Question  Romans 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. What do these two verses mean ? Can you please give some of your opinions regarding this ? Thanks in advance. In Christ ...


Answer  Thank you for your very important inquiry. In verse 23, the apostle is speaking of himself,(representative of all people)before he received the salvation of Jesus Christ. In verse 25, after he got saved. There is a great difference.

Firstly it must be understood that there is absolutely no merit in being saved if one is still under the bondage of sin and forever, "struggling." Based on a misunderstanding/misinterpretation of this particular chapter, many worldwide (especially in the West) have taught that it is normal to live a life of defeat, i.e. forever struggling against the flesh but never really and truly overcoming sin in this life.

The devil has cleverly infiltrated the Church with this false doctrine and as a result, sin abounds in those who profess Christ and many think sincerely that they are following Christ when in fact they are following sin and making excuses for it using false interpretation of Scripture and twisting it and nullifying to themselves the glorious gospel of power and liberty!

The man that is in captivity to the law of sin is quite obviously not delivered from it. However, Christ came for that very reason. Hence, it is the believer and only the believer who has the victory over sin through Jesus Christ as He is allowed to reign in his/her life. This is the theme of this chapter 7 of Romans as well as Romans 8, i.e. from bondage under sin to deliverance from the law of sin.

Those who argue that the person who is struggling is said to "delight" in the law of God in the inward man (v. 22) must be saved, are sorely mistaken. They use that false inference to support the false doctrine mentioned already. They fail to realize that in Isaiah 58, it was revealed by the Spirit of God long ago that Israel also delighted in the law of God and yet they were condemned by God because they yielded to sin instead of obeying in faith looking forward to the Messiah and His prophesied Atonement.

Here's what Isaiah 58:2 states: "Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God." Delighting in the purity and righteousness of the law as coming from God apparently did not deliver the "old" man in Romans 7:8-24 from the law of sin and the bondage it produced.

In the last verse (Romans 7:25 onto Romans chapter 8)the triumph of the man delivered from the bondage to sin is declared by His acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ as the One through Whom he obtained victory over sin. The last part of that verse is in no way reiterating what was already said in the previous verses. In these final words of Romans 7, the active principle or existing dynamic of the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh (Galatians 5:17) is set forth in a straightforward manner. The truth that we will have the flesh to oppose us is a reality but the good news is that we can defeat and render powerless that same opposing principle in our body that longs for sin by the mortifying of it through the Spirit of God.(Rom. 8:13, Col 3:5)

In no way does the apostle continue to say that he is in bondage to sin because of this. Again, and exactly to the contrary, he proceeds instead to show how the believer can and must gloriously overcome the lusts of the flesh through the power of the Awesome Spirit of God resident within him. The same is set forth in Galatians 5:18, the very next verse following the one just quoted above from the same chapter in Galatians.

As we diligently seek the Lord and His Perfect Will for our lives and believe that He will perfect all that concerns us, humbly obeying all the light He has most graciously given to us, through His Beloved Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we can be sure that He will most certainly guide us into all Truth by His Holy Spirit.

A word of warning that is worth repeating for our edification: any verse(s) of Scripture taken in isolation and therefore out of context can be cleverly utilized of the Enemy and enemies of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to build and circulate a, "different" or "another gospel."(2 Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:6, 8) This is perpetrated in the hopes of baiting ignorant and sin-loving professors of Christianity or backslidden Christians (who by their disobedience to God are in essence already turning away from the gospel and are in the process of approaching hell unless they repent). It is of utmost importance that we come to the Word of God with no opinion of our own, without already subscribing to the popular winds of doctrine of our day and to read it in its entirety, opening up our hearts to the Lord Alone for His Truth and Wisdom.

We have the joy, power,duty and God-given privilege in Christ to victoriously embrace the life-giving commandment of Love in the New Testament Covenant provided by Jesus'Precious Blood. Let's trust and obey Him so that one day soon we may shine eternally as the stars of Heaven by the promise and decree of the Eternal God Whom we love and serve!