Rom 7:18 – For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

There is a very popular viewpoint in Christian theology and teaching about the 7th chapter of Romans that the Apostle Paul was conveying, in the current tense, his own ongoing struggle with sin as a believer trying to follow Christ. It is commonly taught that he was lamenting his own failure to actively practice that which he knows to be right and his continual committing of that which he knows to be wrong, in other words, he had an ongoing sin problem. If you take Rom 7 by itself, it may seem like he is implying exactly that, but I believe that is a complete misunderstanding and misguided application of the text. You cannot escape the fact that chapter 7 is sandwiched between chapters 6 and 8 and must be understood in the context of those other chapters.

Given that, I think the proper way to read and understand Rom 7 is that the Apostle Paul was speaking rhetorically and not confessionally. He was simply explaining, in first person terms, the dilemma of someone, namely a Pharisaical Jew like he once was, trying to fulfill the righteousness of the law apart from the redemptive inward work of Christ. He acknowledged that though he had a desire, as a Pharisee, and mindset to walk in a manner pleasing to God through the law, he simply lacked the power to do so in his own strength, in other words, his “flesh”.

Look at verses 18-19: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

The issue he discovered was that apart from Christ, he was *in the flesh* and did not have the Spirit of God within him to guide and empower him. I think he was simply reflecting back to his time as a Pharisee, and then putting himself in the present tense for the sake of illustration. We have to be careful to not single out specific words, and then try to build a narrative around them, especially if they appear to negate a greater truth being conveyed in the full context and spirit of the epistle. Remember, there are no chapter breaks in Paul’s letters, the entire epistle is the full context. Now, there are smaller subtexts within the whole, but the chapter breaks were added later for ease of reference and not always well placed. Romans 7 is part of a bigger subtext that includes at least Romans 6 through 8 and should not be regarded as a separate thought. When read in its proper context, contrasting the 7th chapter with the chapter preceding and the chapter following, it becomes clear that Paul could not have been referring to himself presently in chapter 7 without completely undermining and calling into question the validity and the whole spirit and sense of the other 2 chapters, not to mention all of his other epistles.

For instance, how could Paul declare in Rom 6:2: “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” And then turn around in the next chapter and say “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom 7:19)? basically proclaiming that he is actively doing evil, i.e. sinning, and living in that which he just implored us not to live in? Not a chance, If that was a statement of present confession, then he would rightly be considered a rank hypocrite.

Rom 6:6-8 – Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. These passages clearly state that as believers we are now, presently, “dead to sin” and “freed from sin”. This is further reinforced in Rom 6:11 – Likewise *reckon* ye also yourselves to be *dead* indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If the Apostle Paul was referring to himself in his present state as “captive to the law of sin” (Rom 7:23), then he completely violated his own exhortation just given in the previous chapter where he told believers to “reckon” themselves dead to sin and alive unto God, and worse than that, it would mean that he completely contradicts his statement from Rom 6:18 –  “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” and he would be declaring himself a “servant of sin” Rom 6:16 – Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, *his servants ye are* to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Clearly, he was not referring to himself presently as a believer, filled with the Holy Spirit and set free from the law of sin and death. In fact he prefaces his description of the Christless Pharisee in chapter 7 by reiterating one more time that it is NOT the predicament of the follower of Christ.

Rom 7:5-6 – For when we WERE in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. BUT NOW we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Paul ends his first person illustration of himself when he was a Pharisee by stating: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:24-25)

It is Christ who sets us free from the law of sin and death, at the point of salvation, NOT at the time of physical death. That is the whole point and clear teaching Romans chapter 6, and further reinforced in chapter 8. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus HATH MADE ME FREE from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). But ye are NOT IN THE FLESH, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you (Rom 8:9).

Paul continues to expand the thought: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, *who* walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom 8:3-4).

Christ accomplished what the law (just explained in Rom 7) could not, and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled *in us*, presently. It is a glorious accomplishment, but it is a conditional one: that we, as believers, “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. As it states in Rom 8:12-13 – Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

As believers, we are empowered and obligated to actively “walk in the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the flesh” if we wish to claim these promises for ourselves. It is the Mark of a true child of God. Rom 8:14 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

I think the reason that there is so much confusion and wrong teaching on Romans 7 is because of the fleshly tendency to try and “lower the bar” to make believers more comfortable with their own carnality and failure. I mean after all, if the mighty Apostle Paul was having sin problems, how can we expect any better of ourselves? We should resist that tendency and let the Word of God, rightly divided, challenge us to come up higher and reckon ourselves dead to sin, alive unto God and set free from the law of sin and death.