Flesh vs. Spirit

Here in Chapter 7 we see Paul's agony over trying to personally apply the truths of the previous chapters. A man may know the truth, but its application can cause intense problems.

Paul addresses the opening verses to Jewish believers, not to the general body of Gentile believers. Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? (7:1). The point here is that the Mosaic Law held power over a Jew as long as he lived.

For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (7:24).

A married woman was bound to her husband as long as he lived or until he divorced her. (In Judaism a woman had no right to divorce her husband. The bride's father would demand a substantial dowry before the marriage to support the woman in case the husband put her away. This was actually alimony in advance.)

Gentiles have never been under the Mosaic Law. Even the early Church fathers decided not to impose the bondage of the Law upon the Gentile believers, since they weren't able to bear it themselves (Acts 15:13-24).

Paul is showing the Jewish believers that death brought freedom from the Law and as Christians they had died with Christ. Therefore, the Jewish believers were set free from the Law. They had been freed from the Old Covenant by death and joined to the New Covenant through Jesus Christ.

For when we were in the flesh, the motions [passions] of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (7:5-6). The Law worked in a man's body to bring forth fruit leading to death. Now he has been delivered from the Law and a New Covenant has been established. The Law was never intended to make a man righteous, for if righteousness could come by the Law then Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21). God gave the Law to show man his sin and to condemn him. It exposes the guilt of the whole world by revealing man's failure to meet God's standards.

Paul goes on to tell us, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust I was a sinner, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead (7:7-8). In a tragic misinterpretation of the Law, the Jews had tried to keep it as their claim to righteousness. This error persists in Judaism to this day. The modern Jew tries to outweigh his evil deeds with good ones. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is now a day to reflect over his past actions. However, there's no sacrifice to cover or put away his sin and guilt.

The Law isn't sin, but it certainly brings a man to the awareness of sin. Paul said that he didn't know what sin was until the Law revealed it to him, for without the Law sin was dead.

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin (7:9-14).

The problem is me. I agree that I should obey the Law. I should love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I should love my neighbor as myself and shouldn't break any of the commandments. The Law is good, right, and just. But with the Law comes the consciousness of God's requirement, and I become aware of how far short I have fallen.

Paul said, "The law is spiritual" (7:14a). By interpreting the Law in a physical sense, the Pharisees believed that they had attained righteousness. As a Pharisee, Paul was blameless in keeping the Law's outward observances. However, when he came to the realization that the Law was spiritual, he stood condemned. He had violated the spirit of the Law many times. The Law, intended to govern the attitudes of men, showed that all were guilty before God. "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

Now we need help! The Law brings us to a point of despair and hopelessness. It forces us to look for help beyond ourselves. Any religious system teaching that help can be found within us is bound to fail. Our nature is sinful, in rebellion to God, and not subject to His will. The weakness of the Law isn't in the Law. It is in us.

The first covenant that God established with man was based on rules "which if a man do, he shall live in them" (Leviticus 18:5b). However, man was so sinful that this Old Covenant broke down. So, God established a second covenant with man, the New Covenant based not on keeping rules but on believing in His Son.

Jesus took upon Himself all your guilt and died in your place. For believing in Him, God credits you with the righteousness of Christ. This New Covenant differs diametrically from the old one. The Law depended upon man's faithfulness, and it failed because man was unfaithful. The New Covenant depends upon God's faithfulness, and it stands because God is totally faithful. So, you stand by the grace of God!

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow [know] not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I (7:14-15). When Paul first realized that the Law was spiritual, he began trying to fulfill the spirit of the Law in his own strength.

Many Christians still try to establish a legal relationship with God. I struggled with this problem for years, because I grew up in a "holiness church". We were always pledging to do good works for God. We'd never smoke, drink, or go to the movies. Our rules weren't the Ten Commandments as such, but regulations set up by our church leaders emphasizing a legal relationship with God.

However, God doesn't want a legal relationship with us. He wants a love relationship. Legal contracts are impersonal and formal, but God wants a love that cannot come by the Law. Paul discovered this truth when he came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but he still struggled with his instincts from the old experience. He said, "The things that I really want to do, I don't do; and the things that I don't want to do, I do. And I hate it!"

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me (7:16-17). The desire to sin isn't the new me, it's my old sinful nature. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Galatians 5:17). The non-Christian lives after his flesh and has no conflict with it. The Christian's desires have changed, but he's still in his body of flesh. He wants to please God in his flesh and tries to conform it to the will of God. However, he finds himself doing things that he doesn't want to do.

How many times had I promised God, "I'm going to read ten chapters of the Bible and pray one hour every day this week." Yet I didn't do it. I found myself breaking vows and promises to God, because the good that I wanted to do I couldn't do.

Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not (7:17-18). It has taken me many years to come to this truth, and I'm not sure that I completely live by it yet. Sometimes I think that there's some good within me, but more and more I agree with Paul: "in my flesh dwells no good thing. "

God passes only one sentence upon our flesh: death. He doesn't remodel the "old man," because the old nature is beyond repair. God has condemned the life of the flesh to death on the Cross.

The will to do good is present within me, but that's not the problem. The problem is my performance. Remember Jesus' words when He came to Peter and found him sleeping: "Could you not watch with me one hour?... The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:40b,41b).

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man (7:19-22). Inwardly I consent to obey the Law of God and delight in it. "Lord, I want communion and fellowship with You. I want to be Yours completely."

But I see another law in my members [body], warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (7:23). This is real spiritual conflict. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities," against those strong forces working within our flesh (Ephesians 6:12a).

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (7:24). You struggle, you try to overcome, you fight against the lusts of the flesh. But you're not making any progress!

As a possible example, let's say that you're overweight. You try every diet that exists. You admit that dieting is good. "I want to get rid of these extra twenty pounds. I'm not going to eat any more hot fudge sundaes." But by next Saturday you can't resist. "The good that I would I do not" (7:19). This body of flesh is still in opposition to your own will, continuing to bring areas of your life into captivity. If this wasn't the case, you would weigh twenty pounds less.

All Christians experience the battle of flesh against spirit. We're chained to a dead man, and wherever we go we drag this old carcass with us. It's smelly, corrupt, and we hate it, yet we're bound to it. In the next chapter of Romans Paul says that we "groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23b). Oh, how we long to live in a redeemed body! Then we won't have this struggle anymore.

At this point in his walk Paul was struggling with the desires of the body. He found that his flesh brought him into captivity, and he was acting in ways that he didn't want to. There was great conflict between his will and actions, between his spirit and flesh. In desperation he finally cried out, "Who shall deliver me?" When we cry out like this, help is near.

The highly effective Alcoholics Anonymous program recognizes and teaches this principle. First, the member must recognize that he has a problem. Second, he must seek help beyond himself. This is the key for real deliverance.

I'm living in this body of the flesh which has a tremendous influence on me. However, I can't overcome its power by myself. "Who shall deliver me?" By reaching out and taking hold of God, I begin to experience the overcoming power of His Spirit. Now I find that God can do what I can't do for myself.

As long as you're trying to deliver yourself, the Christian life will be one frustration and defeat after another. With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin (7:25b). You want to do good and serve God, yet you're overcome by the impulses and desires of the flesh. As long as you're striving on your own, you'll find yourself living in the anguish described in Chapter 7 of Romans.

In despair I cry out for help. "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Paul said, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord (7:25a). Must I forever struggle, fight, and be defeated by my flesh? No. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, God has given me a way out. I don't have to be overcome by my fleshly nature anymore, for in Him I find true deliverance.