In this study we will attempt to gain a better understanding of Romans chapter seven. We will begin by reviewing some of the things we learned in the previous studies “No Condemnation” and “Set Free to Walk by the Spirit.” In those studies we learned that Adam sinned while in the Garden of Eden by disobeying God. “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience” (Romans 5:14, NASB).

It was Adam who sinned. It was through his disobedience that sin entered the world. “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned” (Romans 5:12, DRA).

We were all in Adam when Adam sinned. Therefore, in him all have sinned. By that one person’s sin, death has passed unto all men. Through this one man’s trespass, all mankind were made sinners. It was in his sin, in his disobedience, that all were constituted as sinners.

 “Through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19, NASB).

Adam’s nature was fundamentally changed by this one sinful act of disobedience. His nature, his constitution, was changed from innocence to sinfulness. He was now constituted a sinner. That was now his nature.

“The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned, for on the one hand the judgment arose from one offense, resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, resulting in justification. For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one offense the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind” (Romans 5:16-18, NASB). 

What was the specific condemnation that resulted in not just Adam, but all men being made sinners as a result of the one man’s sin? Jesus reveals this to us in John chapter eight, during His conversation with the Jews who had believed in Him.

“Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in my word, then you are truly My disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, “You will become free”?’

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free’” (John 8:31-36, NASB).

Jesus told these Jews that had believed in Him, that if they would continue in His word, they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. The Jews rightly understood that Jesus was telling them that they were slaves. He was telling them that they had been enslaved and did not even realize it.

The Jews proved they did not realize their enslavement by insisting that they had never been enslaved to anyone. Jesus therefore explained to them the reality of their enslavement saying, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” This was the truth that the Jews did not understand. They were slaves to sin.

When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden by disobeying God’s commandment not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God judged Adam. Finding him guilty of sinning, God condemned Adam based on this truth, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”

This truth was the basis that God used in His condemnation. His adverse sentence passed against Adam as a result of his transgression was that Adam would become a slave to sin. Because Adam sinned, God condemned Adam to be enslaved to sin. Thus Adam, and all mankind in Adam, became enslaved to sin and were thereby made sinners. All mankind, as a result of God’s condemnation, became enslaved to sin.

The disobedience of this one man, Adam, resulted in the adverse sentence, the condemnation of slavery to sin. Because Adam sinned, he became a sinner. Because he was now constituted a sinner by nature, he would just naturally sin. We will see this illustrated in greater detail as we study chapter seven of Romans.

The obedience, the one righteous act, of our Lord Jesus Christ was the source of the righteousness that resulted in justification and reconciliation. “And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation” (Romans 5:11, HCSB). “Through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. . . Through the one man’s obedience, many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19, HCSB). This is illustrated in more detail in chapters six and eight of Romans.

In chapter six Paul is addressing the question, “Should we continue in sin?” We were living in sin before we were born again, before we got saved. Now, as born-again believers, the question is, “Should we continue in sin?”

Paul’s answer is an unwavering, “Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. 

“For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims” (Romans 6:2-7, HCSB).

In essence, Paul is asking the brothers, “Don’t you understand? When a believer is baptized into Christ Jesus, he is, by the Spirit, baptized into Christ’s death. By our death with Christ, sin’s dominion over the body has been abolished. We are no longer enslaved to sin. Death has freed us from sin’s claims”

Just as in Adam, all sinned and thereby all were constituted sinners and were condemned to be slaves of sin as long as they lived. So also, we were in Christ, crucified with Him, so that through His death, we also would be dead to sin, but through the power of His resurrection we would be alive to God.

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:8-11, HCSB).

What freedom! What liberation! Through baptism, by the Holy Spirit, into Christ’s death, we have been set free. We are no longer slaves of sin. We are no longer obligated to let sin reign in our mortal bodies so that we obey its desires. As those that are alive from the dead, we offer ourselves to God.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:12-14, NASB).

In chapter seven, Paul illustrates how this condemnation of slavery to sin operates in the life of the person that is under the law. Not having Christ’s life within, this person has no choice. He must walk according to the flesh resulting in death.

Even though this person delights in the law of God in his mind, he is not able to do the good that he wants to do because the sin in his flesh is warring against him and taking him captive, holding him in bondage, in slavery to sin. Chapter seven is all about the war within the person that in his mind loves the law of God, yet in his flesh is unable to do the good that is in that law because he is overpowered and enslaved by the sin in his flesh.

Paul begins Romans chapter seven by telling us that he is speaking to brothers, but not just any brothers. He is speaking to brothers that know the law. He is asking them, “Don’t you realize that the law has authority over you until you die? Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives?” (Romans 7:1).

Paul is continuing to stress to these brothers the extreme importance of our death with Christ. It is through our death with Christ that we are not just freed from slavery to sin, but also freed from the law.

“Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.  For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:4-6).

Paul is reminding the brothers, “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.” He is encouraging them, “Consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” It is through the truth of this death that we are set free.

We must know our death with Christ in order to be able to confidently consider ourselves as dead to sin. It is only then that we can enter into the reality of being dead to sin, free from its dominion over us in our daily lives.

Our death to sin is not based on our feelings. Our death to sin is based on the fact that when we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ, we were baptized into His death. We were crucified with Him. It is for this reason that we can consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

Paul then asks the brothers, “Is the law bad? Is there a problem with the law?” His answer to his own question is adamant. “Absolutely not! The law is good. The law is spiritual. However, when the law came, it exposed and magnified the sin within me, and made it appear exceedingly sinful.”

Paul is explaining to them God’s purpose with the law. The law is a teacher, a schoolmaster, our guardian to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:23-24). We might think that we are alright. But when the law comes, it exposes the sin that is within us and reveals to us how desperately we need deliverance. It reveals how desperately we need Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. The commandment which was for life, this I found to be for death; for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good” (Romans 7:7-12).

“Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin” (Romans 7:13-14).

To paraphrase, Paul is explaining to the brothers, “Did the law cause my death? Absolutely not! The law is good. The law is spiritual. However, as long as I am under the law, sin is empowered to produce in me every manner of sin, every manner of evil, resulting in death. As a person that has not experienced being baptized into Christ’s death, as a person that has not experienced being raised up with Christ through the power of His resurrection, I am still fleshly, I am still carnal. I am still sold into sin’s power.”

Paul is explaining to the brothers his experience while he was still under the law, still enslaved to sin, so they would understand the importance of realizing themselves as dead to sin and no longer being controlled by it since being baptized by the Spirit into Christ’s death. “For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14, NASB).

In Christ, we are freed, liberated from the dominion of sin because we are no longer enslaved to sin. The Son has set us free! Through our death with Christ, we have been liberated, freed from sin and the law!

We are set free through our baptism, by the Spirit, into the death and resurrection of Christ to walk in a new way of life. We are no longer obligated to walk according to the flesh. We are now set free to walk according to the leading and the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Paul continues in Romans 7:15-20 to describe to these brothers his experience while he was still under the law, still enslaved to sin, saying, “For that which I do, I do not approve of. And that which I don’t want to do, I practice. For I even do things that I detest.

“But if I practice these things and yet I don’t agree with them, I consent that the law is good. So now it is no longer “I” who do it but the sinful nature which lives in me. Now I know that in me, that is in my flesh, lives a nature which is not good. 

“For the willingness is present with me, but actually doing that which is good is not. And the good that I want to do, I don’t do. But the evil which I don’t want to do, I practice. But if I practice that which I don’t want to do, it is no longer “I” who do it but the sinful nature which lives in me.” (Romans 7:15-20, TFLV).

This is in direct contrast to the Christian life lived in obedience to the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit. A genuine Spirit filled Christian is led by the Spirit and empowered by that Spirit to be able to hear and obey that leading.

The born-again Christian is no longer enslaved by sin, he is no longer forced to do sin’s will. He has been set free to walk in newness of life enslaved to righteousness and obedient to God’s leading through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul exclaims in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

Paul is illustrating that the person that is still under the law is still in bondage to sin. They do not have the ability to do the good that they want to do because they do not have the Spirit of Christ within them empowering them to do it. They are not spiritual. They are merely natural men.

They agree with the law that it is good, but they have no ability to do the good that they desire to do. The person under the law, in bondage to sin, eventually ends up practicing the evil that he does not want to do. Evil and sin become a way of life to him.

Paul exposes this way of life in his letter to the believers in the churches of Galatia. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions,  factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”  (Galatians 5:19-21, HCSB).

Paul could not be more clear. Those who practice the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who practice evil will not inherit the kingdom of God! Genuine Christians are led and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to live holy lives, to live just as Jesus lived. 

John concurs,“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:3-6, NASB).

Paul continues, explaining to the brothers the wretched predicament of the person that is under the law and delights in the law in his mind. This person finds himself in a war, a war that he, in his own strength, cannot possibly win.

“I delight in God’s law after the inward person, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, sin’s law” (Romans 7:22-25).

The unsaved person that is under the law delights in the law of God and desires to do the good that it requires. However, he has no ability to do that good because there is a different law in his flesh that is warring against the law in his mind. The law in his flesh is bringing him into captivity under the law of sin.

What a dreadful state he finds himself in. Eventually, in total despair, this unsaved man cries out to God to be delivered from this body of death. Finally, he finds deliverance through Christ Jesus our Lord and makes the proclamation we find in the beginning of Romans chapter eight.

“The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.” The condemnation of slavery to sin has been removed through his baptism into Christ’s death by faith in Jesus.

He is now, as a born-again, Spirit filled believer, set free from slavery to sin. He is now empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to do all the good that God commands him to do. He is no longer forced, by the sin in his flesh, to practice the evil that he hates. He is no longer a wretched, merely human man, but he is now a spiritual man empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to live a holy, godly life.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.