The Apostle Paul pictures a man in terrible agony over sin in Romans 7:14-25. Who is this man, a saint or a sinner? Does this describe in some way the conflicts that Christians find in their lives, or is another lesson being taught?

There are two main schools of thought on these verses. One is the Calvinistic view that a Christian is being described. The very doctrine of Calvinism forces them to this conclusion for the simple reason that a sinner can not have such emotions without first experiencing a direct operation of the Holy Spirit, which is necessary to produce faith, according to them. The other view, and the correct one, is that a sinner is being described.

Space will not allow an elaborate explanation of all Paul has to say in Romans, chapters 6 through 8. However, enough will be said to convince one that Paul is not describing conflicts Christians find in their lives, for no Christian has the kind of conflicts being described.

In Romans, chapter 5, the Christian's life is described as one of "peace with God," "and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God." "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (vv. 1-5). "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 11). So the life of a Christian is one of peace with God, rejoicing in hope, love and joy.

In chapter 6, Paul appeals to what we "know." We know, or have absolute knowledge, that as a result of our baptism that the BODY OF SIN is destroyed, and that we are "freed from sin" (vv. 1-7). Death has NO MORE dominion over Christians (v.9). In view of this wonderful fact, we act. "Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (v.11). Thus, we reckon, or act, on the basis of absolute knowledge, and not upon blind faith.

Paul writes: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof." Don't yield to sin, he says, but yield your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. We should not "serve sin" because, "Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness." But NOW being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" (see chap. 6).

In view of the love, joy, peace and hope described in chapter 5, and the freedom from sin described in chapter 6, we come to chapter 7.

In this chapter Paul has in mind Jewish brethren. Only Jewish brethren, for instance, were delivered from the law of Moses, (vv. 1-6). To show indeed that the law of Moses is under consideration, Paul quotes one of the 10 commandments in verse 7; namely, "Thou shalt not covet." Verse one is an appeal to "brethren," that know the law. Paul speaks of "my brethren," verse 4, and uses the plural pronoun "we" in verses 5 and 6. He then shows how "sin" took advantage of the law of Moses, something described as "ordained to life," (v.10), and as "holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (v.12). He concluded in verse 14 by declaring, "we know that the law is spiritual..."

Where then is the conflict, or where is the problem? The commandment of "Thou shalt not covet," is used as an example by Paul to teach his lesson concerning the weakness, not sinfulness of the law. He says: "And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death" (v. 10). Why? "For sin, taking occasion (or seizing the opportunity afforded) by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me" (v.11). Remember, for an example, of how Satan took the command God gave Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden as an occasion to deceive Eve. In that case he used it as an excuse to approach her. Dozens of verses could be given, but one has only to read the books of Galatians and Hebrews to realize that once one sinned by violating a command of God under the old law one fell under the curse of the law (Gal 3:10-13).

Once one sinned under the law of Moses, one fell under sin's jurisdiction, or dominion, and yes, condemnation. Paul says: "For we (we Jews) know that the law is spiritual (appeals to the spirit), but I am carnal (fleshy, not fleshly), sold under sin" (v. 14). Once one sinned under the law of Moses, one was "sold under sin," and there was nothing in the law of Moses that would, or could free one of the sin. For Christians, though, the "body of sin" is destroyed, and we are "free from sin," as plainly taught in chapter 6.

The agony described in Re-mans 7:15-24 is a fitting description of one who sinned under the law of Moses. Verse 16 says "1 consent unto the law that it is good." The problem? It is "sin that dwelleth in me" (verses 17 and 20). Sin does not dwell in Christians.

Paul speaks of his "delight in the law of God" (v.22), referring again to the law of Moses. But there was "another law?" or different from the one he had been discussing, "warring against the law of my mind (reason), and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (v.22).

In verse 14, he was "sold under sin," and in v.22 he is brought into captivity to the law of sin and death, and will remain in this hopeless condition until a deliverer comes.

"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (v.24). This does not describe a Christian. Read again chapter 6. A Christian is FREE, FREE. We are not tied to a body of death, to die a death beyond description. In Paul's day, sometimes prisoners were literally tied to a dead body and left to suffer the consequences and ultimately die. This is the horrible condition a sinner finds himself in, and in fact is the condition Paul himself found himself in on the road to Damascus, after he saw Jesus (Acts 9).

Where was the deliverance, once one sinned under the law of Moses and fell under sin's jurisdiction, tied to a body of death? "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (v.25). "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus... For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made ME FREE from the law of sin and death" (8:1-2). The law of Moses could not free one from the law of sin and death ushered in at the time of the original sin in the garden of Eden. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin [or a sacrifice for sin], condemned sin in the flesh" (8:3).

There are plenty of verses showing Christians are at war in this world, but not at war with themselves. The enemy, or sin, should not be dwelling in our hearts, and if sin is, then it is because we voluntarily will it. Whoever we now yield ourselves to obey is whose servant we are. Christians can free themselves of sin by repenting and confessing them (Jas 5:16 and I Jno 1:8-10). Such a blessed and happy privilege could not be found under the law of Moses, but rather a sinning child of God became tied to a "body of death," and the Jews and everyone else should be happy in the knowledge that deliverance can now be found in Jesus Christ.--Rt. 1, Box 139, Crescent, OK 73028.