Understanding the Sin
Nature
Romans 7 has one of the more interesting passages in the Bible, one that in some ways looks like a tongue twister, in some ways like a mind game. Paul speaks of the sinful nature and how there is truly nothing good in him without the Holy Spirit. When we look at chapter 8 we see how the Spirit of God changes everything. My goal, besides figuring out how this all works, is to show a mindset that will make forgiving others easier. So let’s look at the sinful nature:
“1: Know ye not, brethren, (for
I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man
as long as he liveth?
2: For the woman which hath an husband is bound
by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she
is loosed from the law of her husband.
3: So then if, while her husband liveth, 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: Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised
from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto 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 unto 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. Nay, I had not
known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said,
Thou shalt not covet.
8: But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought 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 unto
death.
11: For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it
slew me.
12: Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and
good.
13: Was then that which is good made death unto 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 unto the law that it
is good.
17: Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth 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 dwelleth 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 in Entirety KJV
He starts with the analogy of a dead husband freeing a woman to marry, and us being dead to the law frees us to marry Christ. This does not mean that the law was a bad thing, as he says in verse 7, because it taught us what sin is. We have to understand that God established certain things that determine right from wrong, and His word is law! We complain about legalism but as a friend pointed out to me, God is the ultimate legalist. What He says goes; it’s not up for discussion.
The idea I get from verse 9 is that once you know about sin it instantly kills you. In some ways I wonder if you are in a way spiritually alive if no one tells you about sin and Jesus. Doesn’t make complete sense, I’ll have to think about that one for a while. The commandment caused sin to become the big deal, and killed him.
Verses 14 to the end are the explanation of the sinful nature without Christ, or perhaps even the sinful nature with Christ if you let it out and don’t crucify it. Verse 18 makes it abundantly clear that it is in the flesh he speaks of, and nothing good is within him. If we go back up to verse 5 we can make the observation that even “good works” done from the sinful nature wind up meaningless, although spiritual principles still apply.
Forgiveness Made
Easier
Verse 20 shows that it is the sin within us that causes us to do things, and this is the key to “forgiveness made easier”. If it is sin within me that causes me to hurt you, but not me, then you should be upset about the sin, but not offended with me as a person. I am simply allowing the sinful nature to manifest and you should actually pity me. If we grab one verse from chapter 8, you’ll see why:
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.” Romans
We can understand that this is spiritual death and life here, for all die physically whether sinners or righteous. I have to mortify the deeds of the body through the Spirit; or else I will live after the flesh and die for it.
So if I am
sinning against you, I am putting myself on a road to spiritual death if I do
not repent (See James
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Luke 6:27-28 KJV
When someone is hurting you, whether Christian or sinner, you can realize that it’s their sin nature manifesting and you should pray for them to turn from their wicked ways. I think that to not pray for them and to hold the offense is to wish Hell on them, for that is the ultimate punishment for sin. Perhaps this is why Jesus warned us of the dire consequences for not forgiving others in Matthew 18.
So your job is to separate the sin from the person sinning and realize that it isn’t the actual person who is trying to hurt you. Indeed they who are not mortifying the deeds of the body through the Spirit can not help but do evil things. They are behaving the only way they know.
It’s when somebody knows better that it gets really hard. It’s much easier to forgive a sinner than a Christian, for you expect a lot more of the Christian. Yet you can still understand that their sin against you has come from that sin nature and they are far too valuable to harbor bitterness against. When you hate seeing people go to Hell and care about souls, forgiveness will become much less of a burden. Unforgiveness is really selfishness. 5 to 6 billion people are living in selfishness, it’s a big problem that we need to be working against, not adding to.
Into Chapter 8
There is way more to Romans 8 than I think I could ever fully grasp, and I think I’m only up to a bit of it tonight. We now see the very sharp contrast between walking in the flesh and in the Spirit:
“1: There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.
2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death.
3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh:
4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace.
7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9: But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the
Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:1-10 KJV
It’s like
going from one end of the spectrum to the other, and back again a couple
times. This passage sums it up pretty
well; have the Spirit of Christ and walk in Him, or go to Hell. It’s pretty blunt, and pretty powerful. I wonder how those in
With all the beautiful promises are
the warnings, we need both for the complete picture. Focusing only on the promises leaves us where
we can’t be hurt by our doctrine, focusing only on the warnings leaves us in
condemnation. On the whole