Understanding Romans 7: The Experience of the Convicted Man

Romans 7

1 Know you not, brothers, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

2 For the woman which has an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

3 So then if, while her husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

4 Why, my brothers, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God.

5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit to death.

6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet.

8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, worked in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be to death.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

12 Why the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

13 Was then that which is good made death to me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law that it is good.

17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

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.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

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.

Romans 7 describes the experience of the convicted man who is discovering his spiritual poverty and the depth of his sin through the mirror of the lawMMM 64.3+1. While the apostle Paul was converted at the time he wrote this, he was tracing the experience of the school of the law and his deliverance from the carnal mind, which is not subject to God's law Romans 7:7-25+1MMM 64.3.

The Role of the Law in Conviction

The experience in Romans 7 highlights how the law serves as a schoolmaster to show us our guilt and just condemnation Romans 7:7MMM 64.3. Without the instruction of the law, a person can never truly know their guilt in the sight of GodMMM 64.3. Paul explained that he was once alive without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and he died to his own self-sufficiency Romans 7:93T 475.1. The law detects sin and makes it appear "exceeding sinful," driving the convicted soul to see that they are sold under sin and in desperate need of a Savior Romans 7:13-14MMM 64.3+1.

The Struggle of the Unrenewed Heart

The intense conflict described is the struggle of the natural, carnal mind that is at enmity with God Romans 8:7T10 48.1.

• Enslavement to Sin: The individual finds that even when they desire to do good, they lack the power to perform it because they are held captive by the law of sin in their members Romans 7:18-23.

• The Carnal State: This state represents the "old man" with his errors and the "fleshly mind" that has not yet been fully transformed by the Spirit of God Romans 7:14T07 57.1+1.

• Inability to Keep the Law: Human nature, apart from a vital union with Christ, cannot keep the holy requirements of the law, no matter how much the convicted man might consent that the law is good Romans 7:16ST May 30, 1895, par. 2.

Deliverance and the New Creature

The transition from the wretchedness of Romans 7 to the peace of Romans 8 marks the move from conviction to genuine conversion Romans 7:24-25+1MMM 64.3.

• The Change of Mind: When the soul is truly converted, the carnal mind is subdued and the individual becomes a new creature in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:172SG 263.3+1.

• Spiritual Discernment: The book that once seemed unattractive because it testified against the sinner becomes the joy of the life once the heart is renewedPH152 33.1+1.

• Victory through Christ: True deliverance only comes when the sinner dies to sin and the carnal mind, and is hidden with Christ in God Romans 8:2BEcho January 15, 1889, par. 5.

The "wretched man" cry is the honest confession of a soul overwhelmed by the sense of loss and sin, which finally leads them to stop justifying themselves and accept the righteousness of Christ Romans 7:24YI August 1, 1895, par. 3+1. This conviction is the essential work of the Holy Spirit, enticing the soul toward righteousness and leading them to the cross of CalvaryYI August 1, 1895, par. 3+1.