Grace
Theological Journal 2.2 (Fall 1981) 239-57
Copyright © 1981 by Grace Theological
Seminary.
Cited with permission.
ROMANS 7:14-25:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE
CHRISTIAN LIFE
DAVID
S. DOCKERY
The interpretation of Rom
torically. Does the passage reflect Paul’s pre-conversion
experience
under the law? This was a
major interpretation of the church fathers,
or does this passage describe Paul’s tension in the Christian
life? The
latter position is defended here by an interpretation of the
exegetical
considerations and an examination of the
theological implications.
* * *
INTRODUCTION
ROM 7:14-25 has without exaggeration been
described as "the most
discussed and fought over part”1
of the epistle. In this grand
epistle there are several perplexing
problems for the interpreter.
Without a doubt, Rom 5:12-21 and 9:1-11:36
guarantee a difficult
task for the interpreter.2 Yet,
as MacGorman says, "My nomination
for the most difficult passage in this
letter to interpret is Romans
7:1-25.”3 Nygren says:
It
presents us with one of the greatest problems in the New Testament.
It
was already recognized in the first
century; and since that time it has
never
come to rest. (4)
The
predominant question in the interpretation of these verses is
one on which
there have been deep-seated differences of judgment in
1. A.
Nygren, A Commentary on Romans,
translated by C. Rasmussen
2. Cf. S. L. Johnson. Jr..
"Romans 5:12-An Exercise in Exegesis and Theology” in
New Dimensions in New Testament Study (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974) 298-316,
and B.
Corley, "Romans 9-11”in Southwestern
Journal of Theology 19 (Fall, 1976) 43ff.
3. J.W.
MacGorman, "Romans 7 Once More," in Southwestern Journal of
Theology 19 (Fall, 1976) 31.
4.
Nygren, A Commentary on Romans, 284.
240 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
the history of the church.5
This essay will seek to answer the
important exegetical questions and attempt
to relate it to Paul's
theology. Romans 7 is thus seen as one of
the pivotal passages in
Paul's theology.
Since
the passage is located at the heart of Paul's explanation of
the outworking of one's salvation, the
view which is adopted will have
a tremendous impact upon one's theology of
the Christian life. "One
side sees too much bondage to sin for a
Christian, and the other sees
too much desire for the good for a sinner.”6 A proper understanding
of the nature of indwelling sin will have
a significant effect upon the
first of these views, if indeed it can be
demonstrated that this passage
refers to the Christian experience.
In
this section and the previous verses (7-13), Paul appears to be
speaking autobiographically. The reader
cannot help but notice the
extensive use of the personal pronoun
"I." In vv 7-21, Paul uses “I,”
“me” and “my” no less than 46 times, as
translated in the NASB. In
the Greek text, the eight emphatic uses of
the personal pronoun “I”
further enhance that aspect. The question
which must be answered is
whether this usage is rhetorical, typical,
or autobiographical.7
In
vv 14-25, Paul continues to speak in the first person singular,
but he leaves the past tense and turns to
the present tense. The
meaning and significance of this change
has great bearing upon one’s
interpretation. The problem that should be
considered “concerns the
temporal reference of the passage and the
identity of the subject.”8
What sounded like past testimony in vv
7-13 seems to be present
experience in vv 14-25. Present tenses
regularly describe action or
state of being which is contemporary with
the writer. The present
tenses also signify a characterization of
condition.9
The
third problem is the meaning of the anthropological or
psychological terms which are so
frequently used, as well as the
5. J. Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT;
1959) 256.
6. D. Moody, Romans, in The Broadman Bible
Commentary (12 vols.,
Broadman,
1970) 10.207.
7. C. E. B. Cranfield in his
commentary on Romans lists several suggestions which
have been
proposed. He concludes that it is “an example of the general use of the first
person
singular.” He continues saying that this is “due not, merely to a desire for
rhetorical vividness,
but also to his deep sense of personal involvement, his conscious-
ness, that
in drawing out the general truth, he is disclosing the truth about himself.
Cf. Romans (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T.
Clark, 1975) 1.343.
8. R. Y. K. Fung, “The Impotence of
the Law: Toward a Fresh Understanding of
Romans 7:
l4-25,” in Scripture, Tradition, and
Interpretation (
Eerdmans,
1978) 34.
9.
The present tenses are sometimes taken as historical presents to describe the
past in a vivid manner, but this is the exception and not the normal
interpretation.
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 241
intensity of the language expressed in
military terms. The definition
of these terms will be most important for
a proper understanding of
the conflict described.
The
fourth major problem is the usage of “law.” The interpreter
must seek to determine whether it is law
as principle, the law of God
(Torah), or another possible meaning. The
context will aid greatly in
the consideration of this question.
VARIOUS
VIEWPOINTS
Throughout
the history of the Church, many interpretations
have been offered for this much-debated
passage. It is not my
purpose to explain each of these views,
but only to summarize briefly
those which are significant. The various
interpretations, as it will be
seen, cannot necessarily be grouped into
certain theological or
denominational camps. Does the passage
describe his present struggle
as a Christian or his former experience as
a man under law? Or does
it possibly transcend the "then"
and "now" categories?10
View 1
It
is much debated whether the experience recounted is that of
Paul as an unregenerate or as a regenerate
person.11 The former
position has generally been the prevalent
view of most interpreters.
Interpreters who take this position point
especially to v 14, "I am
made of flesh sold under the bondage of
sin," and affirm that this
could hardly be said of a Christian,
especially in light of Paul's
statement in Romans 6. The Greek fathers
generally adopted this
position, as have Althaus, Kertelge, Kuzinger,
Dodd, Sanday-
Headlam, Moffatt, and Wesley.12
Kurzinger says that to understand
Romans 7 as referring to Paul's
post-conversion experience is a
misunderstanding of Paul's intent.13
The
change of tense is explained by exponents of this view in
terms of a close logical connection
between the two sections; the
latter section merely describes the result
of the irrevocable history
10. J.W. MacGorman, "Romans 7
Once More." 34.
11. For a detailed summary of the
various views, the reader is encouraged to see
S. Lyonnet,
"L 'historre du salut selon le chapitre vii do l'epitre aux Romains,"
Bib
43 (1962)
117-51, and A. Nygren, A Commentary on
Romans, 284ff.
12. See the listings in K. von
Kertelge, "Exegetische Uberlegungen zum Verstandnis
der
paulinischen Anthropologie nach Romer 7," ZNW62 (1971) 105, and MacGorman,
"Romans
7 Once More," 35. C. H. Dodd is probably the outstanding representative of
this view.
Cf C. H. Dodd, The Epistle of Paul to the
Romans (
1959)
125-26.
13. J. Kursinger, "Der
Schlussel zum Verstandnis von Rom 7," BZ 7 (1963) 274.
242 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
narrated in the earlier section, but both
the history and result are a
part of the past. (14) One of the difficulties involved in this
view is v 25b,
if actual deliverance has arrived in the
preceding verses (14-25a).
Thus, men like Michel attempt to transpose
the verses,15 but there is
absolutely no textual evidence for such a
transposition.16 The sugges-
tion involves supposing a drastic change
in subject between v 24 (non-
Christian) and v 25a (Christian).17
Bornkamm
notes that there seems to be a growing consensus
that this interpretation is the case of
Paul, that of viewing his non-
Christian experience through his present experience.
Thus, this view
holds that Paul is writing in general about
man under the law, man
before converion, man seeking to live righteously
by his own efforts.
He makes his account vivid, therefore, by
illustrating its verification
through his own experience. The above interpretation
primarily views
this section as autobiographical, though
this does not rule out the
possibility of typical application.
This
perspective owes its revival in modern theology to Pietism
and was the dominant interpretation of
Romans 7 at the beginning
of this century. It is thus seen in
contrast to Romans 8, which
describes the transition for Paul from law
to grace.
View 2
There
are some interpreters who understand the emphasis of the
passage to be the law. It says that it is
"the experience of any man
who tries the experiment, whether he be
regenerate or unregenerate.18
Thomas sees these verses as describing
"a man who is trying to be
good and holy by his own efforts and is
beaten back every time by the
power of indwelling sin."19 Thus
he concludes that the conflict
represented is not between the two natures
of the believer, but refers
to the effect of the law on a heart that
recognizes its spirituality.20
14. Cf. G. Bornkamm, Early Christian Experience (2 vols.,
Row, 1969),
15. 0. Michel, Der Brief an die
Romer (
1955) 179.
16. R. Y. K. Fung, "The
Impotence of the Law," 35.
17. Ibid. Also cf. J. Kurzinger,
"Der Schlussel zum Verstandnis von Rom 7," 271,
who says
that v 25b is the key to this interpretation.
18. W. H. Griffith Thomas,
Commentary (London: The Religious
Tract Society, 1911) 42.
19. lbid. It must be stated in
response to this view that the present tenses in these
verses
cannot be understood as tendential presents. The present tenses cannot be
handled in
such fashion due to contextual considerations.
20. Ibid., 44.
DOCKERY: PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN
LIFE 243
Similarly, C. L. Mitton states that
the text is
a description of the distressing experience of any morally earnest
man,
whether Christian or not, who
attempts to live up to the commands of
God
'on his own' (au]toj
e]gw< ), without that constant reliance upon the
uninterrupted supply of the resources of God which is
characteristic of
the
mature Christian. It is essentially applicable to a man 'under the
law,'
even if he be nominally a Christian. It
can also be true of the
converted
Christian who has slipped...into a legalistic
attitude to
God
and to righteousness 21
In this interpretation, “the present
tenses describe not merely a past
experience but one which is potentially
ever-present.”22 Lightfoot
notes
that the important aspect of this
interpretation is the understanding
of au]toj e]gw. 23
This
view is regarded as autobiographical by some interpreters
and non-autobiographical by others.
View 3
There
have been some commentators who have understood this
passage to refer to the years immediately
following Paul's conversion.
It is thus a picture of someone who loves
the law of God and longs to
do it but is forced by a stronger power
than himself to do things
which he detests. This is "no abstract
argument but the echo of the
personal experience of an anguished soul.”24
It is supposedly a
description of Paul still living under the
law before learning of the life
according to the Spirit. While being primarily
autobiographical, it
can also be understood representatively of
all young or immature
believers.
There
are many who either expound this view or lean in its
direction. It has become very prevalent in
parts of evangelicalism,
especially in "victorious life"
circles.25 The basis for such an interpre-
tation is the conspicuous absence of the
Holy Spirit and the prevalent
usage of "I." This is contrasted
with the relative absence of "I" in
Romans 8 and the emphasis upon the Holy
Spirit. Those advocating
this position see the passage as a struggle
between the two natures in
21. C. L.
Mitton, "Romans vii Reconsidered," ExpTim 65 (1954) 133.
22.
A. M Hunter, The Epistle to the Romans
(London: SCM, 1955) 74.
23.
J. B. Lightfoot, Notes on the Epistles
of
1895) 305. It should be noted that this interpretation is dependent on many
other important
factors which lead to this position.
24.
M. Gougel, The Birth of Christianity (New
York: Harper and Row, 1953), p. 213.
25.
Cf. L.S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1918), 115-18.
244 GRACE THEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
the believer. In Romans 7, the old nature
is viewed as the victor
because he has chosen to be under the law
and not under grace (cf.
Rom
no spiritual victory under the law. Romans
7 “describes the abject
misery and failure of a Christian who
attempts to please God under
the Mosaic system.”26
Concerning
the inability of a Christian to live a successful
spiritual life under the law, it can be
said that,
The child of God, in his inner nature, desires to obey the Mosaic
commandments, but his sin
nature immediately thwarts his noble
intentions. The fault lies not with
the law, but with the Christian. It is
important
then to see that the conflict of the
believer in Romans 7
takes
place under the law.27
Likewise, Fung, with reference to
the Christian's inability,
comments
that
the
implication of the present passage would seem to be that the
Christian
is not to live hypo nomon, submitting
to the law of God as a
legal
code and trying to keep it by his own
efforts, for neither these nor
God's
law can enable him to overcome his indwelling sin; but that he is
to
walk kata pneuma, who imparts that
power which the law cannot
supply,
and who alone can break the domination of sin and flesh in the
Christian's
life and enable him to fulfill the righteous requirements of
the
law.28
These men agree that this is not spiritual
victory and add that one
does not permanently remain in Romans 7,
but moves upward into
Romans 8, which is a higher level of the
Christian life.29 Ramm asks,
"What mature Christian has not
occasionally felt I'm in Romans 7
again?”30 He then adds, "How well many of us know
that we cannot
get to Romans 8 without going through
Romans 7.31 Thus, Romans 7
is viewed as the picture of a carnal
believer or one on a lower plain of
spirituality. This view is both
autobiographical and typical in that it
can apply to all believers.
26.
S. D. Toussaint, "The Contrast Between the Spiritual Conflict in Romans
7 and Galatians 5,” BSac 123 (1966)
312.
27.
Ibid.
28.
Fung, "The Impotence of the Law,” 45-46.
29. B. Ramm, "The Double and
Romans 7,” Christianity Today
1971) 18.
30. Ibid., 19.
31. Ibid.
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 245
View
4
Augustine
at one time understood Paul to be speaking in the
name of the unregenerate man, but later
retracted his earlier view and
maintained that Paul was speaking in his
own name as a Christian.32
This perspective has been adopted to a
large extent by the
Church, by the Reformers, the Puritans,
and by some of the ablest
scholars of recent times. (33) The Reformers said that Rom
picture of a righteous man who is still a
sinner. Luther said, "homo
simul iustus et peccator bezogen."34
Calvin also adopted this view but
had difficulties applying v 14 to a
Christian, so he regarded the
transition as taking place at v 15.35
Those who take this to be the
condition which characterizes the
Christian life point to v 22, "I
joyfully agree with the law of God in the
inner man." These
commentators argue that an unconverted
person could hardly speak
in such a manner. Furthermore, great
significance is placed upon the
consistent use of the present tense
throughout the passage. J. I. Packer
maintains that "the only natural way
for Paul's readers to interpret
the present tenses of verses 14ff. is as
having a present reference,"
since there is no recognized linguistic
idiom which will account for
the change of tense.36
This
final option, probably the minority interpretation, is offered
in this paper. The two primary reasons for
this position are: (1) that it
seems to be the most normal interpretation
of Romans 7 itself and of
Romans 7 in its immediate context, and (2)
it presents a picture of
Paul's larger understanding of what the
experience of grace means to
each believer in his present state. It is
a picture of tension, that of life
in the Spirit and the flesh in the dual
nature of Christian experience.
EXEGETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter seven might be characterized as the great contradiction.
It has been said that, "nowhere else
in the letters, and nowhere else in
32. Cf. Cranfield, Romans,
33.
Ibid., 345-46, lists advocates of this view as Methodius, the Latins,
Augustine, Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, Augustine, Aquinas, Barth, Nygren, Barrett,
and Murray.
34.
Cited by Kertelge, "Exegetische Überlegungen," 106. This simply means
that a person is righteous and a sinner at the same time
35.
J. Calvin, Commentary on the Epistle of
Paul the Apostle to the Romans
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1947) 149.
36.
J. I. Packer, "The Wretched Man of Romans 7," Studia Evangelica 2: I
(1964) 624. He adds that the use of the
historic present in the gospels to give vividness to the
narrative does not provide a parallel, for
here the narrative part is in the aorist, and
what is in the present is not narrative,
but generalized explanatory comment.
246 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
ancient literature, Greek or Jewish, is
there such a penetrating
description of man's plight and
contradiction as in
The first six verses of the chapter assert
strongly the fact of the
believer's death to the law. This is done
by a somewhat imperfect
analogy with the husband and wife. The
following verses demonstrate
the character of the law, i.e., it is
"holy, just and good." This is done
by expressing the character of the law and
its relation to Paul in his
transitional experience before his
conversion (7:7-13). This can be
demonstrated primarily by the past tense
verbs. The shift to the
present tense in vv 14-25 is indicative
that this section describes Paul's
struggle with sin as a believer. Vv 24 and
25 form a conclusion to this
difficult section.
There
are three cycles that can be seen in the apostle's discussion
of the problem of indwelling sin. The
first cycle contains vv 14-17.
The second cycle, which is almost a
repetition of the first, involves
vv 18-20. The conclusion of the passage,
containing vv 21-25, com-
poses the third cycle. The results arrived
at in each cycle are the same.
All reveal the unhappy condition of one
who is a bond- slave to
indwelling sin.
In
v 14, there is a significant change in the verb tenses. The
present tenses thus inform the reader that
the statements of vv 14-25
are characteristic of the apostle's life,
and by application this
characterization still holds true for all
believers. This is the first
reason for interpreting this much disputed
passage as applicable to
the Christian. Some have suggested that
these are historic presents
but, following Packer, this is to be
rejected.
Paul,
inversely, wants it understood that he is not depreciating
the law. In the first section of this
chapter, he says that the law is
spiritual.
(vv 22, 25) who is Spirit (John
this with the character which is
"fleshen, sold under the bondage of
sin." For those who recognize this
section as referring to the Christian,
this phrase presents the most difficult
problem.39
The
law is recognized as spiritual, which refers to its divine
origin and character. Since it is spiritual,
it is possessed of those
qualities which are divine-"holy,
just and good." In vv 14, 16
and 22, the apostle is primarily referring
to the Mosaic Law.
The comprehension of έγώ, which occurs in vv 14, 17, 20, and 24
takes the interpreter a long way toward
the interpretation of vv 14-25.
37. G. Bornkamm, The New Testament: A Guide to its Writings
Phi1ade1phlia: Fortress, 1973) 107.
38. E. F. Harrison,
"Romans," The Expositor’s Bible
Commentary (12 vols.,
39. Bruce Corley and Curtis Vaughan,
Romans (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1976) 87.
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 247
The best solution is to apply the e]gw< to the life of every Christian and
the dialectic simul iustus et peccator. The "I" should be referred to
the unregenerate state in vv 7-13, but to
the regenerate in vv 14-25.
The
first person singular is used just as it has been throughout
the chapter, but now for the first time
with the present tense. Some
expositors want to insist that this idea
belongs to a stage of the
Christian life which can be left behind, a
stage in which the Christian
is living under the law or struggling in
his own strength. But
Cranfield says,
We are convinced that it is possible to do justice to the text of
Paul-and
also to the facts of Christian living wherever they are to be
observed-only
if we resolutely hold chapters 7 and 8 together, in spite
of
the obvious tension between them, and see in them not two
successive
stages but two different aspects, two contemporaneous
realities,
of the Christian life, both of which continue so long as the
Christian
is in the flesh.40
The
domination of sin describes Paul's condition. Because of the
similar statement in I Kgs.
that this phrase (Rom 7: 14b) is proof
that the passage could not refer
to the regenerate.42 In the OT passages, the person is the active
agent;
in the Romans passage, he is subjected to
a power that is alien to his
own will. Thus, Paul is seen to deplore
this power which has
domination over him. He recognizes it for
what it truly is--sin.
Though on the surface the phrase appears
to prove that the passage
cannot refer to a regenerate person, the
situation is actually quite the
opposite.43 "The more seriously a Christian strives
to live from grace
and submit to the discipline of the
gospel, the more sensitive he
becomes to the fact that even his very
best acts and activities are
disfigured by the egotism which is still
powerful within him--and no
less evil because it is often more subtly
disguised than formerly."44
Yet this is no excuse for complacent
Christian living, but even more
of an exhortation to push forward in the
Christian life.45 The
dilemma involves that which is willed contrasted
to that which is
done.46 This man wills and fails to do and does what
he does not will.
40. Cranfield,
1. 356.
41. The Hebrew is the Hithpael j~r;k,mat;hi
42. S0 J. Denney, "
Testament (5 vols.; reprint;
43.
teachings
has led many to misunderstand this difficult text.
44. Cranfield, Romans,
45. For an excellent discussion of
this important subject, see G. C. Berkouwer, Faith
and Sanctification (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952) 59ff.
46. G. Schrenk, "qe<lw"
TDNT 3 (1965) 50.
248 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
The willing and doing are irreconcilably
opposed.47 "Willing" is
linked with katerga<zomai in vv 15,
18, and 20; pra<ssein in vv l5
and 19; and poiei?n in vv 15, 16, 19, 20,
and 21.48
It
is here (v 15) that Paul begins the series of contradictions
which are taking place in his life.
"For that which Paul is continually
doing, he does not know." Paul, by ou]
ginw<skw, probably does not
mean "I do not know," but
"I do not delight in" or even better, "I do
not understand.”49
Paul
knows what he is doing, but does not approve of it. This
power of sin, to which he is enslaved,
dominates him. Again it should
be observed that he recognizes sin for
what it is and is judging it as
evil. This is an act which only a
regenerate man can do-that is, to
agree with God concerning sin.
With
Paul, the willing is present, but the doing is absent. Paul is
willing to do good. "Willing"
denotes "definite purpose and readiness
to do the divine will" and is opposed
by his "doing.”50 The verse ends
with the phrase describing his hatred for
his actions. He despises that
which he is doing because it is opposed to
the divine will of God.
The
problem is the indwelling sin, which not only existed and
wrought in him, but had its abode in him,
as it has in all those who
are regenerated and will have so long as
they are in the body. Paul's
intention is not to escape from his
responsibility for his actions, but
rather "to show how completely he is
under the thraldom of
indwelling sin.”51 Man's history is so obviously in opposition to
God
that he must acknowledge in effect,
"Adam is in me."52 Such is
Paul's statement in v 17, which is
restated and amplified in vv 18-20.
(1)
The flesh is wholly sinful-no good thing dwells in it.
(2)
The flesh is still associated with his person-the flesh is his flesh
and
it is in him.
(3)
Sin is also associated with his person, for it is in his flesh that sin
inheres.53
Sin
is not external, but it is internal because it is "in my flesh.”
Flesh, therefore, should not be understood
as an external, peripheral
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid. Also cf. C. Maurer, " pra<ssw” TDNT 4 (1967) 636-38.
49. Cf. Murray, Romans, 261.
50. Schrenk, “qe<lw” 50.
51. Fung. "The Impotence of the
Law," 43.
52. R.
Longenecker, The Ministry and Message of
Paul (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971) 92.
53.
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 249
factor.54 The meaning of "flesh" in Paul's
thought is "the willing
instrument of sin, and is subject to sin
to such a degree that wherever
flesh is, all forms of sin are likewise
present and no good thing can
live in the flesh.”55
It is clear that the word has an ethical sense and refers to man
or man's
human
nature, considered from the standpoint of
his weakness and
creaturely
state in contrast to God, and also as the seat of sin...the
flesh
has absolutely no good in it. This is
because it is ruled by the sin
principle,
not because there is inherent evil in the flesh!56
Flesh
can have a purely neutral sense. It is because of its
association with "sin" in vv 17
and 25 that it has this ethical sense.57
Dunn
comments on Paul's usage of flesh:
As
is generally recognized, sa<rc in Paul is not evil, otherwise he could
not
use it in a neutral sense, or speak of it being cleansed (2 Cor. 7:1).
Flesh
is not evil, it is simply weak and corruptible. It signifies man in
his
weakness and corruptibility, his belonging to the world. In
particular
it is that dimension of the human personality
through which
sin
attacks, which sin uses as its instrument (Rom 7:5, 18, 25)-thus
sa<rc a[martia<j.
That is to say, sa<rc a[martia<j does
not signify guilty man,
but
man in his fallenness--man subject to
temptation, to human
appetites
and desires, to death, The "sinful flesh" is nothing other than
the
"sinful body" (Rom 6:6), the "body doomed to death" (Rom.
Paul
indeed desires to achieve what is good. But actually he
achieves the evil which he does not
desire, namely death.59 He
explains that there is a great
contradiction between his principles and
his conduct. The reason is that in his
flesh there "dwells no good
thing." In himself, he was entirely
depraved. He was definitely a
renewed man, but in his flesh, there was
nothing good.
The
final verses bring about the conclusion to this difficult
section. One of the features which makes
the last five verses of
chap. 7 especially problematic is the
repeated use of the word "law."
Also, the emphasis of the conflict is
amplified with the usage of the
military terms. The concluding verses have
been viewed by many as
54. F. Leenhardt, The Epistle to the Romans (London:
Lulterworth, 1961) 191.
55. BAGD, 751.
56. S. Lewis Johnson, "A Survey
of Biblical Psychology in the Epistle to the
Romans,"
Unpublished Doctor of Theology Dissertation (
Seminary,
1949) 75.
57. Cf. R. Jewett, Paul’s Anthropological Terms (Leiden:
Brill, 1971) 145ff.
58. J. D. G. Dunn, "Paul's
Understanding of the Death of Jesus," Reconciliation
and Hope, ed. R. Banks (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1974) 127-28.
59. A. C. Thiselton,
"Flesh," NIDNTT,
250 GRACE THEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
the determining factors for the correct
understanding of this passage.
V 21 is used to introduce a conclusive
statement, thus introducing
the conclusion to the entire argument.
The
law is perceived by some as the Mosaic law,60 but it seems
best to explain it as a rule or principle
of action.61 The usage of the
article with no<moj in
these verses does not mean that it refers to the
Mosaic law necessarily. The adjective or
genitive construction
associated with "law" gives the
correct identity. The law is to be
interpreted to mean a principle in vv 21, 23,
and 25.62
The
genitival construction leaves no doubt that the "law" in v 22
refers to the Mosaic law. The "other
law" (v 23) is equated with the
“law of sin” (v 23) or the sin principle.63
This verse along with the
present tenses, is a most deciding factor
in determining the identifica-
tion of "I" in this context as
Paul in his regenerate experience.
Cunh<domaiι is an emotional statement and means, "I rejoice in."
Barrett's "I agree with God's law.”64
is far too weak for the intent of the
apostle. Delight in the law that is celebrated in Psalm 119 takes place
in the inward man or inmost self.65
Paul
delights in the law in his "inner man." It would seem
reasonable to interpret the phrase
"inner man" in the same manner as
the similar usage in 2 Cor. 4:16.66 It is the "inner man" which can
delight in the law of God and also
recognize the inner conflict which
is being described.67 The delight is not peripheral, but belongs to
that
which is deepest in his spiritual being.68
Cranfield comments that the
meaning of "inner man"
must be much the same as that of o[ nou?j mou in v. 23 and o[ nou<j in
v.
25, which must be understood in the light of the reference to the
a]nakai<nwsij in 12. 2. The mind which recognizes, and is
bound
to, God's law is the mind which is being renewed by God's
60.
Cf. H. C. G. Moule, The Epistle of Paul
the Apostle to the Romans (Cambridge:
Cambridge University, 1892) 200.
61.
Cf. Sanday and Headlam, A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on The Epistle
to the Romans (ICC; T. & T. Clark, reprinted, 1977) 182.
62.
H. H. Esser, "Law," NIDNTT
2. 443ff.
63.
Cf. R. St. John Parry, The Epistle of
Paul the Apostle to the Romans
(Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1912)
107.
64.
Barrett, Romans, 150.
65.
Cf. Psa 19:8; 119:14, 16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92.
66.
R. A. Harrisville, "Is the Coexistence of the Old and New Man Biblical?"
The
Lutheran Quarterly 8 (Fall, 1956) 22. Also cf. Eph 3:16;
an excellent
discussion, cf. Jewett, Paul’s
Anthropological Terms, 391ff.
67. G. E. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 466.
68.
DOCKERY: PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN
LIFE 251
Spirit;
and the inner man of which Paul speaks is the working of God's Spirit
within the Christian.69
The
previous observations explain the antithetical role of the law
of the mind and the law of sin.70
"Another law" is obviously a law
different from the law of God in v 22. The
other law is waging war
with the law of his mind. It also seems
quite normal to understand
"law of mind" to be the same as
the "law of God.”71 Bruce identifies
the other law as the tyranny of indwelling
sin72 and thus is
synonymous with the "law of sin.”73
It
is quite natural to understand "my mind" to mean "that which
my mind acknowledges”74 and to
identify "the law of my mind" with
"the law of God" (v 22). When
understood in this manner, vv 22
and 23 depict two laws in opposition to
each other.
In
contrast, the law of sin represents the power, the authority,
the control, exercised over believers.
Thus the power of indwelling sin
is warring and usurping the position of
the Word of God; such is the
essence of Paul's conflict. There are two
laws or governing principles
at war in his life. His faculties and
powers are in enemy-occupied
territory. Sin had invaded them and was
fighting to stamp out every
attempt at resistance and succeeding again
and again. "The strength
of the expression is analogous to 'sold
under sin' in verse 14 and
should be interpreted in the same
way." (75) He is thus
led captive to the
law of sin. This captivity is expressed in
strong military language.
The
military figure of warfare is carried on and is expressed in
the clauses "bringing me into
captivity" and "waging war." Both
terms are common in Pauline literature. (76) The indwelling sin is
warring against the apostle and taking him
captive in what he calls
"my members."
The
meaning of this term should be viewed in the sense of the
same usage in Rom 6:13, 19.
If
the thought is focused on our physical members, as appeared
necessary
in the earlier instances, we are not to suppose that 'the law
of
sin’ springs from or has its seat in the physical. It would merely
indicate,
as has been maintained already, that the apostle brings to the
69. Cranfield,
Romans 1. 363.
70. Harrisville,
"Coexistence," 26.
71.
It is best to understand two different laws and not four, as Calvin proposes.
72.
Bruce, The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to
the Romans, 154.
73.
Cranfield, Romans 1. 364. For a view
which contrasts the interpretation given
above, cf. Paul Tillich, "The Good I Will, I Do Not," USQR 14 (1959) 17-23.
74.
lbid.
75.
76.
There are similar terms in Rom 7:8, 11; Gal 5:17; 2 Cor 10:5; and I Pet
252 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
forefront
the concrete and overt ways in which the law of sin expresses
itself
and that our physical members cannot be divorced from the
operation
of the law of sin. Our captivity to the law of sin is evidenced
by
the fact that our physical members are the agents and instruments
of
the power which sin wields over us. But
again we are reminded, as in
captivity
resulting is not that merely of our members but that of our
persons-‘bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.’77
Paul
begins the final remarks to this section with "a wail of
anguish and a cry for help."78
The phrase "wretched man am I"
is a
nominative of exclamation. The nominative
is used without a verb
when it is used to stress great
distinctness. Many commentators have
stated quite dogmatically that it cannot
be a Christian who speaks
here. Some would like to view this as Paul
looking back on days as a
young Jew or a Pharisee. Longenecker
describes this position.
It
has frequently been suggested that Paul had an unhappy adolescence,
crushed
under legalism and casuistry of his religion and longing for
something
of love and inwardness. This supposition is based in large
measure
on an autobiographical interpretation of Romans 7:7-25, where
in
Paul is viewed as describing a time in his boyhood when he came to
realize
the awful demands of the Law and was therefore plunged into a
perpetual
and fruitless struggle with an uneasy conscience. It has
sometimes
also been supposed that this tension was the basis for his
persecution
of Christians: that he was attempting to externalize the
conflict
within by identifying what he detested in himself with some
other
body and was trying to silence his doubts by activity.79
But such is not the case. This is an
attempt to read some of the
dramatic conversions like those of
Augustine or Luther into Paul's
experience. This is mere conjecture.
Rather, it is better to view it as
the height of one's spiritual condition.
True spirituality is recognizing
and judging sin in one's own life. This is
the case when one views sin
in his life as an offence toward a holy
God and not just loss of
personal victory! As one matures and
progresses in his spiritual
pilgrimage and knowledge of God, such will
be the case. Granted that
the word "wretched" indicates a
state of distress, but it is not a state
of hopelessness.80 Cranfield's comments on this are excellent:
77.
78. E. H. Gifford, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (
1886) 143.
79. Longenecker, The Ministry and Message of Paul, 29.
80. Corley and Vaughan, Romans, 89.
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 253
The
truth is, surely, that inability to recognize the distress reflected in
this
cry as characteristic of Christian existence argues a failure to grasp
the
full seriousness of the Christian's obligation to express his gratitude
to
God by obedience of life. The farther
men advance in the Christian
life,
and the more mature their discipleship, the clearer becomes their
perception
of the heights to which God calls them, and the more
painfully
sharp their consciousness of the distance between what they
ought,
and want, to be, and what they are.81
The
greatest difficulty in this verse concerns the meaning of "who
shall deliver me from the body of this
death?" Even though "this" is
taken with "body" in the NIV,
be on death and thus "this"
should be taken with "death" (NASB). It
is therefore properly used in a predicate
construction.
"Body"
in v 24 refers to the material human organism, as in
Rom 6:6. "Paul uses sw<ma for
human life enslaved to sin (Rom.
6:6;
but the sin principle is still operating
in its members, the natural
result of which is death.
The
emphasis of this passage seems to fall on "this death." It is
"this death" which comes from the
indwelling sin. Even though Paul
is renewed and justified, death is still a
reality.83 Hence what Paul
longs for is deliverance from sin in all
its aspects and consequences.
The body can be regarded as the body of
this death--the bodily
members are the sphere in which the law of
sin is operative unto that
death which is the wages of sin.84
Barth concludes, "Indissolubly and
indistinguishably one with his mortal
body, he bears about with him
always the reminder that he-yes, precisely
he-must die.”85
V
25 gives an indirect answer to the question of v 24. The
deliverance is to be taken as future in
the resurrection (Rom
I Cor.
available from the sin which dominates
him.86 He supposes a change
of speaker between v 24, which he views as
the Christian, and v 25,
whom he understands to be Paul.87 This
presents quite a difficulty in
his exegesis. Thus, it is proper to
apprehend deliverance as future. It
81. Cranfield, Romans 1. 366. It is a picture of honesty in the Christian life.
There
seems to be
no reason to view this phrase as Paul looking back on his days as a Pharisee.
82. R. Gundry, Soma in Biblical Theology With Emphasis on Pauline Anthropology
(SNTSMS 29;
Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1976) 36.
83. Cf. Rom 6:23; 8: 1ff. Paul knew
that future deliverance was a reality (
84. T. Barrosse, "Death and Sin
in
85. K. Barth, The Epistle to the Romans (Oxford: Oxford University, 1933) 269.
86. Fung, "The Impotence of the
Law," 45.
87. Ibid.
254 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
is true because v 25b would seem to sum up
the present experience.
This section concerns the struggle with
indwelling sin which
characterizes the normal Christian
condition. Those who advocate
v 25a as a present deliverance have no
answer for Paul's summary
statement in v 25b.
The
indirect answer suggests that the speaker knows either that
God has already fulfilled for him the wish
expressed by the question
or that God will surely fulfill it for him
in the future. He has not been
delivered but he knows that God will
surely deliver him from it in the
future. The key to the right understanding
of v 25a is the recognition
that the man who speaks in v 24 is already
a Christian, for that saves
us from the necessity of conjecturing a
drastic change between vv 24
and 25a.
The
previous understanding prevents the embarrassment of
having to ignore v 25b or view it as a
textual gloss.88 Therefore, far
from being an anticlimactic or incongruous
intrusion, it is a summing
up of the entire argument begun at v 14.
Au]to<j e]gw<
is translated "I myself" and not
"I by myself' or "left
to myself” (
present delivery from the indwelling sin
and then 25b as harking back
to the prior state of 25a when the
believer who lives at a lower level of
spirituality or even the unbeliever is
again left to himself. This is a
definite misunderstanding of Paul's
summary phrase. The reiteration
of vv 14-24 in v 25b indicates that the
triumphant thanksgiving in the
early part of the verse does not itself
bring to an end the conflict
which has been described. The warfare
continues, but Paul is upheld
and strengthened because of the confident
assurance that finally there
will be complete deliverance.
The
text is gripped with tension. It paints for the readers a
picture of the Christian life with all its
anguish and its simultaneous
hopefulness. This is the struggle with
which the Christian is involved
throughout his life. Deliverance is
promised, but it is an eschatologi-
cal hope. The interpretation is not to be
taken as an excuse for a
slothful Christian life or for a life of
continual sinning. Such a view
would be quite out of line with the rest
of Holy Scripture. Yet the
present tenses indicate that this state is
characteristic of the Christian
throughout his life. The recognition of
the law as good and spiritual
and the determined will to practice the
good are evidences that this
passage speaks of a regenerate man. The
continuance of indwelling
sin is the reason that the struggle is one
which remains for the
believer in this present life. At the same
time, it is the picture of a
man constantly and honestly persevering
for the good.
88. E.g., J.
Moffatt. The New Testament: A New
Translation (
and
Brothers, 1950).
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 255
Both
the struggle of chap. seven and the deliverance of chap.
eight are true and real in the believer's
life. Although Paul speaks
autobiographically of the tensions of life
as he experienced them, it
is apparent that he speaks by implication
for all who have the
struggle and need for God's guidance and
blessing.89
THEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
It
has become widely accepted that Paul's soteriology is
characterized by an "already/not
yet" tension, the eschatological
tension present between the
"already" of Jesus' resurrection and the
"not yet" of his
παρουσία (90) The believer is caught between
fulfillment
and consummation. The old age of flesh is
still in existence, even
though the new age of resurrection has
already begun. No one has
elaborated this aspect of Pauline theology
more helpfully than Oscar
Cullmann: "It is characteristic of all
N.T. salvation history that
between Christ's resurrection and his
return there is an interval, the
essence of which is determined by this
tension.”91
This
tension is very much present in the Christian experience of
grace, particularly as it relates to the
theology of Rom 7:14-25. For
Paul, the Christian experience is a
continuing experience of death as
well as of life. (90) The present experience of the believer
is characterized
by weakness, suffering, and death. This is
clearly seen in other
passages, such as Rom 8:17, 2 Cor. 12:9; 2
Cor. 4:7-5:5, and Phil 3:10-14.
Romans
7 is man as flesh, man in his frailty, mortality, cor-
ruptibility, man as heading for a death
which he cannot escape.
'The body is
dead because of sin' (8, 10), because death entered the
world
through sin, as the consequence and outcome of sin (5, 12). Here
it
becomes evident that 'death' for Paul has a spectrum of meaning
similar
to that of sa<rc--that is, it includes
both a physical connotation
(death
of the body) and a moral connotation (man as sinner dead to
God,
the believer as having the responsibility to kill the deeds of the
body--8,
13). The death and dying which Paul welcomes is a complex
experience
of the frailty and corruption of the physical and the
suffering
of persecution, of the deadness of one dimension of the
personality
through sin and the mortification of selfishness. He welcomes
it
because this dying is for him a participation in Christ's sufferings, a
growing
conformity even to Christ's death, as so holds promise of a
growing
participation in Christ's resurrection power and ultimate
89. G.
Vanderlip, Paul and Romans (Valley
Forge: Judson, 1967) 59.
90. Cf. G. C. Berkouwer, The Return of Christ (
1972) 110-15.
91. O. Cullmann, Salvation in History (London: SCM, 1967)
202.
92. J. D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1975) 55.
256 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
resurrection like his. It is the recognition of this spectrum of
meaning of both
sa<rc and "death"
in Paul's thought that enables us to appreciate more fully
the paradox of Christian
experience for Paul.93
Our
entire Christian life is to be lived in the light of the tension
between what we already are in Christ and
what we hope to be some
day.94 Thus, the already/not yet balance in Paul's
soteriology must be
maintained. This is quite different from
the popular view advocated
by men who view Rom
is living at a level of the Christian life
which can be left behind, who
is still trying to live the Christian life
either under the law or in his
own strength. Conversion is only the
beginning; the new has not
swallowed up the old. While it is true
that Paul says "we died to sin"
(Rom 6:2ff; Gal 2: 19;
and gone in the believer's experience. (95) Rather it is an emphasis of the
"already" aspect just as the
"not yet" aspect is seen in Rom 8:10;
2 Cor. 4:10; and Phil. 3:10ff. (96) The balance in Paul's theology must be
maintained. To overemphasize either aspect
leads to perfectionism or
gnosticism.
The
struggle in which the Christian is involved is a life-long one.
Hoekema comments:
To
be sure, we cannot attain sinless perfection in this life. But our
continuing
imperfection does not give us an excuse for irresponsible
living
nor imply that we may just stop trying to do what is pleasing to
God.
We can, in fact, continue to live with the not yet only in light of
the
already.97
The
Christian never reaches a state of perfection in this life, nor is he
ever freed from life / death tension.98
The believer remains in the
conflict of which he is ever aware and
responsible. Even though he
wills to do God's will and is constantly
exerting himself onward, the
only way of escape is death.99
93. J. D. G.
Dunn, "Romans
94. A. Hoekema, "Already, Not
Yet: Christian Living in Tension" The
Reformed
Journal 29 (1979) 18.
95. Ibid
96. Cf. H. Ridderbos, Paul, An Outline of His Theology (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 267-72.
97. Hoekema, "Already, Not
Yet," 16.
98. David Needham's new work, Birthright, comes dangerously close to
teaching
absolute
perfectionism.
99. It should be mentioned that the
admonitions such as Rom
taken
seriously. The Christian must persevere in this struggle so as not to be
characterized
as living according to the flesh. Yet the complete transformation does not.
DOCKERY:
PAULINE TENSION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 257
Finally,
this aspect of Paul's theology must be included in the
church's proclamation. "Proclamation
of a gospel which promises
only pardon, peace and power will result
in converts who sooner or
later become disillusioned or deceitful
about their Christian
experience.”100 While this
understanding is not an excuse for slothful
living, the believer need not be depressed
nor conclude that grace has
lost the struggle. On the contrary, the
struggle is an indication of life
for the believer. The true, persevering
believer will be constantly
struggling with this indwelling sin and
judging its manifestations as
an offence toward a holy God. The tension
of the struggle, the
paradox of life and death, must be
maintained to the end. Rom
is the life-long cry of frustration; 7:25a
is his thanksgiving of
eschatological hope; and 7:25b is the
expression of realism. Paul's
conflict is not a picture representing
only a minority of the regenerate
community, but of the whole church
struggling with the tension of sin
and constantly in need of God's enablement
and blessing.
take place
until the consummation. David Wenham's "The Christian Life: A Life of
Tension? - A
Consideration of the Nature of Christian Experience in Paul” in Pauline
Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980) 80ff. has
grasped the seriousness of maintaining
the Pauline
tension.
100. Dunn, "Romans
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