This is a difficult passage to under­stand; it has stretched some of the greatest minds in the past. There are things here that I don’t pretend to un­derstand completely and can’t ade­quately explain. It’s a much disputed passage, with different interpretations. The problem surrounds the identity of the wretched man (v. 4). Who is he? There are basically three options:

• An unconverted person under con­viction of sin.
   
• A normal healthy mature Christian.
   
• A Christian who is below par, who is going through a bad patch, who has not advanced far in sanctification and who has not yet discovered the life of victory in the Spirit.

I believe this passage is describing the life and experience of a normal Christian. Let me explain why: The context suggests it. The chap­ter is about the role and function of the law. In Chap. 7:1-6, Paul tells us we are no longer bound to the law as a means of salvation. We have died to the law and are now married to Christ that we might bear fruit.

In 7:7-13, Paul speaks autobiographi­cally and tells us what the law did to him before he was converted. It re­vealed sin; it stirred it up and con­demned sin. We learned that the law can diagnose sin but it cannot deliver from sin. It can reveal sin but it can­not remedy it. It can show you how far you are away from God but it can­not bring you any closer to Him. The law cannot save.

In 7:14-25, Paul is talking about the place of the law in the life of the be­liever. (Verse 14 is connected to 13 by the word ‘for’ (gar) not translated in the NIV ... ‘For we know that the law is good, etc.’). It’s very significant that he now changes from the past tense to the present tense. He is writ­ing (I believe) about his present ex­perience as a mature Christian man. He describes some of the traits, the trials, the tensions, the temptations and the triumphs of the Christian. We see firstly the apostle’s:

1. His Attitude and Delight in the Law of God⤒🔗

Look at verse 12: ‘the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.’ See verse 16b: ‘I agree that the law is good.’ See verse 22: ‘in my inner being I de­light in God’s law’. See verse 25a: ‘I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law.’

Is this not the language of a con­verted person? Have you ever heard an unconverted person say anything like this? Paul revels in the law of God — it makes him want to sing and dance! A Christian will go over land and sea to hear the Word of God. A non Christian wouldn’t even drag himself out of bed in the morning to hear it.

Paul could say with the psalmist, ‘Oh, how I love your law it is my study all the day’ ... ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’ ... ‘Your statutes Lord are wonderful, therefore I obey them.’ And, ‘the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The com­mands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.’ (Psalm 19:7-8). That’s the testimony of a believer.

2. His Aim and Desire in Life←⤒🔗

Our aims, aspirations and deepest desires reveal much about the state of our lives. They determine the direction we want to go. They indi­cate who we serve and who our master is.

See verse 15, ‘what I want to do I do not do.’ See verse 18, ‘for I have the desire to do that which is good.’ See verse 19, ‘for what I do is not the good I want to do.’ See verse 21, ‘I want to do good.’ See verse 22, ‘for in my inner be­ing I delight in God’s law.’ See verse 25, ‘I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law.’

Here is a man who longs to keep God’s law. This was his fixed pur­pose and goal... This gives us a clue to the place of the law in the life of the believer. Far from being ‘old hat’, superseded, redundant and irrelevant, the law of God is the be­liever’s road map: his sat-nav. Of course it doesn’t save us. Nor can it sanctify us. Only Christ and His Spirit can do that (as we shall see in the next chapter). But it shows us the way of holiness. The person who is saved and is being sanctified desires to be conformed more and more to the likeness of Jesus Christ. What is holiness and Christ likeness like? It’s like the law of God. The believer longs to be conformed to the law of God and to keep it. This is the goal of the believer. This squares with his statement in Philip­pians 3: 10-14.

3. His Assessment and Descrip­tion of Himself←⤒🔗

He is blunt and critical. He has a very humble opinion of himself. There’s no ‘big head’ here! See verse 14b, ‘I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.’ See verse 15, ‘I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.’ See verse 16, ‘I do what I do not want to do.’ See verse 17, ‘it is sin living in me.’ See verse 18, ‘I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my flesh.’ See verse 19, ‘what I do is not the good I want to do.’ See verse 20, ‘I do what I do not want to do ... it is sin living in me.’ See verse 21, ‘when I want to do good, evil is right there with me.’ See verse 23, ‘I see another law at work in the members of my body, wag­ing war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin.’ See verse 24, ‘O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin.’ See verse 25, ‘I myself am serving with my flesh the law of sin.’ This assessment agrees with what Paul says elsewhere: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin­ners, of whom I am chief.’ (1 Tim. 1:15). ‘I am the least of the apos­tles, not fit to be called an apos­tle.’ (1 Cor. 15:9). ‘To me, the very least of all the saints this grace was given’ (Eph. 3:8).

Can you not honestly say some of these same things? Have you done things and said things which after­wards you regretted? You say, ‘Why did I do that’? If only we could press the rewind button! Remember that if this is true of you, it is also true of your brother and sister in the Church. They too can behave sin­fully. When they do — treat them as you would want them to treat you. Treat them as sinners who like your­self truly love the Lord but who at times do and say uncharacteristic things.

This is important for us to under­stand. Believers still sin. This is one of the first things that new be­lievers struggle to understand: why do we still sin when we are a new creation with a new nature with the Holy Spirit within us? Surely true Christians shouldn’t sin? We might even wonder if we are Christians at all. John Murray comments, ‘It is one thing for sin to live in us; it’s an­other for us to live in sin.’ Unfortu­nately, indwelling sin remains in us ‘till death us do part’. ‘The ‘old man’ is still alive and kicking. (vs.17b, 20b, 23). He constantly acts like gravity pulling us down.

Now, this could be perceived as a matter of great discouragement. But it need not be. Quite the opposite. A mark of the Christian is that he is not at peace with indwelling sin, as others are. He hates it: he mourns over it, and longs to be free from its company. Believers should never be complacent in sin. The conscientious Christian is like a fussy gardener who cannot tolerate a weed in the flower bed. It must be pulled out. A characteristic of the believer is that he wants to root out the weeds from his life and nourish the fruit of the Spirit. John Stott tells the story of an old shepherd whose two dogs were always fighting. When asked which dog usually won, he pondered and then replied. ‘The one I feeds the most, I suppose.’ Stott added wisely: ‘just so, our new na­ture will gain the victory over the old only in so far as we feed the new and starve the old.’

4. His Inward Agony and Distress←⤒🔗

There is a tension, a conflict, a war going on inside the believer (v.23). ‘I keep on doing the thing I don’t want to do.’ ‘The flesh wars against the spirit.’ It’s terrible. It’s agony. It’s a wretched state to be in. Here I am with my thoughts, eyes, ears, hands, feet and a mouth that sin and do things deserving of death. This, ironically, is a sign of spiri­tual life. The very fact that there is a struggle with sin is a sign of grace. The fact that you battle with sin is a sign of life. Only a living man can fight. Dead men don’t. Charles Hodge has said, ‘As the believer’s life is a constant conflict, those who do not struggle against sin and en­deavour to subdue it are not true Christians.’ When there is peace in sin and peace with sin, there is death. But the Holy Spirit will not allow such peace.

How do we square such state­ments as: ‘I am of the flesh sold under sin’ and ‘Wretched man that I am’ with other statements the apostle makes, such as: ‘Rejoice always... ‘Be thankful...’ and, ‘I have learned to be content’? One writer suggests that ‘these verses do not describe the experience of all Christians all of the time. They do however describe the experi­ence of all Christians SOME of the time’ (Coffey). Most of the time we enjoy and experience the bless­ings of salvation: peace, joy and victory, etc. We don’t always plod about, bent over, lamenting, ‘O wretched man that I am,’ do we? I don’t think so. But there are times when we do just that. Particularly when we sin and the law is down upon us like a ton of bricks. It’s like the action of a suicide bomber. The peace and normality of a busy cafe can be shattered by the action of a suicide bomber — so when sin strikes the believer and he falls prey to it, it is devastating. At that moment he feels disgusted, ashamed, upset, annoyed and frustrated with himself. He hates himself. He loathes himself. He feels a failure. He feels a real rat-bag!

Does this mean that he is not a Christian? No. If a cook has one disaster and burns the cake, does this mean he/she is no longer able to cook? No. If a driver makes one silly error which causes an accident, does this mean that he is no longer a good driver? No. These are uncharacteristic errors, but they do happen nonetheless. So it is with the Christian. We will inevitably sin. When we do how­ever, the proper response is — grief and sorrow. ‘Blessed are those who mourn.’

Here is a Story that Illustrates this Particular Problem←↰⤒🔗

There was a farmer. He was a hard man with a foul mouth. He was hard and abusive toward his workers, toward his family and even toward his animals. He was marvellously converted and his life was dramatically changed. His language was cleaned up, his be­haviour was cleaned up, he became loving to his wife and family. He now treated his workers kindly and even his animals gently ... Then one day after his conversion, he be­came angry and frustrated about something while working. He fell back into his old pattern of behaviour. He said some things he should not ... He caught himself in the midst of this and he was absolutely crushed. He ran from the barn into the kitchen, and threw himself over the kitchen table. He broke down in tears. His wife said to him, ‘What’s the matter?’ He responded, ‘I’m no different than I used to be.’ She kind of smiled to herself and said, ‘There is all the dif­ference between you now and then. Then you would never have been sorry for what you had done. Then you would never even have thought that you had done anything wrong. And you certainly wouldn’t be contrite about what you had done. Oh, I see every sign that the Holy Spirit is working in you...’ It’s not that he was perfect. He wasn’t. But he wasn’t happy or proud of his behaviour. This is part of the ups and downs of the believer’s experience.

Jim Packer uses the illustration of a house to illustrate the paradox of the Christian’s life. Romans 7 depicts the cold shaded side of the house that faces away from the sun. Ro­mans 8 shows us the warm side of the house where the sunshine is seen and felt. Both aspects of the house are real and exist side by side. So the Christian lives in Romans 7 and 8 at the same time. These chap­ters are not in contradiction, but run as parallels.

5. His Question and Answer (vs. 24 - 25)←⤒🔗

What is the purpose of the law in the life of the Christian? As we saw in verses 7-13, it can’t make a bad per­son good. But it can lead us to Christ. In verses 14-25, we see that the law cannot make a good person better — but it does lead us to Christ. The law leads us to Christ — for both justification and sanctification. ‘Who will rescue me from this body of death?’ It’s a cry of distress — not despair! The apostle answers his own question: ‘Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ He speaks with full assur­ance. He knows that ultimately Christ will deliver him from the presence of sin. He knows that when a believer dies, death is gain. He knows the time is coming when even the body will be redeemed. To be with Christ is better by far. Sin will have been left behind for­ever. The tension and conflict will have ended, never to return. In the language of the apostle John, noth­ing that is impure will enter the Holy City (Rev. 21:27). Thanks be to God!

Christian — if you can say a loud ‘Amen’ to these words of Paul — if you know his delight in the law of God; if you share his aims and de­sires; his assessment and descrip­tion of himself; his agony and dis­tress; his hope and confidence in Christ Jesus; rejoice that your name is written in heaven.