At the time of the fall, sin came into man. However, man did not realize how sinful he was. This made it necessary for God to give man the law that man’s sinfulness might be exposed. Although the law should not have been a problem, it nevertheless became a problem. God’s intention in giving man the law was to expose him and to convince him of his sinfulness. But even though man was exposed by the requirements of the law, he still refused to admit that he was sinful. Instead, he used the law in an improper way, as if to say, “The law is excellent. I’ll fulfill all its requirements.” God’s intention was to use the law to expose man, but man thought that he could keep the law. Nevertheless, God’s purpose in giving the law has been fulfilled. The more man tried to keep the law, the more he broke it; and the more he broke the law, the more he was exposed. Therefore, we have not only the problem of sin, but also the problem of the law.
As we have seen, the problem of sin is solved in Romans 6. But how can the problem of the law be solved? In Romans 7 we have the way to be freed from the law. The way to be released from the law, like the way to be freed from sin, is through the death of the old man. In chapter six, our old man is the sinning person, but in chapter seven our old man is the self-assuming husband. The old man should not have been the husband; rather, he should have been the wife. The old man, however, has not kept his position, but has assumed the position of the husband. Praise the Lord that the old man as the sinning person and as the self-assuming husband has been crucified and buried! Now we are freed from sin and from the law. This covers the first part of Romans 7.
In the second part of this chapter we have another problem—the flesh. Sin has caused our body to become a body of sinful flesh. Thus, along with the problem of sin, we have the problem of the fallen body, the sinful flesh. Our fallen body is absolutely no good; it has become the flesh. In 7:18 Paul says, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells.” Standing absolutely on the side of the law of God, Paul sincerely wanted to do good and to keep the law, but he found that his flesh, which opposed his desire, was a great frustration. In 7:22 and 23 he says, “I delight in the law of God according to the inner man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me a captive in the law of sin which is in my members.” In 7:25 he says, “With the mind I myself serve as a slave the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” We all need to be freed from sin, the law, and the flesh, all of which came as a result of our fall.
As we have seen, Romans 5 says that we were constituted sinners. As such sinners, we have the problems of sin, the law, and the flesh. We are freed from sin by having our old man as the sinning person crucified. We are freed from the law by having our old man as the self-assuming husband crucified. The way to be freed from the flesh is found in Romans 8, where we see that we are freed from the flesh by walking according to the spirit. When we walk according to the spirit, we are spontaneously freed from the flesh. If we do not walk according to the spirit, we are still in the flesh, although we may be free from both sin and the law. The only way to be freed from the flesh is to be in the spirit and to walk according to the spirit.
In chapters five through eight, we have four main points. The main point in chapter five is that we were constituted sinners. The main point in chapter six is that our old man has been crucified and that we have been freed from sin. The main point in chapter seven is that our old husband has been crucified and that we have been freed from the law. The main point in chapter eight is that when we are in the spirit and walk according to the spirit, we are freed from the flesh and no longer obligated to it. “We are debtors not to the flesh to live according to flesh” (8:12).
We need to apply this in our daily living. Suppose I offend a brother as I am working with him. On the one hand, I truly love him; on the other hand, I cannot keep from offending him. After offending him, my conscience is bothered, and I go to the Lord, confess, receive forgiveness, and am cleansed by the blood. Immediately following that, I may make up my mind and say, “I will never do that again. From now on, I will not speak to my brother in such a way.” Then I kneel down and pray, “O Lord, You have forgiven me. Lord, I pray that from now on You will help me never to do that again.” Shortly after praying in this way, I come to work with this brother again. For some reason, working with him this time is so difficult that I cannot stand it. After a few minutes, I lose my temper and again have a big failure. Again I repent, confess, ask for forgiveness, and apply the blood. But now I am ashamed to make up my mind, because I have begun to feel that this does not work very well. Nevertheless, later in the day I make up my mind to try again and ask the Lord to help me once more.
Romans 7:18 says, “To will is present with me, but to do the good is not.” Willing to do good and to not lose our temper is always with us. However, to do what we will is not present. In 7:19 Paul says, “The good which I will, I do not.” My dealing with the brother in the example mentioned above was half spiritual and half unspiritual; it was half of mercy and grace and half of the law. I made a confession, applied the blood, and asked the Lord for forgiveness. All that was of grace. But then I made up my mind to do good and prayed that I might succeed. This was according to the law. In confessing and applying the blood, I went to Romans 3 and 4. That was correct. But when I made up my mind to will, I went to Romans 7. Every Christian makes this mistake, perhaps hundreds and even thousands of times. When I was young, I repeated this mistake more than fifty times a day. As one who truly sought holiness, I discovered that I often had unholy thoughts. For example, I might speak kindly to a brother outwardly, but inwardly I disliked or even despised him. That was sinful, and I later prayed, “O God, my Father, forgive me for despising my brother in my heart. Cleanse me with the blood. From now on help me not to do this.” Then I spoke with another brother, and the same thing happened again. When I did not pray this way, however, I was not troubled. Even if I tried to despise a brother, I could not do it. But after praying about it, I began to despise the brothers. This situation continued for years. One day I discovered that I had been living in Romans 7. To will was present with me, but to do what I had willed was not.
What then should we do? We should not will any more. However, it is not easy to stop. Nevertheless, whenever you are tempted to will, you must say, “Devil, get away from me. I won’t be cheated by you and I won’t listen to you.” Instead of willing, we should set our mind upon the spirit. This is the key. We must practice just one thing: setting our mind upon the spirit and walking according to the spirit. Do not think about what will happen if a certain brother irritates you. If you keep on exercising your will, you will fail. But if your mind and your whole being are set upon the spirit and you act according to the spirit, you will be freed from the flesh in a practical way. What a difference there will be in your daily living! We need to practice this. We do not need to stay in Romans 5, 6, or 7, but in Romans 8, setting our mind upon the spirit and living, walking, and behaving according to our spirit. Then we shall experience a full release from sin, the law, and the flesh.