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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | "the law is spiritual, but I am carnal" | Rom 7:14 | kalos | 165099 | ||
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Romans 7:14 (NKJV) Romans 7:14-25 'Some interpret this chronicle of Paul's inner conflict as describing his life before Christ. They point out that Paul describes the person as "sold under sin"; as having "nothing good" in him; and as a "wretched man" trapped in a "body of death". Those descriptions seem to contradict the way Paul describes the believer in chap. 6. 'However, it is correct to understand Paul here to be speaking about a believer. This person desires to obey God's law and hates his sin; he is humble, recognizing that nothing good dwells in his humanness; he sees sin in himself, but not as all that is there; and he serves Jesus Christ with his mind. Paul has already established that none of those attitudes ever describe the unsaved (compare Romans 1:18-21,32;3:10-20). 'Paul's use of present tense verbs in vv. 14-25 strongly supports the idea that he is describing his life currently as a Christian. For those reasons, it seems certain that chap. 7 describes a believer. 'However, of those who agree that this is a believer, there is still disagreement. Some see a carnal, fleshly Christian; others a legalistic Christian, frustrated by his feeble attempts in his own power to please God by keeping the Mosaic law. But the personal pronoun "I" refers to the apostle Paul, a standard of spiritual health and maturity. 'So in vv.14-25 Paul must be describing all Christians -- even the most spiritual and mature -- who, when they honestly evaluate themselves against the righteous standard of God's law, realize how far short they fall. He does so in a series of 4 laments (vv.14-17,18-20,21-23,24,25). ____________________ The MacArthur Study Bible, Word Publishing, 1997. |
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2 | "the law is spiritual, but I am carnal" | Rom 7:14 | kalos | 165100 | ||
'Many have sought to avoid the obvious by insisting that these verses (Rom 7:13-25) which describe this great conflict within the apostle depict a struggle in the apostle before his conversion. Let me mention several facts which leave no room for this explanation: '(1) The context is one of sanctification, not salvation. What purpose would a description of Paul’s preconversion struggles serve in the context of living out the righteousness of Christ as a Christian? The context demands that Paul’s struggle be the struggle of the saint, trying to live a godly life. '(2) There is a conflict. Conflict and agony over the commission of sin is not the experience of the unbeliever. Paul agrees with the Law; he desires to do what is right and pleasing to God. This is not the desire of the unbeliever. Paul hates the evil which he does. Can this be the case with the unsaved? The only sensible explanation for this struggle is that Paul struggled as a Christian. '(3) The change in tense supports Paul’s struggle as a Christian. When Paul spoke of the way the coming of the Law awakened sin like a sleeping giant in verses 7-11, the tenses of the verbs were past. But in his description of his struggle with sin, they are all present: “… the Law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh …” (Romans 7:14). The only reason for a change in tense is to make it plain that Paul now spoke of his struggle in the matter of sanctification. '(4) Our experience as a Christian corresponds to Paul’s. I have not known of a Christian who has not found real identification with the apostle in the struggle which he describes. Our experience as Christians trying to live godly lives perfectly fits that of Paul in these verses...' To read more go to: Sanctification—Humanly Impossible! (Romans 7) By: Bob Deffinbaugh , Th.M. www.bible.org |
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