The Struggle Within

Today's Reading

Read Romans 7:14-25: "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing... Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Then read Galatians 5:17: "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."

Reflection

Romans 7 contains one of the most psychologically penetrating passages in all of literature. Paul describes an agonizing internal war: "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." Every honest human being recognizes this experience.

The question of who the "I" is in Romans 7 has generated centuries of debate. Is Paul describing his pre-conversion experience? His current Christian struggle? The experience of Israel under the Torah? N.T. Wright argues it is the experience of someone living under the law without the Spirit:

"Romans 7 is not a description of normal Christian experience at its best. It is a portrait of the agonizing struggle that results when a good person, under the law, tries to do right in their own strength. The answer comes in chapter 8: the Spirit."

Whatever the precise identification, the passage resonates universally because it describes the fundamental human predicament: knowing what is right and being unable to do it. The law tells you what to do. But the law cannot give you the power to do it. "The law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin."

Paul is careful to defend the law itself: "The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." The problem is not the law. The problem is sin — the power that hijacks even good commands and uses them as weapons.

Calvin echoes this defense:

"The law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. The fault lies not in the law but in us — in the sin that dwells within us, using even the good law as an instrument of condemnation."

The chapter builds to a climax of despair: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" This is the cry of someone who has reached the end of their own resources — who knows what is right, desperately wants to do it, and cannot. And then, in a single sentence, the answer breaks through: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Going Deeper

Romans 7 is the setup for Romans 8. The struggle Paul describes is real — but it is not the final word. The deliverance he cries out for has arrived, and it comes not through more law, more willpower, or more effort. It comes through the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow, we enter what many consider the greatest chapter in the Bible. Romans 7 asks the question. Romans 8 provides the answer.