It is well known in biblical scholarship that one of the most challenging passages in the Bible is Romans 7 specifically verses 14-25 and not only is it challenging to understand but for many, there are emotional strings attached to this text. This is especially true for those who believe that Paul is speaking as a Christian because Paul’s struggle can sound a lot like our daily struggle with sin. Both conflicting and frustrating, it is a passage that is often a refuge of comfort for the sin burden soul if Paul struggled so mightily with sin then I know that my struggle with sin is not out of the ordinary and to be sure to struggle with sin is a Christian experience. Galatians 5:6-26, Ephesians 6:10-20 and 2 Peter 1: 3-11 are passages that remind us of our daily battle with the flesh. But outside of Romans 7 never has any biblical writer communicated such defeating and hopeless terminology when characterizing the Christians battle with sin. so is Paul talking about a Christian experience in Romans 7? This is what we are going to tackle in this episode or at least we will do so over a six-part miniseries since this text is loaded with challenging issues.

Context and Background

And in this first episode I’m addressing the book’s background and shortly I will discuss the first of 9 misconceptions about Romans 7 and then in episodes 2 3 4 and 5 I will discuss the other 8 misconceptions of the passage for each commonly believed misconception I will discuss how to properly understand the misconception and then demonstrate how it actually better proves that Paul is speaking not as a Christian but as an Old Testament Saint before the coming of Christ. In other words I’m not going to argue that he is speaking as a Christian in this passage at all but speaking from the perspective of a godly Jewish believer who remains under the law before the coming of the new covenant, and before the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 7 and the impact on our sanctification

 And then lastly in the final episode, I will discuss a few important implications of this pass that will have a direct impact on our thinking and sanctification. But a quick note to the listener before we continue this episode discussing the books background and the first misconception I understand that this may be a cherished passage for you. You may have come to this passage many times finding solace and encouragement knowing that someone as godly as the Apostle Paul so vigorously struggle with his sin so in order to maximize what you get out of these six episodes I highly recommend that you read the passage fresh again even its surrounding context from chapter 6 verse 1 to chapter 8 verse 17.

Discovering what is really true

and as we all must do you must be willing to lay aside your assumptions at the door of God’s Word and be willing to change your thinking on this passage if in fact, your assumptions may be inaccurate I myself have changed my view on this passage at one time I believe that Paul was speaking as a Christian but the more that I listen to all the evidence in Romans 7 and its surrounding context I came to understand Paul’s struggle from the perspective of the Old Testament saint before Christ. and never before has the passage made more sense in its context, so I encourage you to do the same before you listen to the rest of the series, and I also encourage you to follow along in your Bible if you have the ability to do so. I believe that it will be a tremendous benefit for your faith and your understanding of sanctification, so let’s briefly dive into the background of the book of Romans. Because a proper understanding of the books history is essential to understanding many of the aspects that are unique to this book. there is a lot of debate about how the Church of Rome began but the Bible seems to infer that the church or you might say churches in Rome were founded by converts from Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 in the list of nation groups that are mentioned there in verses 9 through 11, Roman sojourners appear in verse 10 who were comprised of both Jews and proselytes Isles. In other words, these converts likely went back to Rome and established churches as a combination of Jews and Gentiles together in Acts 18:1-2.

Jew and believers return to Jerusalem

We actually meet two members of this congregation Aquila and Priscilla they were Roman Jews who were kicked out of Rome because as history also confirms for us in AD 49 the Roman Emperor Claudius had tell all the Jews from his city he saw no difference between Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews in his mind all national Jews must leave. But after the death of the Emperor five years later in AD 54 the Jewish band in Rome was lifted, and all Jews were allowed to return home and this provides the occasion for Paul’s letter to the Romans.

 Most biblical scholars believed that the letter of Romans was written two to three years after the Jewish ban was lifted in Rome. if this is so then it fits perfectly with Paul’s message to them in chapter 1 verses 8 to 15 in chapter 15 verses 14 through 29 we learned that Paul had never visited Rome or ministered personally to these Christians but now that the ban was lifted for Jews to reenter Rome Paul himself could do so freely being a Jew, and he planned to do so on his way to Spain. although it is possible that his Roman citizenship would have exempted him from that ban, either way, most importantly both Christian and non-Christian Jews alike had already begun trickling back into the Roman churches and synagogues for the past couple of years as Paul begins to write Romans. And this is key during the Jewish absence in Rome the proselyte Gentile church had likely grown substantially and as their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters were returning Paul wanted to ensure that each Jew and Gentile was preferring the other in love and that’s especially communicated in chapter 14.

Why the emphasis on the Gospel?

But the majority of Paul’s message in Romans is the gospel why would Paul write such an extensive expose on the gospel to a church that he claims in chapter 15 verse 14 that they are quote “full of goodness filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” end quote. Paul wanted to explain the full gospel to them because he was especially concerned about this church it had no apostolic foundation, and that’s important he knew that the Orthodox Jews were also returning to their synagogues so for Paul’s mostly Gentile audience many of them may be new to the faith in the past five to seven years were unfamiliar with the Old Testament and how the gospel fulfills it and they may be easily swayed by the Jewish arguments of Orthodoxy and that’s why Paul needed to preach his gospel to them too solidify their faith so that they may confidently know that the life and the suffering death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah on behalf of Jews and Gentiles is not in contradiction with the Old Testament, but rather fulfills it that is why Romans one through eleven is gospel concentrated and written as an argument discourse, that is often admired by modern-day lawyers.

The First misconception, “The outline of the Text determines the meaning of the text.”

And this brings me to the first misconception about Romans the first misconception of nine misconceptions that we will discuss in the next several episodes.
The first misconception is that the first eight chapters of Romans is a strict and I use that word intentionally a strict chronological walkthrough; of sin, justification, sanctification, and glorification. in general it is true as Paul walks through the gospel from the portrait of sin, to indictment to faith in Christ to sanctification, to a new creation and so forth. But it’s easy for the tail to wag the dog in this case and to have the outline chronology of sin, and justification, sanctification, and glorification determine the meaning of the Romans seven texts rather than the meaning of the Romans texts determine the outline.

Often even biblical scholars will suggest that Romans seven falls within the sanctification section of Romans; therefore, under that logic, Paul must be referring to a Christian experience in Romans seven. but this is a misconception because although Paul’s argument generally moves from faith in Chapter three to glorification in Chapter eight, there are exceptions to this trajectory Romans chapter 7 verses 7 through 12 is no doubt one of these exceptions that scholars would little disagree upon. in these six verses Paul backtracks to a time that is clearly not the New Testament Christian experience, and he also does this in verse 5. So the best way to track Paul’s direction of reasoning in Romans is to follow the rhetorical questions that he uses throughout the book like a lawyer or an educated Pharisee since he was one.

Pauls use rhetoric

Paul asks rhetorical questions to help his audience predict what their Jewish opponents might ask them would challenged about the gospel, in fact, Paul asks possibly up to 30 or more rhetorical questions between Romans 3 and 11. That number dwarfs every other New Testament books use of rhetorical questions! it is clear that Paul intends to explain his gospel in Romans with Greek argumentation and rhetoric that does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament to nearly such an extent as it does in Romans. There’s no doubt about it. Romans 1 -11 is unique in the New Testament as a masterful section of rhetorical devices logic and argumentation, especially as it relates to the gospel and the Old Testament Scriptures.

 Now Romans 7 falls right in the middle of this argumentation, in fact, two rhetorical questions occur within the chapter itself in verse 7 quote “what shall we say then is the law sin” end quote and then in verse 13 quote “therefore did that which is good bring death to me end” quote. These two questions along with the 30 or more other questions in the book help transition the reader from one line of Paul’s argumentation to another. Of course Paul is not required to ask a rhetorical question to make a transition in Romans but when he does ask a question it often transitions his thoughts to a different but slightly related topic. In Romans 7 he clearly speaks to the time before Christ in verses 7 through 12 because his question allows him to look back on a time before Christ because this is true it is not proper to suppose that Paul is forced to speak about a Christian experience in the very next section in verses 13 through 25. which is the passage of debate that we are addressing here Paul is free to speak about life under the law or life before Christ as long as the direction of his questions permit him that is why it is a misconception to assume that Paul must be speaking about a Christian experience in Romans 7 verses 14 through 25 Paul is not bound to a sanctification section even though he is explaining sanctification implications. instead, he is portraying what life is like for those under the law so that both Jews and Gentiles understand why the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant are necessary for sanctification and righteous living because even the best of Old Testament Israel were hopelessly frustrated without these.

Summary

 So let me give a brief summary of what we’ve discussed here this survey of the historical background 00:11:01,490 –> 00:11:04,380 and context of the book shows us that Romans 7 exists in the middle of a Jewish focused rhetorical debate. we have learned that Paul’s law focused rhetorical questions in Romans shape the direction of his discussion in the chapter and this helps us avoid the common fallacious assumption that Paul must be speaking about a Christian experience in Romans 7 instead the fact that Paul backtracks to a time before Christ in chapter 7 verses 7 through 12 supports the fact that he can also do the same in Chapter 7 verses 13 through 25, and if that is true then it adds more validity to the fact that he is speaking about an Old Testament experience under the law not a Christian experience under grace.

Next time

 In the next episode we need to address two more misconceptions about Romans 7 that cannot be left on addressed when it comes to this issue these are two of the most hotly debated issues surrounding the passage whom Paul is speaking to in Romans 7 and whom he is speaking for more on that next time y