Lesson 7: The Convicted Sinner

Many of the commands of the Old Testament seem like they could not apply to people today. Here are some examples:

• Do not allow a witch to live (Exodus 22:18).
• Forgive all debts the seventh year (Deuteronomy 15:1-2).
• Celebrate the Passover for seven days in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:1-6).

Some scholars divide the Old Testament laws into three categories: ceremonial laws, civil laws, and moral laws.

Ceremonial laws were about the sacrifices, the design for place of worship, and worship practices. Christians today do not follow the ceremonial laws because that system was made obsolete by the work of Christ (Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 10:1).

Civil laws were for Israel as a nation. They provided regulations for business, protected human rights, gave policies for law enforcement, and protected the religious identity of Israel. It is not possible for Christians today to follow the civil laws because those laws are not the laws of their nation. For example, in Old Testament times, when someone was supposed to be killed for idol worship, that was not done by someone’s individual decision. A judge would hear the case, then the judgment was supported by the people (Deuteronomy 17:6-12).

► Why is it not possible for a Christian to keep the civil laws of ancient Israel in the original way?

Moral laws identified certain actions as right or wrong for all times. For example, the Ten Commandments forbid idolatry, blasphemy, adultery, and stealing (Exodus 20:5, 7, 14, 15).

Christians do not do the original, specific actions commanded by the ceremonial laws and civil laws. However, those laws are still important because they reveal God’s nature, which does not change. Although we do not kill idolaters and adulterers, those laws show us that those sins are abominations to God. Though we do not leave grain in the field for the poor, we know that we should care about the poor in practical ways. Though we do not take animals to the place of worship before we kill them, we know that everything belongs to God, and we should give offerings from what we have. So though we do not do the original actions, we should find new actions that fulfill the principles.

Another reason the civil and ceremonial laws are important, is that they provide principles of morality to be applied in specific ways. To reject those principles would be the same as rejecting the moral laws. For example, we do not need a railing around the roof of our house if our house is not designed to have people on the roof (Deuteronomy 22:8). But this ancient law tells us that we are supposed to make our houses and land safe for people.

► What is an example of a modern practice that we should do to fulfill the principle in Deuteronomy 22:8?

So what is the law of God that Paul talks about in the book of Romans? It is the will of God for man, expressed in his commandments (Old Testament and New Testament). Though some commands are not to be fulfilled the original way, God’s will for man is essentially the same. Violation of God’s law is sin (1 John 3:4).

In this lesson we continue with Part 4 of the book of Romans. In the last lesson we studied Romans 6, about victory over sin.

In this lesson we will study Romans 7, about the convicted sinner. Romans 6 and 8 describe the victorious life of the believer. Romans 7 makes a great contrast, showing the life of the sinner who knows he is guilty but cannot change himself.

Main Point of Chapter 7

A person who knows God's law but has not been transformed by grace is helpless to escape the power of sin and the condemnation of the law.

Summary of Chapter 7

This chapter describes the condition of a person who is under the law. To be under the law means to be standing before God waiting to be judged on the basis of one's obedience to the law. Since all have sinned, to be under the law means to be under condemnation. The person who is under the law has not yet received justification.

7:1-6 explains how the believer is dead to the law. The rest of the chapter shows why this is necessary (see the “for while” in 7:5 and the “but now” in 7:6). 7:7-13 shows how the law is good but makes sin worse. 7:14-25 shows the helplessness of the convicted, unregenerated sinner.

► A student should read Romans 7 for the group.

Notes Verse-by-Verse

(7:1-3) These three verses are an illustration preparing for the point made in the next three verses. Marriage illustrates the original bondage to the law. A woman was not allowed to leave her husband and marry another, but if the husband dies, she was free from his authority. This obligation to the law does not apply only to Jews under the law of Moses, but to every person, because all of us would be judged by the law of God if we were not saved by grace.

The main point of Paul’s illustration of marriage is that death changes the relationship. We died to our old life when we were united with Christ. The Law is not nullified or abolished. However, the claims of the Law on us as lawbreakers are now paid in full by Jesus’ substitutionary atonement. We are now “married” to Christ. This does not make us lawless. We do not have the right to be a law breaker now that we are Christians. Instead, we are empowered, through the Holy Spirit, to live in the spirit of the Law. [1]

(7:4) Violation of the law has the penalty of death. Christ has died in our place. We identify with him, so that it can be said that we have died to the law through the body of Christ. Since the requirement of the law has been fulfilled, we are free from its bondage. We do not have to fulfill the law out of fear of the penalty. To be dead to the law means that we do not need to fulfill it as a means of justification, because we are justified by grace.

(7:5) Sin is caused by the law in the sense that the law writes the record of sin and in the sense that once a person knows the law and rebels against it, he becomes a worse sinner.

[1]This paragraph was written by Dr. Allan Brown.

► Look up many of the references in this section, so that you can understand the concepts.

The scripture refers to various people as being “in the flesh.” To be in the flesh can have at least two different meanings, depending on the context.

One basic meaning is simply to be in human, mortal form. In this sense, Jesus was in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16, 1 Peter 3:18). Even a person living a holy life can be said to be in the flesh in this sense (2 Corinthians 10:3; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22, 24). The flesh is considered morally neutral when the term is used this way, as when Paul told the Galatians that they could not by the flesh (human efforts) perfect what grace had begun.

A second sense in which a person may be in the flesh is to be controlled by a fallen, sinful nature. This condition is typical of the unregenerate person (Ephesians 2:3). The natural works of the fallen nature are listed in Galatians 5:19-21. In Romans 8:1-13, being in the flesh is contrasted with being saved. Fleshliness is death (8:6) and enmity against God (8:7). The person in the flesh cannot please God (8:8) and shall die (8:13). The description of the flesh here is the same condition described in Romans 7 (see 7:5, 14, 18, 25). The person in the flesh in this sense is doing works of sin for which he will receive the penalty of spiritual and eternal death (Romans 7:5). He is not yet saved.

A person may yet be influenced by the fallen nature even after conversion, though not controlled by it. The Corinthians were called carnal after their regeneration (1 Corinthians 3:1). Paul implied in 3:1 that carnality is usual for babies in Christ, but it is not a condition where a believer should remain. He criticized the Corinthians for remaining babies.

Notes Verse-by-Verse continued

(7:6) Since we have died to the law in Christ, the law is as dead to us. Freedom does not mean that we no longer serve; but now we serve with our spirit, rather than trying to fulfill requirements without fulfilling their intention.

(7:7) Paul previously said that the law multiplies sin (5:20). In this passage he has said that sin worked by the law to bring forth death (7:5). Therefore, it is natural that the question should arise, “Is the law sin?” He shows that the law is not sin by showing that the law is what condemns sin.

(7:8) God’s law shows the sinner that his actions are condemned. In a sense, the law makes sin worse. When the sinner knows he is guilty, his continued sin (disobedience to God’s law) becomes conscious rebellion.

(7:9) Before he saw what the law required, he did not know he was condemned to death. But sin does lead to death even for those who sin without knowing the details of God’s law (see 2:12 and 5:14).

In Romans 7:7-25 Paul relates his experience as an unsaved Pharisee and explains how he finally came to see his need for Christ. In Romans 7 he tells us that before the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the covetousness he had in his heart, he thought he perfectly kept the law. See his testimony in Philippians 3:6 when he says, “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Like he said in Philippians 3:9, as a Pharisee he thought he had a righteousness that was derived from the law. After the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the covetousness of his heart, he said that he felt he died spiritually (Romans 7:9). This is obviously a comparative statement: he once thought he was spiritually alive by keeping the law; when he saw he was guilty of covetousness and not keeping the law, he realized he was actually dead. Paul continues giving his own history in Romans 7:14-25. He tried to stop being covetous, but he could not. The entire testimony is one of utter defeat and slavery to sin. He tells us in Romans 7:25 that deliverance comes only through Jesus Christ.[1]

(7:10) The law was intended to show the way of life. The law never was a means of salvation, but it was to be the direction for living for those who knew God. But because fallen, natural man cannot follow it, it becomes a means of death instead of a direction for life.

(7:11) Sin deceives by appearing beneficial, pleasurable, and harmless. When a person yields to temptation to sin, he is condemned, even if he succeeds in limiting the results of his sin; because God's judgment is according to the law, not according to the results of sin.[2]

(7:12) The law reveals the nature of God – the law is holy, righteous, and good, just as he is.

(7:13) The law is not evil, but evil results came when sin reacted against the law. Sin used the law to bring each person under the penalty of death. By the law sin is shown to be truly evil.

[1] This paragraph was written by Dr. Allan Brown.

[2] See the notes on 3:5-7.

Many people think that Romans 7:14-25 describes a normal believer, but consider the description.

He is sold under sin, like a slave, which means that he is not redeemed (7:14). He knows what is right but cannot do it (7:18). He is a prisoner not delivered (7:23). He is wretched and crying for deliverance (7:24).

In 7:5-24, starting with the phrase “while we were living in the flesh” (7:5) and ending with the question “Who will deliver me” (7:24), there is no reference to Christ, the Holy Spirit, grace, life, or victory; but there are 52 references to the first person (I, my, me), 16 references to the law, and 15 to sin.

This cannot be a person who has the deliverance described in Romans 6. That chapter repeatedly says that the believer is no longer a servant to sin. The person Paul describes in Romans 7 is under the law, as introduced in the beginning of this chapter (7:1, 5-6). 7:14 is the connection showing that the remainder of the chapter is describing the same condition as is described in 7:1, 5-6.

Romans 8:1 says that the person who is not condemned is the person who is in Christ Jesus. 8:4-5 say that this person does not follow the flesh. The person who does follow the flesh (as in 7:25 and 7:5) is condemned. A condemned person is not a true believer. The person in Romans 7 is helpless and controlled by the flesh.

8:3 says that the condition of weakness under the law is ended; therefore, the helpless condition described in Romans 7 must not be the state of a believer.

8:6-7 says that to be carnally minded is death, and that the carnal mind is an enemy to God. But 7:14 begins describing the carnal person. The carnal person, as meant in this context, is not a genuine follower of Jesus.[1]

Then why does Paul put himself in this description? From 7:7 on, he describes a sinner who comes under the conviction of the law. The rest of the chapter describes his past experience—his genuine struggle to please God by following the law. It did not give him eternal life and it did not give him any kind of satisfaction. In Romans 8 he begins describing the life of victory. It is impossible that the person described in 8:1-4 can still be in the condition of Romans 7.

Therefore, it is evident that Romans 7 describes an unregenerate man who knows that he is condemned by God's law but is unable to live in obedience to it.

► In your own words summarize what was explained in this section. It is not necessary to fully debate the issue at this time because more evidence will be given in this lesson.

[1] For other uses of the word carnal, see the section above “Defining Flesh/Carnal.”

Notes Verse-by-Verse continued

(7:15) Most people wish they were doing better. That wish does not mean they are Christians. The wish without the reality shows that they are still not delivered from the power of sin.

(7:16) Their wish that they did better shows that they know that the law is good, even though they don't obey it.

(7:17-23) Sin is spoken of as if it were a thing that overrules the will of man. Fallen man does not by nature have the free will that God originally created in man. The will of man is so weakened that a sinner cannot choose God unless God, by his grace, restores his will.

Prevenient grace is the action of God reaching out to those who have not yet responded to him. The grace that is extended to every person includes restoration of free will and desire for God, so that every person can truly choose whether or not to be saved.

God begins the work of salvation for every person (John 6:44; Ephesians 2:4-5, 12-13, 17; Titus 2:11, Titus 3:3-5), but a person is not saved unless he responds to God.

(7:24) This is a cry of despair and frustration that comes after a person sees his total inability to save himself. This is not the cry of a saved person.

(7:25) A statement of praise is interjected here as light in the darkness of the life of the despairing sinner.

Then comes a sentence that summarizes the passage. The unconverted person gives mental agreement that the law is right, and he pretends to be better than he is; but his sinful desires keep him in sin. A person is condemned for serving sin with his mind and body (7:5, 8:3).

[1] In this passage Paul speaks of the power of inherited depravity (the law of sin) in the life of the unbeliever. Paul, when he was an awakened sinner, had conflict within himself.

The law of sin in Paul’s members produces the following results:

• He does what he hates (7:15).
• He does what he doesn’t want to do (7:16).
• There is a desire to do right, but no power to do it (7:18).
• The law of sin is resisting the law of his mind (7:23).
• He is a captive of the law of sin (7:23).
• He is a divided person: his mind serves God, but his flesh serves the law of sin (7:25).

A person cannot serve two masters. A man cannot be free from sin and a slave of sin. A man cannot be God’s slave and sin’s slave. The language of Romans 7:14-25 is directly opposite to the statements of Romans 6 about the believer’s deliverance from slavery to sin. Therefore, 7:14-25 is a continuation of the description of an unbeliever’s relation to sin and the law begun in 7:1-13.

Romans 6 explains the believer’s relationship to sin resulting from his crucifixion and resurrection with Christ. Romans 7 serves as a description of:

• The relationship of a sinner to the law.
• The interaction of indwelling sin and the law.
• The struggle of a sinner awakened to the demands of God’s law, but unable to do on his own what the law demands because of his slavery to indwelling sin.

Interpretations of Romans 7:14-25 Vary

View 1: Some scholars wrote that Paul is describing the normal Christian life. They point out that the tenses are present, not past; and they insist that in Paul's view, the Christian life has unresolved issues.

View 2: Many other scholars believe that Paul is describing a man's condition before conversion because phrases like “sold under sin” and “wretched man that I am” are not in harmony with the description of a believer in Romans 6 and Romans 8. According to Romans 6, the believer is dead to sin, freed from sin, and is to claim by faith and a full surrender to God the freedom available in Christ for victory over sin. According to Romans 8, the person who is walking in the flesh cannot please God and does not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him.

It is the opinion of the writers of this curriculum that the second view fits the flow of Paul’s argument in Romans and is most consistent with his overall teaching.

Questions That Are Frequently Asked about the Person in Romans 7:14-25

Here are some questions that frequently arise from people who think Paul is describing his own Christian life in Romans 7:14-25.

Question 1: What about Paul’s statements that he delighted in the law of God in his inner being (Romans 7:22)? Could an unbelieving Pharisee delight in the law of God?

Answer: Any Pharisee would have said that he delighted in the law of God in his heart. They devoted their life to the study of God’s Law and daily spent hours studying it. Paul had dedicated himself to the Law and sincerely desired to obey it. But when the Holy Spirit showed Paul the covetous nature of his heart, awakening him to his true spiritual condition, Paul found that he continued to do wrong despite the grace-enabled desire of his mind to do right. The Law showed Paul how to live, but the Law did not give him the ability to do it.

Question 2: What about the present tenses in Romans 7:14-25? Paul writes, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin” (Romans 7:14).

Answer: The shift of verb tense from past tenses in Romans 7:7-13 to present tenses in Romans 7:14-25 in no way affects the autobiographical character of his testimony. Nor must the present tenses in 7:14-24 necessarily indicate Paul’s present experience at the time he is writing Romans as a mature Christian apostle and missionary. The “historical” or “dramatic” present tense is a well-known use of the present tense in Greek when the writer wished to make a past event or experience clear to his readers. Therefore, the use of the present tense to make clear what was true in Paul’s past before he was converted does not demand the interpretation that Paul is still struggling with the bondage of sin in the present. Paul has clearly indicated in Romans 6 and Romans 8 that a Christian is not sold into bondage to sin (Romans 7:14).

Question 3: What about the parallel between this passage and the struggle many Christians find in their life?

Answer: The struggle of a believer is quite different from the struggle of the wretched man. The wretched man of Romans 7:14-25 cannot stop sinning. He is a slave of sin. This is not the case of a true believer. A Christian may have periodic struggles and failures, but his life is not one of slavery to the law of sin and death. The Christian is united with Christ and is set free from the power of indwelling sin (Romans 6:1-10).

Conclusion: The wretched man of Romans 7:14-25 appears to be a sincere Pharisee struggling to please God. A person cannot be free from sin while he is still a slave of sin. A person cannot be God’s slave and sin’s slave, for as Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13). Romans 7:14-25 is a continuation of the description of an unregenerate person’s relation to sin and to the law of Moses that was begun in Romans 7:7-13.

► Discuss the issue of the identity of the person in Romans 7, carefully considering the details and explanations provided.

[1] This section was written by Dr. Allan Brown.

The apostle tells us in Romans 7:7 that the law exposes sin. The law is useful for evangelism because a person sees his need of salvation when he realizes that he is condemned by God’s law. Through the history of the church, the most effective evangelists have used the law of God to cause unbelievers to desire salvation.

The following quotations show what evangelists have said about using the law.

► Take turns reading the quotations and explaining them with help from other members of the group.

From Charles Spurgeon[1]

"By removing the law you have done away with sin, for sin is the transgression of the law; and where there is no law, there is no transgression. When you have done away with sin you may as well have done away with the Savior and with salvation, for they are by no means needful. When you have reduced sin to a minimum, what need is there of that great and glorious salvation which Jesus Christ has come to bring into the world?"

"They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy law; therefore, the law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose."[2]

From Charles Finney[3]

"One cannot intelligently and heartily ask or accept a pardon until he sees and feels the fact and justice of his condemnation."

"The spirituality of the law should be unsparingly applied to the conscience until the sinner's self-righteousness is annihilated, and he stands speechless and self-condemned before a holy God."

"Evermore the law must prepare the way for the gospel. To overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and to fill the church with spurious converts."[4]

From Martin Luther[5]

"But Satan... has raised up a sect of such as teach that the Ten Commandments ought to be taken out of the church, and that men should not be terrified with the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ."[6]

From John Bunyan[7]

"So long as people are ignorant of the nature of the law and of their being under it – that is, under the curse and condemning power of it, by reason of their sin against it – so long they will be careless, and negligent as to the inquiring after the true knowledge of the gospel."

"The man that does not know the law does not know in deed and in truth that he is a sinner, does not know savingly that there is a Savior."[8]

From Jonathan Edwards[9]

"The only way we can know whether we are sinning is by knowing his moral law."[10]

From John Wesley[12]

"To kill the sinner is, then, the first use of the law; that is, to destroy the life and strength in which he trusts, and convince him that he is not only under the sentence of death, but actually dead to God, having no spiritual life, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). The second use of it is to bring him to life, to Christ, so that he may live."

"Never think or speak lightly of [the law] this blessed instrument of the grace of God. Instead, love and value it for the sake of him from whom it came and of him to whom it leads."[13]

► What problem would result if preachers talked only about the love and forgiveness of God to people who did not consider their sin to be serious?

[1] Spurgeon was the greatest evangelistic preacher in England in the 1800s.

[2] Charles Spurgeon, “The Perpetuity of the Law of God”

[3] Finney was an evangelist in America in the 1800s. He was responsible for more conversions than any other preacher in that century.

[4] Charles Finney, “How to Win Souls”

[5] Martin Luther was the reformer in Germany who rediscovered the biblical gospel, resulting in thousands of conversions.

[6] Martin Luther, in the preface to his Commentary on Galatians.

[7] Bunyan was the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, the most-published book about the Christian’s journey to heaven.

[8] John Bunyan, The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded

[9] Edwards was a theologian and preacher of the First Great Awakening in America, responsible for thousands of conversions.

[10] Jonathan Edwards, “Christian Cautions: The Necessity of Self-Examination”

[12] Wesley evangelized and organized his converts, and the converts of the preachers who helped him. Before he died, their membership totaled 79,000 in England and 40,000 in America.

[13] Paraphrased from John Wesley, “The Origin, Properties, and Use of God’s Law”

(1) Name two reasons the ceremonial and civil laws of the Old Testament are still important.
(2) What does it mean to be dead to the law?
(3) What are two uses of the term in the flesh?
(4) How does the law make sin worse?
(5) Why is the law useful for evangelism?

Write a page giving examples of Old Testament laws other than those mentioned in this lesson. Explain whether they are ceremonial, civil, or moral; explain how the Christian should apply them today.