“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:14-16 NIV)
The Apostle Paul faced the same struggle as all Christians do. We still struggle daily with an inherently evil nature, even though we are born again of the Spirt. He viewed the law with high esteem. For that reason, he made every effort to clarify the tension between the holy law and the sin when temptation comes our way.
The law comes from God, has his character, and tells his will for his people. As the majesty of the law fills Paul’s mind, along with it comes the vision of his character as a man and his daily standing for or against God’s law. Paul wants to make the point that sin does not damage the law established on God’s own loving character, will and mercy. Like Paul, every believer must clarify his ongoing relationship with the universal laws of God.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the great warrior is tempted by voices he hears through witches that he sees on the battleground—the Bard’s metaphor for our own inner voices of temptation—then by his wife to use his victorious influence at war to vault his growing popularity to usurp King Duncan whom he serves. This is a classic case of a man being tempted within his mind, to break the 9th commandment “do not covet”. 1
Paul tells us the trouble is not with the law but with me because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. The law has a capacity for reminding us of what we once were, and of how captivating that old life can still appear in our mind’s eye. The law also warns us of our ongoing need to daily focus on Christ for inner victory over temptation. By introducing his personal dilemma, Paul invites us to consider how well we understand our behavior: “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (vs. 15). As long as believers live in this world as men and women of flesh and blood, they will face a constant tension—the conflict between their sinful nature and their new spiritual life.
Paul wrote to the Galatians, “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict” (Galatians 5:17).
Macbeth’s covetous temptation on the battlefield led him to eventually murder his beloved king, lose his mind as he became increasingly paranoid in his self-loathing fearfulness of others, and became a scheming tyrant that no one could trust. In the end, it cost him not just his life, but the life of his wife, and his most trusted friends. What can we learn from the apostle Paul as we deal with our old sinful desires?
1) Knowledge of the law is not the answer (7:9).
2) Self-determination (to want to do what is right) doesn’t succeed (7:15).
3) Becoming a Christian does not stamp out all sin and temptation from a person’s life (7:22–25).
Being born again starts in a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ takes a lifetime. Paul compares Christian growth to a strenuous race or fight (1 Corinthians 9:24–27; 2 Timothy 4:7). As we live in the Spirit of Christ, we become conformed to His character of love which is the basis of the law (Romans 8:29). Only in this way can “the righteous requirements of the law…be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4)