As some of you are aware, I am currently getting my Masters Degree in Biblical Studies at the Front Range Bible Institute here in Colorado Springs.  For my New Testament Survey class, I had to write a short thesis on Romans 7:13-25.  Here it is. 

            In this paper, I will be defining the main theme of Romans 7:13-25 and will support why I believe it to be so.  This will be accompanied by other required points, such as the biggest phrase, context of the passage, whether the author is speaking of salvation or sanctification issues, and what the text is trying to convey to the reader. 

            This portion of Romans 7 could be interpreted as the life of a non-believer due to the references of the author, Paul, not being able to stop being a sinner.  This argument can also be supported by references to the previous chapter in Romans that describes a Christian as someone who is not a slave to sin anymore.  But in reading the passage, it is clear that Paul is talking of himself in present tense, so this must be the life of a Christian in general, and particularly in the life of Paul, the author.  In other words, there is nothing in this passage that says this struggle with sin is only reserved for Paul in particular, so we can assume it is relevant for all Christians.

            So after making the point that all Christians sin, Paul laments the fact that he still practices the sin he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t do what he knows is right (v19).  This struggle is more clearly defined as the sin still present in his flesh, or the sinful nature still around from his pre Christian days, and the law of God in his mind now that he is a Christian(v25).  The struggle against sin is described here as a battle that wages war in our body and lives.  This is particularly applicable to the Christian reader as we understand the battle within us.  The fact of sin still being present is not necessarily a bad thing as we battle against it.   For if we consider ourselves to be a Christian, we are aware of the battle and consider it a worthy battle and one that confirms that we are indeed, saved. This fact is necessary to know for those who do not have this battle, for if we do not have this war within us, then our salvation is in doubt.    The battle with sin is something that we, along with Paul, can know as a Christian and say, “thanks be to God”(v25)!   For we understand that before we were Christians, we were slaves to sin, and now we have victory through Jesus Christ. 

            This brings me to the defining phrase of this portion of scripture.  This phrase can be found in verse 13 as something that made Paul see his sin as “utterly sinful”.  In the preceding verse, Paul talks of the Law of God being holy, righteous and good, and the catalyst God uses to make him understand the enormity of it.    As the most important phrase goes, “so through the commandment, sin became “utterly sinful”.  For it seems that until Paul, and everyone who is not a Christian, was confronted with the Law of God, he was ignorant of what sin really was in his life.  The life we have before Christ is described as a “body of death”(v24), of which a dead body is not one able to respond to God.  In fact, Paul said that he would not even known what sin was if the Law of God was not presented to him(v7:7).  But when the Law was presented to him, he “became alive to his sin”(V7:9) and that part of him died.  So Paul was ignorant of his sin and also a slave to it and not even knowing it.  The Law of God is thus described as good in this sense that it “makes us alive” to our sin and makes it “utterly sinful”.  Until then, we blindly go on our way thinking we are not that bad in our eyes, or the eyes of God (if there is one, Romans 3).  But the Law of God is written on our hearts, our conscience bears witness(Romans 2:15), and what the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed, and the whole world become accountable to God(Romans 3:19).  The Law of God is necessary to show the unbeliever what sin is.  Once the goodness of God and His law is presented, the depravity of our sin can be fully understood.  And as Paul says in Romans 3, until we are Christians, no one understands and no one is good.  This process is described in verse 13 as, “sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good”.  Paul concludes that through this, “sin became utterly sinful”. 

                     Once sin is exposed for what it is, and an unbeliever is brought to salvation, the process of sanctification starts.  The war we fight against our flesh is a necessary battle and a good one to confirm our salvation and to trust in the grace of God to fight.  But the presence of sin is still around in our lives and something we must battle.  In fact, our old sinful life is compared to an old bad marriage in our past.  But once our old spouse of sin was dead, when we were saved, then we can live for God instead of living in the past of that deadly marriage.  But even though we are not bound to that spouse of sin anymore, we can still live like we are, and that is where we must fight.  We are not bound to it anymore and now must live for God.  For as it is described in v7:3-4, “So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.  Therefore, my brethren, you also were  made to die to the Law  through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God”.

                     So the Christian reader can identify with Paul in the struggles that we all have in the battle with our old sinful nature.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as our struggle confirms the fact that we are Christians and we can be reminded of the gospel and the power of God through Jesus Christ.  We can even say, “thanks be to God” for it!  For now we can understand the process of the Law of God that is holy, righteous and good and that it that awakens us to our sin.  

                     Our evangelistic response to the unsaved world is this. Even though we are not perfect, our lives are becoming more like Christ as we grow in holiness and righteousness.  We do this not to be saved, but because we are.   We are not slaves to sin anymore and are now truly alive to live for God and not our lusts.  The Law of God is a wonderful thing, not that it saves us, but because it makes sin alive to us and we can be delivered from it and be saved.  So we should be living lives of growing holiness and using the Law of God to confront unbelievers so that they may be “made alive to his sin” and be saved.    

It is certainly strange to go back to college.  It has been a long time since Pharmacy school.  Getting a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies is quite diffferent, however, and it is awesome so far. 

Because most of my focus is on evangelism, I see most of the subject matter in that light.  For instance, my class on Hermaneutics.  Hermaneutics is the science and art of interpeting the bible.  As I look into correctly interpreting the bible, the question arises…why do so many people complain that the bible is too hard to understand?  Well, there are many reasons for that, but most of the time this line is used by those who are using that excuse to dismiss what the bible has to say.  They are not willing to obey, so it is better to make a blanket statement and walk away.  Nevertheless, there ARE some parts of the bible are hard to understand as Peter talks about with Paul’s writings….. 2 Peter 3:16  “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction”.     Quite a warning about “destruction” in this passage…like eternal destruction. 

Those that dismiss the authority of the bible and distort scripture to prove a point that they want to make, are headed for destruction.  This applies to the folks we talk to on the streets, as well as some of the Emergent preachers out there. Scripture is sometimes hard to understand,  but so are people.  Scripture is God revealing Himself to us from folks, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writing down what God wants us to know about Him.  Getting to know someone takes time and effort.  If you don’t care about someone, you won’t take the time or effort to get to know them.    Such is the case with the bible. 

Anyway, some parts of the bible are very plain…  The Gospel.  When I talk to folks on the street, it is alway easy to just get back to the “cross and Him crucified”.  Don’t let a dismissal of how difficult the bible is supposedly, to understand, to get you off track.  Ask them if they have actually read the bible.  The bible is the best selling book in the world, and they haven’t read it?  Tell them that, maybe they are not as knowlegeable as they think they are.  Tell them that there are some things that can be difficult, but there are difficult things that must be known to understand anyone.  Get back to the cross…that is easy to understand.

Well, we went to our first night at the Front Range Bible Institute.  Very impressed.  Lots of folks who have “been there and done that”.  Great teachers.  We will be very busy, though.   Got to get a new bible…The New Revised Standard Edition, text only.  This is necessary for the hermaneutics class.  We also met a guy who spent 2 years the the Masters Seminary in California(John MacArthur’s seminary).  They were taught Way of the Master evangelism there and also did some street preaching as a part of the curriculum…WOW!

It seems that we have been drawn to the Front Range Bible Institute to continue our education.  We will be following the mandate of the Lord to…” Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”(2 Tim 2:15).  They offer a masters degree in Biblical Studies, which I will enroll in.  And Connie will get her Bachelors degree.