Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson XI)

British Bible scholar John Stott also takes note that the Greek word aphormē (“opportunity”) was used in connection with military operations. It signified the starting-point or base of operations for an expedition, a springboard for further advance. This is what sin does. It establishes a base of operation within us and then uses the law to start a skirmish between our sinful nature and our spiritual nature and provoke us into action. Believers have come to experience such provocations almost every day. As mentioned before, since the days of Adam and Eve, people have found forbidden fruit very enticing. This phenomenon is called, by some, “contra-suggestibility.” It is the tendency to do something, or say something, that is contrary to what they’re being told to say, or do. For example, a traffic sign may read: REDUCE SPEED NOW. But instead of slowing down, this type of person ignores the sign and continues on at the same speed. Their first reaction is, “Why should I?” Then, “I’ll do what I want to do because I can keep this vehicle under control at any speed. Who are they to tell ME what to do?” So it is when the law says do not tell a lie. Sin inflames the tendency of self-will, and the person decides, “I’ll say what I want to say whether anyone likes it, or believes it!”¹

Messianic Jewish writer, David Stern, lets us know that when a Jew heard what Paul had to say about sin, it would come very close to the rabbinic notion of, “yetzer ra,” – evil inclination. But unlike what some Rabbis would do, Paul pictures sin here, and through verse 25, as unconquerable by man in his own righteous strength. It is “sinful beyond measure.”² That means, it is beyond the control of anyone; it cannot be held in check without help. The point Stern makes is that Rabbis would say this evil inclination can be overcome with prayer, study, and righteous acts.

Shakespearean director, computer programmer, teacher, and writer Marcus Geduld wrote a paper titled: “Do bad people exist? Or are they just good people making mistakes?” In his paper, he outlines situations that allow the reader to make that determination. It clearly permits us to see that what the Jews called the evil inclination, or as Paul puts it, sinful intentions, already existed inside. All it takes is the opportunity for it to reveal itself. Geduld based his findings on 35 years of study in Psychology, Economics, History, Biology, and Neuroscience. Here is what he found:

1. People who have a mixture of selfless and selfish drives, who sometimes give into the latter. Example: a husband who loves his wife but who gives into an impulse (or a series of impulses) and cheats on her.

2. People who are distracted (tired, busy, sick, mired in a personal trauma) and don’t have the mental capacity (at least at the moment) to consider anyone besides themselves. And so they wind up doing cruel and or thoughtless things to others.

3. People who are under pressure (external or from some internal drive or desire) and who, in order to relieve that pressure, act in a way that hurts someone else. For example, a wealthy person who feels pressure to maintain his lifestyle (maybe believing he’ll no longer attract his mate if he doesn’t) might abuse less-fortunate people in an attempt to hold onto his fortunes.

4. People who, as children, learned that the only way they could get attention was by acting out – by getting negative attention. For example, a woman might continually humiliate her boyfriend, because she wants to have a relationship with him, and she never learned how to have one based on love and respect.

5. People who have low impulse control. When they get angry or upset, they can’t stop themselves from behaving in cruel ways. They don’t have the same internal brakes the rest of us have. (Though most people’s breaks will fail if they’re under enough stress.)

6. People who have been bullied and are left with an intense need for revenge – or for a way to assert the status that was robbed from them by the bully. Some of them may (without necessarily being conscious of it) use proxies (innocent bystanders) to stand in for the bullies.

7. People with terrible social skills. They may not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, but they simply don’t know how to behave in ways that show respect for others.

8. People with a disorder like psychopathy (or narcissism) which leaves them unable to feel empathy – or with their empathetic abilities severely blunted. To them, other people are toys, tools, or obstacles – not fellow humans.

9. People in an extreme situations in which their survival is threatened, such as those caught up in wars or extreme poverty. They may behave cruelly because it’s their only means of protecting themselves. (People who grew up in abusive or stressful environments may not be able to turn off their aggression once the threat has passed.)

10. People who have bought into (or been indoctrinated) into a system (a religion, a social group, a political ideology, etc.) that is partly based on cruelty. Generally, they have been convinced by the system that the cruelty is a means to some greater good.

11. People who are “cruel only to be kind,” such as a group of friends holding an intervention for another friend who is a drug addict. Often, people disagree about whether a certain action is cruel or kind. Regardless of who is right, the “kindness” may seem cruel to the person it’s inflicted on.

      12. People who are members of a tribe, team, political party, or any other sort of group with a strong             sense of inner-loyalty may wind up being cruel to outsiders (and insiders who betray the trust of the group), as a way of showing group solidarity.

As we can see, Geduld witnessed among ordinary, everyday people what Paul has been saying. These tendencies were already present inside each individual, regenerate or unregenerate. So as soon these inclinations encounter a situation where it doesn’t get its way, it springs into action to protect its selfish desires.

Verses 9-10: Before I knew the law, I was alive. But when I heard the law’s command, sin began to live, and I died spiritually. The command was meant to bring life, but for me it brought death.

Here Paul is speaking of a different birth than the new birth Jesus introduced to Nicodemus. In this case, it was the birth of his conscience. We see this illustrated in the story of the prodigal son who took his inheritance and spent it all on immoral living. Then we are told: “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger!‘”³ Once he returned home, his father had this to say: “He was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!”⁴

The Psalmist went through a similar experience: “Problems far too big for me to solve are piled higher than my head. Meanwhile, my sins, too many to count, have all caught up with me, and I am ashamed to look up. My heart quails within me. Please, Lord, rescue me! Quick! Come and help me!”⁵ That’s why the Apostle Paul wanted the Galatians to know the consequences once mankind’s conscience was awakened to the truth of sin: “The Scriptures point out very clearly, ‘Cursed is everyone who at any time breaks a single one of these laws that are written in God’s Book of the Law’.”⁶ That why he goes on to clarify: “Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever win God’s favor by trying to keep the Jewish laws because God has said that the only way we can be right in his sight is by faith.”⁷ Paul also told them about his awakening: “It was through reading the Scripture that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favor by trying—and failing—to obey the laws. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.”⁸

Again, Paul was an accomplished student of Jewish law. He knew what the Scriptures quoted God as saying: “You must obey only my laws, and you must carry them out in detail, for I am the Lord your God. Only if you obey them, will you live. I am the LORD.”⁹ And, even as late as the prophet Ezekiel, God repeated this warning.¹⁰ Then, when Jesus came and was asked by an expert on Jewish law what must a person do to live forever in heaven, our Lord asked him: “What does Moses’ law say about it?” The expert knew for he said: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.” To this, Jesus replied: “Right! Only if you can do this will you live!”¹¹

The problem, however, was this proved impossible to live up. It required a form of perfection that was unachievable in order to attain everlasting life. That’s what made trying to comply with the law so frustrating. It would have been one thing if after the law pointed out an error, it would have offered help and ultimate forgiveness, but it was not empowered to do so. In my mind, the law is analogous to the weather vane on top of the farmer’s barn. It can tell you which way the wind is blowing, but it can do nothing about it. Or like a thermometer, it can let you know the temperature, but it cannot change it. We could go on with a barometer or altimeter, etc.

In his sermon on this text, Chrysostom explains that while this looks like condemnation by the law, if you look closer you’ll see that it is actually praise for the law. The law did not bring into existence any tendency to sin that did not already exist. Instead, it points out what had previously escaped notice. This is why Paul praises the law. Before it arrived, people were sinning and didn’t realize it. If the law did nothing else for people, at least it made them aware that what they had been doing was a sin. This is not something a person can dismiss if they truly want to be delivered from wicked living. The fact that they may not yet be free is not the law’s fault. It does not have such power. It was given to show the need for being set free by pointing out how bad sin really is. Therefore, any blame for not being free does not go to the law, but wholly against their unwillingness to change. And by refusing to repent, it shows just how bad their situation is.¹² This reminds me of a commercial I see on television quite often where a man dressed as a security guard in a bank is asked to “do something” when bank robbers stormed in. He replies: “I’m not a security guard, I’m only a security monitor.” It’s the same thing with the law given to Moses. When asked, “Can you save me from sin?” it answers, “No, I can’t save you from sin, I’m only a Sin Monitor.”

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson X)

In one of Chrysostom’s sermons on this text, he exclaims: “See how Paul clears the law of any blame!” In his own answer, he points out that it was sin all along that took advantage of the situation to do what was wrong. In fact, the law only made it more desirable to do evil because of the joy of going against authority. This is not what the law intended. It is the weakness of a person’s virtues and values that prevent them from going ahead with their plans even though they know it’s wrong. It’s like the law inflames a person’s desires, instead of putting them out. So why can’t the law be blamed for starting the fire? The law is not at fault, it was only trying to warn and keep the person away from giving into such desires. So what is to blame? It is the person’s own careless attitude and bad temperament. They take what was meant for good and use it for the exact opposite. To accuse the law would be like blaming a physician for his patient getting sick because they didn’t follow the instructions that came with the prescription. The law was given to us to help us get well, not to cause the inflammation of our desires. But instead of extinguishing those desires, it did just the opposite. Not because the law did it on purpose, but because sinful desires used it with the wrong intent.¹

Martin Luther believes we must examine what Paul says about a person’s response to the law by looking at it as a believer, not a sinner. As a believer, we are to love the law. It helps keep us straight and on the right path. The law has no intention of arousing our sinful nature and then pushing us to do what is wrong. That’s because the dominating power of sin that used to control us is now dead to us. Luther uses lime compound to make his point. You don’t know there is any heat in the lime until you pour water on it. It is a calcium-containing inorganic material found in the ground, which carbonates, oxides, and hydroxides when combined with water. It’s not the water that creates the heat, it’s what’s in the lime. That’s the same way it is with man and his will when it comes into contact with the law. It’s the sin inside us that reacts in such a way that it bubbles up and gives off energy that then is used to commit the very things the law prohibits. So the results cannot be blamed on the law. And it is only through the love, grace, and mercy of God that the fire of sin can be extinguished.²

Reformist John Calvin contends that it appears as though Paul is saying that the knowledge of sin, without the law, is somehow hidden. To make the point, Paul applies this idea to his own case. If the interpreters had rendered this Greek passage in the imperfect tense it would be much more revealing³ You see, Paul not only admitted that these sinful tendencies were part of his carnal nature in the past, but they were in him to that day.⁴ In other words, an unbeliever does not discover that they have become a sinner when they begin to sin. They have been sinners all along, but it took the Law to reveal to them that what they were doing was in fact sin.

Robert Haldane is fascinated by the fact that while Paul uses the same Greek word epithymia in verses 7 and 8, the translators of the KJV used the English word, “lust” in verse 7, and “concupiscence” in verse 8. The reason for this question arises from the fact that epithymia indicates a natural inclination to sin, not just sin when we decide to do it. Thayer, in his Greek Lexicon, says that this means: having a “craving” or “longing” for something. And more specifically, a great desire for something that is forbidden. The Apostle James uses it the same way when speaking of temptation.⁵ Temptation usually comes when the opportunity is given to do something a person has always wanted to do but was afraid of the consequences. Paul made it clear in verse 7 that the law does not cause sin. It only points it out. In other words, sin is stripped of its disguise and seen for what it really is. Then in verse 8, Paul asserts that the law discovered something in him, which was this innate sinful nature he was carrying around with all its evil desires.

When happened then? Paul felt a sudden urge to resist them. But the natural corruption of his heart saw an opportunity to sin, so it struggled against Paul’s urge to resist. This only produces more conflict and disharmony within Paul’s soul, heart, and mind. That’s when Paul realized that the more something is prohibited or forbidden, the more his corrupt human nature wanted to have it. It could not be more clear. Instead of the law helping to subdue the urge to sin, its very prohibition of such acts only increased the desire to have it. While a person may be able to restrain themselves from committing the outward act, the inward desire to participate only grows as the evil inclinations of the mind get excited about the prospects. Does this make the law wicked? By no means. The wickedness is within the person’s sinful heart and mind.⁶

Charles Hodge does not see verse 8 as logically connected with verse 7. In other words, because Paul didn’t know that sin was within him until it was shown to him by the law, once it was revealed Paul realized that his greatest sin was greed. Was this Paul’s thorn in the flesh?⁷ That’s when the greed inside him began to suggest all kinds of things that Paul could lust after. Had the law not pointed out this tendency to lust, Paul would have never known it was there. So we can see why someone hearing this might ask, Is the law evil? Paul had his answer ready: No! Just the opposite! This should open our eyes to the sins hidden inside us. So how can we call a thing evil when it helps unmask the bad tendencies going on inside our hearts and minds? And once they are disturbed, these sinful tendencies are awakened and began to demand their desires be satisfied. But Paul cautions that we must understand, that when we refer to these passions as sin, they are to be understood as potential sin, not actual sin. While our indwelling sin, or corruption of nature, is the principal source for producing action and not the act itself, should this make us sad? No! God be thanked that He made it possible for us to detect such tendencies. And as believers, we need not fear them after we have been sanctified and the disposition to serve and obey the Spirit is much stronger than the desire to serve and obey the flesh.⁸

Albert Barnes also sees the law acting as a detector. In other words, just like a lie detector will reveal a lie when uttered so the Law will detect a sinful tendency the moment it raises its ugly head. But rather than causing this tendency to run away and hide, after being uncovered it begins to demand attention. And when not addressed immediately, it becomes exasperated, and the urge only grows bolder and stronger in its demands, no matter how depraved those demands may be. Now, for sinners, this only makes them more stubborn, obstinate, and desperate to get what they want. Any attempt to resist or set up authority over them only makes them take a rebellious stance in utter opposition. Anyone who has witnessed this type of behavior in a spoiled and obstinate child will understand. But we should not become overly alarmed. Just as a parent will not throw a disobedience child to the dogs, so God will not throw a rebellious and impious sinner into hell. It’s only if they keep following the road they are on they will get there on their own. Likewise, God will not drag a resistant, screaming sinner into heaven. One can only enter there after receiving an invitation that they must then decide to accept or reject.⁹

Henry Alford has some interesting thoughts about sin and law. To him, the inactivity of sin without the law waking it up must not be understood as meaning that somehow a sin was committed without the person knowing it. If a person has no conscience or basic knowledge of right and wrong, then yes, that might be the case. But that is not Paul’s argument. Dutch scholar and translator Erasmus (1466-1536) explains that the word “dead” in verse 8 should be taken as meaning “being unawares.” In other words, before the law was promulgated, people were ignorant that some of their passions were in fact sinful. So when a person without such knowledge feels the urge to do something, they must depend on their own conscience to tell them if it’s right or wrong. But when they come to the conclusion that since such acts are not forbidden, they can go ahead and do what they planned to do without condemnation. What Paul has put his finger on here is the fact that people are less enthusiastic about doing the things they are permitted to enjoy whenever they like. It’s only when an opportunity presents itself to do something that is off-limits and strictly forbidden that they get stirred up. As odd as it may sound, it’s the thrill of doing something wrong that excites them, not the wrong itself.¹⁰

As Charles Ellicott sees it, the law woke up tendencies Paul didn’t know he had. And one that stood out was his hidden greed. He then realized he was not only wanting things he could have but even those that really wasn’t his to have. Ellicott sees this in Paul’s use of the Greek word aphormē, which Thayer in his Greek Lexicon says implies a military metaphor. It describes a place from which a movement or attack is made, a base of operations. And even more, it suggest an advanced post occupied as the starting-point and rendezvous for further advances. Paul is telling us that sin was unable to incite an attack on man’s immoral tendencies without the co-operation of law. But when the law forbidding it was held up in front of him, that’s when it’s real motives jumped into action.¹¹ While the KJV translates the Greek word aphormē as “occasion,” it is better understood today as “opportunity.”

What Karl Barth sees here is that, fundamentally, sin is the possibility that the union between a person and God may be broken if action is taken. This then opens the door to another possibility, and that is being then predestinated to blessedness or damnation. But this secret is known only to God. That does not mean that sin originated in God. But it does mean that only in God can we find the truth about what sin in our lives can or will do. And since believers are known as servants of God, as such, they are subject to the possibility of disobedience, and even rebellion. They can decide to separate themselves from Him. Some who do not want to follow Him openly, try to follow His shadow. But there is no divine glory in His shadow. In fact, His shadow prevents His glory from shining upon the one standing there. In other words, people take the opportunity of making the god they like, and in doing so attempt to make themselves gods. That way, they can decide and predetermine everything in their lives without consultation with God or His Word. It is the presentation of such an opportunity that provides the consequent capacity to make use of it. And that, my friend, is sin.¹²

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson IX)

In one of his sermons, British preacher Charles Spurgeon made it known that there are some people who hope to overcome their bad tendencies through habit breaking and making resolutions. They think that as long as they do all the things the church tells them to do, it will somehow cause a halo to form over their heads and by some miracle that will make them holy. There’s no doubt that in itself the law is holy because the One who gave it is holy. But just by reading it does not make the reader holy. So what effect should the law have on the mind? For those who still have an unrenewed mind, instead of discouraging sin, it encourages it. There is something in the sinner’s mind that immediately wants to rebel against the law the moment it’s read, or it is heard. If you don’t believe that, just tell one of your children not to do something they want to do. There will be little time before they throw themselves on the floor in a fit of anger. That’s because there are some things a person would never think of doing until they are told they can’t do it. By the same token, if they are told they must do it, they resist because they don’t want to obey. If that isn’t enough, the more people are prohibited from doing, or are forced into doing, the greater their despicable nature will urge them to go against the law.¹

John Stott’s impression of what Paul is claiming requires a reiteration of what has been said all along: The law was meant to reveal sin, not salvation. Paul already explained, “through the law, we become conscious of sin.”² Now he writes: “Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law.” This no doubt implies that he came to recognize the seriousness of sin because the law unmasked and exposed it for what it really is – rebellion against God. This is what brought Paul under conviction. In his case, it was the tenth commandment prohibiting envy.³ In other words, when God gave humans a free will, He also included an alarm system in mankind’s conscience to alert them that they had done something wrong. But it wasn’t until the Law was given that his wrong-doing was finally explained. And once this was revealed, then man knew that what he had done was a sin against God’s instructions.

Douglas Moo sees an important factor between Christians and Mosaic law. We must not make the mistake of taking Paul’s claim that believers are “released from the law.” In fact, we cannot apply this liberation to any particular function of the law. What has happened is that the believer has been set free from the commanding authority of the Mosaic law. If any part of the Law is broken, it no longer has the power to condemn us to die as sinners. But it also means, that no part of the Old Testament law should be taken as an immediate requirement for Christian living. We know, that when a person leaves one country and settles in a new one, they are no longer under the legal jurisdiction of the country they left. So it is with Christians. They have left the dominion of an old covenant and are now living under a new covenant.⁴ So now, by being obedient to the teachings of Christ, they fulfill every Old Testament law that is relevant to salvation and Christian living.⁵

Jewish writer David Stern translates the first part of this verse this way: “Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful.” The reason Stern brings this up is because in Romans 2:18, 3:20, 5:13, 20 Paul indicated that some think the Torah makes people sin. He doesn’t want anyone jumping to the conclusion that it’s the Torah itself that is sinful. That’s why the Apostle reacts to any such assumption with a strong, negative reply – Heaven forbid!⁶ Then we must analyze how a holy, just, and good Torah can stir up such sinful desires. The answer is simple. It’s not the Torah’s fault, it’s our own. For instance, the tenth commandment, concerning adultery,⁷ can be transgressed mentally before it is violated physically. The same is true with envy. Long before anything is stolen, the penchant to sin was already in one’s heart. This should help everyone understand that the Torah cannot be taken as a set of behavior rules that must be followed to the letter before any accusation of having sinned is made. The fact that these things were written was to combat what was already in the human mind.⁸

That’s why another Jewish writer thinks everyone should admit that sin existed before the Torah was ever written. However, the Torah gave sin a power it didn’t have before.⁹ This means, understanding what sin is was all the Torah had to explain to become the agent to take that knowledge and get the sinner excited about fulfilling all their sinful passions. The Torah itself is not a part of those passions. People were sinning before the Torah was ever composed.¹⁰ But without the Torah’s explanation of what sin really is, people don’t fully recognize how it offends God and the danger of punishment it brings.¹¹ That’s why Paul uses himself as an example in this chapter of someone in whom Yeshua lives, therefore, they can walk (follow the Torah) according to the spirit, not legalistically. By doing that, they are then free to live without obeying this sin.¹²

Verse 8: And sin took the opportunity to use that command and make me want all kinds of things that weren’t mine. So sin came to me because of the command. But without the law, sin has no power.

But Paul is not finished with this subject of showing the relationship between the Law and sin. Paul is about to testify about this phenomena from his own experience. We know that Paul spent time with the Apostle James, and perhaps they exchanged thoughts on this because James tells his readers: “No one being tempted should say, ‘I am being tempted by God.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, and God Himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is being tempted whenever he is being dragged off and enticed by the bait of his own desire. Then, having conceived, the desire gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.”¹³

Some Bible scholars suggest that the last part of what Paul says here in this verse should read: For without a law sin is dead. In other words, where there is no law, there is no transgression. But sin is the transgression of the law. In other words, the very essence of sin consists in the violation of some positive or negative law. In effect, that’s what Jesus said: “They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. “¹⁴ Paul echoes this same truth: “For sin – the sting that causes death – will all be gone; and the law, which reveals our sins, will no longer be our judge.”¹⁵

When early church scholar Origen read what Paul said here, he wondered: Why is it, that when someone is told that something is forbidden, they want to do it even more? That’s what happens when people read what the commandments prohibit. Even though they are holy, just, and good, laws, nevertheless, when they say, “Don’t,” people think they are being kept from having or doing something pleasant and enjoyable. Paul says that is the very core of what the law does that it was never meant to do. It was not given to provoke, inflame, or drive people to sin. That’s why we cannot blame the law when that happens. It’s the sinful tendencies and inclinations that exist inside people’s hearts and minds that are to blame. And as Paul said, if it is not somehow taken care of by a higher power, it will be the death of him.¹⁶ Early church Bishop Theodore wholeheartedly concurs with Paul. In fact, anyone with an open mind will nod in agreement, that without the law around to define sin, it would be of little value. And why is this? Because no deed in itself can be considered sin unless it can be pointed out that it is wrong. Then, once a person knows it’s wrong and yet goes ahead and does it, that is this the dirty little secret of sin.¹⁷

Let’s put this in layman’s terms: When the Pennsylvania Turnpike was first built in 1940, there was no speed limit. So speeding on this new four-lane highway was not illegal. But as soon as the speed limit signs were posted it became a violation of the law and punishable by a fine. Yes, before speeding laws were enacted, speeding could result in injury and death. But that was due to foolishness and recklessness. But once the signs were up, it became a violation of the law. So it was before God gave the law to validate what was already part of mankind’s conscience. Before the law, such immoral acts were due to foolishness and carelessness, but after the law was given, it became sin.

Saint Augustine tells a story about himself that illustrates this tendency that Paul addresses here. When he was a young man, all he wanted to do was involve himself in immoral activities. He had a number of mistresses. He apparently grew thin with so much senseless activity, and later he would tell God: I must have looked totally depraved in Your eyes. Yet when he looked in the mirror, all he saw was a handsome young gigolo.¹⁸ This led him into committing robbery. Not because he was hungry or too poor to support himself, but out of contempt for all the do-gooders in the community and an out-of-control desire to do what was wrong in their eyes. He confessed to stealing something he already had plenty of and of much better quality. He had no intention of stealing it to bring him any enjoyment, but just for the thrill of stealing and not getting caught.

Augustine tells about a pear tree that was close to his parent’s vineyard. Although it hung heavy with fruit, there was nothing about its color or taste that tempted him to take some without permission. But late one night, after he and his cohorts finished playing their games out in the street, he and his band of rebels did what they were in the habit of doing, going out looking for trouble. So they all decided to go over to this beautiful pear tree and shake it until all the fruit lay on the ground. They then picked them up and carried off a huge load of pears. They had no interest in eating the pears themselves, but they wanted to feed them to the pigs. This was their way of degrading their value. He said they got a kick out of doing this just because they knew it was against the law.¹⁹ So by telling this story, Augustine illustrates what Paul had been saying all along: It isn’t the law that makes you sin, it’s the evil inside you as soon as you find out it’s the wrong thing to do. No wonder Paul cried out for help in 7:24.

Both joy and peace in the Hebrew and Greek languages, spoken by Paul, prove relatively easy to translate into English, but the Hebrew ‘arek ‘aph, is more of a challenge. To understand this better: ‘arek means “long” and ‘aph means “face. Most of us certainly know what a long face conveys, but it borders more on sadness and disappointment than patience.

So the early English translators gave us the term, “longsuffering.” It means: “to allow, to tolerate” or “to put up with something for a long time without despairing.” This clearly is the essence of patience. It expresses an attitude toward people in which one endures their stubbornness or procrastination no matter how unreasonable they may be; and never loses hope for them, however ugly and unmanageable they become. At the same time, it denotes an attitude toward circumstances that never admits defeat, and never loses hope or faith no matter how dark the situation becomes or how inexplicable events may turn out to be.

The oft-repeated phrase in the Old Testament, “slow to get angry,” has more in common with the Greek word for patience than the Hebrew “long-faced.” The Greek word is makrothumia, and like the Hebrew requires two words to translate instead of one. Makro means “long,” and thumos means “temper.” It’s another way if identifying people who possess tempers with long fuses; individuals who endure patiently. We all know what “short-tempered” refers to, but English does not provide the antonym “long-tempered.” Instead, we use “Patience,” which we will further define as a fruit of transforming love.

Even Solomon in his wisdom taught that sensible people control their temper and earn respect by overlooking wrongs (Pro. 19:11). Also, people with common sense control their anger because they know a hot temper makes them look foolish (Pro. 14:29). Furthermore, patience ought to be more admired than influence; self-control should be more desired than winning (Pro. 16:32). For Solomon, patience did not imply weakness; rather it spoke of the power to pause; strength to stand; energy to endure. This gives us, even more, reason to accept that love is an act of the will, not the expression of romantic emotions, no matter how deeply they are felt. Patience is love that has matured and become more tolerant and tempered. – Dr. Robert Seyda.

WHAT A MESS!

When I read this story, it seemed so simple at first, but at the end, it contained a profound and abiding truth. It involved a six-year-old boy named Dan. He watched cooking shows on TV where kids did the cooking. So he decided one Saturday morning to fix pancakes for his parents. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair up to the counter, where he could reach the heavy flour canister. While opening it, he spilled half of it on the floor.

He scooped up some of the flour into the bowl with his hands. As he was pouring in some milk from a half-gallon carton, it slipped from his hand and landed on the kitchen floor and mixed with the flour that was there. He decided to clean it up when he was finished, so he mixed the milk and flour together in the bowl. Then he wanted to add some eggs. He broke open three of them but didn’t notice parts of the shells that fell into the mixing bowl. After mixing in the eggs, he wasn’t sure if he should add some sugar but decided it wouldn’t hurt. So he put in three scoops from the sugar canister.

By now Dan had flour and milk all over his hands, arms, kitchen counter, and the floor. He was getting frustrated with himself because he hadn’t done a better job. The lad wanted so bad to do something nice for Mom and Dad, but it wasn’t going very well. But he decided to keep going, so he pulled a heavy frying pan out from the drawer at the bottom of the stove, and could barely lift it up on the burner. Then he reached for the bowl and in the process knocked the egg carton to the floor breaking the rest of the eggs inside. He remembered seeing the kid on TV used a big dipper to put the pancake mixture into the frying pan. So after turning on the burner, he put in his first scoop.

Just then he heard a noise behind him. Looking around he saw his Dad standing at the door with his hands on his hips and a stern look on his face. Just then, big crocodile tears welled up in Dan’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something nice to impress his parents as a way of telling them how much he loved them. But instead, he had only made a big mess. He was sure a scolding was coming his way, maybe even a spanking as he saw his father watching him.

Then, walking over through the mess the father gently picked up his crying son, hugged him, and told him it was going to be okay. It hadn’t taken dad long to figure out what his son was trying to do. Now they both stood there with white, sticky flour and eggs on their bedroom slippers.

From this story, we can learn how God often deals with us. We try to do something good for Him, but it turns out to be a mess, sometimes even a disaster. For instance, we tried to witness to someone at work, but it turned into an argument. We thought we were helping out a friend who was having marital problems, but we ended up being accused of sticking our nose in other people’s business. We were working hard to impress our boss that as a Christian we could be counted on, only to find out that our coworkers heard about it and thought we were telling him that all of them couldn’t be trusted.

When that happens, we may find ourselves in tears because we can’t imagine how we are going to straighten it all out. That’s when God picks us up in His loving arms and tells us it’s going to be alright. Even though what we tried to do made a mess of our reputation and His. He knew exactly what we were trying to do. But just because we messed up doesn’t mean it was a failure. It shouldn’t stop us from trying to do things for God. Sooner or later, and with His help, we’ll get it right, and then they’ll be glad we tried, and He’ll be pleased that we didn’t quit. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson VIII)

Listen to the Psalmist as he exclaims: “God’s laws are pure, eternal, and just. They are more desirable than gold. They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them. But how can I ever know what sins are lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. And keep me from deliberate wrongs; help me to stop doing them. Only then can I be free of guilt and innocent of some great crime.”¹ So Paul joins the Psalmist by saying that if he had not been introduced to the Law, he would not have known that what he thought was only a natural longing or desire, was, in fact, inexcusable greed.

This was where sin began in the Garden of Eden after Satan tempted Eve to try the forbidden fruit. We read this account: “The woman was convinced. How lovely and fresh looking it was! And it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit and gave some to her husband, and he ate it too.”² Her greed came from the fact that the fruit was not hers, it belonged to God, but she wanted it anyhow because Satan promised it would make her as wise as God.

In the text here, Paul refers back to the Old Testament. In particular to Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21 where God explicitly forbids wanting what belongs to someone else without earning it or it being given as a gift. The Complete Jewish Bible uses the term, “covet” in both scriptures. The Amplified Bible renders the text in both places this way: “You shall not covet [that is, desire and seek to acquire].” Based on this, Paul makes note that without this revelation of God’s law against such desires he would have never known that what he was doing was wrong. And so it goes with all the laws of God. So don’t blame the law for your ignorance to cover up your sin. Acknowledge your sin as being intrinsic and only with help from God will you be able to win the victory over its power.

In his writings against the teachings of Marcion,³ early church scholar Tertullian wanted to make the point that we have no reason to give high praise to the law because it serves to bring to light the latent presence of sin in our lives. It isn’t the law that leads people astray, it’s sin that uses the commandments to evoke a response that leads to sinning.⁴ On the other hand, we have the Bishop of Paul’s hometown of Tarsus who thinks that Paul believed, even without the law the Gentiles knew what was required of them as preferred conduct in any situation.⁵ So we cannot excuse them, while they didn’t know everything, they knew enough to tell right from wrong. Even the Gentiles distinguished the difference between what was good and proper, and what should be considered as bad and unlawful. But God wanted people to know what He thought was right and wrong, good and bad. That’s why the law was given to define those things that should and should not be done. That way, people could distinguish between the behavior of a righteous person and unrighteous person.⁶

Then Ambrosiaster notices that Paul shows why the law is not sin; it is the yardstick by which sin is measured. It’s clear from what Paul said that from the day we were born the tendency to sin lay dormant inside us and had to be dealt with by God. When a person finds this out, they immediately feel guilty and see no reason to thank the law. After all, who would be grateful to anyone who tells them they are an accident just waiting to happen? But Paul does give thanks to the law of grace because the person who was convicted under the law of Moses for sinning against God can now be reconciled to God. In such cases, the law of Moses can be considered just and good in itself because it warned us that danger is near. But is it not enough to forgive us. For that, we need the law of grace.⁷

Augustine was convinced that the law was not given to introduce sin or even to exterminate it but simply to make it known. By such a demonstration of what sin really was, it gave the human soul a sense of its guilt instead of letting it continue going down the road toward punishment without being aware of its danger. Sin cannot be overcome with human effort, it’s only with faith and by the grace of God. That’s why the law was given to convict the soul by making it troubled about its guilt. But that’s not all, it also made the soul aware that it needed salvation because it could not escape on its own. That then opened the heart to receive God’s grace and forgiveness. This desire to find peace with God was not implanted by the law, it was brought by the work of the Holy Spirit.⁸

Early church Patriarch Cyril points out that Paul did not say that he never sinned, only that he wasn’t aware of it until the law made it plain to him. Therefore, the law is not the cause of sin but rather points it out so everyone will be aware of what it really is. It did not do this so that once a person was aware of their sinning, they should continue on down the same path toward ruin. On the contrary, its intention was to cause people to turn around and go in the direction where redemption can be found.⁹ Perhaps now we can see why people hate the law so much. Not because it is bad, but because it shows them just how bad they are.

John Calvin agrees with Paul. Everyone should know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. But that would have been impossible without the law making them aware of it. So it goes without saying that without the law no one would have been able to discern their depravity. It would have also kept them from finding out that all along they had been anesthetized through self-flattery to the point they didn’t know how miserable and painful their condition really was.¹⁰ Calvin indicates that this statement by Paul actually gives an explanation of the previous sentence in which he spoke about his inability to perceive the sin of greed in his character. That’s why it took the Law to awaken his conscience. Therefore, since the Law is holy, knowingly breaking that law is then identified as sin. For Calvin, Paul only discovered this hidden disease when it was revealed by the law. Therefore, it follows that all those who are convicted of sin by what the law says, can by no means be free from condemnation unless God pardons them. And God will not pardon them until they ask forgiveness.

Adam Clarke agrees that the giving of the law was the only means by which people could be awakened to their sinful tendencies. It doesn’t mean that the law produced those inclinations, only that it shined a beam of light so it could be seen. It’s the same as when the sun shines through a window in a house and reveals millions of dust mites which appear to be dancing all around the room. And just as the sunbeam did not create those mites because they were there before, it was only by the help of the light that they became manifest. In the same manner, those evil tendencies were inside us all along, but we could not see them because we wandered around in the darkness of ignorance. It was only when the light of the Gospel shined into our souls that we saw them for the first time.¹¹

It’s like the song sung by country and western singer Hank Williams, “I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin, I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night. Praise the Lord, I saw the the light. (Chorus) I saw the light, I saw the light. No more darkness, no more in night. Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light.” In other words, just as when you turn on the light in a dark room and notice mold on the wall or bugs running for cover, the light did not create these entities but merely revealed them. In many cases, when this happens people just turn off the light hoping it will all go away. This does not work in the physical world, nor will it work in the spiritual world.

Robert Haldane notices how the law revealed sin to Paul. Paul did not say that he wouldn’t have been a sinner without the law, but that he wouldn’t have known what a big sinner he really was until the law pointed it out to him. Even though no one is without sin, yet the proud Pharisees of Paul’s day considered themselves sinless because they were keeping the law. But they were only looking on the outside, not in their hearts. Paul mentioned, back when he was a Pharisee before his conversion, that he considered himself as being blameless.¹² It was only after being made aware of the law as explained by Christ in His teachings, that he finally understood the law to its fullest extent. That’s when self-condemnation set in.¹³ The same can be said of those who thought they were morally pure and righteous because of their virtues and ethics, only to discover after hearing the Gospel they were just as lost as the most lawless sinner.

Albert Barnes doesn’t think anyone would try to say that Paul was advocating that sin and the law are the same thing. That would only be done by a skeptical mind with very little prodding. For instance, the Jew might ask: Are we to suppose that the holy Law of God is not only insufficient to sanctify us but that it is really meant to increase our sinning? Is it the law’s goal to simply awaken our sinful passions so that we end up being worse off than we were before? Paul would answer this with great wisdom by showing that the law was not evil, neither was there any evil in the law. Evil resides in the person, not in the law. And even if the effects of the law were to produce sin and more sin, the law itself is good and pure.¹⁴ Put another way, don’t blame the policeman who stopped you for speeding, for making you speed. You saw the Speed Limit sign and the tendency inside you caused you to disobey. The policeman is only informing you that you violated the Law. You have no one else to blame but yourself for being stopped, not the policeman or the Law.

Charles Hodge feels that the kind of knowledge Paul is speaking about is not mere intellectual cognition, but also conviction. It includes the consciousness of guilt and impurity. The law awakened in Paul the awareness of his own state and character. He realized then that he was a sinner. And by sinner, Paul did not mean that he saw himself only as an occasional transgressor, but one in whom sin had taken up permanent residence. It was the corrupt nature inside him that the law revealed to Paul.¹⁵ We should take from this that God was not using the Law merely to condemn us so He could punish us, but to awaken in us the need for a Savior so that we would turn to Him for forgiveness.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson VII)

For Reformer John Calvin, what Paul means here by saying, “we have died to the Law,” is that we have been set free. The law no longer has any hold or sway over us. That is the reason we no longer feel pressed down by its intolerable burden and the relentless condemnation of death held over our heads like a curse. And by indicating that this comes as a result of our newness of spirit, Paul is setting the spirit of the Law in opposition to the letter of the Law. Calvin suggests that before our will was transformed to the will of God by the Holy Spirit, there is nothing in the law but words on paper or etchings on a stone tablet. While it restricted our actions, it did nothing to restrain the fury of our passions. Paul attributes this to the newness of life and our joy in the Holy Spirit. No longer do we rehearse the law to memorize and practice it by repeating it over and over. It has been replaced by our spiritual nature rejoicing in being regenerated in Christ.¹

John Bengel makes the point that those who live by the letter of the law, take each word literally and try to do as the word says. But Christ came so that we can live by the spirit of the law, which Bengel calls, “a spiritual and living instinct with life.” In other words, when the law says to love your neighbor, it doesn’t mean to fawn over them and try to become intimate with them, but to show them respect and be kind and gracious to them; doing to them what you would want them to do to you. He goes on to say that the letter of the law does not give life. In fact, after condemning the sinner, it leaves him or her to die in their sins. On his own, the sinner cannot break or overcome this power of sin. As far as Bengel is concerned, that can only happen through the Spirit as a result of hearing the Gospel and then having enough faith to believe and be changed into a new creation in Christ.²

About the Letter of the Law, Adam Clarke sees as applying to the Old Testament rites, ceremonies, rituals, and sacrifices have been done away with. This is because, by the newness of the spirit and the true intent and meaning of what all these rites, rituals, etc., implied, they can now be fully disclosed to us. In so doing, the Spirit is able to move believers from a state of constant failure into a state of growth and maturity in Christ. Many sought justification and sanctification, pardon and holiness, by way of the law, but found that the law could not provide any of them. On the other hand, those who sought them in the Gospel found that they were all available. We now serve God, not according to the old literal sense, but in the new spiritual sense.³ This echoes what Jesus told the woman in Samaria.⁴

With regard to serving God in the newness of the spirit and not by the outdated law, Robert Haldane sees it as one of the greatest benefits in being delivered from the law. To make it clear, Paul refers to the difference in attitudes and actions between those who were married to Christ, and those who were still married to the law. Those married to Christ serve God using such principles, dispositions, and views, as the Spirit of God implants in their hearts upon renewal. Serving in the spirit is more than what one would expect of an employee, it is that which one would anticipate from a spouse. After all, the one we serve is the One who gave His life for us. We are not bound to do so by some law, but out of response to His love. This is what brings us such joy contained in the privileges of grace under the new covenant. Just as the privileges of marriage can be discerned as opposed to what one did not have when they were single, so can the privileges of being united with Christ be compared to what a person lacked when they were sinners. This makes believers, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, capable of serving God with a new and Divine nature created in Christ. As His children, with cordial affection and gratitude, it is more than the service of a maid or butler, but of a son or daughter; not as a slave but of the friend; not with the view of being saved by the keeping the law, but saved by an almighty Deliverer to whom we give all obedience, commitment, and allegiance.⁵

In looking at this text, Albert Barnes came to the conclusion that in order to understand what Paul is saying, it is necessary to remember that the law prescribed the forms of worship among the Jews. In Paul’s mind, such worship was lacking the effectiveness and power in renewing the heart which he attributed to the Gospel. Jewish worship consisted of external forms and ceremonies; the offering of sacrifices and of incense. This was all done according to the literal requirements of the law rather than the sincere offering of the heart.⁶ That’s why it is said: “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” ⁷ We cannot deny that there were many holy servants of God during the time the Law reigned supreme. There were also many offerings presented to God in an atmosphere of the Spirit.⁸ But for the most part, the majority of Israelites saw it as mere form and ceremony. As such, the worship was conducted in response to the letter of the law, not from the spirit of the heart. The main idea is that the worship rendered to God may have certain external forms and rites, but they are of no value unless they are performed from the heart in an atmosphere of spiritual worship⁹.¹⁰

As Charles Spurgeon preached it, no longer do we receive this message: “Do this or do that and you will live.” So, my friend! We are much more than slaves toiling under the threat of being punished; we have been promoted to a new status. We are now free to rejoice in the glorious liberty of the children of God. What we do now is done out of a spirit of love, and not out of fear. We are not trying to be holy for the sake of being saved by it, neither do we look for a way to escape from sin because we are afraid of going to hell. We have a totally different spirit driving us forward now. The Spirit of the Living God.¹¹

Karl Barth describes this in an interesting way by saying that it’s not what we are, but what we are not. And this is not by virtue of our own freedom but by the freedom of God. We have been set free from the inner contradictions of religion that tells us to do this or that whether or not our heart is in it, and liberates us from the questionable involvement of the flesh, no matter how good it is supposed to make us feel. The universe that wraps around this world of ours is shattered in one great eternal “Moment of enlightenment,” bathed in the light of the resurrection, in the light of God, and in the light of His Word, in order that we may be able to see what cannot be seen by the eyes of man but only by the eyes of faith. And it is not what men say we should think, will, and do, but what God thinks and wills and wants us to do. Those who continue standing in the shadow of the law, cannot perceive the brilliance of this vision by the candle of the law. Man’s philosophy is weak in the light of God’s wisdom.¹²

Then John Stott feels we must look back at the question whether Christians are still bound to obeying the law. This can be answered as “Yes,” and “No!” Yes, in the sense that Christian’s freedom is freedom to serve, not freedom to sin. It was God who wrote the Law and inspired the writing of the laws, so as servants of God we are expected to keep those things still valid in guiding and guarding our conduct as children of God. No, we are not free to worship another god, bow to idols, lie, steal, commit adultery, perjure ourselves, and lust for things that do not belong to us. But also, “No,” because the motives and means of our service have completely changed. Why do we serve? Not because the law is still our master and demands it of us, but because we are united to Christ and as our Lord and Master we want to please Him to the glory of God the Father. Also, it’s not because obedience leads to salvation, but because salvation leads to obedience. So, how do we serve? We no longer serve just in the flesh but also in the spirit. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that makes all the difference. What we do for God is not imitating the things we did for the law in the flesh, but what we are free to do in the newness of life given to us by our risen Savior.¹³

One Jewish scholar adds his thoughts by pointing out that this verse clarifies what Paul was saying with his analogy (verse 1-4) and looks ahead to what will be said in chapter 8. In letting the influence of sin die to us, we make room to let God in to influence our will and life. A regenerated person is now governed by the positive side of the commandments, not the negative. That’s because we no longer walk according to the dictates of the flesh, but according to the yearnings of the Spirit.¹⁴ So Paul makes it clear that we still serve God by doing what is right according to the Law, but that is no longer our master. That’s because a person cannot serve two masters. In this case, they are either still “bound” to fulfilling the letter of the law, or as the Jews would say, serve their Yetzer Hara (evil inclination), or have been freed to serve the living God because that is our spiritual inclination. This doesn’t mean that believers never make mistakes or sometimes disobey God’s leading or Word, but it does mean that the same one who condemns us for our sin is the same one who can forgive us of our sins and make us clean from all those things that displease Him.

Verse 7: You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin means. I would never have known it is wrong to want something that is not mine. But the law said, “You must not desire what belongs to someone else.”¹⁵

Paul now picks up on what he thinks may be a false conclusion the Roman Jewish believers may come to in reading this letter. He has tried to make this point several times: The Law is not sin. The Law only exposes conduct that is sinful. The Law is right in pointing out the wrong they are committing. That’s why Paul told the Corinthians that the fatal sting that causes death is sin, and that the validity of something being sinful came from the power of the Law to declare it so.¹⁶ This is considered so valid that Paul says had it not been for the Law, sin would not exist. So, was it wrong for God to issue the Law? No! For only by examining the Law could a lost person discover how lost they were, and how desperately they needed someone to save their life. God did not want them to die in such ignorance.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson VI)

Anglican Bible scholar Charles Ellicott notes that the new alliance we have with God through the Holy Spirit ought not be unproductive. Our alliance with the Law was certainly productive. Before our relationship with Christ and what He accomplished through His death, sin had its claim and control over our bodies both in life and eventually in death. During that time we bore fruit generated through our carnal appetites inspired by the law. So the only entities to whose honor and glory they contributed anything, was Satan, Sin, and Death. Those sins committed under the old dispensation can be regarded as a two-fold agency. On the one hand, to the law, and on the other hand, to the flesh, which was so susceptible to any influence that its sinful impulses would come out into the open on the slightest nudge. It’s those impulses that have now been neutralized by a regimen of self-denial, through union with Christ and what He brought about through His death and resurrection and the assisting power of the Holy Spirit. It’s called, Sanctification.¹

John Stott sees the same distinction Paul has in mind using a neat maxim. It does not involve the so-called “letter of the law” versus “the spirit of the law,” nor between the Scripture’s “literal interpretation” and its “imagined interpretation.” Rather, it is between the old covenant which was an external code written on stone tablets and the new covenant which is an internal conviction written on the tablets of the heart. It represents the Dispensation of the Spirit, in which the Holy Spirit helps interpret the law God wrote inside for our spirit to see and understand, not on the outside for only our eyes to see. Under the old regime, our lifestyles were dominated by a terrible quartet of tormentors – flesh, law, sin, and death. But in the new kingdom, we have been released from the tentacles of the Law that manipulated our fleshly instincts. The chains of sin were broken which removed the threat of eternal punishment. Now we’ve gone from being slaves to sin to servants of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The contrasts are striking. Before we lived “in the flesh,” but now we live “in the Spirit.” We were picked on by the law, and sin resulted. Now we are stimulated by the Spirit and sanctification is activated. We spent all our time doing things that ended up useless and sometimes fatal. But now we yield our time and energy doing things that are useful and beneficial, and that will last for eternity. This all happened when we were released from the old life and this introduction to a new life. It all came about by a radical double event called death and resurrection. Through Christ’s death we also died to the Law, and through Christ’s resurrection we were raised to life again, and now we forever belong to God.²

Douglas Moo notes that what stands as a backdrop to Paul’s teaching, is his salvation-historical conception. The reign of the law has come to an end with the redemptive work of Christ. To be under the law’s rule means one has remained in that old state of being subject to the law’s demands. It also indicates an outright denial that Christ brought an end to the law’s reign. So when Paul says, “to be in the flesh,” he implies living in a world bound and controlled by this life without regard for God or for the spiritual realm. The end results of such a life are obvious: “destructive, sinful passions,” “death, and “eternal punishment.” Paul made it clear that the Law of Moses brought no relief from the matrix of sin and death. In fact, it made things worse. All of those sinful passions were inflamed by the law. It’s another way of saying that God’s law arouses sin by stimulating rebellion. So it becomes clear that a person must be released from that law in order to serve God.³ And there is only One who can set us free. And whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.⁴

Jewish scholar David Stern suggests that Paul possessed a highly developed form of psychology. By using the word “flesh,” he did not mean the physical body alone, but all the thoughts, emotions, and physical urges that comprise human nature. Such human nature is found in all people before they are saved. Paul told the Corinthians? ”If anyone is united with the Messiah, they are a new creation.”⁵ That means, they now have a new spiritual nature controlled by the Holy Spirit. This does not produce schizophrenic believers because the old nature has become dormant and will remain that way as long as the power of the Holy Spirit is given full control. We owe the old nature no allegiance, so why should we obey its corrupt and misguided passions.⁶ Instead, since we are now united with Yeshua, we owe God our commitment to His desires and commands. The old idea that the spirit is good and the body is bad may come from Greek philosophy or Gnostic thinking, but it is neither Jewish nor Christian.⁷ Just as Jesus was God/man, so believers are also spiritual/natural. So with Jesus on the throne of our hearts, and God in control of our destiny, and the Holy Spirit guiding us day after day, our spiritual nature will dominate our natural nature and bring glory to God, honor to the Son, and praise to the Holy Spirit.

Verse 6: In the past, the law held us as prisoners, but our old-selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way, not in the old way, with the written rules. Now we serve God in a new way, with the Spirit’s guidance.

Paul is insistent on pointing out that all of this is in the past. It’s like talking to someone who has been healed of paralysis who keeps going back and moaning about all the disadvantages they had with their handicap. It’s time to move on to enjoy the new freedom that came through the miracle of regeneration through Jesus Christ. As Paul told the Galatians: “Let me put it another way. The Jewish laws were our teacher and guide until Christ came to give us right standing with God through our faith. But now that Christ has come, we don’t need those laws any longer to guard us and lead us to Him.”⁸

This idea of being raised from a dead state in order to live again should not have come as a surprise to the Jewish members of the church in Rome. This is what happened when Ezekiel was told to speak to the skeletons lying about in the valley. God even gave him the sermon to preach to the dry bones: “O dry bones, listen to the words of God, for the Lord God says, ‘See! I am going to make you live and breathe again! I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the Lord.’”⁹ But in a way, the Lord had already announced what He would do: “I will give you one heart and a new spirit; I will take from you your hearts of stone and give you tender hearts of love for God.”¹⁰

Paul pointed out a similar fact to the Corinthians: “Our only power and success come from God. He is the one who has helped us tell others about His new agreement to save them. We do not tell them that they must obey every law of God or die; we tell them there is life for them from the Holy Spirit.”¹¹ Paul goes on to say: “When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!”¹² And Paul tells the Philippians: “We Christians glory in what Christ Jesus has done for us after realizing that we were helpless to save ourselves.”¹³ That’s why he encouraged the Colossians: “You are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more of what is right, and trying constantly to be more and more like Christ who created this new life within you.”¹⁴

One of the earliest church scholars addressed what he felt was a misunderstanding in his day. Origen says that some people have wrongly interpreted “the new life of the Spirit,” as if it means that the “Spirit Himself was new;” that He did not previously exist or did not teach the prophets of old. Such people have no idea how blasphemous this is to the Holy Spirit! This is the same Spirit that inspired the giving of the law just as He inspired the law as it is found in the Gospel. He dwells eternally with the Father and the Son. It is not that He is new, but that He makes believers new when He leads them out of the darkness of sin into the light of the Gospel. This results in a new obedience to the teachings of Christ, turning people away from pleasing the desires of the flesh to pleasing the yearnings of the spirit¹⁵.¹⁶

Another early church scholar comments on how to understand the role of law to the role of faith. Ambrosiaster believes that although Paul regards the law as inferior to faith, he does not condemn it. That’s why the Law of Moses is not called the Old Testament because it is useless, but because it is not effective under grace. The old law was written on tablets of stone because it was temporal, but the new law of the Spirit is written on the tables of the heart because it is eternal.¹⁷ Another way of understanding how the law of the Spirit works is this: While the former law tried to reign in evil deeds, the law of the Spirit sets free to voluntarily do the work of the Master. It also reigns in evil deeds but not with the threat of eternal punishment. Instead, with the promise of everlasting life to those who are obedient and endure until the end¹⁸.¹⁹

Martin Luther lets us see his view of what Paul says here. Luther taught that we are delivered from the domination of the Law because through Christ we obey the Law by faith. In other words, we no longer submit to the Law out of obligation because with God’s grace we can freely and willingly do what the Law demands. But this is only made possible by God’s divine love that causes us to seek what is God’s will. That way, even though we may often make mistakes and sometimes prove unwilling in certain cases, because of our faith in God’s grace and mercy we are justified and rectified because of His willingness to forgive.²⁰

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson V)

When it came to dealing with those pesky fleshly desires that believers must cope with almost daily, Paul strongly encouraged the Colossians to: “Deaden the evil desires lurking within you; have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires; don’t worship making a fortune in life, that is idolatry.”¹ Even the Apostle James warned his readers: “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it because there is a whole swarm of evil desires within you?”² This is why Paul urged the Roman believers to dethrone the sinful nature and make Christ the Lord of their lives. Jesus will not share His reign with Satan. It’s one or the other. So each believer must make that decision and commitment to put God and His Word first in their lives each and every day.

Early church preacher Chrysostom notices a play on words in what Paul says here. The Apostle does not say, “when we were in the law” because that would only lend a helping hand to all those who want to say that the Old Testament means nothing to us anymore. However, by saying, “when we were in the flesh,” that is, when we were living a sinful and carnal life, he puts the emphasis on the flesh, not on the law. And in order not to falsely accuse the flesh of what was being done, Paul that our sinful tendencies were at work in our flesh. This was to clearly show that the origin of the trouble was not in the law or in our flesh, but in our sinful tendencies that reacted to the law and then used our fleshly members to get back at it because it forbid certain pleasures. Look at it this way, consider our sinful tendencies as a soloist and the flesh as a harp which produces sound according to the artist’s performance. If the song is all out of tune, the fault is not with the instrument, but with the performer.³

Another early church Bishop offers his explanation by using a paradox. He declares that a person living in the flesh, and obeying the will of the flesh, is unable to obey the law of God because they cannot serve two masters.⁴ But once a person is taught by the grace of the Holy Spirit how to overcome their immoral desires, they no longer live by the dictates of their sinful nature. So in a sense, the Law that defines those desires has lost all its power. In other words, it’s dead! This is necessary because the Law does not operate in the Doctrine of Grace⁵.⁶ According to Bishop Theodore, the holy Scriptures sometimes calls our human nature “flesh.” That’s because our sinful nature exercises all its power and influence on our fleshly members. To make it even more restricted, the Scriptures also uses “flesh” to include our mortality as well. Not only can the flesh not deal with our spiritual needs, but it is also on the road to death. That’s why the flesh is never projected to inherit, or to be capable of inheriting, eternal life in the world to come.⁷

Reformer Martin Luther talks about how the old-man (our sinful nature) dies, and the Law is unable to influence him again. This makes it impossible for the Law to continue its rule over us. For all intents and purposes, the Law died to us. As such, it can no longer condemn us for failing to live up to its demands. This does not do away with the Law itself, for we must continue to meet God’s demands for doing what’s right and holy. But when, and if, we do wrong, it’s not the Law that condemns or judges us, it is the Holy Spirit. Even if the Law did have the authority to condemn us, it has no power to forgive. But the Holy Spirit can access God’s throne of grace and mercy to secure forgiveness and cleansing for our souls.⁸

It is necessary, at this point, that we discuss the difference between the “Law,” and the “law.” The “Law” can be taken to refer to the legal method by which salvation is obtainable by good works. Therefore, “law” is a reference to the commandments of doing right and wrong. So in Luther’s mind, these laws of ethics and virtues are still valid for everyone, including believers. However, the Law of salvation by works is what has died, or to which believers have died, and is no longer the deciding factor in saving grace. Now that is governed by God and Christ’s sacrifice. Some scholars are divided on Paul’s reference to the law. There are those who believe it was meant to describe a person’s status before conversion, and those who feel it talks about believers after conversion.

John Calvin draws our attention to the effects of the law by helping us see that the law made the sinful emotions inside us to erupt, which then radiated throughout all our fleshly members. There is no physical part of mankind that is not the target of these depraved passions. What the law does, in the absence of an inward teacher, is to increasingly inflame our feelings so that they boil up with lusts. Calvin says it must be observed here, that the law deals with the barbarous nature of mankind. And the more perverse its lusts are, the greater will be its desire and hunger to be satisfied. But for the believer, the more these passions try to get out-of-hand, the stronger will be the restraints of righteousness. This is part of what Paul meant when he said that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.⁹ Paul further adds, that as long as the emotions of the flesh were subject to the law’s demands, ironically they only brought on disgrace and destruction. This shows that the law in itself is destructive. So it follows that those who are infatuated with this lifestyle, willingly yield themselves to bondage which leads to death.¹⁰ In Calvin’s mind, the law has an effect on both believers and unbelievers.

Adam Clarke contends that when it comes to sin’s actions, which were defined by the law, that became the passions of the flesh because of sin’s tendencies. Each and every particular type of sin had its own inclination. That’s why, with different dispositions, not all sinful acts get aroused at the same time. This is what caused the Apostle Paul to use a plural number, the Passions or Tendencies of Sins. As such, each type of sin exerts its influence in the unregenerate heart. These propensities together constitute the fallen nature. They are the disease of the heart, the pollution, and corruption of the soul.¹¹ For this Wesleyan theologian, Paul’s opening line in this verse refers to people before their conversion, and how that old nature continues on living in the believer and must be contained and defeated again and again until it loses all suggestive ability.

Robert Haldane adds that the sinful nature of man since the fall, when left on its own strength, possesses no regenerating principle of holiness. It is essentially corrupt and entirely debased. Because of this, the word “flesh” signifies man in his depraved condition. It is in this state of total corruption into which all Adam’s descendants are born. On the other hand, the word “spirit” has come to be recognized as referring to that holy and divinely inspired principle within mankind. It was brought to life through the new birth, and, therefore, represents our new nature in Christ. So, because it is not part of any of the conceptions of mankind, it must flow from God’s omniscience. He communicates it by the living and permanent influence of His Holy Spirit. That’s why the Apostle Peter addresses believers as “partakers of the Divine nature.¹²”¹³

Then Albert Barnes tells us that the illustration used in this verse, and the following, is designed to show the true effect of the law whenever and wherever it is applied. This can be when one is in a fallen state of nature or unfallen state of grace. It was always the same. For instance, it could become an occasion for agitation and conflict in a man‘s own mind. This is true when a sinner is under conviction by the Law of Moses, or a believer is under conviction by the Law of the Holy Spirit. In all circumstances where law is applied to the corrupt mind of man, it produces this agitation and conflict. Paul points this out in Romans 7:7-12 and 14-24. Consequently, there is no hope of release except by the delivering and sanctifying power of the Gospel¹⁴.¹⁵ This is the perspective of many other evangelical scholars.

Charles Hodge believes that since Paul is writing to the Jewish believers in Rome, that they would take what Paul said as denouncing their dependence on Jewish rites and rituals, especially circumcision, as the basis for their righteous relationship with God.¹⁶ And great preacher Charles Spurgeon once explained it as a case of our sinful tendencies being the thing that went against the law. That’s why it is said that the law gave rise to sin by reason of our corrupt nature. So we can see that back when we were sinners, sinning proved to be very fruitful. It grew very fast in our flesh’s members. But the fruit it produced just made us ready for separation from God. In other words, just as a believer dies to the law, so a sinner dies to God. They don’t hear Him, talk to Him, listen to Him, or follow Him anymore. In other words, Paul continues to describe the war within him between his sinful nature and his spiritual nature. The old nature is responding to the law while the new nature is responding to grace.¹⁷

Frédéric Godet makes the observation that Paul declares that the affections of sins are excited by the law. The Greek noun pathēma is neuter, which may be rendered by affection or passion and denotes that such inward or external conflict exists in an, essentially, passive state. And, indeed, our external senses, which correspond to certain external stimuli fitted to satisfy them, are less likely to generate a spontaneous determination of the will, than the effect of the inner impressions we received.¹⁸ In other words, these sinful tendencies of the old nature lie dormant within the believer and are only brought to the surface when confronted by the law. He goes on to say that it must be explained what is meant by excited by the law. Think of it this way, all our instincts are at rest. But when they collide with the law they immediately wake up, and some quickly develop into an active, and sometimes, violent state of desire. So the next question is why do people degrade themselves so quickly and so often? Why can’t they be satisfied with the simple satisfaction of their needs, not go beyond for their wants? This only plunges them into excessive involvement from which they are unable to free themselves.¹⁹ There is only one answer, and that is to be sanctified through the Holy Spirit, where God’s influence is greater in one’s life than the influence of sin.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER SEVEN (Lesson IV)

Bible scholar Robert Haldane also speaks concerning the idea of believers being dead to the Law. He says that by using the term “the law,” here, Paul intended that it be understood as a law which was obligatory for both Jews and Gentiles. By that, he meant the moral law written on the hearts of all mankind. It also meant the Law of Moses which was given to the Jews for them to lean upon to gain eternal life.¹ It is law in the fullest sense of the word. That includes the whole will of God that is in any way manifested for both Jews and Gentiles to hear and understand. All those whom the Apostle was addressing in Rome had been under this law in their unconverted state. This did not include the ceremonial laws of the Jews that Gentiles never practiced. It was, therefore, to the moral law only that they had been married.²

Baptist preacher Octavius Winslow was preaching on how in the Old Testament, sanctification had a peculiar meaning, said: “Sanctification has been defined as ‘the work of the Holy Spirit whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.’ Briefly and emphatically, it is a progressive conformity of the whole man to the Divine nature. Under the Levitical dispensation, the term sanctified had a peculiar meaning. People and things were said to be sanctified which were separated, set apart and offered to God. Thus the furniture of the temple was pronounced holy, or sanctified; the ark, the altar, all the utensils of the temple and the vestments of the priests were regarded as sanctified because set apart and dedicated to God. For the same reason, people were said to be sanctified who were solemnly consecrated to the service.”

He then goes on to say: “The dispensation of ritual having passed away, the word, by an easy and natural accommodation, has assumed a more comprehensive and evangelical meaning; and is now employed to set forth the advance of the believer in a conformity of heart to the will and image of God. In explaining the nature of sanctification, we would, first of all, establish from the Scripture the spirituality of the Divine law. There is a sense, as we have elsewhere shown, in which the believer is dead to the law. His union with Christ has delivered him from the law as a covenant of works…³ This then is the deadness to which the Apostle refers. It is a release from the law as a ground of acceptance. The believer is ‘accepted in the Beloved’ – pardoned, justified, and sanctified in Christ. He is married to Christ – is one with Christ.”

Winslow then concludes: “As such, he is delivered from the law under whose condemnation he once rested: being dead to that wherein he was held, it can no longer assert its claims or exact obedience as the condition of life. It can no longer threaten or condemn. Shut up in the faith of Jesus, and receiving pardon and justification through Him, he is beyond the power of the law as a covenant of life and is screened from its vengeance as a source of condemnation. No single truth has the Holy Spirit more clearly written out than this. He has shown, too, that it forms the basis of sanctification in the justified believer. His release from a covenant of works and his translation into the covenant of grace, his deliverance from the law and his union to Christ, form the ground of all holy liberty, relational obedience, and spiritual fruitfulness. Those who are under the law are under the curse – but ‘there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’⁴ – therefore, the believer in Christ is not under the law [any longer].”⁵

Jewish scholar David Stern has quite a bit to say on this subject of death separating us from the demands of the law. For him, it is not the Torah that has been abolished, nor is a believer unresponsive to its truth. Stern sees three aspects of the Torah that no longer have any effect: First, its capacity to make him sin (verses 5–14). Secondly, its capacity to produce guilt feelings that cannot be remedied (verses 15–25). Thirdly, to carry out its penalties, punishments, and curses (8:1-4). No one can say that the Torah made them sin, that responsibility falls solely on the individual. People who are prone to sickness cannot hold up in the same environment that a healthy person can easily survive. In the same manner, the Torah can be beneficial to a believer living by faith, but become an instrument of death to those controlled by their sinful nature. The main problem lies in the fact that the children of Adam have a built-in tendency to sin.⁶ For Stern, this causes them to misuse the Torah, making it into a framework of legalism instead of what it is, a framework of grace.⁷

Stern says that Paul’s metaphor seems to switch directions here. First Paul points out that it is through the Messiah’s body, that is, our becoming one with Him in life, that also involves being one with Him in death. That is why believers consider parts of the Torah as no longer being alive to influence their lives.⁸ And because a death has taken place they are now free to belong to someone else. As Paul puts it in verses 2–3, they are no longer “married” to legalism but free to marry and be united with the One who has been raised from the dead, Yeshua the Messiah.⁹ This allows them to be fruitful for God’s cause.¹⁰ Stern takes this to mean either doing good deeds,¹¹ or proclaiming the Gospel so that the unsaved are born again. This, he says, fits better into the marriage context of verses 2–3.¹²

Another Jewish writer also comments on the possible misunderstanding by Gentiles of what Paul is saying here. He points out that 7:1-4 is commonly misused to teach that the Torah is invalid to a Christian believer. This happens because Paul’s Pharisaic mindset and rabbinic technique are not taken into consideration. What Paul is saying was directed to those “who knew the Law,” which indicates, “Having a deep understanding of Torah on the part of the recipient – an understanding that is not part of the Christian mindset of modern times.” By the example of a widow and remarriage, Paul appeals to a legal principle from Torah. He goes back to the point he made in 6:14 about “not being under law but under grace,” to explain how trusting in Yeshua makes one free from the law’s condemnation. It must not be misconstrued as making one free from obeying God’s Torah. Not only that, but this writer says that everything Paul said previously in 2:13; 3:19-26; 3:31; 4:14; 5:20, 6:2-11, (as well as what he follows up with in 7:5-6 and chapter 8), must be kept in mind when analyzing this section.

This same writer goes on to suggest that when looking at the analogy of Romans 7:1-4, Torah does not represent the husband who dies, thus making it appear that the Torah dies. This is a false teaching. Instead, Torah represents the legal framework by which marriage is instituted. Consequently, a woman is bound to her husband as long as he’s alive. When he dies, those bonds are broken, and she is no longer liable to incur the penalties of Torah should she remarry. So Paul takes this Pharisaic “legal argument,” and uses it to explain how when a person becomes one with Christ, it’s all because the relationship with the Law has died. This happens when they place their trust in God’s provision for salvation through Yeshua. Now, being free from the Law, they are also free from any judgment of the Law. The Law can no longer make accusations against them for judgment. That person is now free to obey God by following that part of His Torah that deals with faith, not with works.¹³

Verse 5: In the past, we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things. And those sinful desires controlled our bodies, so that what we did only brought us spiritual death.

We should notice that Paul does not say, “you were ruled,” but “we were ruled,” thereby indicting himself along with others. Therefore, Paul can speak from experience. This is not unusual thinking. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus pointed out: “Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.”¹⁴ Therefore, all of mankind’s inclinations, tendencies, and carnal nature go back to Adam. Jesus was pointing this out to Nicodemus so that he could understand why it was necessary to be born again in order to receive a spiritual nature. This was the point of Paul’s argument with the Judaizers who had infiltrated the churches in Galatia and were teaching the union of life through the law with life through the Spirit.¹⁵

Paul is quick to point out that it was not the Law itself that was bad, but that the purpose of the Law was to expose this sinful nature so that mankind would realize their need for a Savior. But instead of seeking a redeemer, they tried to bargain with the Law by offering sacrifices. That’s why when Jesus came, the skeptics were so opposed to His being identified as the Messiah and Savior. Paul even told the Corinthians: “If the plan that leads to doom was glorious, much more glorious is the plan that makes men right with God.”¹⁶ And to the Galatians, Paul says: “Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever win God’s favor by trying to keep the Jewish laws because God has said that the only way we can be right in his sight is by faith.”¹⁷

Understanding this was important enough for Jesus to give this warning: “From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lying, and slander.”¹⁸ In other words, our sinful nature is inherited. It is not something we are taught in school or master by intensive training. Therefore, it cannot be erased through teaching or training. It will take a cleansing that only God has the power to do so that as God said through Isaiah: “Come, let’s talk this over, says the Lord; no matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool!”¹⁹