Romans 7:20

Romans 7:20 says, Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  Paul had just stated that he didn't do what he should and did do what he shouldn't in verse nineteen.  Now, he gives us the reason.  It is his giving in to sin that dwelled in him.  We know that once a person becomes a follower of Christ that the Holy Spirit dwells in them, but even when indwelled with the Holy Spirit, God does not take away our free choice.  Paul recognized this in his own life, and we must also.  It would be so much easier if once we accepted Christ as Savior and Lord the Holy Spirit would then keep us from even thinking sinful thoughts, but that is not what happens.  There will come a day, when we do depart this corrupted world that sin will no longer be a temptation, but not as long as we live in this body of flesh.  Verse twenty-one adds, I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. Paul recognized the truth that the ability to give in to evil still existed in Him. We might want to think that as followers of Christ this is not true of us, but anytime we doubt God, evil wins.  This can be as simple as giving in to worry, when God has told us to put our trust in Him.  It could be coveting what someone else has or hating someone or some group because of what they have done to us.  It could also be feeling that we are morally superior to others.  I believe Paul recognized that he was still capable of these thoughts, and even actions, and warned us that the same is true for us. For the Bible to be meaningful, it must apply to the life of each individual.  Verse twenty-two continues, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  He delighted in the law of God with the inward, or spiritual, man.  We may delight in the Bible inwardly, or spiritually, but how does that affect our everyday life?  Verse twenty-three states, But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  I believe Paul was saying that even though he knew what he should do mentally that the lusts of the flesh fought against that knowledge.  We as followers of Christ know what we should do, but we are still at times tempted to give in to sin due to the lusts of the flesh.  We are in a spiritual war, and if we surrender from the leadership and empowering of the Holy Spirit, we will lose.  Verse twenty-four adds, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  He saw himself as wretched and asked Who could deliver him from the body of this death.  When we are not following the will of God through the power of Holy Spirit, we are indeed wretched.  We cannot be faithful to God by our own power. Verse twenty-five continue I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.  After asking Who could deliver him, Paul gave the answer: Jesus Christ our Lord.  Christ was not only Paul's Lord, but the Lord of all who believe.  We must make Christ the Lord of all our thoughts, or by the lust of the flesh we will again fall into sin.

Romans 7:15

Romans 7:15 says, For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.   Paul said that he didn't do the things that he knew he should do and did the things he knew he shouldn't do.  When we try to live by our own strength and power, and not by the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves submitting to the power of sin once again.  Through Christ, sin has lost its power over us as long as we are firmly rooted in the will of God for our lives.  Yet, even as followers of Christ, we can allow sin to rule our actions if we are not careful.  Verse sixteen adds, If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. When we do the things that we should not do, we agree to consent to the law of God, which is good but can only condemn us.  This does not mean that we are suddenly not saved, but that we once again place our actions under the law, as we temporarily reject God's will. We may know what we should or should not do as followers of Christ, but too often we give in to our old corrupt nature and lusts.  If Paul had this struggle, then we should not be surprised when we do also.  Verse seventeen continues, Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.   Paul said that the reason he did things that he knew he shouldn't do or failed to do the things he knew he should, was because of submitting to sin. He again was following the will of the world and not the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  We do not surrender our free will even in Christ, and in this world we will never become perfect.  Verse eighteen states, 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. We need to understand the importance of accepting the fact that even as followers of Christ we are still very much capable of sinning against Him. Anytime we fail to follow His will for our lives, no matter how small that failure may seem, we are again living by the flesh and not the spirit. Verse nineteen adds, For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Paul said he had intentions to do good, but didn't, and yet the evil that he thought he wouldn't do was what he did.  I don't believe we can say this was a continual state for Paul, but that he recognized that he at times acted in the flesh and not the spirit.  He was not perfect, and neither are we.

Romans 7:7

Romans 7:7 says, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Paul tells us that we can never make the claim that the law of God is sin.  He says that it only points out our sins.  Paul said he wouldn't have known lust if the law had not told him not to covet.  Again, this goes beyond our actions to our very thoughts.  The law has a very important part in the lives of those who follow Christ. It points out our own weaknesses and points us to God, and then it still serves as a guide to how we are to live.  The law tells us how to relate to God and man.  Verse eight adds, But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.  Paul said that because of sin the law was misapplied, leading to all manner of lust.  Paul had lusted to kill Christians thinking he was obeying the law.  The law is more than simply words written in stone.  It is God's love written in our hearts that we might effectively serve Him. Paul knew the words but had not understood the spirit of the law.  Verse nine continues, For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.  I believe Paul is referring to the commandment of Christ that we follow Him.  Paul was alive under the Jewish law, but was dead under the commandment to follow Christ.  All his zeal for the law did not matter, because he didn't have a personal relationship with Christ. Without that personal relationship, sin revived, leaving Paul dead in his relationship to God.  We can only be alive through that personal relationship with Christ.  Verse ten states, And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.  Christ's death, burial and resurrection will always be intended for life, but to those who refuse to accept His gift, it will be a sentence of everlasting spiritual death.  Verse eleven adds, For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.  Again, I believe this applies to salvation through Christ.  Sin will deceive us into denying the necessity of following Christ as the only way to restore our relationship to God.  Verse twelve continues, Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Paul states that the law is holy, but the commandment of Christ is much more. It is holy, just, and good.  We can never declare the law of God to be bad, but it cannot bring us everlasting life with God.  Only Christ can do that.   Verse thirteen says, Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.   I believe Paul is telling us that the death of Christ for our sins, which was good, will be used by sinful people to attempt to lead us astray.  The Gospel is a stumbling block to many.  Verse fourteen adds, For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.  We are carnal, corrupt beings sold under the power of sin until we allow Christ to set us free spiritually.  Then, we must live under the power and direction of God, having died to the power of sin in our lives.

Romans 7:1

Romans 7:1 says, Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?  Paul said that he was speaking to the Jews, God's people who knew the law.  He said the law had dominion over a person as long as they lived.  They could not claim that after being obedient to the law for many years, they were now exempt.  The wages of disobedience to the Law of God is death, and will be no matter how long we live, unless we accept God's free gift of grace.  Verse two adds, For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.  Paul used the example of marriage, and he used the woman in the example.  This may be because the woman had fewer rights than the man, but really should apply to both equally.  As long as her husband was alive, she was bound to him.  Once he was dead, though, she was freed from the marriage.  Verse three continues, So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.  Death of her husband frees from the law of marriage, just as death frees us from all laws.  Paul was using marriage as an example that those who knew the Law of God could freely understand, but he was pointing to a bigger truth as we will see in verse four. Verse four states, Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.  Once we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are no longer married to the Law, but we are married to Christ.  It is a now and an everlasting relationship.  Death does not free us from that relationship with Christ but frees us from all that separates us from the perfect will of God.  The Law of God is not dead, but we are freed from the end result of the Law, which is death.  As long as we are married to the Law, we cannot be married to Christ.  I believe this means as long as we attempt to prove ourselves worthy of God by our own merits, we will never humbly accept the gift of grace.  Verse five adds, 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.  I believe Paul was simply restating the truth of the flesh which will lead us to sin, which is made manifest by the law.  The result is death, both physical and spiritual.  We must come to God by faith in the spirit of truth. Verse six continues, But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. We serve in a newness of spirit of the law, not attempting to justify ourselves by the letter of the law.  The purpose of the law was to point out our inability to save ourselves and to point to salvation through Christ by grace.  Through God's grace, we are freed from the power of sin.

Romans 6:18

Romans 6:18 states, Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Paul again points out that we are either the servant of sin or the servant of righteousness.  We do not like to think in terms of being a servant.  We want to be the master or at least the equal, but the truth is, we either serve Satan through sin or God through righteousness made available by Christ.  If we are to look to the true original sin, it was when Satan and a third of the angels decided they would be like God and rule, and they have been attempting to rule at least over people ever since the creation.  They are already defeated, and so will we be if we follow the way of sin. Still, the devil can never make us do anything, in spite of what we may say. Through Christ, we are made free from sin, and with it spiritual death, and because of that, we are to live in righteousness. Verse nineteen adds, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.   Paul said he spoke to us after the manner of men.  We have yielded to sin, to iniquity as a way of life, but through Christ we are to yield all that we are to the righteousness of God. The choice is always ours.  We yield, either to Satan and sin or to God and righteousness.  Verse twenty continues, For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. When we serve sin, refusing to acknowledge God and His gift of grace through Christ, we cannot be made righteous.  It is not a matter of how good or bad we are in relationship to other people.  We cannot be made righteous except through Christ, and when we are, we are to live in righteousness.  Verse twenty-one states, What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.  We should be ashamed of the sinful things we did before we became followers of Christ, and more so those that we have done since.  We did not sacrifice anything for Christ, but He sacrificed everything for us.  When we start to speak of what we gave up to follow Christ, we can only claim to have given up spiritual death.  Verse twenty-two adds, But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Paul tells us that once we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord we begin to bear fruits of holiness.  The result of this faith in Christ is everlasting life with God.  We are not called simply to go through life awaiting that everlasting life in heaven, but to bear fruits of righteousness while we are here.  God created mankind with a purpose, and He redeems us the same way.  We are to carry out God's will for our lives.  Verse twenty-three continues, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  This is our message to the world.  We can either choose the death we earn through sin or everlasting life that God's grace gives us with Him through Christ. There are no more options.

Romans 6:14

Romans 6:14 says, For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  Again, we need to remember that Paul was speaking first to the Jews.  They believed that the Law was the way to a correct relationship with God, but they could never live up to and often even corrupted the real meaning of the Law.  Paul tells us that we are not under the Law, but under the grace of God, which can never be misapplied.  We are not in control of the grace of God.  We can share the truth of God's grace with the world, but we can never withhold it.  No matter how we may feel about a person or group of people, God's grace will always be available to them.  As Matthew Henry points out, there are only two families we can belong to.  One is the family of God through His grace, and the other is the family of sin by rejecting His grace.  There is no middle ground. Verse fifteen adds, What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  Paul once more addresses the concept of sinning, of willfully disobeying the will of God since we are under His grace, and he once again emphatically states that we should never have this attitude.  God forbid, Paul said.  I believe we can be certain that God would indeed forbid such thought.  Sin does not become any less devastating just because we are saved through Christ.  We must always recognize sin for what it is, and that is disobedience to the will of God.  As followers of Christ, though we are far from perfect, that should always be our goal.  The more we are guided by the Holy Spirit, the closer we come to this standard.  Verse sixteen continues, 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?  Here, Paul once again presented the two choices every person has.  We can either be the servant of sin unto death, or the servant of obedience to righteousness thorough Christ.  Some people might fool themselves into believing that if they deny Christ they are free to make their own decisions, but they simply fool themselves.  They are still under the dominion of sin. Again, there are but two choices.  I have heard people say they had rather rule in hell than to serve in heaven, but the truth is they will ultimately serve in one place or the other. We just have to choose where we serve.  Verse seventeen concludes, But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  We should indeed thank God that we are no longer the servants of sin if we accept the doctrine of Christ.  This is the gift of grace.

Romans 6:8

Romans 6:8 says, Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:  Paul states now if, and that is always the key.  We can question the existence of Christ or the truth of His death, burial and resurrection, but that does not change the fact that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again to bring salvation to all.  That is why the now if is needed.  Christ died for all sins, but not all accept His sacrifice and believe in what He did.  There are those who say that they cannot believe that a loving God would send anyone to hell, and He doesn't.  He will allow people, already forgiven through Christ, to choose to ignore that gift and go away into everlasting punishment, though. Again, it is a choice of the free will of man.  When we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we live in Him.  Verse nine adds, Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. Paul states that once Christ rose from the dead, sin had no dominion over Him.  Through our faith in Christ, we have that same assurance.  Verse ten continues this thought saying, For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  Christ did not have to die over and over to pay the penalty of sin.  That in no way frees us to sin by saying the penalty is already paid so it doesn't matter.  The second half of the verse says that Christ lives, and He lives unto God.  After we accept salvation through Christ, we are to live unto God.  Sin no longer has dominion over us and should never be something we desire.  We are to live for God's glory.  Verse eleven states, Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  We are dead to sin.  This does not mean that we become perfect people, but that we are to strive to live in the perfect will of God.  We are alive through Christ our Lord.  Where we get into trouble is when we want Christ as our Savior but forget this means He is also our Lord.  Verse twelve adds, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  We still have a choice to let sin into our lives again, even if we are followers of Christ.  This happens when we don't rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength and attempt to live by our own wisdom and power.  We should quickly recognize when this occurs and never allow sin to reign for any length before asking God for forgiveness. Verse thirteen continues, Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  Paul tells us we are never to use any part of our body for unrighteousness, but we are to live as those who are freed from death through Christ.  We are to be vibrant people through the power of the Holy Spirit, and not ruled by the desires of sin.