We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who does it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who does it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Romans 7:14-20)
Generation on fire, I greet you in the name of Christ, the one without sin. If you ever looked for a biblical summary of our earthly struggles, you need look no further than Romans 7. The Apostle Paul with his pen stroke brilliance and unrivaled empathy exposes what is within us by laying bare his own struggles and difficulties. “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” is the foundational truth of our humanity and a painful one at that. This reality manifests in different ways for people, but it shows up regardless. For one person it may be envy, jealousy or unforgiveness, for another it may be the scourge of sexual immorality or unchecked promiscuity, for all of us it is an inner battle that we feel like we are constantly losing. It is in our heads, in our hearts and in our minds.
In Paul’s powerful description, the dam breaks for him and for us who call ourselves believers when we realize through God’s commandments that we are sinners. This is what Pual summarizes in Galatians 3:24 where he says “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” – the law was teaching us that we are unable to save ourselves and can only look to Jesus. For Paul this seems to happen when he attempts to reconcile the tenth commandment. Paul reckons “For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.” It is noteworthy that Paul uses this particular commandment because of all the ten commandments this is the only one that appears inward looking, all others pertain to external actions or relations with God or man when taken at face value. Paul who had been a Pharisee prior to meeting Christ would have thought of sin only in terms of external actions and when he had checked those boxes, he would have ascribed to himself a false righteousness. However, in Paul’s new understanding and attempt to reconcile the internal sin of covetousness, he fails completely. This is why he writes “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” It was an admission that the real work happens on the inside and outward actions hold no meaning except when they align with our inner person.
Today, true believers much like Paul have the same experience. We may say to ourselves: “You shall not have other gods” – check, “You shall not steal” – check, “You shall not murder” – double check, “Honor your father and mother” – triple check. But failure appears when we get to “You shall not covet.” Quickly, we remember the time when jealousy filled our hearts over another person’s achievements or when a lack of contentment blinded our vision. This was the basis of Christ’s argument with the Pharisees and Sadducees, it is easy to conflate outward religious ceremony and piety benchmarks with personal holiness and individual salvation. Christ himself drags the carpet from under our feet when He says “You have heard it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgement, But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement…. You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28). The lesson here is that it has never been about external actions but the internal state of one’s heart. At a base level, there is a perversity to our hearts that causes us to desire and delight in wrongdoing. This understanding is what leads us to Christ, it is why the law paves the way for Jesus.
Anecdotally, in my own life and understanding, I thought being “born again” was as simple as saying I believe in Christ, but I have since come to know that that is only partial truth. The real new birth experience starts with a conviction of sin. For me in the not-so-distant past, I came to understand and continue to learn that I am unequipped to deal with my own sin. And so, when Paul says “the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” it hits close to home, right at my heart actually. Like Paul, I too have discovered that good itself does not dwell in me, but my nature is sinful. Yes, I haven’t worshipped an idol (at least not a wooden image), perhaps, I haven’t killed, lied, or stolen today but in my heart and in my mind, I have done all of these things and worse. Therefore, the flaw is not and has never been in God’s law which shows His perfect character, the fault lies with me and the sin that is in me. This revelation forms the basis of faith and forces me to lean on the only person who can deliver salvation and defeat sin.
The goal of Paul’s lesson is not to be reductive or condemnatory in intent or reception, quite the opposite – it aims to point us to the everlasting solution to our existential problem. Many believers have not fully grasped sin as a matter of inward longings and idolatrous drives and desires. The essence of Paul’s message is to show that external piety and action-based salvation represents a defective dam, an engineering marvel on the outside that harbors salvation destroying cracks on the inside. No amount of external reinforcement or beautification can repair the cracks. Today, Christ is telling us to let the dam break so that He may deal with the flood waters. He is telling us to look inwards and open our hearts so that He may excise sin and death from within us.
Prayer
Search me, God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Convict me of my shortcomings and allow me to lean on you for help.