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SECTION G – Doctrine: Conciliation,
Individual (5:01 –
8:30)
Balanced
by SECTION g – Doctrine: Conciliation, National (11:01
– 36)
Romans Seven – Verses 1-25
01. Or are you ignorant, brethren (for I
am speaking to those who know law),
that the law is lording it over a man for
as much time as he is living?
The
apostle now addresses particularly those who have been under law, that is,
who were of the Circumcision. His appeal, however, is not to the law
itself, but to the nature of all law, that it has jurisdiction only over
those who are alive. Concordant
Commentary
Paul draws a parallel
concerning this relationship to Sin that we were having before we were
given to believe. We were constituted sinners, bound to Sin, locked up
under its jurisdiction.
Rom.5:19 through the disobedience of the one
man,
the many were constituted sinners,
Gal.3:22 But the scripture locks
up all together under
sin,…
Paul reminds believers
concerning the scope and limitations of law. At this point he is not specifically referring to the
law given to Israel. Any system
of law holds effective only to those who
are alive – the dead, obviously, are no more under such control and
jurisdiction.
02. For a woman in wedlock is bound to a living man by law.
Yet if the man should be dying, she is
exempt from the law of the man.
The
law of wedlock is given as a well-known example. A woman's subjection to
her husband lasts only for his life. During his life she may have no
relations with other men. After his death the ties which bind her to a new
husband are just as sacred as those which united her to the former
one. Concordant Commentary
As an illustration, the
laws of marriage bind (the Greek
uses hupandros, literally UNDER-MAN, rendered wedlock) a woman to her husband only while he is alive, and
become null and void when he dies. She then becomes free to remarry if she
so decides. (This, of course, applies to a husband as much as to a wife.)
1Cor.7:39 A wife is bound by law for whatever time her husband is living.
Yet if the husband should be reposing,
she is free
to be married to whom she will,…
03. Consequently, then, while the man is living,
she will be styled an adulteress if
she should be becoming another
man's,
yet, if the man should be dying, she is free
from the law,
being no adulteress on becoming another man's.
But, as long as her husband
is alive, she is not permitted to marry another man.
1Cor.7:4
The wife has not the
jurisdiction of her own body,
but the husband,
yet likewise the
husband also has not the jurisdiction of his own body,
but the wife.
Should she become another
man's wife she would be deemed an adulteress. Death of the husband,
however, dissolves this bond and she becomes free to remarry without any
accompanying stigma and condemnation.
Deut.22:22 RSV If a man is found lying with the wife of another man,
both of them shall die, the
man who lay with the woman, and the woman;
so you shall purge the evil from Israel.
Mt.5:32 Yet I am saying to you that
everyone dismissing his wife
(outside of a case of prostitution) is making her commit adultery,
and whosoever should be marrying her who has
been dismissed
is committing
adultery.
Mk.10:11,12 And He is saying to them,
"Whosoever should be dismissing his wife
and should be marrying another
is committing adultery against her.
12 And if she, dismissing her husband,
should ever be marrying another,
she is committing
adultery."
-------
04. So that, my brethren,
you also were put to death to
the law through the body of Christ,
for you to become Another's, Who is roused from among the
dead,
that we should be bearing fruit to God.
A
wife and her husband are one flesh (Gen.2:24), hence the wife dies with the
husband, but the woman remains. Those united to Christ under law died with
Him to the law. Union with Christ in resurrection is a new relationship
beyond the sphere of the law.
Concordant Commentary
Paul now applies the
principle, illustrated in the example of wedlock, to those of the believers
who had been under the Mosaic law until they had been given to believe. The
law which, escalated sin to transgression and offence, had exercised
dominion over them.
Rom.5:13 … yet sin is not being taken into account
when there is no law;
Rom.3:20 … for through law is the recognition of sin.
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On behalf of transgressions was it
added,…
1Cor.15:56 … yet the power of sin is the law
Rom.4:15 …Now where no law is, neither is there transgression.
Rom.7:8 …For apart from law Sin is dead.
Only their death could
deliver them from the demanding embrace of the law.
Where Sin is concerned,
these believers, being in Christ,
were put to death, reckoned as dead, when Christ died. Having died in Him to that law under which they
had been, while wed-locked to
Sin, these have now been freed from its jurisdiction. No longer
belonging to Sin, the law which had hitherto held them bound to Sin no
longer has dominion over them. They can now, with a clear conscience, belong to another.
Rom.6:6,7 …our old humanity was crucified together with Him,
that the
body of Sin may be nullified, for us by no means to be still slaving
for Sin, 7 for one who dies has been justified from Sin.
Rom.6:10,11 …He died to Sin once for all time,
yet in that He is living, He is living to
God.
11 Thus you also, be
reckoning yourselves to be dead,
indeed, to Sin,
yet living
to God
in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Rom.6:20 For when you were
slaves of Sin,
you were free as to Righteousness.
Rom.6:22 Yet, now, being freed from Sin, yet enslaved to God,
you have your
fruit for holiness.
From a universal aspect, Sin was destroyed when
Christ, being made Sin for the sake
of all, was crucified.
2Cor.5:21 For the One not knowing
sin, He makes to be Sin for our sakes
that we may be becoming God's righteousness in
Him.
2Cor.5:14 … if One died for the sake of all,
consequently all died.
Believers, now, are no
longer under the tyranny of Sin but under the grace of God, serving
Righteousness and growing in the realization of God. The flesh, with its
propensity to sin, is not accorded the adulation and priority it craves.
2Cor.5:16 So that we, from now on,
are acquainted with no one according to flesh.
Yet even if we have known Christ according to flesh,
nevertheless now we know Him so no longer.
2Cor.9:10 …may He Who is supplying seed to
the sower, and bread for food,
be furnishing and multiplying your seed
and be making the product of your righteousness grow,
Phil.1:9-11 And this I am praying, that your
love
may be superabounding
still more and more in realization and all sensibility,
10 for you to be testing
what things are of consequence,
that you may be sincere and no stumbling block
for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that is through Jesus Christ
for the glory and laud of God.
Phil.4:17 Not that I am seeking for a
gift,
but I am seeking for fruit that is increasing for your account.
Col.1:4-6 on hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus
and the love
which you have for all the saints,
5 because of the expectation reserved for you in the heavens,
which you hear before in the word of truth of
the evangel,
6 which, being present with you, according
as in the entire world also,
is bearing
fruit and growing, according as it is among you also,
from the day on which you hear and realized the grace of God in truth,
Col.1:9,10 Therefore we also, from the day on
which we hear,
do not cease praying for you and requesting that
you may be filled full
with the
realization of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding,
10 you to walk worthily of
the Lord for all pleasing,
bearing
fruit
in every good work, and growing
in the realization of God;
Note: It is always of
interest to watch Paul’s use of pronouns in such passages. The ‘you’ in the
verse refers, of course, to the believers of Jewish origin - those ‘who
know law’ of verse 1. But he suddenly switches to the ‘we’ who ‘should be
bearing fruit to God’, indicating that they are just as much of the body of
Christ as the rest of the believers. Not just those who had been under law,
but all believers should be bearing fruit to God. In the next verse, Paul
identifies himself with them in their common experience of transferring
from the law.
05. For, when we were in the flesh,
the passions of sins, which were
through the law,
operated in our members to be bearing fruit to Death.
Prior to their faith, such
believers had succumbed to satiating their fleshly desires, being
tantalized to this course by the awareness and knowledge of sin that the
law detailed. This led to actions that could only bring condemnation and
destruction for each demeanour in addition to the sentence of death they
were already under. The law had, in fact, made the situation a quagmire of
hopelessness.
Rom.6:21 What fruit, then, had
you then?--of which you are now ashamed,
for, indeed, the consummation of those things is death.
Rom.4:15 for the law is
producing indignation.
Now where no law is, neither is there
transgression.
Gal.5:19-21 Now apparent are the works of the flesh, which are
adultery,
prostitution, uncleanness, wantonness,
20 idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife,
jealousies, furies, factions, dissensions, sects,
21 envies, murders,
drunkennesses, revelries,
and the like of these, which, I am predicting to
you,
according as I predicted also, that those
committing such things
shall not
be enjoying the allotment of the kingdom of God.
Those believers of the
nations, even though the law does not apply to them, were just as much
under condemnation before they were given to be believing. Just as soulish
as the rest, they, too, were catering to the satiation of the flesh.
Rom.8:8 Now those who are in flesh are not able to please God.
Eph.2:1-3 And you, being dead to your
offenses and sins,
2 in which once you walked, in accord with the
eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction of
the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
3 (among whom we also all behaved ourselves once
in the lusts of our flesh,
doing the
will of the flesh and of the comprehension,
and were, in our nature, children of
indignation, even as the rest),
Tit.3:3 For we also were once foolish, stubborn, deceived,
slaves of various desires and gratifications,
leading a life in malice and envy, detestable,
hating one another.
Eph.5:5 For this you perceive, knowing that
no paramour at all
or unclean or greedy person, who is an idolater,
has any
enjoyment of the allotment in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
06. Yet now we were exempted from the law,
dying in
that in which we were retained,
so that it is for us to be slaving in
newness of spirit
and not in oldness of letter.
Exemption
from the law applies only to those who were under the law. As the law is
not unjust, like Sin, but just and holy, they continue to serve, no longer
in letter, but in spirit. Concordant
Commentary
Having been circumcised
(preferably eight days after birth as stipulated by law – Gen.17:10-14;
Phil.3:4-6), those believers in the ecclesia in Rome who were Jews by race
had been bound to the law, serving God within its stipulations.
Gal.5:3 Now I am attesting
again to every man who is circumcising,
that he is
a debtor to do the whole law.
But, now that they had
become dead, through Christ, the law has no further hold on them. They no
longer have to yield to its demands or live according to its legislations
and regulations.
Gal.4:4,5 Now when the full time came, God
delegates His Son,
come of a woman, come under law,
5 that He should be reclaiming those under law,
that we may be getting the place of a son.
Gal.3:13 Christ reclaims us from the curse of the law,
becoming a curse for our sakes,
for it is written, Accursed is everyone hanging
on a pole,
Instead, having now become
exempt from the jurisdiction of the law, they should be serving, not the
written law, but the spiritual
principle on which that law was based.
2Cor.3:6 … not of the letter, but of the spirit,
for the letter is killing, yet the spirit is vivifying.
Gal.2:19,20 For I, through law, died to law, that I should be living
to God.
20 With
Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living;
no longer I, but living in me is Christ.
Now that which I am now living in flesh,
I am living in faith that is of the Son of God,
Who loves
me, and gives Himself up for me.
07. What, then, shall we declare? That the law is sin?
May it not be coming to that! But
sin I knew not except through law.
For besides, I had not been aware of coveting
except the law said, "You shall not
be coveting."
The
mistaken deduction from the foregoing is that the law itself is sin. Else
why cease to serve its letter? Or else how does it make sin more sinful and
transform it into an offense? Sin is not known in its true character except
through law. Instead of sin being ignorant inability, it becomes the
opposite. It is active hostility. The law which seemed to be given to
regulate, only roused it. Sin is dormant or dead until law comes and gives
it life. The law which should have given the sinner life, gave life to sin.
It should have been the death blow of sin, but it became the death of the
sinner. All this shows how futile it is to try to reform or regulate or
conquer sin. It not only acts in darkness and ignorance but transforms the
very light into an agent of death. The law offered life to those under it,
on terms which, apart from sin, were all that could be desired. But sin not
only disabled them so that they could not take advantage of its provisions,
but involved them in its condemnation by stirring their passions against
its just decrees. Concordant Commentary
Since the law
details what sin is, and escalates sin into transgression, thus making the
situation even more grievous, can we conclude that the law itself is sin, a
mistake, a debilitating flaw in God’s operation?
First, we need to know the intent of giving the law in the
first place - why it has been
given. Next, we need to determine whether or not it fulfills its objective?
We do not have to go into
science, or philosophy, or even some systematic theology to answer these.
The law was given to the people of Israel so that they would know the
standard of behaviour God expects
of them as His people - what meets with His approval and what does not.
Otherwise they would not even realize that what they were doing was not right in God’s eyes.
Rom.3:20 …for through law is the recognition of sin.
Therefore, the law itself
is not sin. It does not 'miss the
mark'; It was designed to identify
what sin is - and it does just
that - adequately fulfilling its designated purpose! Though it defined what
was not righteous, it was not designed
to make people righteous.
Gal.2:21 for if
righteousness is through law,
consequently Christ died gratuitously.
Gal.3:21 …For if a law were given that is able to vivify,
really, righteousness were out of law.
The law was given to bring
out the fact that man has an inherent propensity to sin and that he will
act to his advantage in spite of knowing
that what he does is wrong. Now,
with the law as witness, the ever-ready excuse of ignorance becomes clearly
invalid. And men are shown to be what they really are – constituted
sinners.
Rom.5:19 … through the disobedience of the
one man,
the many were constituted sinners,…
Take the example
of coveting. It is a ‘natural’ trait to covet what others have – men do it
without even thinking – but that is because men are, for now, ‘naturally’
sinners. But when the law declares that it is a wrongdoing, it becomes a
blamable decision to continue in it. Though what the law was doing is good,
that law became an incentive to an illicit experience - it stirred up, in
each one, inherent passions hitherto unaware of, hidden, dormant.
08. Now Sin, getting an incentive
through the precept,
produces in me all manner of
coveting.
For apart from law Sin is dead.
Through Adam, we are all
dying creatures and because of this dying process that works in each of us,
we sin. This applies to all of mankind indiscriminately. But, though men
sinned, Sin was powerless to bring further condemnation on the individual.
Rom.5:12 … even as through one man
sin entered into the world, and through sin
death,
and thus death passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned--
Rom.5:13 for until law sin was in the world,
yet sin is
not being taken into account when there is no law;
This knowledge of what sin
is, however, incites people to do the very things the law prohibits. Apart
from law, Sin is DEAD; it is powerless to condemn! But, when law came into the picture,
a penalty could be incurred and
the prospect for non-compliance is Death! So, instead of giving life, which
some think it can, the law only brings down death. It is SIN that makes use of law to do this.
09.
I lived, apart from law, once,
yet at
the coming of the precept Sin
revives. Yet I died,
In the law Sin
finds a lever through which to carry out its sinister operations. It could
wield the law to its advantage, instigating ideas and actions, even in
‘new’ areas of experience, that deserve condemnation. The introduction of
the law gave Sin the vehicle it needed to escalate the effect of its
influence. Sin became energized, activated, virulent. Sin was now
transgression, a deliberate offence, and each transgression drawing a
corresponding penalty on the wrongdoer.
1Cor.15:56 Now the sting
of Death is sin, yet the power of sin
is the law.
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On behalf of transgressions was it
added,…
Rom.4:15 for the law is producing
indignation.
Now where no law is, neither is there transgression.
Rom.5:20 Yet law came in by the way, that the offense should be increasing….
Rom.6:21 What fruit, then, had you then?--of
which you are now ashamed,
for, indeed, the consummation of those things is death.
10. and it was found that, to me, the
precept for life, this is for
death.
It seemed that though in
‘theory’ the law should dispense life, in practice it could only bring
condemnation and death. The law should have kept Israel away from sinning.
Instead, Sin made use of it as an incentive to even more wrongdoing and
individual condemnation. Instead of giving life, it only brought death.
Jas.2:10 For anyone who should
be keeping the whole law,
yet should be tripping in one thing, has become liable for all.
Rom.6:23 For the ration of Sin
is death,….
11. For Sin, getting an incentive
through the precept, deludes me,
and through it, kills me.
The law is not limited to
the Ten Commandments as most people suppose. The Ten may form the core but
constitute a miniscule, though essential, part in the revelation to Israel.
The whole sacrificial system of Israel deals with sin. Special offerings
were stipulated for the covering of various types of wrongdoing.
Familiarity with the law made it easy to associate a sin with its corresponding
sacrifice.
Though it is revealed to us
that these sacrificial offerings foreshadowed
the ultimate, the cross of Christ, the people of Israel were quite unaware
of this fact. It was easy for them to take things for granted and come to
rely on the action rather than on the motive and intent of these
sacrifices; to fall under the delusion that if you did wrong, offer the
appropriate sacrifice and all will be well.
But the blood shed by the
animals offered could, in fact, do nothing to solve the problem of sin.
Nothing, except Christ’s blood, has efficacy.
Heb.9:22 And almost all is being
cleansed in blood according to the
law,
and apart
from bloodshedding is coming no pardon.
Heb.10:4 for it is impossible
for the blood of bulls and of he-goats to be eliminating sins.
Heb.9:12 not even through the blood of he-goats and
calves,
but
through His own blood,…
Note: In all religions, sacrifices and offerings
and ritual prayers are an integral part of liturgy. Pardon and privilege
from their god(s) are initiated by the action of the people through their
priesthood. Such rituals are fundamental to their systems of worship. In
effect, through their rituals, people control their deities – they perform
some specific ritual, and their gods are expected to respond.
12. So that the law, indeed, is holy, and the
precept holy and just and good.
Though the law was given to
Israel through messengers (see Act.7:30-53), it is still a God-given system.
Attaining its intended goals, it is effective and efficient.
Deut.4:8 And what great nation is
there
which has statutes
and judgments so righteous as all this law
that I am putting before you today?
Neh.9:13,14 And on mount Sinai You have come
down,
even to speak with them from the heavens,
and You do give to them right judgments, and true
laws,
good
statutes and commands.
14 And Your holy sabbath You have made
known to them,
and commands, and statutes, and law,
Ps.19:7-11 The law of Yahweh is flawless, restoring the soul;
The testimony of Yahweh is faithful, making wise the simple;
8 The precepts of Yahweh are upright, rejoicing the heart;
The instruction of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, standing unto the future;
The judgments of Yahweh are truth; they are righteous
altogether:
10 Coveted more than gold,
and more than much glittering gold,
And sweeter than honey and drips of the
combs.
11 Moreover, Your servant is being warned by them;
In the keeping of them is a great consequence.
1Tim.1:8,9 ... the law is ideal if ever anyone
is using it lawfully,
9 being aware of this, that law is not laid down for the just,
yet it is for the lawless and insubordinate, the
irreverent and sinners, …
Rom.3:31 Are we, then, nullifying law
through faith?
May it not be coming to that! Nay, we are sustaining law.
13. Became good, then, death to me?
May it not be coming to that! But
Sin, that it may be appearing Sin,
is producing death to me through good,
that Sin may become an inordinate
sinner through the precept.
From
the supposition that the law being holy and just and good, involved him in
death. it seems that what is good may become the cause of death. But such is
not the case. It was not the law which produced death, but sin, misusing
law. The real law and apparent functions of the law are very different.
And. in order to effect its real object, it was necessary that it should
not appear on the surface. The apparent object of the law was to give life
to all who consistently and constantly kept it. As it never gave life to
anyone, for no one was able to fulfill its demands, it appears as if the
law has failed of its primary object. And, further, as it revived the passions
of sin which were dormant, it seems to have defeated its own aim. But the
real object of the law was to reveal the inordinate sinfulness of sin, and
in this it was most successful.
Concordant Commentary
This does not mean that death is good. It is actually an enemy and will one day,
in the time set by God, be abolished.
1Cor.15:26 The last enemy is being abolished: death.
2Tim.1:10 …our Saviour, Christ Jesus,
Who, indeed, abolishes death,
yet illuminates life and incorruption through
the evangel
Sin has to be shown to be
what it really is. It is insidious and pervasive, adamant and yet subtly
tempting, appealing to the satiation of the flesh. Sin will even twist and
rationalize Scripture, as if it is of its own devising, to booby-trap the unwary
so as to attain its goals. It will use every means, every opportunity, and
every excuse to bring death to the sinner.
Rom.6:23 For the ration of Sin is death,…
Sin has no
respect at all for the God-given law. The law, though of itself ‘holy and
just and good’, is a cunningly used lever to bring down condemnation and
destruction.
Rom.4:15 for the law is producing
indignation.
Now where no law is, neither is there
transgression.
Rom.5:20 Yet law came in by the way, that
the offense should be increasing.
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On behalf
of transgressions was it added,
until the Seed should come to Whom He has
promised,…
14. For we are aware that the law is
spiritual,
yet I am fleshly, having been disposed of
under Sin.
The law is spiritual,
dealing with the spirit and warning against involvement in the works of the
flesh, works that lead to death. It does not legislate against what the
spirit produces.
Gal.5:22,23 Now the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control:
against
such things there is no law.
Without the
downward pull of the flesh, these would be the virtues men would live in. But,
as we are dying creatures, being disposed to fleshly passions, placed under
the dominion of Sin, we sin. We are constituted sinners, disposed of under
sin. There is always this struggle between our flesh and our spirit.
Gal.3:22 But the scripture locks up all together under sin,…
Rom.5:12 Therefore, even as through one man
sin entered into the world,
and through sin death,
and thus death passed through into all
mankind, on which all sinned--
Rom.3:23 for all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God.
Rom.5:19 For even as, through the
disobedience of the one man,
the many were constituted sinners,
Gal.5:17 …the flesh is lusting against the
spirit, yet the spirit against the flesh.
Now these
are opposing one another,
lest you should be doing whatever you may want.
15. For what I am effecting I know not,
for not what I will, this I am putting into practice,
but what I am hating, this I am doing.
This
is the experience of one who does not realize his death to sin and the law,
but who is endeavoring to keep the letter of the law. He finds that the law
of sin in his members is far more potent than the law of God which appeals
to his mind. He wants to do good; but cannot. He does things which he hates
to do, hence charges his misery to the indwelling sin which has taken
possession of his body. He is a wretched captive. This will be the
experience of all who make an earnest effort to please God by obeying the
letter of that law which was broken even before it reached the people (Ex.32:19). Concordant
Commentary
Using his own experience in
this matter, Paul declares that he is unable to predict the outcome of each
such struggle. Trying to keep clear of thoughts and actions that the law
speaks against, he finds himself doing contrary to his own good intentions
– he finds his flesh dominant.
16.
if what I am not willing, this I am doing,
I am conceding that the law is ideal.
Paul finds himself doing
the very things that he knows he should not be doing, things which he does
NOT now want to do, things he now hates
to do! And he finds himself not
doing the things that he knows he should be doing, things he actually wants to do, things that he would love to do!
But, the very fact that he
is now able to recognise that there are things that he should and should
not be doing proves that the law has done its job of identifying sin, thus
fulfilling its designated purpose for him!
17. Yet now it is no longer I
who am effecting it,
but Sin making its home in me.
It is Sin that is in him,
resident in his flesh (because of the dying-factor in the human make-up
that constitutes him a sinner),
that effects these unwanted actions.
Gen.6:5 And seeing is Yahweh Elohim
that much is the evil of humanity in the earth,
and every form of the devices of its heart is but evil all its days.
Job.15:14-16 What is a mortal that he
should be cleared,
Or that one born of a woman should be
justified?
15 If even on His holy ones, He puts no
reliance,
And the heavens are not purged in His eyes,
16 How much less man, Who
is abhorrent and spoiled,
Who is
drinking iniquity like water.
Tit.3:3 For we also were once
foolish, stubborn, deceived,
slaves of
various desires and gratifications,
leading a life in malice and envy, detestable,
hating one another.
18. For I am aware that good is not making its home in me (that is, in my flesh),
for to will is lying beside me, yet to be
effecting the ideal is not.
He is well aware that the
good is not inherent in
flesh. Virtues do not spring from it but, rather, from the spirit of
humanity which is in each of us, keeping us alive.
Gal.5:22,23 Now the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control:
against such things there is no law.
(Most believe that these
virtues are produced by God’s gift of holy
spirit. This is not the case here. It is the spirit in man, the human
spirit, that does this. Otherwise, we will have to deny the evidence that
such virtues are found in
those who are not believers,
those who have not been given
holy spirit.
Gal.5:17 For the flesh is lusting against the spirit, yet the spirit against the flesh. Now these are opposing one another,
lest you should be doing whatever you may want.
Every human being, believer
or not, experiences this struggle between his flesh and his spirit.
Sometimes the spirit overrules; most often the flesh is given precedence.
Holy spirit, that is given to
us on our believing the evangel, however, produces in us Christ’s spirit,
the spirit of sonship, in which we have the disposition of wanting to
please God, our Father, in all things - just as Christ does.
Rom.8:15,16 For you did not get
slavery's spirit to fear again,
but you got the
spirit of sonship, in which we are crying, "Abba,
Father!"
16 The spirit itself is testifying together
with our spirit that we are
children of God.
Phil.2:5,8 For let this disposition be in you, which is
in Christ Jesus also,…
He humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross.
This spirit brings God’s justification
through the work of Christ, and makes us children of God. Unbelievers,
because they have not been given holy spirit, do not find justification and
are not His children yet.)
The flesh is powerless
against sin and acts as a fifth columnist, subversively working for sin against the self. So, though
our spirit encourages us to endeavour towards the ideal, to do that which
is right and good, our flesh urges us against our own wills. On the other
hand, when our flesh drives us to do that which is wrong, it is our spirit
that holds us back. This is the daily experience we all have.
Rom.8:3 For what was impossible to the law, in which it was infirm through the flesh,..
Rom.8:5 For those who are in accord with
flesh
are disposed to that which is of the flesh, …
Rom.8:6 For the disposition of the
flesh is death,
Rom.8:7,8 because the disposition of
the flesh is enmity to God,
for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither is it able.
8 Now those who are in flesh are not able to please God.
Gal.5:19-21 Now apparent are the works of the flesh,
which are adultery, prostitution, uncleanness,
wantonness,
20 idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife,
jealousies, furies,
factions, dissensions, sects, 21envies, murders,
drunkennesses, revelries,
and the like of these,…
19. For it is not the good that I will that I am doing,
but the evil that I am not willing, this I am putting into practice.
Instead of
effecting the good he intends, Paul finds himself doing the evil that he
detests. Even when the law was applied, and through it, knowing that what
he was doing was wrong, he was still unable to help himself. His
willingness to effect good was of no avail. And even the law could not
provide him the power he needed.
20. Now if what I am not willing, this I
am doing,
it
is no longer I who am effecting it, but Sin which is
making its home in me.
Though he can will to do good, he does not have
the power to actually do it. To make it worse, he finds
himself doing the evil that he does not want to do rather than the good
that he wants to do. The fact that he does these wrong things, in spite of
not wanting to, proves that it is Sin that resides in him that is the real
culprit!
21. Consequently, I am finding the law
that,
at my willing to be doing the ideal, the
evil is lying beside me.
Paul finds it an axiom that
whenever he wanted to do that which was good, he had also to contend with
the evil that was prompted by his knowledge of the law.
22. For I am gratified with the law of God
as to the man within,
Because the law is
spiritual, it satisfies his spirit, the man within.
Rom.8:5 For those who are in accord
with flesh are disposed to that which is of the flesh,
yet those who are in accord with spirit to that which
is of the spirit.
23. yet I am observing a different law
in my members,
warring with the law of my mind,
and leading me into captivity to the law of sin
which is in my members.
But he finds himself under
a different control in his flesh, something that is at odds with the law of
his mind and which has been leading him to
sin.
Rom.7:14 For we are aware that
the law is spiritual,
yet I am fleshly, having been disposed of
under Sin.
Gal.5:17 For the flesh is lusting
against the spirit, yet the spirit against the flesh.
Now these are opposing one another,
lest you should be doing whatever you may want.
24. A wretched man am I!
What will rescue me out of this body of
death? Grace!
What
is the answer to this wretched man's cry? It is grace. There is no other
deliverance possible. This brings us back to where this disgression began, the
reign of Grace at the end of the fifth chapter. It is only as we recognize
the imperial sway of Grace, putting us beyond all possibility of
condemnation, whether we sin or not, that we have real liberty and power
sufficient to effect not only what was demanded by the law, but those
higher duties which far transcend the righteous requirements of Sinai. Then
we will not be wretched and self occupied, but happy and exulting in God,
in Whose favor we are basking, and Whose delight we are, in Christ. Concordant
Commentary
Paul has shown that man
cannot escape his wretched and hopeless situation, this close relationship
he has with sin. Man needs something to save him from his fleshly
tendencies - and this 'something' is definitely not in him. It has to come
from outside of himself. Paul has already revealed the sure answer to this
common humanly insurmountable problem – and this does not depend on man’s efforts or on his contribution. It is
Grace!
This word 'grace' is found in the Greek manuscripts. And, if we leave it out, as
most translations do, we find that there is NO answer here to Paul's
almost-despairing question! Paul presents the fact that, outside of God's grace there is no possible solution to the problem!
Operating all in accord with the counsel of His will, God decides who will
receive His grace.
Rom.5:20 …Yet where sin increases, grace superexceeds,
This word ‘superexceeds’
comes from the Greek (h)uperperisseu’ö,
which is, literally, OVER-ABOUT. Other
versions render it ‘did much more abound’ (KJV), and ‘increased all the
more’ (NIV), and ‘did abound more exceedingly’ (ASV), etc.
Grace is so powerfully
effective that, in every case of believing, grace overwhelms (from (h)uperpleonaz’ö,
literally, OVER-MOREize) any ignorance
or stubbornness or unbelief on the part of the recipient. Nobody has any chance against God’s
grace. God needs no permission or cooperation from anyone to lavish His
grace on those He wants to.
1Tim.1:14 I,
who formerly was a calumniator and a persecutor and an outrager:
but I was shown mercy, seeing that I do it being
ignorant, in unbelief.
14 Yet the grace of our
Lord overwhelms, with faith and
love in Christ Jesus
Eph.2:8,9 For in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this
is not out of you;
it is
God's approach present, 9 not of works, lest
anyone should be boasting
Eph.1:7,8 in Whom we are having the deliverance through
His blood,
the forgiveness of offenses in accord with the riches of His grace,
8 which He lavishes on us;…
Eph.2:7 that, in the oncoming
eons,
He should be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
1Cor.15:10 Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil I--
yet not I, but the grace of God which is with
me.
25. I thank God, through Jesus Christ, our
Lord.
Consequently, then, I myself,
with the mind, indeed, am slaving for God's law,
yet with the flesh for Sin's law.
God’s grace is the only
solution to all of the problems humanity faces. God, through Christ, is
solving the problem of Sin. For this delivery in grace from our otherwise
hopeless situation, we should, as with Paul, be filled with appreciation
and gratitude.
Paul realizes that, with
his mind and will he serves God's law, yet with his flesh, much against his
will, Sin's law!
Rom.6:14 For Sin shall not be lording
it over you,
for you are not under law, but under grace.
Rom.6:17 Now thanks be to God that you were slaves of Sin,
yet you obey from the heart the type of teaching
to which you were given over.
1Cor.15:57 Now thanks be to God,
Who is giving us the victory, through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
2Cor.9:15 Now thanks be to God for His indescribable gratuity!
This, however, should not
be turned into an excuse for believers to now go on and do whatever they
like. Rather, it is now expected
that they should serve God, not according to any written law, not even to
the God-given law through Moses, but according to the spiritual intent on
which that law is based – love of God and love of one’s associates.
Mt.22:37-40 Now He averred to him,
"You
shall be loving the Lord your God with your whole heart,
and with
your whole soul, and with your whole comprehension.
38 This is the great and foremost
precept.
39 Yet the second is like it: `You shall be loving your associate as
yourself.'
40 On
these two precepts is hanging the whole law and the prophets."
Gal.5:13,14 For you were called for
freedom, brethren,
only use not the freedom for an incentive to the
flesh,
but through love be slaving for one
another.
14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one word, in this:
"You shall love your associate as
yourself."
Rom.13:8 To no one owe anything,
except to be loving one another,
for he who is loving another has fulfilled law.
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Index of Articles - Romans
Dec 2007
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