Romans

Lesson 7 w/AnswersRomans Chapter 7

In our last lesson, we saw the power of the Gospel to change us, and we looked at our role in that change as we are transformed into a new and eternal being. Later in our study, we will look at that transformation much closer (in Chapter 12). In this lesson, we are going to look at the struggle, and the battle, that starts the day we are born again—the day the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. We will see that Paul fought that same battle, and in the end he realized that Christ who saved him was also his rescuer in this battle. The same applies to us: through Christ, we have the ultimate victory.

Roman coin

So let’s take some time this week to look at that struggle between the sinful nature of mankind and the reborn follower of Christ.

Read Romans Chapter 7 from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) below, or from your favorite version.


Romans 7

An Example from Marriage

1My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive. 2For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free 3to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful.

4That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God. 5When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die. 6But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law.
The Battle with Sin

7Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that. 8It was sin that used this command as a way of making me have all kinds of desires. But without the Law, sin is dead.

9Before I knew about the Law, I was alive. But as soon as I heard that command, sin came to life, 10and I died. The very command that was supposed to bring life to me, instead brought death. 11Sin used this command to trick me, and because of it I died. 12Still, the Law and its commands are holy and correct and good.

13Am I saying that something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is. 14We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. 15In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. 16Although I don't do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. 17So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

18I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. 19Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. 20And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

21The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. 22With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. 23But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. 24What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? 25Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.

So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.

© Copyright 1995 by American Bible Society


As you read Paul’s words, I’m certain that it may, at times, have seemed a bit confusing; but, overall, you probably recognized the struggle against sin that Paul was referring to. We all have felt it, if we’re following Christ. We live in a new sanctified state, but we do so today in a body that is prone to sin. This causes an almost constant conflict from which only Jesus can rescue us. Consider the following questions:

  1. As we begin looking at Romans Chapter 7, we need to reflect back on Chapter 6. What did Paul tell us in Romans 6:2, Romans 6:11, and verses 15-18?
    1. ANSWER: In Romans 6:2 and 6:11, Paul asserted that we have died to sin, and in 6:15-18 he indicated that we are no longer slaves to sin.
  2. So even though we have died to sin and been reborn as followers of Christ, we continue to live on this earth in a body where our sin nature remains. This is what sets up our struggle—being a new creation in Christ, but still living in our old sinful body. Read Romans 7:1-6; in these verses, Paul uses marriage to illustrate a point. What is it?
    1. ANSWER: He is showing us that, as in marriage, while a bride is bound to her husband, that bond is broken at death. The same is true for us, we are no longer bound to the law, that bond is broken the moment we died to our old life become followers of Christ. We are no longer bound by the law; rather, so that we may serve, we are bound to the Holy Spirit.
  3. In Romans 7:7-8, what is the question that Paul is asking, and why is he asking it?
    1. ANSWER: Paul is asking the question, "Is the Law sinful?" He is asking this so that we can understand the real purpose of the Law, and that was to show us what sin was. Before the Law was established, many would do things that were wrong in God’s eyes without knowing that they were doing it. The Law was established so that we would know what sin was—and knowing that, we would not sin.
  4. In Romans 7:9-13 Paul is showing us that even though the Law was given to give it life it actually brought death. Can you explain this?
    1. ANSWER: Paul is showing us that God intended the Law to preserve life by keeping us from sin, but the effect of breaking the Law brings death—but that does not make the Law wrong. In fact, sin is what brings death; the Law itself is holy, righteous and good.
  5. Paul now discusses on a very personal nature his struggle between wanting to do what is good and right, vs. his sinful nature of wanting to do what is sinful and unlawful. Read, Romans 7:14-20. What are some of the shortcomings that Paul admits to in this passage?
    1. ANSWER 1: He is unspiritual, but knows he should be spiritual. This is a strong admission from someone who at one time was the "Pharisee of Pharisees."
    2. ANSWER 2: He confessed that he did not understand why he did things that he shouldn’t do. Often we sin and then are frustrated by it—because we didn't want to do it, but we did it anyway. Paul shared this same frustration.
    3. ANSWER 3: He also confessed that what he wanted to do, he did not do. He seemed locked in a battle doing what he did not want to do, and not doing what he did want to do.
    4. ANSWER 4: Paul recognized that he had a sinful nature still living within him, even though he was dead to sin; and he knew that it was in conflict with the Holy Spirit who was also now living in him. As a born again believer, Paul saw that the sin was his old nature, and not part of the new creature he had become through Christ.
    5. ANSWER 5: He realized that in his sinful, fleshly, nature, nothing good lived within him; it was the old desires to sin that remained, providing the struggle. And yet he also knew that this struggle was because of Christ living in him.
  6. What did Paul conclude in Romans 7:21-25?
    1. ANSWER: Paul recognized a principle at work in every believer’s life. Specifically, he saw that, along with the desire to do good, the evil of our old sinful nature is also present. The resultant tension between the two can make us feel as wretched as Paul himself declared—a battle that cries out for someone to rescue us, and that person is Christ. Paul saw that our current bodies will die and decay, and the sinful nature will die with it, but we will be victorious through Jesus. He will deliver us; what a praise!
  7. Our hope is in Christ in this great struggle. Read Philippians 3:20-21. How do these verses apply to our study in this lesson?
    1. ANSWER: Our struggle will be over when our Savior comes from heaven, and we receive our new resurrected bodies, free from sin and its evil nature. What a great reward awaits us when we finish our struggles with sin on this earth.

In summary then, Paul is telling us in a very personal way about his struggle with sin; a struggle that is happening even though he is a new creature in Christ and dead to the Law. He gives us a very personal look into the life of a person who at one time was a "Pharisee of Pharisees"—a very devout follower of the Law. We see him as a person trying to be very righteous and yet falling short. He realized that within him was a struggle between his old sinful nature and the new life that he now had in Christ.

Clearly, all of us have this struggle as well. It should not be something that defeats us, or becomes an excuse for us. It is a struggle that we all must fight; and like Paul, it is a struggle which will at times seem very frustrating and even devastating, as we try to live a life that glorifies Christ. Paul reassures us that Christ will rescue us from that struggle and that a better day is coming, when we are resurrected in our new bodies to live eternally with Jesus. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

May He richly bless you as you study His Holy Word this week.

In Christ,

Wes

[2016]

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