My thoughts on Romans vii

A friend of mine preached on Romans viii.1 recently. His sermon can be found here. He had earlier written a post on his pastor's thoughts on Romans vii. Romans vii has long been an argued over passage; the controversy centers around Paul's use of the first person in the second half of the chapter. There is a wide variety of opinions on it. Here is the passage with a few common interpretations:

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 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 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. 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: Although 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 me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 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[d] a slave to the law of sin.

1. Paul is describing his experience before he was saved. This is a common Arminian/Catholic position. The problem with this is although some degree of moral uncertainty and dilemma may exist in the unregenerate, it is hard to ascribe some of the things he says here to them. Does the nonbeliever "delight in God's law?"

2. Paul is describing his experience after he was enlightened to the reality of his spiritual condition but before he is regenerated. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is the only person as far as I know to espouse this. He does so after careful analysis and a lot of his reasoning is sound. But it doesn't really fit the scope of the apostle's argument, and would be a lengthy bit of Romans devoted to a situation of little practical application.

3. Paul is using a rhetorical device to illustrate the experience of Israel. This is the solution proposed by Moo in the NICNT, a commentary I normally trust. My problem with this is that it doesn't really pass the "huh?" test. As in, what the heck are you talking about and how would anyone ever get that interpretation from the text unless the spent three days myopically studying the Greek to try and come up with a clever explanation? Also, why would Paul do that? Also, why would he do that in such a confusing way?

4. Paul is describing his present experience, and it is normative. This has been the general orthodox/reformed opinion over the years. The best point in its favor is Paul's use of the first person present tense. When you read the first person present tense, the natural way to interpret it is at face value. If I say, "I am experiencing doubt right now," the best way to interpret my statement is that at the present moment, I am experiencing doubt. So, when Paul says, "I am sold as a slave to sin," shouldn't we interpret it as him saying, I am presently sold as a slave to sin? Of course, the problem with the interpretation is that in the previous chapter, Paul had made a big deal about the Christian NOT being a slave to sin any longer. It is difficult for us to read most of his statements in this passage as describing the normative experience of the Christian.

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Lloyd-Jones makes an excellent point in his analysis of Romans vii. Where is the Holy Spirit? Romans viii.1 is clearly a transition into a description of the Spirit-filled Christian life, a life which is marked by a growth into a holiness, one of freedom over sin. Romans vii is conspicuously missing the Holy Spirit. I think it is impossible to argue that Paul is describing his normative experience in Romans vii. This would cause him to contradict himself. Not to mention, it doesn't fit into the scope of his argument, which finds him describing the true value and role of the law.

However, I find the argument of the first person present as a rhetorical device to be unsatisfying. Paul never uses this, nor do we find it anywhere in the Scripture. To use it in this way at this time would only cause confusion in his readers. Not to mention the fact that there is a clear transition point between verses 13 and 14, where Paul moves from using the past tense to using the present tense. Isn't the simplest explanation to say that he is moving from describing his past experience to describing his present experience?

Here is my solution to this dilemma. We should always keep in mind the large scale scope of what the author is doing. Paul is describing the role of the Law for the Christian. He has said that the Christian dies to the power of the Law. So in Chapter vii, Paul shows what the law can and cannot do. First, no man can attain justification by it, it only convicts him and reveals his sinfulness to him. Second, no man can be sanctified by the power of law. No matter how well he knows it or how vigorously he desires to conform to it, he cannot.

To do this, Paul uses his own experience as a self-described "Hebrew of Hebrews," who had formerly considered himself "in regard to legalistic righteousness, perfect." But when the Law came upon him in its true power, his sin was made known to him, and he was "put to death" by it, or his condemnation unto death was revealed to him. This was his past experience.

But what role can the Law play in his sanctification? What is his present experience in trying to use the law to make himself holy? Surely this would have been a struggle and temptation for this former Pharisee. So he describes his experience. No matter how earnestly he desires it, whenever he relies on the law and his effort to make himself holy, he fails. Some other power is needed.

Thus, the power of the Holy Spirit and its role in sanctification, which is described at length in Chapter 8.