7:1-6
Chapter 6 made the point that those who are in Christ are identified with him in his death so that we died to the law. These verses continue that thought. I would have included them in chapter 6 for that reason.
In these verses, Paul first asks a question, then gives an illustration of the answer. The question is: “Do you not know that the law is only binding on a person as long as the person lives?”. (1)
By “law”, Paul means the Mosaic law.
Paul answers the question with an illustration. The illustration is of a married woman, bound to her husband by the law, meaning the law of Moses. The law provided that a wife is bound to her husband as long as her husband lives. (You shall not commit adultery - Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:20)
But, when the husband dies, the wife is released from the law of marriage and may have another husband. Paul’s point is that where a death occurs, it releases people from obligations under the law. Paul then applies this to believers, saying we died to the law in union with Christ’s death. We were “married” to the law, but were released from that bond when we died in Christ.
Being released from our marriage to the law, we are not bound by it, and are free to be bound, or married, to Christ. We make a transition from the covenant family defined by the law to the covenant family defined by grace in Christ.
Paul makes this point repeatedly in his writings, though using different analogies. He speaks of transition from old man to new man, from natural man to spiritual man, from slave to sin to slave to Christ, from old way to new way.
Before we were in Christ, we lived in the flesh, married to the law, and found that the law aroused our sinful passions, producing fruit that leads to death. (5)
In contrast, as children are the fruit of a marriage, our marriage to Christ bears fruit in holy living and good works. We no longer serve in the old way of the written code, which is the Mosaic Law, but in a new way of living in the Spirit. (6)
Is The Law Then Sinful?
7:7-12
The next question Paul anticipated was “is the law sin (sinful)?”. Paul emphatically said “no”. The law is not sin and it is not evil.
Paul then goes into an explanation that appears personal. He repeatedly uses the words “I” and “me”. So, there is debate about his meaning. Is he referring only to his personal struggles, or is this representative of all believers? It appears to be personal.
Before he knew the law, Paul was not aware what sin is and how bad it is. He used the example of covetousness. The law said do not covet (10th commandment). It gave a list of things you were not to covet. To covet is to desire something you are not supposed to have, what is forbidden.
For example, Adam and Eve coveted the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had forbidden them to eat it. (Genesis 2:17) But they desired it for its beauty, its expected taste, and its result of making one wise. (Genesis 3:6) So, they knowingly rebelled against God. They sinned.
Likewise, sin used the commandment to stir Paul to covet all kinds of things. (8) It’s like the cartoon that shows a man standing under a sign that says “don’t run with scissors”. He turns to his wife and says: “I don’t know why, but I have this incredible urge to run with scissors!”.
The law promised life for obedience. But no one, even the great apostle Paul, can completely obey the law. Death is the consequence. Paul said “I died”. (9)
Like Paul, we are sinful. But the law is holy, righteous, and good. The law is God’s word and commandment. Since God is holy, righteous, and good, his word is also.
Paul’s Struggle
7:13-20
The next question Paul anticipates is: did the law bring death? Again he forcibly answers no.
The law did not produce sin, it revealed it. Likewise, the law did not bring death, sin did. (13) This was because the law revealed what sin was and how bad it was (beyond measure).
The law is spiritual, but Paul is of flesh and sinful. He agrees that the law is good (16), but yet cannot obey it. He does not do what he wants, which is to obey the law. Rather he does what is sinful even though he hates it.
Paul had a sinful nature. Sin dwelt in him. (17) He kept on doing what was sinful because of this sinful nature, even when he did not want to.
Paul recognized his sinful nature. He said nothing good dwells in him, in his flesh. (18) Many people say that men and women are inherently good. That is not the testimony of the Bible.
Paul clearly saw this in himself. He knew the law of God was good and wanted to obey it, but found that sin help him captive, waging war against his desire to do good. (23) And he saw he could do nothing about it himself.
This conflict between sin and the desire to do good tortured Paul. He called himself wretched. He needed deliverance.
The good news is, there is one who could deliver him. That one is Jesus. He is the only one who can do so.
So, is this chapter about Paul personally? Or is it about Paul as a representative of all men and women? The answer is yes. Paul experienced what he wrote. And, all men and women are captives of their sinful natures until Jesus comes and delivers them.
No comments:
Post a Comment