Romans 7 & 8 Introduction

Before going through these two chapters verse by verse I will give some thoughts on where we are and what is going on in these chapters.

So far Paul has essentially spoken about the illogicality of considering sin as a reasonable option, countering various arguments that might be made. Some of these arguments are, albeit in slightly different form, still found today. For instance, many think that the gospel just means you can get away with sin. Now Paul turns to the practicalities of living in the light of the gospel. If sin is bad and to be avoided how are we to live? The natural way, the way of the law, is to put our best efforts into trying to live a good life. To use all our resources in trying to achieve this. This is the way that we know. We can see it on a national scale if some monumental failure arises in childcare or some similar sphere. What will happen is that an inquiry is set up, the inquiry produces a raft of recommendations, and we resolve to enact these recommendations. There are usually two consequences. One is that there is another disaster a year or two down the line, the other is that the new rules also make it harder to function well. On a more personal level, our natural reaction to our sin is to resolve to do better, but in the end we fail. There are two key aspects about this approach. One is that it is doomed to failure. Paul will expand on this problem and explain why it exists in the latter part of chapter 7, and then in chapter 8 present the new way of living. The second aspect is that we have a deep commitment to it, we feel obligated to going down this road of “trying harder”. Indeed, we think that if we don’t do that then we are somehow failing, or not being pleasing to God. We feel guilty if we don’t “try harder”. Paul will deal with this latter aspect in the first few verses of this chapter. Does this mean that as Christians we should not “try harder”, not put any effort into trying to do what is right? No. If we read all of Paul’s writings we see that this is definitely not the case. The key point is are we living out of our own strength, or are we living by the Spirit? Paul will speak at length on this in chapter 8.