November 28 – Do It or Don’t Do It: That’s the Dilemma
By Audrey Bauman
Paul spends a lot of time writing about the Old Testament Law since that was the code that the Jewish people had been trying to keep for hundreds of years. Now he is explaining to both Jews and Gentiles what Christianity is all about. But he has to keep going back to ‘argue’ with the Jews since they have a history of believing that following the Law is the way to please God. So in this chapter, Paul is going to explain how the Law itself is perfect, but trying to follow it in our messed up human way isn’t good enough. It’s not the Law’s fault. It’s our fault because of our sin nature; we tend to disobey rather than obey and that is the problem.
Paul begins with an example of how the law applies to a person. The law says a person is married, and that is the case until one of the married couple dies. (Today we would also add divorce.) There is nothing wrong with the law. It aims to keep the marriage well and thriving. If a person committed adultery, then the law would be broken, and the marriage would be in a mess. That resulting "mess" is not the law's fault. The law only states what is good.
Romans 7 NLT
Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
Notice: Jesus has changed how we relate to God; however, Paul will continue to explain how trying to keep the law to be accepted by God doesn't work. What does the law actually do?
God’s Law Reveals Our Sin
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
Struggling with Sin
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
These last verses explain the struggle we all deal with. We have an inherently sinful nature, and when we turn to God we struggle to be the person God wants us to be. Do you find that if someone tells you not to do something, you find yourself more tempted to do it than if nothing had been said? For example, a friend tells you some interesting gossip and tells you not to tell anyone. It’s a big secret. Don’t you find it harder to keep that secret? Or if you tell your child not to touch the cookies that just came out of the oven, can’t you see that burning desire in their eyes to go right over and grab one? I suspect that all of us would have to admit that we’ve experienced that craving to do something we’ve been told not to do. And we all face times when we regret that we've done something we know is wrong.
Paul talks about that conflict we face in these last verses. Even he says "what a miserable person I am!". But notice those last verses in bold print. He is about to tell us there is an answer to our fight with out sinful natures.
Next week as we look into Romans 8, we'll discover the amazing life God gives us when we come to him.