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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. |
Bible Question:
Greetings Doc! So, are we to base our doctrine upon our experience or upon God's Word? Secondly, I can state with absolute assurance that Rom. 7:14-25 does not describe my walk in Christ. The man described there ALWAYS does what he does not want to do. While there are certainly occasions upon which I fail Christ, I do not fail Him continuously. The man described there NEVER does what He wants. While there are certainly occasions upon which I have failed to do something that I wanted to do, I usually do what I want. :-) This is part of my problem with this approach to Rom. 7:14-25. First, I would never base my interpretation upon my experience. If Christ says I am no longer a slave to sin, then I am no longer a slave to sin. Secondly, the description given has been watered down to mean 'I usually don't do what I want'. But, that is not what the text actually says. Well, I have to get to bed. I have to get up in an hour and half and head to work. :-( Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
Bible Answer: Dear Brother Tim, You wrote, "So, are we to base our doctrine upon our experience or upon God's Word?" :-) ...sounds like a bit of straw... ...let us chuck it in with the wood, hay, and stubble! The Christian life is experiential (which has nothing to do with building doctrine from experience). This is what is commonly meant by the phrase "having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." Certain aspects of the ordo salutis occur objectively (i.e., outside of the believer) and other aspects occur subjectively (i.e., inside of the believer, experientially); e.g., justification occurs objectively, while conversion occurs subjectively. The words "ALWAYS" and "NEVER" do not appear in the text in Romans 7. Remember, Paul writes elsewhere of this time in his life: "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law BLAMELESS." (Philippians 3:4b-6 ESV) The harmony of these passages is clear with a little thought. In Romans 7, we see Paul's admission that he was laboring under great conviction. In other words, the law was doing its work in him even before his salvation! (Cool how God designed it do just that... i.e., to make sin sinful beyond measure.) Now as touching the antinomy of freedom from sin and captivity to sin, let us define our terms (something that often brings clarity). We understand that we are free from the penalty of sin through the atonement. Furthermore, we understand that we are free from the power of sin through regeneration. Finally, we understand that, as we grow in holiness through the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification, we have the confident expectation of being entirely holy and perfect in the ultimate work of God through glorification. In the mean time, as William Sacker once put it, "Though Christians be not kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept from falling altogether." Praise God! In Him, Doc |