In Romans 6:6 our fallen body is called “the body of sin,” but in 7:24 it is called “the body of this death.” The “body of sin” means that the body is indwelt, occupied, possessed, and utilized by sin to do sinful things. Thus, in sinning the body is active, capable, and full of strength. The “body of death” means that the body is poisoned, weakened, paralyzed, and deadened, unable to keep the law and to do good to please God. Thus, in keeping the law of God and in doing good to please God the body is weak and impotent; it is like a corpse. We all have experienced that in doing sinful things our body is capable and strong; it can never be tired. But in keeping the law of God or in doing good to please God the body is weak to the uttermost, as if it were dead. Therefore, if we try to keep the law or to please God by ourselves, it will be like dragging a corpse with us. The more we attempt to do good, the more death our body brings us. So, the Apostle Paul calls our body “the body of this death,” that is, the death of trying to keep the law and please God.
Regarding the body of sin, which is active and powerful with its lust in sinning, we do not need to try to suppress it by a strong will or by any other means. Romans 6:6 tells us that since our old man has been crucified with Christ, our “body of sin” has been “made of none effect,” meaning that it is now jobless. Since the sinning person, the old man, has been crucified, his body has nothing to do and is unemployed.
Regarding the body of death, we do not need to drag it with us any longer. Since we are a regenerated, new man and are freed from the law of the old man, we do not need to strive to keep the law, for such striving only causes more death through the fallen body, which is the flesh. As long as we live by the new man with our new husband, the living Christ, we are freed from the law and delivered from the flesh and from the law of sin within it.
Man has become fleshly, sold under sin (v. 14). In man’s flesh dwells no good thing (v. 18), and man is unable to master sin (vv. 15-20). In such a situation, if man tries to fulfill the law of God as Paul did, man surely will have nothing but failure. Everyone who attempts this is defeated and becomes a wretched man. The fallen man with the law of sin in his flesh is a helpless and hopeless case. After we have been saved, we should make no attempt to fulfill the law of God or to do good in order to please God. If we do, we will certainly experience Romans 7 and become a wretched man. We need to realize that we, as the old man, have been crucified with Christ and that, as the new man, we are freed from the old man’s law and have been married to our new husband, the resurrected Christ, that we might bear fruit to God and serve the Lord in newness of spirit.