Romans 7 Mini Series Part 5
In this episode we will cover the final two misconceptions about Romans seven that have to do with Paul’s focus on the Old Covenant law and also answer this commonly asked question is Romans 7 really about whether Paul is a Christian or not?
This is the fifth episode of a six-part mini-series where we are addressing the difficult passage of Romans 7, and whether Paul is speaking as a Christian the center of hot debate is found in verses 14 through 25, but our analysis in this mini-series will expand from Romans 7 verse 7 through chapter 8 verse 4.
In the last four episodes we covered the background for the Romans book and the first seven of nine misconceptions that are commonly believed about Romans 7. If you have not listened to those episodes I encourage you to do that before proceeding with this episode it will be important for you to have all the context of this discussion.
In this episode, we will discuss two more misconceptions about Romans 7 that have to do with Paul’s pursuit of obedience for the law under the Old Covenant and how he contrasted with obedience under the New Covenant.
So let’s begin with the eighth misconception that will hopefully answer the question “why is Paul ambitious for the law in this passage? The misconception can be put this way Paul’s godly desires are gospel centric and Christ focused. but this is a misconception certainly I agree that Paul has pure motives in Romans 7 he has godly desires that any Christian might admire and rightly seek to imitate, but often we read into the text our modern Christian desires; for Christ the gospel, the church, the spirit, and other New Testament Grace’s. but even a brief reading of Romans 7 verses 7 through 25 reveals that Paul says nothing at all about so many New Testament terms such as; grace, faith, the gospel, forgiveness, repentance, Redemption, reconciliation, mercy, hope, love, peace, the New Covenant Holy Spirit, or Jesus Christ himself. Which are themes that saturate all of Paul’s letters, even Romans?
None of these words or themes occur at all in Romans seven, verses seven through twenty five with one exception in verse 25a. where Paul exclaims “praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” this title Jesus Christ our Lord is the only exception in the passage none of the other terms I just listed can be found in the passage and the reason why Jesus Christ appears in verse 25 a is not because Paul is a Christian in this passage or just became a Christian but that he has been role playing the Jewish believers life under the law in this passage. And in verse 25a, he steps out of character momentarily to praise God with his readers that Jesus Christ has rescued them from this bondage. It is grammatically established in the text that Paul is stepping out of character because as I mentioned in episode 2 of this mini-series, he abruptly transitions from “I” to “we” and then back to “I” again. This is not lazy writing Paul intentionally switches his pronouns to jump out of character with his readers, please consult episode 2 for more on this it is so important to understand this fact for a correct understanding of this passage. With this being the case whenever Paul is role playing the Old Testament Jewish Saint’s life under the law, he never mentions any New Testament terms promises or graces. However, he regularly speaks about a variety of Old Testament realities in Romans 7 verses 7 through 25 many of them being negative these terms or themes include; law, death, sin, enslavement, inability, defeat, hopelessness, and wretchedness.
So what should we conclude from this here’s what we need to understand this is a passage that is all about the law of the Old Covenant. It is riddled with sin it is saturated with defeat and frustration even in the midst of sincere desires to do otherwise. And that is something that is often so overlooked many times those who believe that Paul is speaking as a Christian in Romans 7 will say so because he has powerful desires to please God and his law and he has an acute awareness of his sin. and those are great observations they’re all true, but these facts are only part of the evidence. it must also be reconciled with the fact that Paul not only balances these godly desires with sin and defeat in this passage but that the sin and defeat are actually stifling the good desires from ever making their way to the surface for obedience, and fruit bearing. this fact cannot be ignored never in the passage does Paul produce godly fruit from his godly inclinations and since that is the case Paul stifled godly motives are actually proof that he does not possess the Spirit of God in the New Covenant 00:04:56,740 –> 00:05:01,960 because even his godliest of attempts are not enough.
We must be careful that our definition of true Christianity is not defined by godly desires alone. Many of us would never claim this to be the case, but when we approach Romans 7, we inevitably assume he is a Christian exclusively because of his good desires. but the New Testament is full of passages that insist that true Christians bear good fruit not just desire it such as John 15:1-8, or Romans 8:13, James 2:14-26 or the book of 1st John. In reality, the argument for Paul’s hopelessness in Romans 7 is only magnified by his good desires because he is actually unable to wield those desires for godly fruit that’s very troubling if he calls himself a Christian. so at Paul’s best he is unable to do what is right with his godly motives he is unable to defeat sin that’s not the definition of Christianity that’s the definition of 00:05:53,949 –> 00:05:58,780 inability that’s someone without the spirit that’s the old covenant that’s living under the law not under grace. this section is not spirit focused, or Christ focused despite what many endeavors to prove from vague implications in the text. actually, the law is vividly the focus of the passage specifically the law of Moses the Old Covenant and “get this” the word law is used in Chapter seven twenty-three times, and nearly all of them refer to the law of Moses. That’s nearly one instance per verse; this passage is not about the Christian life under the gospel; it is about Jewish life under the law.
and this dense section about the law actually began back in chapter 6 verse 14 which set the stage for everything he is about to say in Romans 7. it was in chapter 6 verse 14 that Paul definitively says “for sin shall not be master over you because you are not under law but under grace.” Notice what Paul is saying if we reverse 00:06:54,400 –> 00:06:59,680 the logic when we are under law sin reigns over us but when we are under grace sin does not reign over us. So my question to you is this was Israel under the law yes unbelieving Israel yes how about believing Israel though were they under the law yes.
Old Testament Saints were under the law; this is why Jesus Christ came to redeem us all from the law as Galatians 4 verses 4 and 5 say. “But when the fullness of the time came God sent His Son who came as from a woman who came as under the law so that he might redeem those who were under the law so that we might inherit adoption.” Redemption from the law does not take place until the fullness of the time of Christ comes.
That is why all believing Israelites all Old Testament Saints from Moses to Jesus’s disciples were under the law, and according to Paul’s statement in Romans 6 verse 14 sin was their master because they were not under 00:07:55,900 –> 00:07:59,950 grace but under the law. They would ultimately be saved by grace through faith, but they were not under grace; they were still held accountable to the law until the redemption would come.
So Romans 6 verse 14 helps us understand Paul’s context better both believing and unbelieving Jews needed Redemption from the law and the Dominion of sins effect in their lives. That is why Paul roleplaying as a Jew under the law in Romans 7 describes such a frustrating defeating and hopeless situation even though he possesses such godly desires like the psalmist or the prophets. This is what Romans 7 is really about but we often do not see this because we rummage the passage for application for ourselves before we actually understand what it means we see with modern Christian Gentile glasses and this passage can be great opportunity to learn how to remove these glasses when the meaning of the text before we seek our own application. And this honors God 00:08:56,929 –> 00:09:02,480 because it prioritizes his words over what we can immediately get from it the application will come, and it will be more helpful and glorious than what we are at first looking for.
But we must be patient to understand the passage correctly even if it involves something a little foreign to us like Jewish life the law and the Old Covenant. I admit it is easy to admire Paul’s commitment to God’s law in Romans 7 and want to emulate it he appears to us as pure in heart, but if he was speaking as a Christian, then I must ask this why is he exclusively trying to fulfill the law. In other words, while many today champion Paul’s godly zeal in Romans 7 as true Christianity I am not so sure Paul would agree at all. I think he might actually rebuke such a person with his words from Galatians chapter 4 verse 21 and chapter 5 verse 1 “tell me you who want to be under the law do you not listen to the law it was for freedom that Christ set us free therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
Instead of concluding that Paul is a New Testament Christian for wanting to follow the law in Romans 7 we need to recognize that Paul shouldn’t be trying to fulfill the Old Covenant law rather he needs to live under grace and the New Covenant law of Christ in Romans chapter 8.
Finally let’s move on to our last misconception and it is this all the debate about Romans 7 is asking the right question about the passage. “is Paul speaking as a Christian or as a non-Christian.” technically this is a misconception it’s really the wrong question to ask about the passage, and you may wonder “if this is a misconception that this mini-series is worthless because that’s been your whole purpose to show us that Paul is not a Christian.” but what I mean by this misconception is that Paul’s focus is not really Christian or non-christian which is where the Roman seven debate has 00:10:47,600 –> 00:10:51,589 settled for hundreds of years rather because we are slow to observe the Jewish law focus aspects of the passage we miss align our arguments around the wrong issues. This is not a Christian versus non-Christian passage; it is an Old Covenant versus New Covenant passage. Romans seven is the Old Covenant Romans eight is the New Covenant that is the splendid contrast Paul is making between the chapters.
With this in mind, it makes sense how someone can still be a believer in Romans seven without being a new covenant Christian he is under the Old Covenant and needs freedom from it when he is freed from the law of the Old Covenant and given the Holy Spirit under the New Covenant. Then he is also liberated from the clutches of sin which were imprisoning him from doing what pleases the Lord. Paul actually clued us into the Old Covenant vs. New Covenant discussion right before he began it. Did you miss it? It was back in Chapter 7 verse 6 00:11:42,389 –> 00:11:46,050 right before he initiated his role playing of the Jewish life under the law in verses 7 through 25 in verse 6 Paul references two arenas the newness of the Spirit and the oldest of the letter. These two terms are simply another way to say the New Covenant and the Old Covenant. He also gives us another clue at the turning point of his discussion in Romans 8 verses 1 & 2 when he says “therefore now there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus because the law of the spirit of life frees you from the law of sin and of death.”
The law of the spirit of life is another way to say the New Covenant which is accompanied by spirit-filled living and fruit-bearing, but the law of sin and of death is another way to say the Old Covenant that gives in greater life an opportunity to imprison its victims and bring death to its subordinates.
Romans 7 is the Old Covenant a road that is leading to sin despair and death the Romans 8 is the 00:12:43,560 –> 00:12:48,660 new covenant a road that leads to obedience fruit and life.
And so when considering the context of Romans where Paul has come from and where Paul is going in the book, let’s summarize it as succinctly as possible. Romans 7 can be synthesized by one word inability romans 7 is all about inability romans 8 can be synthesized by one word “ability” it’s all about ability. The ability to obey, ability to bear fruit, ability to be all that God has been calling his people to be since the fall of man.
That is the difference between the covenants the old covenant was unable to save us, and it kept us unable to do what is right in our own sinful strength. The new covenant can save us through Christ and enables us to do what is right in the strength that he gives us through the spirit.
If you believe that Paul is speaking as a Christian in Romans seven then you miss or must downplay this glorious distinction that Paul is making 00:13:44,690 –> 00:13:49,130 between Romans seven and Romans eight Romans seven is the Old Covenant under the law Romans a is the New Covenant under grace.
So let’s summarize what we have learned in this episode we discussed how this passage is often seen from a modern Gentile Christian perspective that Paul is speaking about godly pursuits for Christ and the gospel under the New Covenant. In reality, this passage is saturated with the Jewish law inability sin and defeat it is not the new covenant experience or the Christian experience under grace; it is rather the Old Covenant experience under law. When we rightly understand this, we can see the contrast that Paul is making. Romans 7 is the Old Covenant Romans 8 is the New Covenant.
Romans 7 is simply too Jewish too law focused to rhetorical and to defeating to be our Christian experience in the next and final episode of this mini-series we will address several implications that this corrected view of Romans 7 has for us as 00:14:43,459 –> 00:14:47,330 modern Christians today especially as it relates to our understanding of sanctification. This passage and a proper understanding of it is not just a theological exercise; it is intensely practical and will shape your approach to your daily life in Christ more on that next time.
