Romans 7:15-25a

We come to a passage in the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans that draws together what he has written, and what I have preached on so far this summer: Romans 7:15-25.

Paul is a consummate logician. He has taught that faith — trusting in God’s saving work in Jesus Christ — sets humanity right with God, Gentile and Jew. Then he has taught how grace, God’s sovereign decision to save humanity from sin and death, has supplanted obedience to the Law of Moses, while not negating the Law of Moses. The difference is that, by grace, fulfilling the Law becomes an aspiration rather than a requirement.

Then, Paul taught that we have died to the power of sin and death, united with Christ in his death, and in his resurrection from the dead. In Romans 7:25-35, Paul will contend with the fact that we go on thinking, saying, and doing sinful things, even though we try not to. And this is where he applies brilliant logic:

If my actions run counter to what I know is right, then I am agreeing with the Law because I am acknowledging that what I do is wrong. (How can one know right from wrong without the Law?)

Therefore, logically, I do what I know is wrong, and what I do not want to do. I also know what is right, but do not bother doing it.

This leads Paul to conclude that we really are alive in Christ (knowing and wanting to love God wholeheartedly, and neighbor as self). But there is something else “alive” in us, too: sin. We are not defined (or judged) by sin; but sin is in us still.

This week’s reading will leave us somewhat dangling: its message is, “Be real — you are both saved from the consequences of sin and still captive to sin.” The reading brings us to a question: “…who is there to rescue me out of this body doomed to death?” (Romans 7:24). The reading also provides a sort of summary answer: “God alone…” (Romans 7:25).

Find some time to mediate on this. When do you have the experience that “what I do is not what I want to do”? (Romans 7:15) When is it for you “That the good I want to do, I fail to do…”? (Romans 7:19). How have you experienced this situation compelling you to call for God’s help?