* Romans 7:7-8:4

Who Is This :

Saul, Paul Or Israel?

 

Owen Lee   ·   02/29/04   ·   Romans 7:7-8:4

 

  

I.                 Introduction

A.    As I mentioned last week, there has been a long-standing controversy concerning our text today.

1.     Paul describes his intense struggle and battle with sin. He knows what is good, but he does not do it. He knows what is evil, but he does it anyway. He loves the Law and even delights in it, confessing that it is good.

2.     But he cannot obey the Law. There is a war raging within him- as he loves what he hates, and as he hates what he loves.

3.     And at the end of chapter 7, he says something that all of us can relate to, saying, “O wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

B.    The controversy centers on this question: From what perspective is Paul writing?

1.     Is Paul describing his struggle with sin before he was a Christian, or after? Is Paul writing from the perspective of a non-Christian who is a slave to sin”, or from the perspective of a Christian who is struggling with sin”?

2.     Is he writing as “Saul the unregenerate Jew” or as “Paul the regenerate Christian?”

C.    There are 2 very popular views or interpretations. Both views have their strengths and their weaknesses. But there is also a 3rd view that we will consider, a view that I am personally inclined to hold. Today, I will briefly outline all 3 views for you, and you can make up your own mind.

1.     But let me say this at the very get-go. All 3 views are acceptable; no one view is definitively superior to the other views. This is one of those areas where we can all come down on different sides of the debate, and it’s okay.

2.     We will still love one another, respect one another, and be in godly fellowship with one another. There are things to divide over, and this is not one of them. This is one of those areas where we can, with charity, “agree to disagree.”

II.               View 1: The Experience of the Non-Christian with sin (the “Unregenerate Saul” view)

A.    The first interpretation says that the one who is speaking is Unregenerate Saul.

1.     He is describing what his life was like before he was regenerated, before he was a Christian.

2.     He is describing his slavery to sin and his total inability to obey the Law of God as a non-Christian.

B.    The strength of this interpretation is found in 7:14. There he says that he is of flesh, and that he is “sold into bondage to sin.”

1.     Earlier in chapter 6, Paul said emphatically that Christians are no longer slaves to sin, that they have been freed from sin and enslaved to God. A Christian is not and cannot be a slave to sin.

2.     Then how can 7:14 be describing a believer? How can a Christian say that he is “sold into bondage to sin”? Paul has just said the exact opposite; this would blatantly contradict what Paul said in the previous chapter.

3.     Therefore, this first view concludes that Paul is speaking as an unregenerate person, as a non-Christian- because Paul calls himself, in essence, a slave to sin.

C.    Now proponents of this view do not argue against the fact that Christians experience intense struggles with sin. They argue that there are other places in the Bible that clearly teach the reality that Christians do struggle with sin and therefore need to be sanctified.

1.     But they argue that what is described in our text is not “struggle” with sin, but “slavery” to sin and “complete defeat” at the hands of sin.

2.     And this is unacceptable in light of the rest of Paul’s teachings on the Christian life.

D.    So you can see why this view is very popular. But this view has its problems. The problem is that Paul also says things in our text that can only be true of a regenerated believer. This, then, leads to the next view.

III.             View 2: The Experience of the Christian with sin (the “Regenerate Paul” view)

A.    The second view says that the one who is speaking is Regenerate Paul. Paul is writing as a Christian, and he is describing his struggle with sin as a believer.

B.    The strength of this view is found in 7:22. There Paul says that he “joyfully concurs with the Law of God in the inner man.”

C.    First of all, Paul says that he joyfully concurs with the Law of God, that he delights in the Law of God.

1.     Now is that even possible for the unregenerate person, for the person who has not been born again from above? No, it is not.

a)     The unregenerate man does not seek after God (3:11). And he cannot submit to the law of God (8:7).

b)     Only the regenerate man, only the true believer, can truly delight in God’s law, seek to obey it and serve it.

2.     And this expression “to delight in the Law of God” reminds us of the believers in the OT.

a)     Psalm 1 says that it is the “blessed man” who delights in the Law of God. The “wicked man” does not; he hates the Law of God.

b)     In Psalm 119, David delights in the Law of God. He says in verse 97, “O how I love Thy Law! It is my meditation all the day.”

3.     The point is this: Only regenerated believers can love and delight in the Law of God.

D.    Second, Paul says that he delights in the Law of God “in the inner man.”

1.     This expression, “the inner man”, occurs only in 2 other places in Paul’s writings.

a)     In 2 Cor. 4:16, Paul says, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

b)     In Eph. 3:16, Paul says, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”

2.     In both cases, it is clearly referring to the “inner man” that is there by God’s saving grace. Only believers have the “inner man” that is being renewed, the “inner man” that is being strengthened, the “inner man” that delights in the Law of God.

3.     The point is this: Only regenerated believers have the “inner man” that loves the Law of God.

E.     Therefore, the second view says that Paul is speaking as a believer, as a Christian who loves the Law but struggles with sin.

F.     But this view has problems as well. And the big problem comes in Romans 7:9. Now how are we to understand this strange verse?

1.     Paul says that he was once alive apart from the Law and that he died when the Law came.

a)     Now how can Paul say something like that? Was there ever a time that Paul could say that he did not have the Law, that he was apart from the Law?

b)     No, he can’t.

2.     Paul was born a Jew; he was born under the Law.

a)     There was never a single day in his life that he did not have the Law. He was circumcised on the 8th day, according to the Law.

b)     As to the Law, he was a Pharisee, meaning that he kept and obeyed the Law with a fanatical zeal.

3.     The point is this: Paul was never apart from the Law. He always had the Law.

G.    So what is Paul talking about in Rom. 7:9? How can he say this when it was not his personal history? Is Paul then talking about himself, or is he talking about somebody else? This, then, leads to the 3rd view.

IV.            View 3: The Experience of Israel under the Law (the “redemptive-historical” view)

A.    The 3rd view says that it is Paul who is speaking, but he is speaking as a “typical” Jew.

1.     He is speaking as a Jew who is in corporate solidarity with his people, with the nation of Israel. Paul is describing as his own experience the experience of Israel.

2.     For Paul, the history of Israel is his own history. So, in a sense, Paul is speaking with a voice that represents Israel.

3.     Therefore, this view says that Paul is describing the history of national Israel under the Old Covenant. Paul is describing Israel’s experience under the Law of Moses.

B.    Now the strength of this interpretation is found in Romans 7:9.

1.     This verse is not applicable to Paul himself, but it is applicable to the nation of Israel.

2.     There was a time when Israel was alive apart from the Law. And when was that? It was during the time of the patriarchs; during the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

3.     During that time, they had the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, but they did not have the Law. So, in a sense, they were alive apart from the Law.

4.     But 430 years after the Abrahamic covenant had been made, at Mt. Sinai, through Moses, the Law came. And when the Law came, what happened to Israel? Sin became alive, and Israel died.

C.    And what is the history and experience of Israel under the Law of Moses, as Israel sought to obey the Law?

1.     Verses 14-25, then, describe Israel’s inability to obey the Law. It describes the futility of seeking sanctification by the Law.

a)     Remember, in chapters 3-5, Paul has shown us the futility of seeking justification by the Law. Now, in chapters 6-7, Paul is showing us the futility of seeking sanctification by the Law.

b)     Israel knew what was good and holy, but they did what was evil. They sinned over and over and over again. They failed to keep God’s Law time and time again.

c)     The history of Israel shows us plainly that Israel never learned its lesion. Israel repeatedly broke covenant with God. Instead of being sanctified by the Law, Israel was condemned by the Law.

d)     As a result, Israel was judged for its sin and covenant unfaithfulness, and exiled from the Promised Land, and sent into captivity in a foreign land.

2.     Verse 24, then, is the desperate cry of Israel in exile, in ruins and shame.

a)     Israel sees what their sins have caused. It has caused the destruction of Jerusalem, the holy city of God. It has caused them to be kicked out of the Promised Land. It has caused them to be rejected as the “people of God.” It has caused them to be a reproach in the eyes of the world.

b)     And therefore, in the dust and ashes of total destruction, Israel cries out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

D.    This third view, then, says that this passage is talking about the experience of Israel under the Law of Moses. As Israel sought to be sanctified by the Law, it only resulted in their destruction, degradation, and condemnation.

1.     But this 3rd view does not deny the elements that support the view that this passage is talking about the regenerate believer’s struggle with sin.

2.     Remember, the OT people of God also had the Spirit of God; they were regenerate believers, like David. The OT saints loved and delighted in the Law, and they desired to keep the Law. Why? Because they were regenerate believers.

3.     But the problem was that they did not have the ability to keep it.

4.     So this 3rd view is sympathetic and even compatible, to a certain degree, with the 2nd view.

V.              The Question: Why then does Paul use “I” if this is really about Israel?

A.    It is because Paul wants you to identify with him and with Israel. He wants you to identify with the experience of Israel under the Old covenant. Paul wants you to see yourself in Israel and in Israel’s history.

1.     Paul speaks as if he were there at Mount Sinai when the Law came.

a)     Paul speaks as if he were right there with his people, as they sinned over and over again.

b)     Paul speaks as if he were there with his people when they were exiled from the Promised Land and sent into captivity.

c)     Paul speaks as if what happened to Israel happened to him.

d)     Or more accurately, Paul speaks as if he were there and participated in all that Israel did.

2.     Now why does Paul speak like that? Actually, the Jews had a habit of speaking like that- speaking as if they themselves personally participated in what their people as a whole experienced in the past.

3.     The most famous example of this is the Passover meal.

a)     During the Passover meal, every Jew confesses that he or she was a slave in Egypt and was redeemed through the events of the Passover.

b)     At the Passover meal, every Jew speaks as if he or she were there at the “original” Passover, when Israel came out of Egypt.

4.     Though it may not have been true of their own personal history, yet every Jew identified with and participated in the history of his people. The Jews had a sense of “corporate identity” that we Americans don’t really have or understand.

5.     For example, on Independence Day, we don’t speak as if we were there, fighting in the War of Independence against England. We just remember it and are thankful for it- if even that.

6.     But the Jews did more than just remember and be thankful for past events. They re-lived it; they participated in it “by faith”, if you will.

B.    Do you see what Paul is doing?

1.     By using the “I” language, Paul makes it easy to identify with him. But Paul does not want you to identify with him per se, but he wants you to identify with Israel.

a)     In a sense, the “transitive property” is going on here. If a equals b, and b equals c, then a equals c.

b)     In the same way, if we identify with Paul, and Paul identifies with Israel, then we identify with Israel.

2.     Because of the continuity and unity of the covenant people of God, we, as the New Covenant people of God, are connected to the Old Covenant people of God.

a)     In fact, Israel’s history is a part of our own history now.

b)     Paul is bringing us into Israel’s experience; he is making us participants in the history of Israel under the Old Covenant.

3.     You hear Paul describe his problem with sin, and you immediately identify with it. You say, “I know what that feels like! I know exactly what Paul is talking about! I go through that struggle every day!”

a)     In this passage, Paul wants to show us that we understand Israel’s struggle with sin under the Law a lot more profoundly than we think.

b)     Israel’s history is not distant and detached from us; in fact, it is very near to us, as if we experienced it all ourselves. As we read verses 14-25, we see ourselves, and we see our struggles.

c)     Every regenerate believer who struggles with indwelling sin knows exactly what Paul is talking about.

VI.            The Exhortation: So What?

A.    I will conclude my sermon today by considering the following question: So WHY does Paul want us to identify with Israel? Why does Paul want us to know and even feel our corporate solidarity with Israel?

1.     It is because he ultimately wants us to identify with and participate in Israel’s cry of Rom. 7:24: “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?”

a)     Paul wants us to say with Israel, “I am utterly destroyed; I am utterly wretched. There is no more hope for me. My sins have utterly ruined me.”

b)     The term “wretched” is used in the OT to refer to the devastation of Israel. Like Israel, we are destroyed; we are devastated; we are wretched- all because of our sin, all because of our inability to be sanctified by the Law.

2.     Paul wants us to see and to feel what life under the Law is like. The Law will only lead to our failure, misery, and destruction. The Law will lead only to our revealed as wretched and condemned.

B.    But it is only as we identify with the wretched misery of Israel that we can also identify with the blessed hope of Israel.

1.     The Law is meant to show us our sin, so that we might learn to trust in Christ alone for our justification and sanctification.

2.     As we identify with wretch Israel, as we identify with Israel who could not be sanctified by the Law, we must learn to look to God for all that we need.

3.     We must learn to trust Christ- not only for our justification but also for our sanctification.

C.    Have you come to that place where you know that you sin and do the very thing you hate?

1.     Have you come to that place where you know that you cannot sanctify yourself by your obedience, no matter how hard you may try?

2.     How you come to that place where you have seen the great evil that dwells within you, causing you to utter in despair, “O wretched man that I am! Who will save me from the body of this death”?

D.    Then for you- for you who are broken and devastated by your sin- I have “good news” for you today. Listen now to these precious words of life.

1.     There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2.     For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

3.     For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

4.     By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,

5.     he condemned sin in the flesh,

6.     in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,

7.     who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.