What Paul says in Romans 7 is very sobering, for sure, but also very encouraging, and nobody's skipping over anything. It's just that a couple of the things Paul said in chapters 6 and 8 were directly relevant to the discussion here.
Episkopos, we are all fallen, and, in Paul's words in Romans 3:23, fall short of the glory of God. This is a result of what happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. As Paul says in Romans 5,
"just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." We are all dead in our sin from birth ~ we are... bequeathed... this sinful nature by our first parents, Adam and Eve and must be freed from... back to Romans 6... this slavery to unrighteousness that we all, from birth, even from conception, are subject to. So, for us Christians... using Paul's words in Romans 6:17-18,
"thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." This is what happens when we are born again of the Spirit, so the same thing as what he says of us in Ephesians 2...
"(God), even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ~ by grace you have been saved ~ and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." So then, now, back to Romans 7... <
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Rather than "dying because of the law," Episkopos, Paul says
sin killed him. He says
sin killed him
through the law:
"...sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me... Did that which is good..." (the law) "...then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good..." (again, the law) "...in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure." (Romans 7:11, 13).
This is the state of all human beings, Paul included ~ he's saying he's no different or "better" than any one of us, that we all, as Christians, born again of the Spirit, struggle against sin in the same way. And here he finally gets to the...
great news... starting in Romans 8...
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus... the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death... God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit... we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us... (nothing) in all creation (can) separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord..."
...and finally concluding in Romans 11...
"...the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable... from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen."
No, we sin because we are not yet completely rid of the "old man"... we have not completely put off the old man and put on the new. Paul insinuates this strongly in Romans 6 when he says, we Christians
"must consider (ourselves) dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" the implication being that we are not yet completely dead to sin.
But even so, we are most certainly under grace ~ God's unmerited favor. We can see this in verse 15, when Paul asks (rhetorically),
"Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?" He answers his own question by saying,
"By no means," so, in effect, "of course not," but in that very question we see that we
are under grace and
not under the law. And we abide in Christ because we have the Holy Spirit, Who helps us in our weakness (Romans 8).
Right, and one day ~ one great day, but not yet ~ it will be true of us, too.
This is... spiritual mumbo-jumbo, it seems... "In the wilderness of an initial grace that has run dry"... This is a rhetorical question, but what does that even mean? No, again, we are not under the law anymore but under grace... God's unmerited favor... despite our continued tendency to sin. And because we are under God's grace, we know that:
- as John says, "if we confess our sins, (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)
- and as Paul says, "He Who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:6), and nothing can "separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39)
- and as Peter says, "(God) has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for (us), who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:3-5)
So, Peter goes on to say:
"In this (we) rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of (our) faith ~ more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire ~ may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though (we) have not seen Him, (we) love Him. Though (we) do not now see Him, (we) believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of (our) faith, the salvation of (our) souls." (1 Peter 1:6-9).
Again, one day... <
smile> But for now, Christ's righteousness is credited to us. <
smile> So... now and not yet... <
smile>
Grace and peace to you!
