Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 134
TRANSCRIPT
I don’t do what I know I ought to do, but I do the very things I know I shouldn’t do. Can you relate? Sometimes, we feel like we are almost driven to do things we don’t want to do. Why is that? What is the driving force behind this struggle? That is going to be the topic of this podcast. Come along as we delve into Romans 7 and see how understanding this book of the bible might be a game changer for us.
I’m Lee Whitman with Restoring the Foundations and I welcome you into this Hope, Healing, and Freedom podcast. For many years, I thought God put Romans 7 in the Bible because it perfectly described me. I was locked in a battle that I did not understand, and because I didn’t understand it, I didn’t know how to fight it. I lost more often than I won. Let me explain.
Today’s verse is Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very things I hate.” Romans chapter 7 is a passage of scripture that has been diagnosed, torn apart, dissected, and analyzed every way possible over the years. It is often misunderstood, yet it is a key to living the Christian life. In today’s podcast I am going to try to simplify Romans 7 to help us walk in the freedom that Jesus came to give.
One of the misunderstandings about Romans 7 is the idea that Paul was writing to teach about marriage. Paul uses an analogy about marriage, but in no way is he writing this letter to teach Jesus followers about marriage.
On first reading of Romans 7 it appears that the Apostle Paul is contradicting himself. In Romans 6 Paul clearly states that our sanctification is guaranteed because we are joined to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
Some of the key verses from Romans 6 are:
Verse 3 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized (joined to or immersed into) into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Verse 4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
Verse 6 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
Verse 11 “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Then in Romans 8 Paul shows the guarantee of our sanctification because we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” So, what is Paul doing in Romans 7? I think Paul recognizes that we, followers of Jesus, will have a hard time understanding our union with Christ so he tries to explain it in different ways. Romans 6 – 7 – 8 all point to the same conclusion: We died, and our life is only found in Christ.
In Romans 7 Paul uses a literary device called the “dramatic present” when he makes statements like “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin” in Romans 7:14, and “nothing good dwells in me.” in Romans 7:18. He uses those phrases to describe what he used to be before Christ. But He uses the dramatic present to prove a point.
Paul starts Romans 7 with a word picture about the law. “Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is alive, she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man.” Paul uses the example of marriage to make his point about the law. As I said earlier, he is not teaching about marriage in this passage. He says that as long as a husband is alive, the wife is bound to her husband. But if the husband dies, she is then free to marry another. But Paul turns the picture a bit. The husband in this picture didn’t die, but the wife died. Then he says in verse 4, “Therefore, my brethren, you were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that you might bear fruit for God.” Paul uses this word picture using marriage to once again show that believers are dead to the Law as he has done so masterfully in Romans 6. This is really important because he next presents a new concept. He begins to talk about this thing called sin.
The law, as Paul describes in this chapter is about your performance, your needing to strive for acceptance and value. It causes people to try to measure up to those rules and regulations that religion says must be followed in order to be in right standing with God. The problem is that living by the law actually arouses our sinful passions. Let’s say you walk down a street every day that is bordered by a six-foot-high privacy fence on one side of the sidewalk. In this wooden privacy there is a knot hole. Every day you walk past that knot hole and really don’t care about looking in the hole. Then one day someone puts a sign over the knot hole that says, “DO NOT LOOK IN THIS KNOT HOLE.” All of a sudden there is a law concerning that knot hole that says don’t look in the knot hole. This law arouses the sinful passions within that causes you to want to look in the knot hole. Without someone saying you can’t look in the hole you had no desire to do so. But now that the law says don’t look, the power of sin within you wants to look. 1 Corinthians 15:56 says “The power of sin is the Law”. The law actually arouses the power of sin. What is this thing called sin? One definition I heard is that it is an unholy force or power which is in me, but it is not me.
We are very aware that there is a battle going on inside of us. Romans 8 describes that this battle is between this thing called sin working through our flesh, and The Holy Spirit living in us. In Romans 8:6-8 it says, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Paul goes on in Romans 7 to describe his own struggle. He says he didn’t know what coveting was until the law said, “You shall not covet.” The power of sin aroused by the law produced in him coveting of all kinds. He goes on to describe how the command not to covet was given to produce life in Paul, but it ended up doing just the opposite. The law aroused the power of sin and caused death to reign in Paul. He goes on in Romans 7:20 to say, “But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.”
Where am I going with this? Many Christians are trying to live their life with Jesus according to the law. They are living by a list of rules and regulations instead of from relationship. The law says that you must do, do, do, do. You know what that amounts to? A bunch of do-do! Rules and regulations are only going to arouse the power of sin, that is a work in you that will cause you to want to sin even more. Let me use a very practical example. Let’s say you want to lose some weight, so you go on a diet. Most diets tell you what you can’t eat. I can’t eat ice cream, I can’t eat ice cream, I can’t eat ice cream. What are you focusing on? Ice cream. And due to the power of sin that is at work in your flesh, you will want ice cream more than ever.
What is the alternative? Recognizing that you died to your old husband, the law, and you are now free to give yourself to a new husband, to Jesus Christ. With this new husband, Jesus, you now move into Romans 8 where it says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” You are now alive with the Spirit of Christ living in you and through you. You have been taken out of one kingdom that is ruled by the law, by rules and regulations, and transferred into the Kingdom of God which is run by grace. Grace is God doing for you what you could not do for yourself. Back to the example of wanting to lose weight. Dieting by grace says that you have the freedom to eat whatever you want. There is no legalistic restriction. But the question is, if you really desire to lose weight, the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus will give you the power to say no to some foods, yes, maybe even ice cream, and say yes to other healthy choices. The law kills but the spirit gives life. Romans 8:11 says “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” That is some serious power living in you!
In 2025 RTF will celebrate its 35th anniversary. It is amazing that this ministry that was founded by Chester and Betsy Kylstra out of their garage in Florida has been setting the captives free for 35 years. Please mark your calendars to join us October 15-18 in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee as we look at what The Lord has done through RTF. We will have a celebration dinner as part of that week in which I might even wear a tie! Save the date October 15-18, 2025. Details on registration and lodging will be coming on our website and through email.
PRAYER
Father God I am so thankful that we do not have to perform to earn your love and acceptance. Our relationship with you is a gift of your grace. And the moment we accept your gift of redemption through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection on the cross, we are changed into new creations. We have died to the old husband, the Law, and we have married our new husband, Jesus Christ. Help us understand and walk in the victory we have as Children of God.
