In fact, Paul wrote about his own struggle with his own sin nature in
Romans 7 and he wasn't describing past events. He wrote in the present tense, and there is NO reason to try to force the "historical present" in that chapter. There are no words to make that argument.
There are, in fact, words and reasons to make that claim; you have to keep the wider context of chapters 6 and 8 in the picture, which is difficult for those who rely on isolationist tactics to pigeon-hole their proof texts.
Let's overview the flow of Rom 6-8 and see what direction Paul takes as he progresses through these chapters. (As an aside, it's good to remember that the original mss had no chapter and verse designations, and typically, very little punctuation, so to look at a manuscript was to look at, at times, a very long run-on sentence. I say this only to highlight that there is a connectivity of thought that is not easily.broken not should it be.)
Now, at what we would call the end of Romans chapter 5, Paul writes, "
The law was brought in 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."
Here Paul tells us what the purpose of the law was; not to provide a means of gaining salvation, but to exacerbate the reality of sin and its power over us through the increase of human acts of sin. In other words, the law is not the prescription for the cure of sin, it is a prognostic tool to reveal that we are sick!
This leads to the opening verses which we now refer to as chapter 6, saying:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Paul is saying, that even though the law was given to increase the number of sinful actions, this does not mean that we, as Christians, should indulge in sinful behavior so that it would give God more opportunity for graciousness! μὴ γένοιτο. And why, is this? Because,
"
we are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death
in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.
This is a life that is
no longer under the control of sin, no longer in slavery to that will contrary to God and righteousness! In fact, Paul goes on to say,
"though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness...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 of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."
So this far, we note that:
- The purpose of the law was not to remedy sin, but to reveal is deadly, destructive, and determining power over us.
- However, this does not mean that we let sin's power control us to allow grace to increase, nor is behavior irrelevant because we are under grace, not law! Nothing could be further from the truth, because,
- We are (present tense reality) no longer slaves to sin, but are free to follow after righteousness which leads to holiness, which results in eternal life.
- It is also important to note the use of the passive voice in reference to our freedom, namely, you have been set free from the law of sin and death, not by the written code, the 613 laws of the OT, but by the blood of Christ and the grace of God.
Now, as Paul continues into "chapter 7", his thought is still on the concept of slavery, saying:
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 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 that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with 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 if she marries another man.
So, my brothers and sisters, 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 for God.
For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, 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.
In short, Paul is saying that those who are familiar with the law, know that a husband and wife are are only bound by law as long as both parties are alive, but when one dies, the other is free to remarry as they desire. Thus, since we died to our old husband, the law, we are no longer bound to this "husband", but can now be united to another, namely, Christ.
But note the tense change. Paul says "
when we were in the realm of the flesh", under the power of the law, and thus, sin and death. This is a past tense reality, not a present tense reality in which, by contrast, we are no longer enslaved "
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. We are also that Paul uses the first person plural, which includes himself, as one who is no longer a slave to sin or its power through the law.
Paul now returns to the purpose of the law, as he did at the end of chapter 5, giving us more insight into what the law was meant to accomplish. He writes:
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless,
I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For
I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity
afforded by the commandment,
produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
Once I was alive apart from the 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. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it
used what is good to bring about my death,
so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
So here we note:
- The law was intended to teach us what defines sin, and what types of specific behaviors in contrast to others are expressions of that sinfulness, thereby,
- Revealing the ugliness of sin in contrast to the goodness of the law's requirements.
- But we also note that the tense change to past tense(either aorist, or imperfect, not perfect, or we would see it written as a present tense) seen earlier is still being used almost exclusively, and that Paul is talking about himself in the first person.
- Note also, and this most importantly, more than tenses and other technical aspects, what Paul speaks of regarding his spiritual condition, saying he was dead, and deceived.
Then we reach the controversial section of the chapter, but it only controversial for one reason, because of the "present tense" first person, "I am"! But the issue is not the present tense ἐγὼ εἰμι, but rather I am what? The answer is the determination of what point in his life he is referring to:
We know that the law is spiritual;
but I am unspiritual,
sold as a slave to sin.
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.
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 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.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Note how Paul describes his "present tense" spiritual condition:
- I am unspiritual,
- sold as a slave to sin.
- 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, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 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.
- making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
- What a wretched man I am
So we've looked at chapters 6 and 7 and this is the picture of Paul's life depicted in each chapter
Chapter 6:
- We are (present tense reality) no longer slaves to sin
- we are those who have died to sin
- slaves to righteousness...
- We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
- alive to God in Christ Jesus
Chapter 7:
- I am unspiritual,
- sold as a slave to sin.
- 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, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 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.
- making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
- What a wretched man I am
Now to chapter 8- one of my favorites, if not my favorite in all of scriptures.
The opening proclamation sets the tone of the whole chapter and the "present tense" reality of both Paul and those to whom he addressed these words:
Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life
has set you a free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that
the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In these four verses, we find the "present tense" reality of the Christian life starting with:
- No condemnation
- Set free from the law of sin and death
- Able to meet all the righteous requirements of the law
- Able to not live according to the flesh
- Able to live according the Spirit
As the chapter goes on, the list continues with:
- not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit,
- We have no obligation to the flesh
- are the children of God
- God is working for the good of believers
- More than conquerors
So what can we draw from the progressive "present tense" descriptions Paul gives about the Christian spiritual condition :
Chapter 6:
- We are (present tense reality) no longer slaves to sin
- we are those who have died to sin
- slaves to righteousness...
- We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
- alive to God in Christ Jesus
Chapter 7:
- I am unspiritual,
- sold as a slave to sin.
- 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, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 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.
- making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
- What a wretched man I am
And finally...
Chapter 8
- No condemnation
- Set free from the law of sin and death
- Able to meet all the righteous requirements of the law
- Able to not live according to the flesh
- Able to live according the Spirit
- not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit,
- We have no obligation to the flesh
- are the children of God
- God is working for the good of believers
- More than conquerors
It is interesting that chapters 6 and 8 coincide with each other perfectly in there descriptions of the "present tense" reality of the believer, but chapter 7 is completely antithetical to the two chapters that surround it, and yet, we are to believe that the descriptions of these realities are simultaneously true;
- that Paul is both a slave to sin and able to not be obligated to the flesh,
- that he is no longer able live a life sinning yet at the same time not able to control his sinful appetites,
- that he is both alive spiritually and dead spiritually
And all this is his present tense state of being as he pens, or dictates this information to those that are under his leadership! Add to this violation of the law of non-contradiction the fact that the context of Paul's words in chapter 7 as he goes into the "I am" descriptions is past tense in every way, and simply adds another nail to the coffin of this idea that the Apostle Paul was experiencing the descriptions in chapter 7 in real time as he penned the words. You would never allow a pastor of your church to stand up and say that he was a slave to sin, and unable to control his proclivity to sin, much less if, at the same time, he claimed it impossible for one to be a believer and continue to live a life of sin. I know my church wouldn't let me be a pastor and admit to such a non-victorious life style.
Doug
