Romans 7 The Law

 

Romans 7

The Law

Paul recognized by the law, he was a slave to sin

He talks about the constant problem of stepping in “Do, Do” as he lives life

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Romans 7:15-17

Paul recognized he had a sinful nature

And there is nothing good in the sinful nature Romans 7:18

We don’t have to be as knowledgeable as Paul on the law

To identify with the struggle Paul is speaking about

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.

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. Romans 7:5-6

In some people’s minds, who love the law, they become legalistic

In the minds of the person who hates the law, they become rebellious

But in the mind of the person who, through love, die to sin (the sinful nature)

By becoming a slave to God

Becomes free to love God and others and fulfills the law

 

The Law

 

In order to understand Romans 7

 you need to understand law.

 

You don’t have to be an attorney,

but you need to think like one.

 

Paul says in verse 1… 

 

Do you not know, brothers —

for I am speaking to men who know the law —

that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

Romans 7:1

 

“I am speaking to men who know the law.”

 

So what do we know about the law?...

 

“the law has authority over

a man only as long as he lives”

 

While you and I are alive

there is the authority of the law over us.

 

When you are dead

there is no law or authority that can affect you.

 

So, it is the living who have the authority

of law ruling over what we do.

 

From the time we are born and start living life,

 the authority of the law is over us.

 

Law teaches us what is right and what is wrong.

 

Law tells us what we can do and what we cannot do.

 

Law has the authority to bring punishment.

 

Law and authority come from many sources.

 

As we grow up…

 

 We find ourselves under the authority

of parents, schools, and government.

 

The laws and the way they are carried out

can have negative effects on us.

 

Rebellion is in all of us.

 

We have all heard of teenage rebellion.

 

 And most of us can look back on our teenage years

and see we rebelled against authority.

 

If you lived in a home

where you were left to raise yourself…

 

You might have found it very hard to

be under the authority of others.

 

The force of authority to giving up our own self-governing

and freedom can increase our rebellious attitude.

 

For many of us, we struggle with law and authority.

 

We don’t like not having our way in life.

 

We don’t trust other authority figures

because we see their failures.

 

Paul asks a question…

 

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin?

Romans 7:7

 

Based on our view of laws

made by parents, schools and government,

 we might view the law as sin.

 

But Paul answered the question…

 

 “Is the law sin?”

 

With…

 

 “Certainly not!”

 

So, to understand what Paul is writing about

 we must set aside our rebellion and

look deeper into Paul’s point of the law.

 

 Paul says…

 

 “the law is holy,

and the commandment is holy,

righteous and good.”

Romans 7:12

 

We know that the law is spiritual

Romans 7:14

 

So, what law is Paul talking about?

 

We see Paul in verse 1,

addressing those who know the law and

they were those who studied the law given to Moses.

 

The laws were to help us know right and wrong

 

 There is a way that seem right to a man,

 but the end is destruction.

Proverbs 14:12

 

We all make laws to what we feel or want to be right.

 

The law given to Moses was to teach us right from wrong.

 

All the law Jesus said could be summed up in this…

 

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

 This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

Matthew 22:37-40

 

Paul in Galatians 5:14 makes it even simpler…

 

The entire law is summed up in a single command:

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

 Galatians 5:14

 

The law Paul is talking about in Romans 7…

 

 The law that is summed up in one word “LOVE”.

 

Love God,

Love your neighbor

 

Paul said…

 

 “We know that the law is spiritual;

but I am unspiritual,

sold as a slave to sin.”

Romans 7:14-15

 

Paul later defined the spiritual

and natural or unspiritual.

Paul recognized, by the law,

he was a slave to sin.

 

He talks about the constant problem

of stepping in “Do, Do” as he lives life…

 

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do not do,

but what I hate I do.

 And if I do what I do not want to do,

 I agree that the law is good.

 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,

 but it is sin living in me.

Romans 7:15-17

 

Paul recognized he had a sinful nature

and there is nothing good in the sinful nature.

Romans 7:18

 

We don’t have to be as knowledgeable as Paul on the law

to identify with the struggle Paul was speaking about.

 

Our minds can become callused

 to loving God and others.

 

But there still is a struggle in our minds

with doing right for all and our own desires.

 

It would seem Paul is talking

about our conscience when he says…

 

So I find this law at work:

 When I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

Romans 7:21

 

We could look at this battle

as “love and hate” …

 

But it is more like “love and self-love”.

 

Paul recognized the battle inside himself…

 

 What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Romans 7:24

 

And he defines it this way…

 

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law,

but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Romans 7:25

 

This battlefield is in our minds

to become a slave to two “laws”…

 

 God’s law and the law of sin.

 

The one leads to life the other leads to death.

 

Paul sums it up in the middle of chapter 7…

 

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.

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.

Romans 7:5-6

 

In some people’s minds…

 

 Who love the law,

they become legalistic.

 

In the minds of the person…

 

 Who hates law

they become rebellious.

 

But in the mind of the person…

 

 Who through love, die to sin (the sinful nature)

by becoming a slave to God

becomes free to love God

and others and fulfills the law.

 

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

 Romans 7:1-8:1 NIV

 

7:1 Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to men who know the law — that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.

 

4 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. 5 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. 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.  

 

7 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."   8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

 

13 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.

 

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.