Title: One who belongs to the flesh
exposition to Romans 54)
carnal
Romans 7:14 - 20
1. To interpret Romans 7 directly
The Apostle Paul spoke of righteousness through Christ in Romans 5. He argues that the sin of one man, Adam, brought about righteousness through the righteous act of one man in Christ. Then, in chapter 6, he argues about the righteous living of those who are united to Christ. And in chapter 7, Paul gives a detailed description of the functions of the law. The Jews who hear Paul's gospel say that Paul's gospel is not legalism? It caused doubts, and Paul received the arrows of these Jews' attacks. It was a difficult task to make them realize the right relationship between the law and the gospel. Paul tried that difficult task in Romans 7.
(1) What is the law in Romans 7? The purpose of the statement is to show the original form of the law. Paul is not confessing to the power of sin that seeks to dominate him and his experience of agonizing between those powers. Nor is it showing Christians suffering under the dominion of sin. Paul is writing this to clearly state how the law applies to all human beings through a man called “I” who is trying to keep the law. Thus, Paul's statement in chapter 7 reveals the effect the law has on man and the suffering he must suffer as a result.
(2) The person called “I” whom Paul introduced here is not Paul himself. Paul is, of course, a born-again man. And he's not even a child of faith, a novice. Since he is a great apostle and a teacher of all churches in Christ, he is a man who exhorts all Christians to imitate himself. It should not be viewed as an expression.
(3) The person expressed as “I” in Chapter 7 does not need to be associated with a person who has been regenerated or a person who has not been regenerated. Paul's intention is not to refer to the case of the regenerated or unregenerate person, but rather to uncover the spiritual meaning of the law and the power of sin to man. Therefore, Paul asks, is the “I” person here a regenerated person? isn't it? It is not intended to determine or indicate the timing of the incident, but to reveal the role of the law and sin on human beings from the standpoint of a person who transcended that and realized both the power of sin and the functions of the law. Here, Paul only uses the expressions “I”, “my sin”, “I”, “in me”, “I” and “to me” in writing the sentences. That makes us point out that the “I” person is the apostle Paul and say that a born-again Christian is fighting sin, but in reality, it has nothing to do with that.
3. A body that belongs to the flesh and is sold to sin
Paul says in verse 14, “I am carnal, sold under sin”. A statement sold under sin means that you are a slave to sin. When a person understands the law aright, he can know that he has the status of a slave to sin.
(1) Paul says in verse 14, “We know that the law is spiritual.” This speaks of the spiritual role of the law. If you keep the law, you will live. In answer to a lawyer, Jesus said, “Do this, and you will live” (Luke 10:28). The law is not to be rejected because doing it brings life. But Paul is saying, "I am carnal, sold under sin," and that keeping the law cannot lead to life.
(2) In verse 15, Paul says, “I do not know what I am doing, because I do not do what I want, but rather do what I hate.” Here we are making a distinction between what we want and what we hate. Desire means the divine requirement of the law. Those who want to keep the law know its spiritual requirements. Paul here truly acknowledges the goodness of the law, but makes it clear that “I”, still not freed from the dominion of sin, cannot fulfill the requirements of the law.
(3) Paul says in verse 16 that if I do what I do not want, I confess that the law is good. This man who says I am, confesses that he wants to live by that law, but cannot keep it because “I am carnal, sold under sin,” and has no choice but to do what he does not want.
(5) Paul says in verse 18 that there is nothing good in his flesh. The reason for this is because I have desire, but there is no such thing as doing good. Paul emphasizes countless times that the purpose of God giving the law to man is to show this fact. This is Paul's magistrate of the law. But Paul lamented that there is no such thing as doing it. In other words, he was not able to do the law. And in verse 19, Paul is revealing the fact that I do not do the good of the law that I want, but rather do the evil I do not want to do. This is the contradictory life of those who seek righteousness through the law. For this reason, the Jews did not live according to the law, but lived a life of observing the law. The representative figures in this life are the Pharisees. So Jesus condemned their hypocrisy.
(6) Paul repeats the words of verse 17 in conclusion again in verse 20. If I do what I do not want to do, it is not I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Paul’s confession was that the character “I” realized that the law was good, but because there was no other way (because there was no other way of salvation), he still had to keep fighting against the sin of keeping the law. shows the pitiful side of
Conclusion: We must come to the conclusion and grasp the intention of Paul who wrote Chapter 7 once again. This chapter 7 is not intended to talk about the troubles of the unregenerate person or to show the spiritual figure of the regenerated person fighting against sin. It is to prove the sanctity and goodness of the law, but it is to reveal that the reason that it does not achieve the original meaning of righteousness or salvation is because of the power of sin.