Commentary - Romans 7:13-25

Bird's-eye view

In this profound and intensely personal section of Romans, the Apostle Paul describes the internal civil war that rages within every genuine believer. Having established that the Law is good and holy, he now explains how sin, that malignant parasite, uses the good Law to bring about death and to reveal its own utter sinfulness. This passage is the classic biblical text on the doctrine of indwelling sin. Paul, speaking in the present tense, articulates the frustrating experience of the regenerate man who delights in the law of God in his inner being, yet finds another law at work in his flesh, waging war against his mind. The climax is a cry of anguish from the battlefield, followed immediately by a shout of triumphant faith in the deliverer, Jesus Christ. This is not the description of an unregenerate man, nor is it an excuse for sin. It is the honest, rugged, and ultimately hopeful diagnosis of the normal Christian life this side of glory, a life of conflict that proves we are alive in Christ.

The central argument is that the Christian is a complex new creation. He is one person with two warring principles within him. With his mind, his true self, he is joyfully submitted to God's law. But with his flesh, the remnant of the old man, he is still susceptible to the law of sin. The passage sets the stage perfectly for the glorious resolution of Romans 8, which begins with "no condemnation" precisely because this internal war is real, and the victory is not won by our own strength, but by Christ our Lord.

Outline

Context In Romans

This passage is the linchpin between the declaration of our freedom from sin in Romans 6 and the declaration of our freedom from condemnation in Romans 8. Without Romans 7, the transition would be jarring. How can we be "dead to sin" (Rom 6:2) and yet still struggle so mightily? Paul anticipates this question. He has just spent the first part of chapter 7 explaining that we are dead to the Law's condemnation, not to the Law's goodness. Now, he describes the subjective experience of a man who is truly alive to God and dead to sin. That experience is not one of placid perfection, but of intense conflict. The struggle described here is the very evidence of the new life imparted in chapter 6. An unregenerate man does not have this war; he is a willing slave of sin. The glorious truths of Romans 8, of life in the Spirit and the certainty of our final glorification, are not for those who have ceased to struggle, but for those who are in the very thick of the fight described here, looking to their only hope of deliverance.

Key Issues

The Honest Christian's Autobiography

One of the great debates surrounding this passage is whether Paul is describing his life before Christ or after. Is this the testimony of a convicted sinner on the verge of conversion, or is it the ongoing experience of a mature apostle? The grammar, the context, and the uniform testimony of the saints throughout history argue compellingly for the latter. Paul writes in the present tense. He describes a man who "joyfully concurs with the law of God in the inner man," which is not something an unregenerate person does. The man he describes hates his sin, which is the hallmark of a new heart.

This is not a "woe is me" passage for a man still in his sins. It is a "wretched man that I am" passage from a man who has been saved from his sins and is now engaged in a mortal combat against the remnants of that sin. If your Christian life feels more like a playground than a battlefield, you are doing it wrong. This passage is a great comfort to every true believer because it normalizes the struggle. The fight is not a sign that you are failing, but rather a sign that you are alive.

Verse by Verse Commentary

13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by working out my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

Paul begins by defending the Law. Is the Law, which is good, to blame for my death? He answers with his characteristic, emphatic rejection: May it never be! The Law is not the poison; it is the chemical agent that reveals the poison. Sin is the true culprit. Sin, in its diabolical genius, commandeers the good Law and uses it as a weapon to kill us. The purpose of this tragic interaction is revelatory. It is so that sin might be seen for what it is. When sin can take something as pure as God's Law and use it to produce death, it shows its true nature. The commandment acts like a magnifying glass, making sin appear "utterly sinful," exposing its absolute malignancy.

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, having been sold into bondage under sin.

Here is the fundamental conflict. The Law is spiritual; it originates with God, who is Spirit, and it deals with the highest spiritual realities. But I, even as a believer, am fleshly. This does not mean I am unregenerate, but rather that I still inhabit a mortal body with its sinful patterns and appetites, what Paul calls the flesh. The phrase "sold into bondage under sin" can be misleading. In our justified state, we are no longer slaves to sin's dominion (Romans 6). But in our practical experience, we were born into that condition, and the effects of that previous sale still linger. The flesh remains a beachhead for sin's operations, a part of our territory that is still contested ground.

15-16 For what I am working out, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want, I agree with the Law, that it is good.

This is the maddening paradox of the Christian life. There is a disconnect between the new man's desires and the old flesh's actions. "What I am working out, I do not understand." It feels like self-sabotage. The regenerate will wants holiness, but the action that results is the very thing the will detests. But Paul sees a silver lining in this dark cloud. This very conflict is proof that the new man is on the Law's side. The fact that I hate my sin means that my true self agrees with God's Law that the sin is evil. An unbeliever either loves his sin or is indifferent to it. The believer hates it, and that hatred is the evidence of a heart that has been made new.

17-18 So now, no longer am I the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the working out of the good is not.

Because of this internal agreement with the Law, Paul can distinguish between his true self and the sin that remains. He says, it is "no longer I" who does it, but indwelling sin. This is not a cop-out, not an attempt to evade responsibility. It is a precise theological diagnosis. The command center of his being, the regenerate "I," does not authorize the sin. The sin is an insurgency, a rebellion carried out by a hostile remnant. He clarifies that "in me, that is, in my flesh," dwells nothing good. He makes a crucial distinction. The "willing" to do good is present in him, a gift of the Holy Spirit. But the consistent power to carry it out perfectly is lacking, because the flesh gets in the way.

19-20 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me.

Paul repeats the central conflict for emphasis, like a drumbeat. The desire for good is thwarted. The practice of evil, which he does not desire, persists. He then repeats his conclusion. This is the work of an internal enemy, a fifth column. It is "sin which dwells in me." The Christian is like a landlord who has evicted a terrible tenant, but the tenant keeps breaking back in and messing up the house. The landlord is not responsible for the vandalism in the same way he was when he was happily renting to the vandal, but he is still responsible for cleaning up the mess and fighting to keep him out.

21-23 I find then the principle that in me evil is present, in me who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members.

Paul summarizes his findings. He has discovered a "principle," or a law of how things work in his current state. When the desire to do good is present, evil is right there alongside it. He breaks down the two sides of the conflict. On one side is the inner man, the regenerate self, which "joyfully concurs" with God's law. This is a state of happy, willing submission. On the other side is a "different law," the law of sin, operating in his members, his physical body, his flesh. This other law is not passive; it is "waging war" against the law of his mind. And in this war, there are skirmishes where he is taken "captive." This is not a final surrender, but the bitter experience of losing a battle to the enemy.

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?

This is the cry of a battle-weary soldier, not a condemned criminal. He feels the full weight of this conflict. The phrase "body of this death" refers to our mortal flesh, which is still subject to the curse of death and is the theater for this war with sin. The cry "Who will deliver me?" is not a cry of despair, but a cry that looks for a deliverer. He knows he cannot win this war on his own. He is looking outside of himself for a rescuer, a champion.

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

And the answer comes like a thunderclap. The Rescuer has a name: Jesus Christ our Lord. The cry for a deliverer is met with a shout of thanksgiving for the deliverance already accomplished and guaranteed. The victory is certain. Then, Paul gives the great summary of the Christian's present reality. This is the "so then," the conclusion to the entire argument. "I myself", the one, undivided person, live in a state of tension. With my mind, the new man, I serve God's law. With my flesh, the old principle, I serve sin's law. This is not a fifty-fifty split. The mind is the true self, the command center. The flesh is the rebellious province. This is the normal Christian life until the day we are glorified and delivered from this body of death for good.

Application

The lessons from this passage are intensely practical. First, if you are a Christian, you must expect to be at war. A Christianity that promises a life free of struggle is a false gospel. The presence of this internal conflict is not a sign of spiritual failure but a sign of spiritual life. The dead do not struggle.

Second, learn to distinguish between your true self in Christ and the sin that remains in your flesh. This is not to make excuses for sin, but to fight it intelligently. When you sin, you must own it and confess it, but you do so as a new man who hates that sin and is grieved by it. You are not defined by the sin you are fighting, but by the Savior you are fighting for.

Finally, the only answer to the wretchedness of this conflict is to look away from yourself and to Jesus Christ. Your hope is not in your ability to finally subdue the flesh. Your hope is in the one who has already defeated sin and death. The cry "Wretched man that I am!" must always be followed by the shout "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" This is how we fight: with honesty about our weakness and with unshakable confidence in our conquering King.