Romans 7 ~ Was Paul ‘Copping Out’ ?
The things I had discovered in Genesis were indeed helping me to some degree. I was thankful for what I’d been made aware of thus far, but was still puzzled as to how to bear the good fruit God expected of me. I had learned what didn’t work but was still clueless as to what did. I had realized, like Eve, that partaking of the knowledge of good and evil was bringing me no closer to my goal of being like God (Eve’s Fall), and I could truly identify with the plight of Adam and Eve concerning fruit-bearing (The Fruit of Disobedience). What was I still missing?
I remembered that Paul had struck a note of victory at the end of Romans 7, so back I went to search for what he had discovered that still eluded me. I had read this chapter countless times without finding anything that had brought the change I so desperately sought. Nevertheless, this time ever so carefully, I again read the account of Paul’s frustration as recorded in Romans 7, verse 15…
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
Oh, how I felt his pain. On to verse 16-17…
But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
WHAT? Wait a minute! Did he just say what I think he said? It sounded to me like Paul was saying that when he sinned, it wasn’t really him that was doing it. Talk about a cop-out. I decided I had better keep reading because I must have misunderstood something. Guarding against taking scripture out of context, I continued on to the next verses…only to discover that he said it again!
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Romans 7:18-20
This appeared to be the biggest case of ‘evading responsibility for one’s actions’ I had ever seen. Paul seemed to be doing the same thing Adam and Eve had done when confronted with their sin. They had played the blame game. It reminded me of the routine “The Devil Made Me Do It”, performed by the comedian Flip Wilson years ago. It seemed almost as foolish. However, I knew better.
As I read and re-read the whole context again, I saw that in putting the blame on “sin” Paul was repeatedly making a distinction between himself and his sin. He clearly distinguishes between his “inner man” and his “body”, between “my mind” and “my members” (verses 22-23). He goes on to declare that a war has waged between these forces…a war he has been unable to win, leaving him a prisoner. Paul then asks the question, “Who will set me free?” and goes on to proclaim, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” I knew about the war, the imprisonment, and yes, I knew about the forgiveness of these sins. What I needed to know was more about this freedom. Surely the answer couldn’t be what Paul appeared to have done in blaming sin so that he could simply escape scot-free. I wasn’t going to be able to let myself off the hook so easily, and besides, I knew this could not be what Paul meant. I still had questions, and once again…God took me to Genesis for answers.
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