The Text in question: I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died.
Admittedly, Romans 7 is one of the most difficult passages in the whole of the New Testament. And for good reason. Questions arise:
For some Credobaptists who believe in AoA, it seems like the default position concerning Romans 7:9 is the following: Paul is speaking autobiographically of his pre-conversion experiences and only as small boy. This is evidenced by some quotations I have gathered from the internet:
Overview: In Romans, Paul has been consistently arguing that sin and condemnation are universal, and the Law was God’s instrument to reveal our sin. He has never varied or departed from this line of argument.
Paul begins this chapter in verse 1 by stating that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as they are alive. By jurisdiction, Paul means the revealed Law in scripture has the authority to condemn us and judge us for our sin. Notice Paul says this power exists “as long as he lives.” All men stand condemned by the Law for their sin from the first day of life. The revealing of our sins in Scripture doesn’t wait for some later day of accountability; on the contrary, we are condemned all our lives. Paul doesn’t describe any exceptions to the principle that all men are condemned for their sin. He never suggests in Romans 7, dying before a certain age will save us from the punishment of sin.
Vs. 2-3 Paul uses a marriage analogy. In verse 2, Paul uses the analogy of marriage, in which death affects the legal status of the living. By analogy, Jews were once bound to the law. But since they died with Christ, they are released from the law, and as a result, a new union can be formed as a new union can occur with a widow marrying again. In vs 4, drawing on this analogy Paul’s point is that Jesus’ death breaks a person’s bond with the law, and a new bond is permitted. The Jewish believers died to the law through the death of Christ, and their allegiance is now to Christ rather than the law. We are released from the law and united to Christ.
Jesus was born under the law, but in his death and resurrection, he fulfilled its obligations, and he did so on behalf of all humanity. We are supposed to avoid sin, but sin is no longer defined by the laws of Moses. Rather, it is defined by the character of Christ. We are to conform to him, and since he is not bound by the law of Moses, neither are we. We belong to the one “who was raised from the dead.” Why? To “bear fruit for God.” We use the commandments now as a guide to positively and joyfully to serve our neighbor in love.
Now comes the all important verse 7c which essentially dismantles the credobaptist belief that vs. 9 is talking his experience as a small child. In Paul’s regenerative state his writes, “for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” After Paul’s conversion he understands “coveting” to be a sinfully internal desire. Before conversion Paul writes, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." After Paul’s conversion he can state “things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit.”
Overall, verse 9 SHOULD NOT be taken to teach that Paul was spiritually alive in the sense he an no guilt or condemnation prior to understanding the complex commandment “You shall not covet.” He was alive in a sense before hearing the law and had no feeling of guilt or shame, but the law revealed his guilt and shame.
The Apostle Paul at no time ever even alluded to a period in his life where he was without sin and innocent before God. In fact, Paul would most likely be shocked to think that anybody could construe his words to even hint at such a notion. Paul writes the following words to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:13-16): “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” This is Paul speaking as an adult not a child. We must understand that Paul was schooled as a Pharisee, and as such he had their delusional pietistic and self-righteous mindset. Considering this, the purported “time of innocence” was nothing more than Paul’s period of “ignorance and unbelief” as an adult as he clearly explains to Timothy.
“I was once alive apart from the Law” is the period of time when he had little or no consciousness of sin or condemnation or slavery to sin. Without the Law’s condemnation, for Paul it seemed like freedom and felt like being alive; but when understanding the commandment came after his conversion, he saw for the first time the true nature of his spiritual deadness.
Certainly today we have New Age Movement and those that follow Richard Rohr’s religious mysticism who clearly believe they are “alive spiritually” but from the standpoint of Scripture are spiritual dead in unbelief. Paul’s experience here mimics all unbelievers and all of mankind which the only solution is the cross of Christ.
Admittedly, Romans 7 is one of the most difficult passages in the whole of the New Testament. And for good reason. Questions arise:
- Is Paul speaking of himself autobiographically? Or all of mankind in general? Or his is speaking to just Christians?
- Is he speaking of his pre-conversion or post-conversion experiences? As a Christian or as an unbeliever?
- A third option would be a combination of the previous—he is speaking of himself, both in his pre and post conversion experiences and then is applied his example to all Christians.
For some Credobaptists who believe in AoA, it seems like the default position concerning Romans 7:9 is the following: Paul is speaking autobiographically of his pre-conversion experiences and only as small boy. This is evidenced by some quotations I have gathered from the internet:
- "Paul says he was once alive spiritually, in a right relationship with God, apart from the law. When was Paul apart from the law? It was when he was a little boy. When he was a little boy he was apart from law in that he had no understanding of right and wrong. “But when the commandment came,” when right and wrong came into his understanding, then sin came alive in his life and he died spiritually."
- "Since Paul was obviously still physically alive when he wrote that, he had to have been talking about his spiritual life and death. Before Paul was old enough to be accountable for his sins, he had eternal life. The phrase “the commandment came” means he had reached the age where he became accountable under the law. As soon as that happened his sins became a death warrant. In order to escape death he had to become born again."
- "Once this comprehension, this understanding, this knowing of sin and what is right and wrong, and the consequences thereof, according to the Law of God comes, a person dies spiritually if they haven't already been born again. This would happen at different times for different people, but it would usually happen about the age of 12. In some cases, because a person may be born mentally incompetent and never gets to the point of mental competence, the person NEVER dies spiritually. In other words, some people, like babies, and little children, and people who never get to the point of mental competence, NEVER die spiritually, and thus, when they physically die without being born again, they still go to Heaven because they are still spiritually alive."
- Paul is mainly writing of his post-conversion experience as a Christian; this is evidenced by his consistent usage of the present tense throughout this chapter. This is in line with historic Reformed and Lutheran hermenuetics. Paul will speak about himself in verse 9, but contextually it is not about him being a small child, and certainly not as himself being guiltless, sinless or morally neutral before the “Age of Accountability.”
- Furthermore, my position here is Paul mainly is not talking autobiographically, but is addressing Christians as Paul stated in vs. 4 “Brothers and Sisters.” Some parts of this chapter seems to be autobiographical…verse 7 and 9. However I take this as a literary device referring himself in the first person as a substitute for all either Christians or all of humanity.
- Lastly, in the latter part of the chapter he will raise the question “What is the believers relationship with the law?” This will bring up the tension between the Old Man and New Man (vs. 18-25) as summarized in the Reformation era…..the Christian is simul justus et peccator.
- However, in verses 18-25 he is using himself as an example to describe this tension of man’s two natures. Only the believer feels the pull of his sin nature as he consciously, and conscientiously, lives his life in the presence of God, obeying His Word and relying on the Holy Spirit to guide him according to that Word. The unbeliever knows nothing of this tension. Sin is his natural world, as water is for fish. And it is under this standard, the unregenerate erroneously out of ignorance and unbelief, believe they are “alive” in fact they are spiritually dead.
Overview: In Romans, Paul has been consistently arguing that sin and condemnation are universal, and the Law was God’s instrument to reveal our sin. He has never varied or departed from this line of argument.
Paul begins this chapter in verse 1 by stating that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as they are alive. By jurisdiction, Paul means the revealed Law in scripture has the authority to condemn us and judge us for our sin. Notice Paul says this power exists “as long as he lives.” All men stand condemned by the Law for their sin from the first day of life. The revealing of our sins in Scripture doesn’t wait for some later day of accountability; on the contrary, we are condemned all our lives. Paul doesn’t describe any exceptions to the principle that all men are condemned for their sin. He never suggests in Romans 7, dying before a certain age will save us from the punishment of sin.
Vs. 2-3 Paul uses a marriage analogy. In verse 2, Paul uses the analogy of marriage, in which death affects the legal status of the living. By analogy, Jews were once bound to the law. But since they died with Christ, they are released from the law, and as a result, a new union can be formed as a new union can occur with a widow marrying again. In vs 4, drawing on this analogy Paul’s point is that Jesus’ death breaks a person’s bond with the law, and a new bond is permitted. The Jewish believers died to the law through the death of Christ, and their allegiance is now to Christ rather than the law. We are released from the law and united to Christ.
Jesus was born under the law, but in his death and resurrection, he fulfilled its obligations, and he did so on behalf of all humanity. We are supposed to avoid sin, but sin is no longer defined by the laws of Moses. Rather, it is defined by the character of Christ. We are to conform to him, and since he is not bound by the law of Moses, neither are we. We belong to the one “who was raised from the dead.” Why? To “bear fruit for God.” We use the commandments now as a guide to positively and joyfully to serve our neighbor in love.
Now comes the all important verse 7c which essentially dismantles the credobaptist belief that vs. 9 is talking his experience as a small child. In Paul’s regenerative state his writes, “for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” After Paul’s conversion he understands “coveting” to be a sinfully internal desire. Before conversion Paul writes, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." After Paul’s conversion he can state “things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit.”
Overall, verse 9 SHOULD NOT be taken to teach that Paul was spiritually alive in the sense he an no guilt or condemnation prior to understanding the complex commandment “You shall not covet.” He was alive in a sense before hearing the law and had no feeling of guilt or shame, but the law revealed his guilt and shame.
The Apostle Paul at no time ever even alluded to a period in his life where he was without sin and innocent before God. In fact, Paul would most likely be shocked to think that anybody could construe his words to even hint at such a notion. Paul writes the following words to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:13-16): “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” This is Paul speaking as an adult not a child. We must understand that Paul was schooled as a Pharisee, and as such he had their delusional pietistic and self-righteous mindset. Considering this, the purported “time of innocence” was nothing more than Paul’s period of “ignorance and unbelief” as an adult as he clearly explains to Timothy.
“I was once alive apart from the Law” is the period of time when he had little or no consciousness of sin or condemnation or slavery to sin. Without the Law’s condemnation, for Paul it seemed like freedom and felt like being alive; but when understanding the commandment came after his conversion, he saw for the first time the true nature of his spiritual deadness.
Certainly today we have New Age Movement and those that follow Richard Rohr’s religious mysticism who clearly believe they are “alive spiritually” but from the standpoint of Scripture are spiritual dead in unbelief. Paul’s experience here mimics all unbelievers and all of mankind which the only solution is the cross of Christ.
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