We can say that the main thing Paul’s Epistles cover is the mystery of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. At the beginning of Romans, Paul speaks in a simple way about God’s creation of the heavens and the earth. After His creation of man, man became fallen before God and has a history of sin. God then gave the law to expose man’s sinful condition before Him. Under God’s condemnation, man appears corrupted and poor. Thank God, Christ came and accomplished redemption for us. He was resurrected in the Father’s glory, and He delivered us out of sin and death so that we can live in the newness of God’s life. This is what Romans 1 to 6 covers. From chapter seven on, Paul begins to speak in depth about the mystery.
He told us that with the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-the Father is in the Son, the Son has become the Spirit, who is the Spirit of life, and this Spirit of life has a law. We know that when we throw objects into the air, they will come back down by themselves. This is because of gravitational force, which is a law. Based on his spiritual experience, Paul discovered that there is a law in the universe, which is the law of the Spirit of life. Romans 7 and 8 present a clear explanation of this law. In these two chapters, four laws are mentioned. The first is the law of good in man’s mind. When God created man, He created him according to His own image, that is, according to what He is: love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Hence, the man He created was the same as He is, having love, light, holiness, and righteousness within. The only difference is that His love, light, holiness, and righteousness are divine, whereas our love, light, holiness, and righteousness are human. Man was created by God in this way, with the human life and the law of this human life.
Every living creature has its law of life. For example, when the peach tree bears fruit, surely they are peaches. This is the law of the peach tree. The peach tree brings forth peaches, and the pear tree brings forth pears. The cat begets cats, and the dog begets dogs. Every life has its own law. The human life is created by God; it is the highest life among all creatures. Of course this life also has its law. Although our ancestor sinned and has caused man to fall into sin, deep within us there is still love, light, holiness, and righteousness. We do not want to be wrong, and we do not want to be in darkness. We want to do good, and we desire to act in light. This shows us, indeed, that man wants to do good. On the one hand, we are corrupt. On the other hand, we still want to do good. Deep within every one of us, there is a heart for doing good. This is what Paul meant by the law of good in our mind.
Second, there is the law of sin in man’s flesh. After man fell by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there was another law in his flesh. This law is also a life, but it is neither God’s life nor man’s life. Rather, it is the evil life of Satan. When this life enters into man, he has Satan’s nature, and he inherits another law, which is the law of evil and sin. Paul said in Romans 7:19-21, “For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil I do not will, this I practice. But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that do it but sin that dwells in me. I find then the law that, at my willing to do the good, the evil is present with me”. Moreover, this law was constantly warring with the law of good in Paul’s mind, making him a captive and causing him to do evil (Rom. 7:23).
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