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NASB | Romans 7:19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 7:19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. |
Subject: Paul's evil practices Pre or PostJesus |
Bible Note: Hi Tim, forgive me if you think that I don't take the Scriptures at face value. I really do. I also strive to understand the context. My biggest roadblock is my own fealty to the doctrines I have learned and love. The tendecy is to read with spectacles shaded with my presuppositions. I pray that the Holy Spirit will grant me fresh eyes when I approch the Word of God; that I may read it as if it were the first time. In my estimation, our disagreement hangs on the tense in which Rom 7:14-25 was written. If it is past tense it is the unregenerate Paul speaking of his old nature. On the other hand, if it is the present tense it is the regenerate Paul speaking of his failures as a new creature. What the article in question did point out was greatly helpful to me, because I had'nt noticed for myself. The following is from Malone's article "The Man in Roman's 7" In Rom. 7:7-13, Paul uses the first person, past tense to recount his pre-conversion state. Before conversion, he was blameless as a law-keeper in his own eyes and before his countrymen (Phil. 3:6). However, when the Tenth Commandment came to his conscience, "Thou shalt not covet," it killed Paul before God. It stirred up his heart, revealed coveting before God, and killed his self-righteous soul sometime before (or when) he looked into the righteous face of Christ on the Damascus road. Rom. 7:7-13 perfectly parallels Paul's past tense description of every Christian's pre-conversion state in 7:5: "For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body, to bear fruit for death." In Paul's unconverted state, God took the Sword of His Holy Law and pierced his heart, unleashing all manner of filth and degradation which killed him before God. There was nothing wrong with the Law. Paul was the problem. In Rom. 7:14-8:4, Paul moves to the first person, present tense. This is a perfect parallel to the shift from the past tense in 7:5 to the present in 7:6: "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." The shift from the past pre-converted state of every believer in 7:5 to the present converted state in 7:6 is illustrated by Paul's personal experience in 7:7-13 and 7:14-8:4 respectively. The man of 7:14-8:4 is described in the first person, present tense. He is Paul as a Christian. If you wish to dicuss this issue further I would be happy to oblige. I've learned much as a result of it. If you prefer to move on, that would be fine with me also. We could revist rom 6:6 and 7:14...I have'nt had the time to really study them and how they relate to the topic at hand. God Bless brother Tim, John |