Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 30

As a result of this discovery, man then sees himself as separate and distanced from this evil principle of his. He says: "It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me". It is not that he is refusing to take responsibility for the sinfulness of his fallen nature and making excuses; he is simply identifying the principle of evil that dwells in him as being something distinct. (Of course, if and when the old nature acts, we must take ownership of the sins we commit and confess them as our sins – 1 John 1:9). In doing this, the man in this conflict reaches a point where he no longer calls the old nature "I". Instead, he calls it "sin that dwells in me" (v. 20), "evil is present with me" (v. 21), "I see another law in my members" (v. 23) and "the flesh" (v. 25). In saying these things, he continues to call the new nature "I". This indicates a progress in his understanding that corresponds to what Paul taught in chapter 6 regarding our identification with the death of Christ, our federal Head. In other words, that we have the right to no longer think from the standpoint of our old Adam position and our old carnal nature, but from our new position in Christ and our new nature.

1. HE DISCOVERS THAT THERE IS A DIVINE PERSON OUTSIDE HIMSELF

WHO CAN DELIVER HIM (chap. 7:24-25)

Seeing the flesh as an entity separate from himself, yet still being tied to it, we have in this man an image of the new life and nature that hates the old, and desires to be rid of it. He speaks of the old nature and its corruption as if he had a decaying human body strapped to his back. The new life in this state is anything but happy. This leads him to cry out: "Wretched man that I am!"

Having learned that there can be no help from within, he looks away from himself, to someone who will deliver him from this condition. He says: "Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" It is not simply that he seeks deliverance, but he seeks a deliverer. This is important, for if we simply seek deliverance, we may be inclined to try some self-help program, or look for some "key" thought that we think will give us instant victory over the flesh. Many sincere believers have been confused in this regard, and have sought

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deliverance from the flesh through asceticism, legalism, etc. But let us note that the question is not: "How will I be delivered?" But "Who will deliver me?"

When all hope and self-effort in pursuit of a godly life are shattered, and he looks to "Jesus Christ our Lord" in faith, he finds deliverance. Consequently, he exults in thanksgiving to God; "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord". This shows us that deliverance does not come from our prayers, or from our knowledge of the Scriptures, or from trying to turn away from evil thoughts, rebuking ourselves, etc., but simply by turning our gaze from ourselves to Christ and being filled with Him and His interests. As regards victory over this inner enemy (the flesh), we need to understand that everything that needs to be done has already been done by the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. 25 – Having experienced deliverance by looking to Christ,

he says: "So then, I myself with the mind serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin". This last statement in the parenthesis is mentioned to show that the soul that receives deliverance still has two natures, and will have these two conflicting principles in itself until the Lord comes, or until it dies. Some Christians (the Salvation Army Holiness Movement, Methodism, etc.) mistakenly think that, upon receiving deliverance, the sinful nature is "reduced to ashes" in the believer. However, it is an error to think that the flesh is removed from us when we obtain deliverance from sin. This aspect of deliverance is not from the presence of sin, but from the power of sin. Note again: he uses "I" when speaking of the new nature, but refuses to use it in reference to the old nature. He calls his old nature "the flesh", but will not claim it as being "I".

The old sinful nature can still attract us, but we have the power not to yield to it. We can be deaf to its commands, blind to its temptations and insensitive to its power. An allegory has been used to illustrate this: a sailboat crew is at sea with its captain and, for some reason, the captain loses his mind and becomes furious. The crew cannot have him as their captain in that state, for he is capable of taking the ship off course and drowning them all. So they remove him from his post and lock him in his cabin, and appoint another captain. In his mad state, through the window of his cabin, the old captain still gives orders to his crew, but they do not listen because they no longer consider him their captain, and do not report to his orders. They have reported once and for all to the new captain.

When a Person Goes Through This Experience in His History with

God?

1. N. Darby said: "Some Christians constrain souls to have

the experience of chapter 7, so that the salvation of chapter 5 may be true. Salvation may come earlier. When it does and acceptance in Christ is seen with simplicity, all subsequent Christian life is of grace assured, except in cases of specific discipline. But the acceptance of chapter 5 may be known spontaneously first (but then justification and forgiveness applies to what we have done and not to being the righteousness of God in Christ): but if so, self-knowledge and our place in Christ must be learned afterwards." (Collected Writings, vol. 26, p. 145).

He also said: “I do not believe that you get out of Romans 7 until you are in it; perfectionists say that you can skip that part. The fact is that you cannot be in justification and be delivered from sin until you discover that there is no hope for you” (Collected Writings, vol. 34, p. 407).

Three Different Conflicts of Soul

Although Romans 7 is not a Christian experience, properly speaking, many Christians experience it in a modified way. Often they are experiencing the conflict mentioned in Galatians 5:16-17, which is similar, and they think it is the experience of Romans 7. There is, however, a difference in these two conflicts of soul. Romans 7 describes a conflict between the two natures in a child of God struggling with one another. This is because he does not have the indwelling of the Spirit. While in Galatians 5:16-17, the person is seen as having the Spirit, and the conflict is between the flesh and the Spirit. This conflict results from a believer not walking in the Spirit, because he is in a bad state of soul. Both conflicts are not normal Christianity.

Ephesians 6:10-18 describes a third conflict of soul that is normal to Christianity. It portrays a believer, not only having the Spirit, but also walking in the Spirit – thus he is in a good state of soul and, therefore, enjoying his heavenly portion in Christ. This being the case, Satan and his emissaries are armed against him in an effort to spoil his enjoyment of these things.

THE HAPPY RESULTS THAT FLOW FROM THE APPLICATION OF THE

DOCTRINE OF DELIVERANCE Chapter 8:1-17

The Holy Spirit –

The Power for Deliverance and Practical Sanctification

The man's experience in the previous chapter ended with him rejoicing in his deliverance from sin and giving thanks to God for it. Although Paul has told us how he came to this happy state – by turning his gaze away from himself and placing it on “Jesus Christ our Lord” – he did not explain by what means this was accomplished. This is now taken up in chapter 8. In this chapter, Paul explains that the power of deliverance comes from the fact that the believer has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus, he now enters into a dissertation on the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian.

Immediately after entering the chapter, the reader will notice that the personal pronouns – “I”, “me”, “my”, “I myself” – often used in the conflict described in chapter 7, almost disappear. This is instructive and tells us that the truth in chapter 8 is presented from the perspective of having learned the lesson of chapter 7 – namely, that the “I” is no longer reliable as the power to live a holy life. Thus, the conflict with the flesh is seen as ended in this chapter. There is another thing we cannot fail to notice; the Spirit of God, who is not mentioned in chapter 7, is mentioned many times here. Paul uses several different expressions related to the Spirit to indicate various aspects of the Spirit's work in a believer.

The most significant of these changes that we perceive when we move from the seventh chapter to the eighth is that the man in conflict in chapter 7 (although he has a new life) has neither power to live that life, nor an object for his heart. But in chapter 8, we have both

• Christ on high being the Object of the believer and the Holy Spirit being the power

of the believer. These two things characterize Christianity – a glorified Man (Christ) in heaven and the Spirit of God dwelling on earth in believers (John 7:39).

What Characterizes the Position and Normal State of the Christian

Chapter 8, therefore, outlines the characteristic features of the Christian's position and state, resulting from his being indwelt by the Holy Spirit and energized by His power. The believer is seen before God “in Christ” outside of condemnation, possessing a present deliverance from the power of sin, and awaiting in hope a future and final deliverance from the presence of sin, when the Lord comes and glorifies him and takes him to heaven. Thus, in this chapter, we have a threefold deliverance of the Christian:

• A past deliverance – which has to do with being delivered from condemnation in a lost eternity (v. 1).

• A present deliverance – which has to do with being delivered from the law of sin and death, the principle of evil in the flesh that prevents the believer from living a holy life (vs. 2-17).

• A future deliverance – which has to do with the sinful nature being eradicated from the believer and his body being glorified at the Rapture (vs. 18-30).