The late Christian music pioneer Keith Green had a song entitled “Romans VII.” It was on his album, So You Want To Go Back to Egypt? If you were a Christian kid in the late 70s or early 80s, you know who Keith Green is, and you know how powerful and amazing he was. The feelings he expressed in “Romans VII” are feelings that virtually every Christian at one time or another have shared—feelings of frustration for not being the kind of Christ-like follower we want to be. Indeed, Romans 7:7-25 is a very well-known passage among Christians. When it comes to looking for scriptural confirmation of the inner struggle within the heart of the believer, this is the passage. Just listen to Keith Green’s song, consider the lyrics, and admit it—you have felt that way before.
There’s Only One Problem…That Augustine!
As much as I love Keith Green and his music, though, the problem with “Romans VII,” and indeed the problem with the way most Christians interpret Romans 7:7-25, is that that’s not what Paul is talking about! It may come as a shock to you, but Paul is not talking about the inner struggle in the heart of the believer in Romans 7:7-25.
Whether you know it or not, our understanding of Romans 7:7-25 has been heavily influenced by St. Augustine. And if you know anything about Augustine, you know that before he became a Christian that he was quite a sex-obsessed playboy. And so, when he read Romans 7:7-25 talking about things like “What I want to do, I don’t do; and what I don’t want to do, that I do!” he ended up interpreting the passage as being about the inner struggle of Christian men with lust.
The thing is, though, the Apostle Paul was a gifted celibate. He was perfectly happy and content being single, with no overwhelming problems with lusting for sex. Therefore, when he wrote Romans 7:7-25, he simply wasn’t thinking in the same terms Augustine was thinking about. On top of that, given the argument he is making in Romans, it would be very weird for Paul to suddenly talk about some inner struggle with sin within the heart of the believer. It just doesn’t fit into the argument Paul is making.
So what is Paul talking about in Romans 7:7-25, if he’s not describing the inner life of the believer? Simple: Paul is describing his former life as a Jew who had the Torah, but who did not have Christ. Because he was a Jew who knew his Torah, he knew full well what was right and wrong, yet he nevertheless did those very things he knew were wrong—and boy did he feel guilty about it. We need to keep this in mind if we are to understand what Paul is saying in Romans 7:7-25.
Romans 7:7-12—The Torah isn’t Sin, is it? (And What’s “The Flesh”?)
Therefore, in 7:7-12, Paul begins by asking an absurd question: “Is the Torah sin?” Let’s face it, after all that Paul has said about the Torah up to this point, he hasn’t exactly made the Torah look too good! He’s actually associated it with sin six times (3:20; 4:15; 5:13, 20; 6:14; 7:5). Therefore, Paul needs to take a moment to actually defend the Torah a little bit and make a crucial point. He wants his readers to see that the problem of sin doesn’t lie with the Torah; it lies with us. He says in 7:12 that the Torah is “holy…just and good.” It is from God, and is therefore spiritual. So what happened?
Speaking as a representative Jew, Paul explains that although he had the Torah, he was still a sinner who was still ruled by “the flesh.” This is Paul’s “catch phrase” to describe being in bondage to the Old Age way of things. It’s important to realize that when Paul speaks of “the flesh,” he’s not talking about our physical bodies and our inner lusts. For him, “the flesh” is a reference to the “Old Age” world that is subject to death and decay because of sin. It is a term that denotes strife and discord between people (just look at Galatians 5:19-21). In any case, what Paul is saying is that even though the Torah is spiritual, he, being a “fleshly” sinner, was able to manipulate God’s good Torah so he could sin even more. Simply put, the Torah is a good thing, but it is powerless to stop sin, and therefore sin overpowers a powerless rule-book.
Let’s face it, we all know this from our own experience. As soon as you are told not to do something, you want to do it and start conniving ways to do it and not get caught. Why do you think so many church kids in high school youth groups around the nation desperately don’t want Jesus to come back until they get married? The answer is because “no sex before marriage” is hammered into them all high school long. Now, obviously it’s a good thing to wait until marriage, but we need realize if we pound that into children’s head over and over again, they’re going to want to have sex even more. And that predictable reaction to any good commandment is what Paul is getting at: for the one without Christ, that good commandment actually sparks all kinds of lusts and desires that wouldn’t have been as strong without the commandment. That is the dilemma that Paul had as a religiously observant Jew without Christ.
Romans 7:13-17—Does the Torah Bring Death?
Then Paul asks a second question in Romans 7:13-17: “Did this good thing become death for me?” Paul’s answer is an emphatic “No!” The problem wasn’t the Torah. It was sin working death in me through that good Torah. The Torah certainly points out sin, and calls it for what it is; but the Torah is still nevertheless powerless to prevent sin and death. The Torah, after all, is still a part of the “Old Age world of the flesh”—it can only point out sin; it can’t do anything about it. And therefore, it is easily manipulated by the sin within us.
Just look at what Paul says in 7:14: “I am sold under sin.” Clearly Paul isn’t talking about himself as Christian—just look at 6:15-23, where Paul clearly said that a Christian is no longer a slave to sin. Rather, he is speaking as a representative Jew about the state he was in before he came to Christ. This is the state that Paul’s fellow Jews are in without Christ: they have the Torah, they know it is good, they know right from wrong, but since they are slaves to sin, they find ways of getting around the Torah so they can still sin. The Torah doesn’t bring death—it’s sin that manipulates the Torah that brings death.
Romans 7:18-23—Torah, Torah Torah! Wordplays! Wordplays! Wordplays!
And this brings us to 7:18-23, where Paul has a field day with wordplays on “Torah.” In 7:21, he states that he sees a certain “law” (i.e. torah) at work here: whenever he does good, evil is right there as well. First of all, he delights in the Torah of God in his innermost self (7:22). But then he finds that within him, there is another torah that is warring against the torah of his mind (i.e. the actual Torah in which he delights!)—this other torah actually makes him captive (i.e. a slave!) to the torah of sin that also is within him.
It is safe to say that Paul is describing, to use modern terminology, a living hell. What could be the response of someone who (a) knows what is good, (b) wants to do what is good, but (c) at the same time wants to do what is evil, and thus (d) finds himself powerless to do good, and essentially “addicted” to doing evil? Paul gives that response in 7:24: Who will drag me out from this body of death?” The “fleshly” experience of being an enslaved sinner living under the good Torah brings nothing but despair. And the only one who can save someone from that living hell is Christ—and this is the very Good News that Paul elaborates on in chapter 8.
Conclusion
To sum up here, though, Paul’s argument is quite simple: the person living under Torah is a split person: his mind delights in the Torah of God, but his “members” are enslaved to the “torah” of Sin. The mind says, “Yes! Torah is good! I want to be a slave to the Torah of God!” But the flesh says, “I am a slave to the ‘torah’ of Sin!” And sin always overpowers a powerless (but good) rule-book!
NOTE: With all that said, Paul would never suggest that Christians don’t struggle with sin. The way Keith Green interprets Romans 7, although it is technically exegetically wrong (i.e. Paul isn’t talking about Christians here), it still can be applied to Christians who struggle with sin. That being said, though, it’s important not to leave it at that…and that’s why Romans 8 is so incredibly important.
Stay tuned.
Love that you included Keith Green, he’s one of my favorite musicians\singers. Completely agree with what I’ve read of your articles on Romans. Also knowing that you sat under Gordon Fee is great. My pastor is a colleague of his that has taught around the world. His views on Romans are pretty much the same. It’s too bad that Augustine’s interpretation is so pervasive within Western Christianity.
Thanks for the note. Yes, Gordon Fee was by far the most influential professors I ever had. And yes, Keith Green was amazing. I still think that the Christian music of the late 70s-early 80s was the best.