Romans 7:14 Sin - For The Glory of Jesus

Print or Share

Sin

How does sin affect your life? Do you succumb to sin? What happens when you do sin? How do you feel about it, especially when you try not to.

This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.

If you do not have a Bible, I invite you to go to BibleGateway.com or another online Bible.

Romans 7:14-25

Introduction: “Paul must be describing all Christians—even the most spiritual and mature—who, when they honestly evaluate themselves against the righteous stand of God’s Law, realize how far short they fall.” (MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. [Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005], 1528)

14. “What does it mean that the law is ‘spiritual’? It means that the law deals with the inner man, the spiritual part of man, as well as the outer actions.” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004], 536)

“This spiritual emphasis is stated clearly in Deuteronomy 10:12-13. The repetition of the word love in Deuteronomy also shows that the deeper interpretation of the law relates to the inner man. (Deuteronomy 4:37; 6:4-6; 11:1; 30:6, 16, 20).” (Wiersbe, 536)

“Our nature is carnal [KJV] (fleshly), but the law’s nature is spiritual.” (Wiersbe, 536)

“Sin contaminates him [man] and frustrates his inner desire to obey the will of God.” (MacArthur, 1528)

“Even though the believer has a new nature acquired by a spiritual rebirth, the old nature continues to exert its maleficent influence.” (Mounce, Robert H, The New American Commentary, Volume 27, Romans. [Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995]. 168)

Sold under sin. [KJV] “Sin contaminates him [Man] and frustrates his inner desire to obey the will of God.” (MacArthur, 1528)

Does Sin Control You?

15. “Do you have the experience of this struggle in your Christian life? Do you do something, then hate yourself because you have done it? And you cry out, ‘God, oh how I’ve failed You!’” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 693)

16. “Paul’s new nature defends the divine standard—the perfectly righteous law is not responsible for his sin (v. 12).” (MacArthur, 1538)

“In the very act of violating his best intentions, Paul was agreeing that the law is a noble thing. If it were not good, he would not have had any sense of guilt when he failed to live up to its standards.” (Mounce, 169)

17. “It is no longer I (new nature) who am working it out, but sin (the old nature) living in me. You see, Paul still had the old nature.” (McGee, 693)

18. “In his failure to live up to his own expectations, sin had taken over and dominated his life. So he confessed that nothing good dwelt in his natural self. The old man was totally corrupt.” (Mounce, 169)

“The flesh serves as a base camp from which sin operates in the Christian’s life.” (MacArthur, 1528)

19. “The statements here indicate that the believer has two serious problems: (1) he cannot do the good he wants to do, and (2) he does the evil that he does not want to do.” (Wiersbe, 537)

20. “If he did that which was contrary to his own deepest desires, the real culprit must have been sin that lived within him. In failing to live out his best intentions, he had fallen into slavery to sin.” (Mounce, 169)

Evil in Me

Pray for yourself and others as you read this:

21. Have you ever said to yourself: “‘I determine here and now that I will not do this any longer.’ What happens? He exerts all his willpower and energy, and for a time succeeds, but then when he least expects it, he falls again.” (Wiersbe, 537)

Why did he/she fail? “Because he tried to overcome his old nature with law, and the law cannot deliver us from the old nature.” (Wiersbe, 537)

22. “The believer’s justified, new inner self no longer sides with sin, but joyfully agrees with the law of God against sin (Psalm 1:2; 119:14, 47, 77, 105, 140; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 3:16).” (MacArthur, 1529)

23. “A corresponding spiritual principle to the one in verse 21. But this principle, which Paul identifies as ‘the law of sin,’ operates in the members of his body—that is, his unredeemed and still sinful humanness (6:6)—waging war against his desire to obey God’s law.” (MacArthur, 1529) see Dead to Sin

“You see, you don’t get rid of the old nature when you are saved. And yet there is no power in your new nature. ‘I see a different law’ is the enmity of the old nature against God. It causes the child of God who is honest to cry out, as Paul cried; (in v. 24).” (McGee, 695)

Deliverance

24. “This is a saved man. The word wretched carries with it the note of exhaustion because of the struggle.” (McGee, 694)

“Is there any deliverance?” (Wiersbe, 537)

“Because the believer is united to Christ, he is dead to the law and no longer under its authority, But he is alive to God and able to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Wiersbe, 537)

25. “The believer realizes that there is a struggle within him between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-18), but he knows that one or the other must be in control.” (Wiersbe, 537)

“If we depend on the energy of the flesh, we cannot serve God, please God, or do any good thing. But if we yield to the Holy Spirit, then we have the power needed to obey His will…The secret of doing good is to yield to the Holy Spirit.” (Wiersbe, 537)

References

In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.

McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005
Mounce, Robert H, The New American Commentary, Volume 27, Romans. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004

The Law Spirit

Print or Share