Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” Strictly speaking, it is not the person of Christ in Romans 8:2 who frees us; it is the law of this person. With this person of life, there is a law, the law of the Spirit of life, that frees us from the law of sin and death.
Every life has a law and even is a law. Even the small insects know how to fly because of the law of their life. The highest created life, the human life, is also a law. It is not correct to say that our sinful living comes from our habit. Our living does not come from our habit; it comes from our life as a law. If one scolds a table, it will not react, because inanimate things do not have a law. However, if we are scolded, we will be angry due to the law of our natural life, which is ourselves.
The law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), the law of good in the mind (7:23), and the law of sin and death (7:23; 8:2) are natural laws, not outward regulating laws. A natural law is not a regulation; it is a natural power. Gravity is an example of a natural law. When something is thrown into the air, it comes down because of the law of gravity. Objects always fall unless a stronger power is in effect. An airplane can fly against the power of gravity only because the law of aerodynamics overcomes the law of gravity. Without another power to restrain us, we sin spontaneously, just as an object falls downward when dropped. To tell a lie does not require exercise. When one lies, he does it spontaneously. Peter did not need to exercise to lie when he denied the Lord, saying, “I do not know the man!” (Matt. 26:72). He did it spontaneously.
Sin and death are companions. Where one is, the other is surely there also. The law of sin is also the law of death. However, within us is a stronger person, Jesus Christ as the Spirit of life. This stronger person is a stronger law, and this stronger law defeats us as the weaker law. In this way, the stronger law frees us from the weaker law.
We should no longer trust in ourselves and should not try to overcome sin. We are not able to overcome it. Rather, we should set our mind on the spirit. Romans 8:6 says, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Today the Spirit, who is the Spirit of life, Christ Jesus Himself, is one with us in our spirit. All day long we need to set our mind on nothing but our spirit. Our mind set on our spirit is life, and this life is the processed Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the consummation of the Triune God. Moreover, a person whose mind is set on the spirit walks according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4). We must learn to see these truths and learn to practice setting our mind on our spirit all the time. This is the experience of life which produces the growth of life.
Question: Is the experience to which Paul refers in Romans 7 the experience of a believer or an unbeliever?
Answer: Romans 7 describes a fighting between two laws: the law of sin and the law of good. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were regenerated, and we became a new creation. However, after being saved every believer makes up his mind to do good. A new believer may say: “I was a sinful person in the past, but I have now repented and made confession to God, and I have believed in the Lord Jesus. Now since I am saved, I must try my best to do good.” To make up one’s mind in this way immediately brings one back to the experience of an unbeliever. When Paul wrote Romans 7, he was a saved person. After being saved, he may have gone back to his old standing as an unbeliever trying to keep the law. When a believer returns to the standing of an unbeliever under the law, trying to do good to please God, he experiences Romans 7.
Throughout the years Bible students have argued whether Romans 7 is the experience of an unbeliever or of a Christian. However, after being saved, every saved one experiences being brought back to the standing of an unbeliever. They make up their mind to please God, to do good, and to be perfect, but they are eventually defeated. In the morning they may have a morning revival, and after this revival they make up their mind to be perfect for the whole day. However, by noontime they have made several mistakes, and by the afternoon they may be fully defeated. That night they may try to make restitution, confessing their failures, and the next morning they will try again. This history repeats itself many times.
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