Romans 7 has often been misinterpreted and misused; many
assume that it means that all men can never cease from
sinning.
This is far from the truth. This passage must be read in conjunction with chapters 6-8, for Paul is speaking of his condition before he met Jesus, in his past life. It is clear in light of verse 5 of chapeter 7.
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroised by the Law were at work in our membres to bear fruit of death.
But now we have been delivred of the Law, having
died to what we were hele by…
He is speaking of the Law which at that time was external to him, written on tablets of stone, and not in his heart.
Paul had a zeal for the Jewish Law because of his devout background in Judaism. But when the revelation of Christ enlightened him and his mind was
renewed, the eyes of his conscience were opened; the Law of
God became internal, written in his heart
.
The next chapter makes this clear: the Law of the Spirit of life has freed him from the power of sin, so that he now lives by the Spirit who directs him. He listens to the voice of God and remains attentive to that voice which teaches him to live according to the Law of God and not according to the desires
of the flesh.
As we have seen chapter 7 verse 5, Paul clearly speaks in the past tense, “For when we were in the flesh” indicating that the rest of the chapter is a figure of speech used in the present tense to express a reality in the past.
Paul is speaking of the seduction of temptations that lead man to sin, not of the sinful nature. The flesh does not equate to a sinful nature, but to disordered appetites and corrupt desires.
Paul begins by explaining that the Law of God, the Ten
Commandments, is spiritual, while he describes himself as carnal. He uses this figure of speech in the present tense to evoke his past state. In verses 15 to 24, he speaks of the sin that binds him. V. 24 “wretched that I am, who will
deliver me from the body of this death” and v. 25 “I
am by the mind a slave to the law of God and I am
not the flesh a slave to the law of sin”
These two passages at the end of chapter 7 still express his previous
state that Paul exposes before the revelation of the spirit of
life in Jesus Christ in chapter 8. The extract from verse 25
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” is a momentary interruption in his chapter 7 that Paul uses to express his gratitude and his recognition. This marks a turning point in his speech. Up to verse 24, he poignantly exposes the inner conflict that one experiences when he is aware of his
sinful state and feels helpless in the face of sin because of the
seduction of his heart “wretched man that I am”
This cry of distress shows the state of frustration and despair of a
person confronted between the lust of the flesh and the
demands of the holiness of the Law. “Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord” is not a digression; it
underlines the solution that Paul found in Christ in his later
regenerated life.
This recognition is in fact a spiritual transition: it marks the realization that in Christ there is deliverance from this state of misery and captivity to sin. By thanking God for Jesus Christ. Paul then returns to his original explanation of
his previous state, of a man aware of God’s Law but still captive to sin because of his lust when he says,
“So then I also am in the mind a servant of the law of God, and in the flesh a servant of the law of sin.”
Paul describes the tension between his mind, which recognizes
and desires to obey God’s Law, and his flesh, which remains subject to the law of sin.
Paul spoke of himself but also represents the one who through the Law becomes aware of his sinful state before God. The Law condemns him; for example if the Law of God says “you shall not covet” his understanding is enlightened on this subject.
He understands the commandment but his flesh influenced by the seduction of temptation still practices sin. By his testimony, Paul shows his situation before being regenerated.
In Romans 8, after regeneration, the Law of God becomes internal to Paul, written in his heart. He now conforms to the law of God out of love and not out of an external obligation dictated by tradition in a theoretical way or by Jewish Law. His mind is renewed and this is how one who is born of God
should live.