Romans 7:14-25 – The Relationship between the Law and the Flesh

There are two things we need to keep in mind. Firstly, we need to know that all believers still do commit sin. Even mature Christians still fall and sin. Even godly, growing Christians have to progressively struggle with sin in life. Our personal experience in life affirms this to be true. Secondly, if we are looking for the solution to our struggles in the Law, we will be disappointed. Apart from Christ there is no solution, definitely not the Law. In verses 7-13, Paul used the past tense to narrate his experience but here in this paragraph, he switched from using the past into the present tense. In these verses, Paul painted for us a picture of the indwelling sin in his life. This signifies to us that he was talking about now, his experience as a believer.  

From verses 14-24 we see three inner cries of Paul. They were cries of a person with a distressed soul in great conflict. In each of these cries, he first described his condition, and then went on to prove it by his personal experience before showing the origin of the struggle.

In the first cry in verses 14-17, he first states the condition by saying, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” He was reinforcing the fact that there was nothing wrong with the Law. “The problem,” he said, “was in the fact that I was unspiritual and sold unto bondage to sin.” He knew that although the Law is good and spiritual and reflects God’s holy nature, there is a barrier – the fleshly and sin reality in his life. In essence he was saying, “The Law is spiritual but I am unspiritual and I still experience the bondage of sin.” Moving to verse 15, he proved by his experience what he said in the previous verse. He said that the very presence of the sin nature caused him to act opposite to what he knew was right and to do what he hated. This very struggle proved that he still had an inclination toward sin.

Then he talks about the origin of the struggle. In verses 16 and 17, he tells us that “… if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law confessing that the Law is good.” He acknowledged that there was nothing wrong with the Law. Just because I couldn’t keep it didn't mean it was wrong. What was Paul’s problem? In his own words, he said, “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” He is pointing to the indwelling sin nature, his unredeemed mortality.

Here is a paraphrase of what Paul essentially was saying. We need to know that the Law is the embodiment of moral excellence. And since we are now reunited with God in Christ and grow in Him, there is the desire to love God more. This makes us want to fulfill the moral demands of His Law. But then our human-ness with our sin nature will come in the way of that desire. And the very thing we ought to do, we find it hard to do and the very thing we hate, we discover that we would gravitate toward them.

In verses 18-20, we hear his second inner cry. Again he began by stating the condition in verse 18. He said that in his flesh, “nothing good dwells.” In saying that, he located the flesh as the seat of sin. It is in the flesh that sin finds a base in our life to operate from. In the later part of verse 18, he again used his personal experience to prove the reality of what he had just stated, that is, nothing good dwells in his flesh. How? Paul said, “For although I am willing to do what is good, I find it hard to do it according to my desire. I can't perform it in the way that I want to perform it.” He went on to say in verse 19 exactly what he said in verse 16, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” In verse 20, he then went on to discuss the origin of the struggle again, very much like he had done in verse 17. He said, “But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

Then in verses 21-24, we see the third cry. As before he again stated his condition in verse 21. He said “I find then the principle of evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.” He then discovered another principle operating in him and giving other instructions. When he wanted to do good, he found the presence of evil coming from that other principle. From experience again he proved what he had said in verse 21. He said, “I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” These members are referring to the human part of him, the flesh and the outer man. This law operates in his flesh and sometimes it overcomes the law of the mind, the law of the inner man. But when sin wins the victory in the spiritual struggle, then the believer is brought into captivity to that sin and becomes captive to it. In verse 23 when he said, “… the law of sin which is in my members,” he was again identifying the origin and source of the struggle.

So in three cries, Paul emphasized the conflict of the believer. They tell us of the human inability to perform God’s will, as we ought to. In all the three cries, Paul tells us that the origin is the indwelling sin. And so in one desperate cry, Paul lamented, “Wretched man that I am!” followed by a question, “Who will set me free from the body of this death?” And he quickly went on to verse 25. It’s like he heaved a great sigh of relief, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" The relief from the conflict is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Praise God, our victory is truly found in Christ and Christ alone!