Romans 7:7-25

2. The Law is holy, but cannot make Sinners holy.

The fact that Christians are freed from the law might suggest a wrong inference as to the character of the law. This Paul denies (Romans 7:7), but shows how the law, though in itself good, leads to acquaintance with sin and to destructive results (Romans 7:8-12). In Romans 7:13 he suggests another (but similar) wrong inference, and then portrays the operation of the law in man, producing conflict and captivity rather than holiness (Romans 7:14-23). In Romans 7:24-25, the whole description is summed up in a cry of misery, followed by an outburst of gratitude for deliverance, closing with the contrast between the service of mind and flesh.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. This section has been a theological battlefield for fifteen hundred years: the main question being, to whom does Paul refer when he says ‘I,' whose history is he describing? It is generally agreed that the experience is his own, but that it is applicable to all men, in so far as they are striving to obey the law. It is also generally conceded that the first part of the description (Romans 7:7-13) refers to Paul (and to men in general) before regeneration. The question which remains is: To what class does the description of Romans 7:14-25 apply? Explanations: 1. To the unregenerate man, depicting the unsuccessful strivings of his better moral nature. The main difficulty with this view is that some of the expressions indicate a higher moral purpose than is found in unrenewed man 2. To the regenerate man. In favor of this may be urged (a.) the chance to the present tense from Romans 7:14 on; (b.) the common experience of Christians as respects indwelling sin. The objection is that the whole passage up to Romans 7:25 is silent as to the distinctively Christian character of the work of sanctification. Moreover this view would tend to ignore the obvious difference between chaps. 7 and 8. If the experience is that of a Christian, it is that of a Christian who is still dallying with law as the principle of holy living. 3. It seems best to hold that the Apostle does not have in mind any sharp distinction between the unregenerate and regenerate states, but gives the experience of man attempting to become better through the law; of an awakened man, before he comes to Christ; but also of a Christian man so far as he feels the pressure of law rather than the power of the Spirit. Hence it is not always possible to discriminate, if the distinction between the regenerate and unregenerate states is emphasized. Yet the Apostle himself, as a Jew, before his conversion, probably passed through this entire experience. It was his state as a Pharisee (Godet), not when sunk in sin, but when awakened to earnest struggles against sin under the scourge of the law, under preparation for a state of grace. Many legal, despondent Christians never pass out of this conflict into the more joyous life of the Spirit. They believe that they are justified by faith in Christ, and yet attempt to be sanctified by works of the law.

But the section not only presents the common experience of individuals, it also sketches the religious history of the race. Romans 7:7-13 correspond with the phenomena of heathenism; the natural man, at first without revealed law and then convicted by it Romans 7:14-25 present the phenomena of Judaism, man under the law, his conscience quickened thereby, but he himself still in bondage, longing for a deliverer. The closing verses prepare for chap. 8, which presents Christianity with its life of freedom in the Spirit.

In the fifth century the passage was discussed by Augustine, who changed his views in regard to it after his controversy with Pelagius. Many centuries later, in Holland, the exegesis of the passage was the pivotal point in the conflict between the Calvinists and Arminians. The tendency at present seems to be in favor of the position advanced under (3).