*These are thoughts from an upcoming (free) book called Holy Sin.*
It’s common to think of our Christian life as an inward battle of sin where we have to ‘overcome the flesh’. Typically we hear statements like, “feed the Spirit, starve the flesh.” We often hear people quote Paul from Romans 7 - “For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate” (NET) as a way of saying that we will always have a battle inside as Christians.
But is this really what Paul means? I say no. Here's why.
Throughout Romans 6 Paul has explicitly said that we are dead to sin (past tense) and made alive to Christ; we died with Christ (past tense) and were raised with him (past tense). He then speaks of the law in Romans 7 and talks of how we died to the law too, but then switches to a present tense when we come to Romans 7:14. But he ends off Romans 7 with a question: "Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ!" And then in Romans 8 he says that if we live by the Spirit we will not indulge the passions of the flesh.
The trouble with interpreting Paul as saying in Romans 7 that we will have an inward battle against sin as Christians, not doing what we want, is that it negates everything else Paul says - that we are, in fact, dead to sin. What Paul is actually doing in Romans 7 is he using the present-continuous tense: in other words, he takes us back to what it was like when he was under law, and under law he knew what was right but he couldn't do it. But now, in the new life in the Spirit, he knows what is right and he can.
The point is this: if you try and live under the law you will have a constant inward battle, and one you will lose, as Paul did. But when he came to Christ he died to the law and began to live in the Spirit, and thus came to understand that the law is not how we live unto God but dying and being raised with Christ is how we live unto God. The answer to the frustration is not to go back to law but to actually realise you are free from law! Thus Paul is re-iterating what he said in Galatians - "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 3:1.) From Romans 6 - 8 Paul is highlighting that if you try and live according to the Law you will end up living a life of frustration because you will end up living a life of sin. Living under law means you live “according to the flesh” and cannot put to death the misdeeds of the body that way.
Why would you try to live under law? Because you are being self-righteous. You are not walking in faith but in unbelief. The law shows us how deep our self-righteousness goes, and how utterly worthless our own righteousness is. However, if you forget that idea and see your self-righteousness for what it is and live by the Spirit, you will put to death the deeds of the body. The Gospel, therefore, is not about morality versus immorality but is something entirely different and new. You become a new creature! How? By faith - trusting in Christ and his work, and dying in him and being raised with him. Then neither law nor sin are your masters but only Christ, and you live by the Spirit.
Therefore, how do you continue to live by the Spirit? By not going back to law but remaining in faith - trusting Christ and relying on his righteousness and not your own. And this is, indeed, new life!
It’s common to think of our Christian life as an inward battle of sin where we have to ‘overcome the flesh’. Typically we hear statements like, “feed the Spirit, starve the flesh.” We often hear people quote Paul from Romans 7 - “For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate” (NET) as a way of saying that we will always have a battle inside as Christians.
But is this really what Paul means? I say no. Here's why.
Throughout Romans 6 Paul has explicitly said that we are dead to sin (past tense) and made alive to Christ; we died with Christ (past tense) and were raised with him (past tense). He then speaks of the law in Romans 7 and talks of how we died to the law too, but then switches to a present tense when we come to Romans 7:14. But he ends off Romans 7 with a question: "Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ!" And then in Romans 8 he says that if we live by the Spirit we will not indulge the passions of the flesh.
The trouble with interpreting Paul as saying in Romans 7 that we will have an inward battle against sin as Christians, not doing what we want, is that it negates everything else Paul says - that we are, in fact, dead to sin. What Paul is actually doing in Romans 7 is he using the present-continuous tense: in other words, he takes us back to what it was like when he was under law, and under law he knew what was right but he couldn't do it. But now, in the new life in the Spirit, he knows what is right and he can.
The point is this: if you try and live under the law you will have a constant inward battle, and one you will lose, as Paul did. But when he came to Christ he died to the law and began to live in the Spirit, and thus came to understand that the law is not how we live unto God but dying and being raised with Christ is how we live unto God. The answer to the frustration is not to go back to law but to actually realise you are free from law! Thus Paul is re-iterating what he said in Galatians - "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 3:1.) From Romans 6 - 8 Paul is highlighting that if you try and live according to the Law you will end up living a life of frustration because you will end up living a life of sin. Living under law means you live “according to the flesh” and cannot put to death the misdeeds of the body that way.
Why would you try to live under law? Because you are being self-righteous. You are not walking in faith but in unbelief. The law shows us how deep our self-righteousness goes, and how utterly worthless our own righteousness is. However, if you forget that idea and see your self-righteousness for what it is and live by the Spirit, you will put to death the deeds of the body. The Gospel, therefore, is not about morality versus immorality but is something entirely different and new. You become a new creature! How? By faith - trusting in Christ and his work, and dying in him and being raised with him. Then neither law nor sin are your masters but only Christ, and you live by the Spirit.
Therefore, how do you continue to live by the Spirit? By not going back to law but remaining in faith - trusting Christ and relying on his righteousness and not your own. And this is, indeed, new life!