“Romans 7”

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

One of the major points of Romans, chapters 3-8, is that we are no longer under the Law of Moses.

His illustration to make that point in Romans 7 is marriage.  Two people are bound by God’s law to one another “till death do us part.” If one puts away his or her spouse and remarries while that spouse is still living, that person is in a state of adultery.

(He doesn’t deal with the exception here of sexual immorality. His point is the marriage law itself, one man and one woman for life, not the exception. The exception doesn’t have to be mentioned every time the basic marriage law is given for the exception to be valid.)

But because the Old Law (of Moses) died or was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14), we are now under the Law of Christ, the gospel, or the New Testament.

The Law of Moses revealed to us what sin is and gives us many examples, as in the Ten Commandments. He specifically mentions covetousness, the tenth commandment. We learn that violating any part of God’s revealed will is sin.

But Paul, though no longer under the Old Law, still struggled with the weaknesses of the flesh. The final part of Romans 7, verses 15-25, describes his daily battles between what he wants to do and what he actually does. He wants (or wills) to do good, but his flesh is weak and so he often finds himself sinning.

We all face that battle, day by day. It is never easy to do only the right thing, because of the lure and power of temptation. But with the help of Jesus (verse 25), we can be victorious in this spiritual warfare, with its eternal consequences.

--Roger Hillis

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