Apostle Paul: Part 2: Romans 7

I think I have a new kind of take on Romans 7, at least, it is new to me as I have not heard anyone else give this interpretation before. Most of the debate around Romans 7 is whether or not Paul was speaking of himself before conversion or after conversion. My view is that Paul is using a hypothetical in order to drive a point home. So without any more introduction, let's get into it.

Romans 6:5 CSB17

“For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”

This verse is the main driving point Paul is trying to get at in much of the middle portion of Romans. What makes me say that? Romans 8, specifically where it says,

Romans 8:29 CSB17

“For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Compared to this,

Romans 8:16–17 CSB17

“The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

One of Paul's main concerns in Romans is how to deal with suffering in your life. Seeing above, we see we are "conformed to the image of his Son... if indeed we suffer with Him."

So, Paul is not just talking about a symbolic kind of suffering that we go through that represents real suffering. No, Paul is speaking very clearly about real suffering and real persecution. For why else would he say,

Romans 6:4 CSB17

“Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.”

Basically, what Paul is saying is that grace is not cheap. Grace means the infinite reward of everlasting life, but you are going to have gives something up for it in this life. It is going to cost you something. That's where these words of Jesus come into play,

Luke 14:28–30 CSB17

“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”

Right, so I just said all that to show you what Paul is talking about in general is how closely tied persecution is with being a Christian. But moving on to the argument with Romans 7.

Romans 7:1 CSB17

“Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives?”

I have noticed with pretty frequent usage that the writers of the NT often switch who they are talking to sometimes without really explaining it super well, but the above is clear that Paul is talking about talking to the Jews who were followers of Jesus in Rome. So this is key in understanding the rest of Romans 7 (and the subsequent chapters 9-11 as well, but we will not get into that here).

Paul is clearly talking to his fellow Jews in Romans 7 about what it feels like to be Jewish. It's something I don't think Gentiles can really understand unless they are really trying to understand Paul here. Paul is clear, but being a Jew is so foreign to Gentiles that they come up with these mental abstractions on what it is like to be Jewish and really have no idea. So I endlessly thank Paul here for giving me at least a clue about what it is like to be Jewish. So, take this for example,

Romans 7:2–3 CSB17

“For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.”

Noteworthy, is that even though Paul doesn't come out and say it, he is expecting his Jewish kinsmen to understand that even if the woman is not an adulteress by marrying another man after her husband has died, she still feels guilty about marrying another man even though there is nothing wrong with it. Why? Because the Law wears heavy on their hearts. For why else would Paul say,

Romans 7:22–25 CSB17

“For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.”

The above is the main point Paul makes in Romans 7. He is not really even discussing when he got saved at all. He's just talking about what it is like to be Jewish. For he says his mind knows the right answer, but his flesh is weak. In other words, this is very clearly speaking of Original Sin. Paul is saying even when everything appears to be perfect, there is still a conflict there because of the unseen struggle with trying to measure up. That's why he says,

Romans 3:23 CSB17

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”

It's not that Jews are more moral than Gentiles it is that their sin is different because Jews are so inundated with the Law and Gentiles are not. Gentiles know what is wrong by nature, but Jews know what is wrong by the Law. Two totally different ball games going on there.

But one of the most beautiful things that Paul says in his whole discourse in this section of Romans is to illustrate that even though all Jews and Gentiles are sinful to the core, that Christ was not! It's an absolute miracle! For how else would there be an atoning sacrifice for sins?

So, let me sum this up for you.

First, it should be apparent that when Paul speaks of salvation in these verses (Romans 6-8) he does so first by laying the groundwork that you will have to suffer for your faith. Paul, in saying, "Don't sin more so you have more grace." That's the opposite of what he is saying. He's actually saying, "You Gentiles don't know what it is like to suffer for something good, so let me let you know about that." Then he switches gears and starts talking to his fellow Jews about what it is like to be Jewish. Then he talks about the solution for both Jews and Gentiles in Romans 8.

That's going to do it for this one!

God bless you! Until next time!