Christ paid the penalty for every sin that the believer has
ever committed or will ever commit. Then the author refers to believers as “those who are
being made holy.” That is, Christ purchased a work of the Spirit of God in the life of
every believer to progressively make him holy. We call this sanctification. The believer
is motivated by God to put off sin and live for Christ. Another way to think about this is
that Christ purchased a work of the Spirit to make the believer love Jesus Christ more
than anything else in this world.
Bag # 2: The Relationship of the Law to Sin and Death
God gave the Mosaic Law for the purpose of making the sinner’s problem much
worse. I know it sounds strange, but this was one of God’s primary motivations for
giving the Mosaic Law and it is a key to understanding Paul’s argument in Romans 7.
But in order to sort this issue out, we must look at Romans chapter 5. There, Paul
explains that the method God uses to justify sinners is the same that he uses to condemn
them. We call this method “representation.” The sin of Adam, our federal representative
in the Garden, has caused death to reign over all of us and apart from being represented
by Jesus and justified (God declaring us righteous in the court of heaven) we perish. 2 We
are blamed for Adam’s sin. Add to our predicament the giving of God’s law and see
what happens:
The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased,
grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace
might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord (Romans 5:20-21).
Paul’s argument in this passage has to do primarily with our legal standing. He is
speaking of the legal status of a guilty sinner before a holy God. The outcome of the
giving of God’s law to an unbeliever makes his guilt that he already has received from
Adam increase exponentially. The giving of God’s Law at Mount Sinai to the mostly
unbelieving Israelites had the effect of turning them into “their own Adam”:
The word “trespass” alludes to the sin of Adam (cf. vv. 15, 17, 18), but considered
in its corporate dimension as “power.” …Since Paul has used the sin of Adam in
this context, we may say that the law has the function of turning those it addresses
into “their own Adam”: as a sinner who “transgresses” known law (cf. v. 14).3
Instead of being a remedy for sin, the Law makes a sinful situation worse. With the
addition of God’s Law, the unbeliever becomes a lawbreaker just like Adam; he begins to
contribute to his own sin as a lawbreaker and the need for justification becomes even
more apparent. The giving of the law to unbelievers compounds sin and guilt and
without divine intervention, inevitably leads to spiritual death.
As you take this theological journey with us into Romans 7, hold on tight to your bag
filled with the radical contrast between believers and unbelievers and to your other bag
filled with the surprising biblical relationship between God’s Law, sin, and death. If you
leave them behind, you won’t have the things you need to interpret Romans 7 correctly.
Considering Romans 6
If you have young kids, you know how hard it is to get out the door and leave on any
kind of trip without having making several “I forgot…” stops or last minute trips to the
bathroom. Well our trip is not that different because we have one last minute pit stop to
make before we can truly get on the Romans 7 road. We must make a stop in Romans 6.
Understanding Romans 6 is crucial to correctly interpreting Romans 7 because much of
the same language and many of the same ideas are found in both chapters. Romans
chapter 6 is about what life is necessarily like if you have been united with Christ, that is
if you have become a believer. If you are united with Christ, you cannot continue to live
a life characterized by sin and you are now under grace rather than under law. We are
not saying that Romans 6 teaches that believers have no struggle with sin. The fact that a
believer continues to struggle with remaining sin is implied in Paul’s rhetorical question,
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?” (vs. 1), and
is restated in verse 15: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? By no means!” Believers do struggle with remaining sin, but the difference is
that sin no longer controls a believer. Because of Christ’s purchase on the cross of a
changed life, the believer is guaranteed to no longer be a “slave to sin.”
But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly
obeyed the form of teaching that you were entrusted. You have been set free from
sin and have become slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:17,18 emphasis added).
These verses describe the changed life that results from being saved. This is what all
believers are like and there are no exceptions. There are no “carnal Christians” who seem
to be constantly defeated by sin and are characterized by a life of disobedience to God.
Granted, believers can be stuck in sin (Galatians 6:1-2), but they won’t stay stuck.4
Instead, the Spirit of God pushes the believer on to an ever-increasing love for Jesus
Christ. This is what it means to be a slave to righteousness. One cannot be both a slave
to sin and a slave to righteousness at the same time. According to Jesus, “you cannot
serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). To be a slave to sin is to be to be an unbeliever and
not united with Christ:
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?
Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and
have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result
is eternal life (Romans 6:20-22).
Another way of saying that we are united with Christ and no longer slaves to sin is to
say that we “not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). When Paul says that we are
not under law, he cannot be saying that we are without law, or lawless.5 Instead, Romans
6:14 should cause us to remember chapter 5 where Paul told his readers that the law was
added for the purpose of increasing our transgression (Romans 5:20). Here the law is
related in some way to sin’s mastery over the unbeliever, while grace is related in some
way to the believer’s freedom from slavery to sin. Sometimes it is easier to grasp all this
if you see it laid out visually:
The Believer’s
Experience
Under Grace
A Slave to Righteousness
The Unbeliever’s
Experience
Under Law
A Slave to Sin
The believer’s relationship to law and that to which he is enslaved are vital issues in
Romans 7. Paul has set the context for chapter 7 by explaining what life is like when you
are united with Christ in Romans 6. As we make our way into Romans 7, Paul is going
to shift and tell us what life is like when you are united to or under the law.
Romans 7:4-5
Romans 7:1-3 begins with a marriage illustration, which is given for the purpose of
explaining how a person who has become a believer has been set free from the Law.
Since this is how the passage begins, it must be important. But why is it so important that
we be set free from God’s Law? Being set free from our obligation to the Mosaic Law
does not simply free us up to eat barbequed pork sandwiches (although that is a nice
fringe benefit). In Paul’s mind, if you are not free from the Law you are an unbeliever in
a hopeless situation. Notice, in verses 4 and 5 below it is the “body of Christ” or the
sacrifice of Christ that frees the unbeliever from the Law. It is this sacrifice that allows
the unbeliever to be freed from the Law to “belong to another”:
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ that you
might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we
might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the
sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore
fruit for death (Romans 7:4, 5).
Notice also that in these verses the unbeliever who is being confronted by God’s Law is
being kept from bearing “fruit for God.” In fact, Paul writes that the law “arouses the
sinful passions” in unbelievers causing them to “bear fruit for death” (vs. 5). The Mosaic
Law does not cause people to become more holy, it increases their sinfulness.
Point of Clarification on Law and Mosaic Law
Although it is true that when Paul is referring to Law in much of Romans 6 and 7, he
is referring to the Mosaic Law, Paul only does this because the Mosaic Law is the biggest
and brightest historical example of God’s Law confronting unbelievers. But technically,
all Law functions the same. It condemns unbelievers and it functions as a guide for
believers in how to show their love for God. Each era, both the Old Covenant era and
the New Covenant era, has a different emphasis. Therefore at times it seems as if Law has
a completely different function in each era. But if this is your conclusion, you are
mistaken. Each era simply emphasizes a different function of Law that is present in both
eras. The Old Covenant era emphasized the condemning effects of Law on the
unbeliever, while the New Covenant era emphasizes the guiding function of Law for
believers. That is why it might seem as if the Mosaic Law only kills and condemns when
we read what the New Covenant Scriptures say about the Mosaic Law. But, even though
certain functions were highlighted in each era, the basic functions of law do not change.
Law condemns unbelievers and guides believers. For more on this subject, see the
addendum at the end of this paper titled “How All Biblical Law Works”.
Romans 7:6
A thesis statement is perhaps the most important element in any paper or argument.
A thesis statement is a sentence that contains the main idea that you are trying to
communicate to your readers. Paul’s thesis statement in Romans 6-8 is found in Romans
7:6 “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so
that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
In this verse Paul contrasts two different ways to live: the “old way of the written
code” and the “new way of the Spirit.” In comparing the old way to the new way, Paul is
highlighting one particular function of both law and grace. He is highlighting the part of
law and grace that you can see. According to Paul, if you are under the law, you are
living in the old way of the written code, which results in slavery to sin. If you are under
grace, you are living in the new way of the Spirit, which results in slavery to
righteousness. You will have a radically different looking life depending on whether you
are under law or you are under grace. The rest of Romans 7 and part of Romans 8 can be
divided into descriptions of these two ways of living:


The Old Way of the Written Code (Romans 7:13-25)
The New Way of the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4)
Romans 7:7-12
Now it would seem logical that if the giving of the Law caused an increase in guilt
and arouses the sinful passions in people, that the Law is sinful or evil. But Paul says that
this conclusion is dead wrong. He has given over Romans 7:7-12 to defending the Law
against those who would conclude from what he has written so far that the Law is
somehow unholy:
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have
known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what
coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the
opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of
covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from
law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that
the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For
sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and
through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the
commandment is holy, righteous and good (Romans 7:7-12).
Paul is looking back at his own experience as a Jew under the Law to show us how the
Law arouses sinful passions. Paul practically shouts at us that the problem isn’t the Law.
The problem is Paul’s fallen, sinful nature when it comes in contact with God’s holy
Law. The Law is “holy, righteous, and good” and it does it’s job perfectly. It’s job,
however, was never to justify sinners or to transform their lives. In the book of
Galatians, Paul addresses the issue of using the Law to get accepted by God:
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is
everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous
will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who
does these things will live by them” (Galatians 3:10-12).
The Old Covenant was a legal, conditional covenant that required perfect obedience to its
Law or God cursed you (Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 28:15). The Law of the Old
Covenant was based on performance—it was a Law of works that was unable to make
sinners acceptable to a holy God. The Mosaic Law was unable to transform a life, and
was never designed for that purpose. From the point of view of its inability to justify
sinners and transform people into God-lovers, there was something wrong the Old
Covenant6 as a whole:
For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have
been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: “The time
is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah (Hebrews 8:7-8).
The Law of the Old Covenant is “holy, righteous, and good” because it is an accurate
reflection of God’s holy character and the revelation of His moral will under the Old
Covenant. However, when considering its inability to justify and sanctify people, there
was something terribly wrong with the Old Covenant en toto. Neither the covenant nor
its Law could transform a life. The result of its application to unbelievers was the arousal
of sinful passions.
While there was nothing wrong with the Mosaic Law, it becomes a ministry of death
to anyone attempting to be accepted by God or to be made more holy by it:
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone,
came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses
because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be
even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much
more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious
has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was
fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
(2 Corinthians 3:7-11)
The Mosaic Law was a “ministry that brought death” to the Israelites because they were a
nation of unbelievers.7 It pointed out their sin, branded them as law-breakers, and
aroused their desire to sin even more.
The Mosaic Law is glorious because it came from the hand of our glorious God. It
was glorious because it came with a divine pyrotechnic show on Mount Sinai! It was
glorious because it reflected the holiness of God. But when we think of the Mosaic Law
in relation to salvation, it should not bring to mind glory but rather death and
condemnation. When we think of it in comparison to the New Covenant we should think
of it as “weak and useless” as the author of Hebrews does. When an unbeliever came in
contact with the Mosaic Law he was neither saved nor sanctified, but rather condemned
and stirred to sin. As a result the Mosaic Covenant and the Mosaic Law, which was its
essence, has been replaced: “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and
useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we
draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:18-19).
In summary, Paul is not highlighting the role of the law in the life of the believer in
Romans 7:7-12, but rather Paul uses his personal experience as a Jew under the law and
under conviction by the Holy Spirit to illustrate the law’s effect on the unbeliever. The
law simply aroused within Paul all sorts of sinful passions and produced in him “every
kind of covetous desire” (Romans 7:8). Instead of granting life, sin increased and “seized
the opportunity afforded by the commandment,” leading to death (Romans 7:11). When
Law confronts an unbeliever, it does its perfect and holy job as a “ministry of death” (2
Corinthians 3:7) condemning the unbeliever and causing his thirst for evil to grow.
Serving in the Old Way of the Written Code: Romans 7:13-25
Many Christians believe that Romans 7:14-25 must be speaking of the normal
Christian life. There are two main reasons why we believe this view is incorrect. The
first reason that these verses cannot be about the normal Christian life has to do with the
structure of Paul’s argument. The second reason we have given up the “normal Christian
life” view of this passage is that Paul uses the phrase “slave of sin” to describe what his
life was like. Let’s consider these two reasons in their turn.
Many Christians believe that since verses 14-25 speak in the present tense (“I am,” “I
do,” “I find,” etc.), Paul must be speaking of his present experience as a believer
struggling with remaining sin. They reason that by using the present tense, verse 14
signals a shift in Paul’s thought to his present experience as a believer struggling with sin.
This view overlooks the structure of Paul’s argument that demands a very close
connection between verses 13 and 14 and it demands that this portion of Romans (7:1325) be interpreted as addressing a single issue rather than two separate issues.
Paul begins this section with a rhetorical question. This is important because this
isn’t the only occurrence in Romans of a rhetorical question. Paul uses this literary
device on several other occasions.8 In each instance he employs this same structure:




A rhetorical question
A short denial of the charge
A brief answer to the question
A longer explanation of his answer
Now, notice how verse 13 is an example of this structure:
Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order
that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was
good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
(Romans 7:13)
Verse 14 must be closely connected with verse 13 as Paul’s longer explanation of the
rhetorical question posed there. Paul’s rhetorical question is, “Did that which is good
(the law), then, become death to me?” His short denial of the charge is, “By no means!”
followed by a brief answer to the rhetorical question, “But in order that sin might be
recognized as sin, it [sin] produced death in me through what was good [the law], so that
through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” What follows in verses 14 –
25 is Paul’s more detailed explanation of his statement in verse 13. In other words, the
remainder of chapter 7 answers the question, “How did sin use the law to produce death
in Paul?”
Another piece of evidence that convinces us of this structure is the use of the Greek
conjunction “gar” (translated “for” “since,” or “because”) that begins verse 14. This
conjunction typically has the function of making a close connection in thought between
the verse before it and the one after it. This is strong evidence that verses 14 – 25 belong
with verse 13 and are its fuller explanation. In light of this, verses 14 – 25 become the
long explanation of how sin became “utterly sinful” and through the law, produced death
in Paul before his conversion. These verses serve as a glimpse into Paul’s life under the
law, or to use Paul’s words in verse 6, it is a description of a life lived “in the old way of
the written code” where sin increases with the addition of the law. This being the case,
these verses do not refer to the normal Christian life.
The second problem with interpreting this passage as Paul’s present experience as a
believer is the use of the phrase “slave to sin.” In chapter 6 Paul refers to the unbeliever
as a “slave to sin.” Believers, according to Paul, are those who “used to be slaves to sin”
(Romans 6:17) but are now “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). We are given no
indication that Paul’s definition of this phrase has changed in the transition from chapter
6 to chapter 7. Therefore, when Paul employs the term “a slave to sin” in Romans 7:14
and “a slave to the law of sin” in Romans 7:25, he cannot be talking about his present
experience as a believer. To be a “slave to sin” is to be “free from the control of
righteousness.” These two experiences are mutually exclusive.
Romans 7:13-25 is a snapshot of Paul being drawn to the Lord but not yet having
become a God-lover.9 This is why he speaks of sin in the third person, as something
outside of himself. Spiritual things look attractive to him, but he is thwarted at every turn
by this annoying thing that hounds him, sin. The struggle he describes is an indication
that he recognizes what he needs to do, but he is still unable to do it because he is a
person in transition. He wants to obey, but at this point in his life, he has no power to
obey. He understands the need to change, but he cannot yet deliver. Every time he
attempts to do the good prescribed by the law he finds that “evil is right there” with him
(vs. 21), or that “sin living in” him (vv. 17, 20) is making him unable to do the good that
he wants to do (vs. 18). Paul is unable to “do what is good” because although he is being
drawn to the Father, he is still a “slave to sin” (vv. 14, 25) and those enslaved to sin are
“hostile to God” and “cannot please” Him (Romans 8:7,8). It’s in the midst of this
struggle that he cries out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this
body of death?” and, “I am unspiritual; sold as a slave to sin” (Romans 7:24, 14). This is
the experience of a man under conviction who knows what he should do, but cannot do it
because he is still a slave to sin. He simultaneously delights in God’s law (vs. 22), and
cannot carry it out (vs. 18).
The Fly in the Ointment
The most common objection that is raised against this understanding of Romans 7
goes something like this: “Romans 7 says that Paul delighted in God’s Law (vs. 22) and
really desired to obey God. Unbelievers, according to Romans 3, do nothing good and do
not seek God. Delighting in God’s Law and desiring to obey God are truly good things.
Therefore Romans 7 must be referring to the believer’s daily struggle against sin.” For
many years this was one of the biggest obstacles that kept us from interpreting Romans 7
as describing the experience of an unbeliever. This problem is the proverbial “fly in the
ointment”10 for many people, but we think we have found a way around it. We would
like you to consider two possible solutions to the problem that we have found satisfying.
First, in the drawing process, spiritual things look attractive even though the person
being drawn is still someone in transition and not yet a God-lover. You actually desire
the things of God. You feel guilt over your sin. But God has not yet brought you from
death to life so you do not yet have the power to obey God and fight sin. We have
spoken to several believers who describe their experiences of coming to the Christ in just
this way.
A second option is that the Jews were obligated to obey the law regardless of saving
faith. The devout Jew of the Old Covenant would be zealous to obey the law even
though that zeal would have been severely contaminated by sin and unbelief. They relied
on the law to save them:
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your
relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because
you are instructed by the law; If you are convinced that you are a guide for the
blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher
of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth
— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? (Romans 2:17-21,
emphasis added)
The Jews of Paul’s day delighted in God and His law even though, as a whole, the nation
consisted of unbelievers:
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they
may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God,
but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the
righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they
did not submit to God’s righteousness (Romans 10:1-3).
That the Jews had a zeal for God and His law is clear in the pages of Scripture. Yet their
zeal was not based on knowing God in a saving way. They were unbelieving, yet full of
misguided zeal for Him. They looked much the same in Isaiah’s day:
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they
were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its
God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them
(Isaiah 58:2, emphasis added).
Concerning his own zeal for the law prior to his conversion, Paul told the Philippian
believers:
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have
more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for
zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless
(Philippians 3:4-6).
The New American Standard Bible translates the last phrase of verse 6 more literally by
Romans 7:23
The Problem
Paul is made a Prisoner of the Law of Sin
Romans 8:2
The Remedy
Paul is Released From the Law of Sin and Death
But I see another law at work in the members Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit
of my body, waging war against the law of my of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
mind and making me a prisoner of the law of
sin at work within my members.
saying, “as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” Paul delighted in
God’s law even while persecuting the church (Acts 22:3-4, Galatians 1:13-14). It is easy
to see how Paul could not only say that as an unbelieving Jew he “delighted” in God’s
law (Romans 7:22), but that he was also a “slave” to that same law (Romans 7:25). As a
Jew under conviction, Paul may have delighted in God’s law in both senses: out of
obligation to it and as a result of being drawn to repentance.
Serving in the New Way of the Spirit: Romans 8:1-4
There is a fascinating and important transition in Paul’s argument as you move from
chapter 7 to chapter 8. The depressing problem of being a prisoner to the law of sin that
Paul states in Romans 7:23 is solved in Romans 8:2. A side-by-side comparison of the
two passages will help:
In Romans 8:1 Paul speaks about the blessing of being accepted by God or being
justified. Romans 8:2 speaks of another blessing, that is the work of the Spirit in the life
of every justified person that sets him free from slavery to sin. In Romans 7:23 Paul
describes the predicament of being an unbelieving slave to sin. In Romans 8:2 Paul turns
a corner and describes life as a justified believer who is free to obey the God he loves. A
life no longer controlled or mastered by sin is the visible evidence of justification. It
cannot be emphasized enough that the imputation of Christ’s righteousness into the
believer’s account as a result of His perfect payment for sin on the cross11, always
produces a holy life. If there is no evidence of a changed life, we question the validity of
someone’s profession of faith: “Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life
set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
Romans 8:3 is important because it is a repetition of the content of Romans 7:6. We
have already said that Romans 7:6 serves as Paul’s thesis statement for Romans 6-8, so it
is significant that the thesis is repeated here. When you look at the verses side-by-side
the parallels are striking:
Romans 7:6
Romans 8:3
But now, by dying to what once bound
us…
For what the law was powerless to do in
that it was weakened by the sinful nature,
…we have been released from the law so God did by sending his own Son in the
that we serve in the new way of the Spirit. likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
Romans 7:6 and Romans 8:3 serve as bookends for Paul’s argument. That is, they begin
and end Paul’s line of thinking. The old way of the written code was powerless to
transform a person into a God-lover. In that sense, it was “weakened by the sinful
nature” and has been is set aside. Paul’s words in Romans 8:3 should remind us of his
marriage analogy of Romans 7:1-5. The atonement for sin in Romans 8:3 is the death
referred to in Romans 7:4 that released the believer from the deadening effects of God’s
law and enables him to “bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4). Paul has placed his description
of the life of an unbeliever under the law between the bookends of Romans 7:6 and
Romans 8:3.
The final issue that we would like to address here is the often misunderstood
relationship between meeting the righteous requirements of the law and living by the
Spirit in Romans 8:3 and 8:4. In these verses Paul writes that the law was unable to do
something:
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,
God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements
of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature
but according to the Spirit.
In the context, that which the law was unable to do was to make a believer acceptable to
God and to enable him to live a life free from sin’s control. The law was unable to give
the two things that Jesus purchased on the cross for His people-forgiveness of sins and a
changed life. So it is no surprise that Paul points to the sacrifice of Christ as the solution
to the law’s inability. But the question remains, “How are the righteous requirements of
the law fully met in us?” The righteous requirements of the Law are fully met in us by
Jesus paying for all of our sin. This refers to justification, the perfect forgiveness of sin.
Paul is not referring to our behavior or our new ability to obey God. We are never able to
meet the righteous requirements of God by our works, no matter how mature we become.
The only way we ever meet God’s standard is having our sins washed away by the blood
of Christ. When this happens we are completely innocent and acceptable before our holy
God. That is, we are righteous. Paul does not refer to the new way believers live until
the next clause: “(those) who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to
the Spirit.” The new heart and a changed life accompany justification because those who
have been justified no longer live according to the sinful nature but according to the
Spirit.12
Conclusion
As we draw our journey to a close it might be helpful to look at a chart that
summarizes all of the significant terms, phrases, and concepts Paul uses in Romans
chapters 6-8 to describe the life experience of the believer and the unbeliever:
The Believer’s Experience
The Unbeliever’s Experience
Under Grace
Under Law
A Slave to Righteousness
A Slave to Sin
Sin Shall Not Be Your Master
Sin is Your Master
Died to the Law’s Deadening Effect Sinful Passions Aroused by the Law
The New Way of the Spirit
Old Way of the Written Code
Released From the Law of Sin and
Under the Law of Sin and Death
Death
Lives According to the Spirit
Lives According to the Sinful Nature
Meets Righteous Requirements of the
Cannot Please God
Law
This concludes our theological journey through Romans 7. For us, it has been a
journey that has been many years in the making. We have found that Romans 7:13-25 is a
snapshot of the life of Paul as an unbelieving Jew living under the law, or as Paul himself
puts it, living in the “old way of the written code.” This snapshot of Paul’s life is taken
before his conversion. It describes a time when he was under conviction by the Holy
Spirit to abandon the “old way of the written code, “ embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior, and exchange his old way of life for the “new way of the Spirit.”
* * *
Addendum on “How All Biblical Law Works”
The issue of God’s law is a particularly difficult issue because it requires a delicate
touch so as not to overstate matters. It is a theological balancing act.
We need to define biblical law. As I looked through my various theological
dictionaries, it was my old American Heritage Dictionary from high school that has the
simplest definition of biblical law: “The body of principles or precepts held to express
the divine will…” Law expresses God’s moral will or the way in which God wants man
to live. Behind the expression of God’s will stands God’s authority. When men do not
live as God wishes, God inflicts the necessary punishment for breaking His law and
shirking His authority.
The law of God is a concept that always remains the same, but the content of the law
in Scripture does change. This is a simple fact about which Scripture is unambiguous.
Scripture says in crystal clear terms that God’s law changes: “If perfection could have
been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to
the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of
Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood,
there must also be a change of the law” (Hebrews 7:11-12). Although the extent of that
change may be in question, the fact that the content of God’s law does change to some
degree is not a matter of debate. I will address the extent of the change in answer to the
next question. For now it is enough to say that the concept or definition of biblical law is
“The body of principles or precepts (in Scripture) held to express the divine will…”
Law functions the same way in every era. It condemns unbelievers and it functions as
a guide for believers in how to show their love for God.
Each era has a different
emphasis and therefore at times it seems as if law has a different function in each era.
But if this is your conclusion, you’re mistaken. Each era emphasizes a different function
of law. The Old Covenant era emphasized the condemning effects of law on the
unbeliever, while the New Covenant era emphasizes the guiding function of law for
believers. That is why it might seem as if the Mosaic Law only kills and condemns when
we read what the New Covenant Scriptures say about the Mosaic Law. But, even though
certain functions were highlighted in each era, the basic functions of law do not change.
Law condemns unbelievers and guides believers. Let’s examine condemning and guiding
functions in each era.
2 Corinthians 3:7-9 is a text that tells us about the condemning effects of the law of
the Old Covenant. In these verses, Paul is contrasting the ministry of the Old Covenant
with the ministry of the New Covenant:
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone,
came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses
because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be
even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much
more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
The phrase “letters engraved on stone” refers to the Mosaic Law. Deuteronomy 4:13
makes this fact clear: “He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which
he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.” The Ten
Commandments are the essence of the Old Covenant and therefore they are
representative of the whole, even though there were many more laws included in the Old
Covenant.13 In 2 Corinthians 3, the Old Covenant is seen as condemning men and
producing death. Paul is highlighting that condemning role of the Old Covenant law and
contrasting it with the work of the Spirit in the New Covenant. The law of the Old
Covenant confronted the unbelieving Israelite with the authority of the God that he hated
(although he claimed to love God). This law not only confronted the unbelieving Jew
with his sinfulness by pointing out transgressions, but it stirred up his self-centered
rebellion: “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused
by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death” (Romans 7:5). The
law of the Old Covenant does its perfect work of pointing out sin, arousing more
rebellion, and of course stating God’s just condemnation on such behavior.
2 Corinthians 3, which explains the condemning effects of the Mosaic Law, is not the
only way one can or should view the law of the Old Covenant. We must examine Psalm
119 where we find the guiding function of The Mosaic Law:
Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your
laws. I will always obey your law, forever and ever. I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings and
will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I
lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees
(Psalm 119:43-48).
David loved God and loved His holy law. David was a rare person in Israel. Not only
was he the king of Israel, but he was a believer. His love for God was obvious, despite
the terrible sins he committed.14 The law did not condemn David because his sins were
covered. He trusted in God and God passed over his sins. In the fullness of time God
poured out His wrath on Christ for David’s sins.15 David was a redeemed believer before
the redeemer bled and died:
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked,
his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks
of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from
works: Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him”
(Romans 4:5-8).
David was a redeemed sinner whose heart had been changed from hating God to loving
God. His sins had been covered and therefore the version of God’s law16 as found in the
Old Covenant did not condemn him. Instead, David approached the stipulations of the
Old Covenant as the detailed instructions of how he could glorify the God he loved.
Whether it was the laws concerning agriculture, animal husbandry, sacrifice, or loving
your neighbor, David obeyed these laws happily out of love for his God. For David, the
words of the Apostle John regarding the relationship of God’s law to the believer applied:
“This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out
his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not
burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has
overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:2-4).
Now let’s consider the effects of law on the unbeliever in the New Covenant era.
Whatever the content of the law of Christ is, there is a specific law that applies to people
in the New Covenant era. We know this because we see in Scripture that sin is still a
relevant concept. It is defined as lawlessness.17 Paul tells us that breaking God’s law in
the New Covenant era brings death or condemnation from God: “For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”18 If I break God’s law
regarding the way I must speak in the New Covenant era19 I have earned eternal
punishment from God unless Christ takes the punishment I deserve on Himself. If I
break God’s law regarding the way I must relate to those who are evil to me,20 once
again I find myself under God’s just condemnation. These laws of the New Covenant era
function exactly the same way 2 Corinthians 3 tells us that the law of the Old Covenant
functioned. When the unbeliever is confronted with the holy law of Christ in the New
Covenant era, it should cause him to see his sinfulness and the fact that He deserves only
eternal punishment from God. This law will ultimately be the standard by which God
condemns him unless he repents and believes.
The law of the Old Covenant was given to a people who were mostly unbelieving.
They did not have the work of the Spirit causing them to love God—motivating them to
obey. Instead, they were spiritually dead people being confronted by God’s authority
which was revealed in the form of the Mosaic Law. This confrontation with God’s
authority only served to stir up their sin and rebellion. The Old Covenant era and the
version of the law of God in that era is the historical example used to teach us that law,
by itself, cannot transform people. That is why you have what seems like an absolute
contrast between written law and the Spirit of God in Romans 7:6 “But now, by dying to
what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way
of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” It is not that once you have the
Spirit you don’t need any written commands from God. The main question at issue is,
“What will free us from our slavery to sin and our condemnation because of our sin
against God?” Law, any law, simply points out sin and further enslaves when it comes in
contact with an unbelieving heart. The Spirit, given to those who repent and believe,
frees the person from slavery to sin by giving him an unquenchable love for God. It is
not the law of God that allows us to live for Him: “For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus
2:11-13). The believer shows his grace-given love for God by obeying His law. The
particular era in which he lives will determine which law he uses as his guide to show his
love for God.
I have heard some NCT proponents say, “In the Old Covenant era, the Israelites were
bound by an external law. Now we are given greater freedom and we are simply to obey
the Spirit’s promptings.” I have heard some CT proponents say, “If you do not believe
that the Decalogue is the rule of life for the believer today you are an antinomian.” 21
Both statements are equally incorrect. The New Covenant Scriptures are filled with
commands from Christ and from His representatives, the Apostles, that specifically guide
believers in how to show their love for God. In his first epistle John writes: “This is love
for God: to obey his commands” (1 John 5:3). Notice, John does not say that love for
God is to obey the “impressions” or “inner promptings” that the Spirit gives you. God’s
commands are clear and unambiguous in the pages of Scripture. We are commanded to
be joyful, to pray, and to give thanks.22 We are commanded to obey governmental
authorities,23 to flee from sexual immorality,24 and to gather together as believers and
encourage one another.25 The list could go on and on. The fact that there is objective
law—different than the Ten Commandments but clear written commands of God for the
New Covenant era—is beyond question. These commands serve as the law that the
believer loves and, as the Spirit works in him, he is able to obey with increasing
consistency.
Authors
Michael W. Adams is one of the pastors at New Covenant Bible Fellowship in
Tempe, Arizona.
Geoff Volker is the founder and director of In-Depth Studies. He earned an M.A.
from Penn State and an M.Div. from Covenant Seminary. He has been a pastor for 25
years. Geoff is currently one of the pastors at New Covenant Bible Fellowship in Tempe,
Arizona.
Endnotes:
1 You can find a previous version of this article at: www.ncbf.net/PDF/R7.pdf.
2 In the context of Romans 5, physical death is a picture of spiritual death or
condemnation in contrast to justification (Romans 5:16). We cannot see spiritual death,
but we can see physical death.
3 Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996),
348.
4 The believer’s struggle with sin is illustrated in passages such as Galatians 5:16-18.
We do not believe that the believer’s struggle with sin is in view in the context of
Romans 6 and 7, but that an unbeliever’s dominance by sin is. Because the unbeliever is
represented by Adam (Romans 5), sin is his master in Romans 6. Paul’s argument is one
of cause and effect.
5 Lawlessness is sin (1 John 3:4) and the believer in the New Covenant era is obligated to
obey the Law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21).
6 There was also something wrong with the Israelites, in that the majority of them were
not believers. But our concern here and the primary concern of the writer of Hebrews is
with the Old Covenant itself.
7That is, the vast majority of Israelites were always unbelieving, but there was always a
small remnant of believers sprinkled throughout the nation. For an extended discussion
of
this
see
Israel:
An
Unbelieving
People
at
http://www.ncbf.net/steve/nation_of_israel.html.
8 See 3:3-5; 3:9-20; 6:1-14; 6:15-23; 7:7-12; 7:13-25; 11:1-10; 11:11-24. We are
indebted to Daniel Thompson for our understanding of this Structure. See his excellent
paper
Romans
7
on-line
at
http://www.solidrock.net/library/thompson/thompson_rom7.php
9 The process of being drawn to the Lord in repentance and faith becomes the believer’s
testimony after conversion. That testimony is a description of the people, events, and
circumstances God used in bringing us to Himself (John 6:44) and it is different from
person to person. In many ways, Romans 7:13-8:4 is a limited version of Paul’s
testimony.
10 This phrase is actually derived from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 10:1): “Dead flies cause
the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor; so doth a little folly him
that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” From The Dictionary of Cliches by James
Rogers (Wings Books, Originally New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985).
11 Historically, this work of Christ on the cross has been termed His “passive
obedience.” His “active obedience” has been defined as the sinless life He lived in
perfect obedience to the Law of Moses. It is our opinion that the imputation of Christ’s
righteousness is the result of His perfect work on the cross (His passive obedience) and
results in justification for the elect. His sacrifice on the cross results in the perfect
payment for sin and a changed life for all who believe. His active obedience qualified
Him to die a substitutionary death on behalf of the elect in payment for their sin, but we
do not believe that Scripture teaches that the active obedience of Christ is imputed to the
believer. His passive obedience results in the imputation of righteousness and the
forgiveness of sin: “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are
being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14). We believe that Biblical evidence is lacking for the
position that the imputation of Christ’s righteousness is based on His active obedience.
In saying that, we are not questioning His active obedience or His perfect, sinless life in
any way. However, we do question the Biblical need for its imputation and we find no
support from Scripture to convince us that Christ’s active obedience is imputed into the
believer’s account. If someone is granted the perfect payment for sin and unconditional
acceptance by the Father, what is still lacking in their salvation? It is beyond the scope of
this article to develop this thought further, but the reader is encouraged to read a series of
articles at: http://www.ids.org/reading_room/topics/imputation.html.
12 Paul spends the next 13 verses explaining the contrast between believers and
unbelievers in terms of living according to these two conflicting powers.
13 That is to say that one can refer to the Old Covenant by simply restating the Ten
Commandments. The Ten Commandments are NOT equivalent to the entire Old
Covenant. But they seem to be used by God as the part of the Old Covenant to represent
the whole.
14 Psalm 51
15 Romans 3:25
16 I realize that in writing this phrase this may sound scandalous to those who hold to
Covenant Theology. But, as I stated above, Scripture itself states that God’s law does
change (Hebrews 7:12). So even if it is only an obscure law regarding priesthood that
has changed in the law for the New Covenant era, there would still be two different
“versions” of God’s law, one that has the law governing priesthood and lineage, and one
that does not.
17 1 John 3:4
18 Romans 6:23
19 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful
for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen”
(Ephesians 4:29).
20 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14).
21 An antinomian is one who is against law. He believes that Christians are not bound by
any law at all.
22 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
23 Romans 13:1-5
24 I Corinthians 6:18
25 Hebrews 10:24-25