The Genesis account of Adam’s sin and its subsequent impact provides the backdrop for Paul’s exposition of the dynamics of the sin nature and the flesh vis-a-vis the law in Romans 7. In Romans 7:5 and verses 22 and 23, we read:
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. (5)
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. (22, 23)
While Paul has written Romans to Christians (Romans 1:6), in verse 5 when he states, “for when we were in the flesh,” he sets out a time before he and the Romans were saved. In the Greek, the word “were” is in the imperfect tense which denotes a constant state of being that occurred in the past (cf. Romans 7:6 - “But now we …”). Paul uses “flesh” as a term of art or shorthand for the unregenerate man or one that is dominated by a sinful nature. So, in setting out an exposition of the impact of Adam’s sin, in the beginning of verse 5 Paul recalls the Roman Christians’ prior state: “[before] when we were in the constant state of being unregenerate, ruled by the sin nature . . .”
Once Paul establishes the Christians’ prior unregenerate state, he expounds on the dynamics of sin in the body. He says that the “passions” or “cravings” of sins wrought (better word is “energized”) the limbs or members of our body to bring forth fruit unto death. In the Greek, the word for “wrought” or “energized” is also in the imperfect tense which means that it was a constant or repeated action. In verse 5, Paul paints a picture of a death-doomed body whose corruption constantly steers it toward sin and death. Verses 22 and 23 demonstrate the strength and tenacity of the “law of sin” working in the body against the mind of the unregenerate man. It is not the Christian who in the state of:
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agreed that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (7:15-19 NRSV).
This is the picture of the unregenerate man and the dominance of the sin in the flesh over him. (If you think about it, this describes the life of every unsaved person you know). The Christian has been rescued from the body of death, but he still has to deal with it. The form of the rescue is the ability to “mortify the flesh and all of its deeds” by the spirit.
Footnote: In this series, I am dealing with the lusts of the flesh, but I want to comment further on verses 22 and 23 since Romans 7 appears misconstrued by so many. As Paul sets out in Romans 1:6 and 7:1, he is speaking to Christians who know or understand the law. In his Romans 7 exposition, Paul not only demonstrates the tension between the unregenerate man and the law (Torah), but also why the law (Torah) is good. With his mind, the unregenerate man sees that the law (Torah) “is spiritual” (7:14), but he also sees that he is being dragged away by the lusts of the flesh. He has another “law” working in his members which wars against the law (Torah) which he knows to be good. Consequently, he finds himself a prisoner, in “captivity,” to the dynamics of the sin nature working in his body. (And also his spirit (Eph. 2:2), but that’s another series). He has “no hope” because he has no power of his own for his deliverance. That is why the cry in Romans 7:24: “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
P.S. Take a look at Josh Harris’s blog on the flesh - I like the cartoons.
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