What fact becomes clear if a person does not understand what he is doing,

He does not possess the power to act according to his own judgment and desires. The sin dwelling in him is in control of his actions.

A few verses later Paul refers to the "law of sin" which was dwelling in the members of his body.

Here is a remarkable fact indeed. The physical body is made up of various chemical elements. It is able to live and move around because of its several systems that work together. There are muscles, bones, nerves, emotions, and so forth that constitute the physical body.

The physical body is morally neutral. God declared that all He had made was "very good." If the physical body is nothing more than a combination of elements arranged in systems, and is good, where, then, does the "law of sin" originate?

In the bones?

In the hair?

In the muscles?

In the nerves?

What is it that induces us to covet and lust?

To lie and steal?

To fall into murderous rages?

To practice sorcery?

If we think back to Adam and Eve, the answer at once becomes apparent. The material creation was "very good." An angel that had left its first place of authority entered the garden in the form of a serpent. The angel, Satan, was able to persuade Adam and Eve to disobey God. The moment they disobeyed God they died. They died in that the law of sin entered the members of their bodies.

Adam and Eve remained alive as flesh and blood people for nearly a millennium. But they were changed. Their physical bodies still were chemical elements working together in systems. But in addition there were abiding in their bodies sinful and rebellious spirits born of the cherub that had deceived them.

Their physical bodies were dead because of indwelling sin and spiritual death. Their spirits were dead, no longer abiding in union with the Spirit of God. Their souls were dead because the soul is in union with God through the spirit.

Although they continued to breathe, and think, and speak, and act, Adam and Eve were dead. The moment they disobeyed they died.

Every descendant of Adam and Eve is born dead, being under the guilt of sin and the power of sin. Many times the question is raised: Was Paul referring, in the seventh chapter of Romans, to a person under the Law of Moses or to a Christian who is being saved by grace?

It is our understanding that Paul is referring to both Jew and Christian, although in the sixth and eighth chapters he points out the path to deliverance for the Christian.

The body of both Jew and Christian is dead because of sin.

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Romans 8:10).

Any Christian believer who is convinced that there is no principle of sin dwelling in the parts of his body is deceiving no one but himself.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8).

Each of us, whether a Jew or a Christian, recognizes there are times we do not behave in a manner we understand or of which we approve. Therefore Paul is speaking to both Jew and Christian, in the seventh chapter of Romans.

There is a difference between the end result of the old covenant and the end result of the new covenant. The old covenant informs us what sin is and issues warnings and guidelines concerning our conduct. The old covenant cannot, however, enable the believer to finally overcome the guilt and compelling power of sin.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect (Hebrews 10:1).

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).

The believer in Christ commences his discipleship with a willing inner man and an unwilling body. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

However, stupendous Divine Virtues and energies have been issued to the Christian that were not available under the old covenant. For example, no believer under the old covenant was born again. No believer under the old covenant possessed the eternal indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No believer under the old covenant was given to eat of the flesh of Christ or to drink of the blood of Christ.

Because of these Satan-destroying virtues and energies the Christian disciple is assured of a continually maturing ability to overcome sinful tendencies through the Virtue contained in Christ’s resurrection Life.

The final state of maturity will be revealed as the Christian shines as part of Christ’s resurrection in the Day of the Lord. At that time, authority and power will be issued to the saint so sin and death will retain no claim or hold on him in any manner whatever.

We shall live to witness the day when all sin and rebellion against God will be destroyed from the earth. Even the memory of sin will be removed. The evil virus of sin and rebellion will be contained eternally where it belongs—in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof (Romans 6:12).

Therefore, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live in the appetites of the flesh (Romans 8:12). Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame (I Corinthians 15:34).

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

Galatians 5:17 teaches us that the struggle of Romans, Chapter Seven is true of the Christian:

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so ye cannot do the things that ye would.

If we are walking in the Spirit of God we are not under the guilt imposed by the Law of Moses. In addition the Spirit keeps on giving us the power to refrain from fulfilling the lusts of our flesh.

If we fight the good fight of faith, gaining, through the Holy Spirit, mastery over the sin that dwells in our flesh, we will receive the robe of righteous conduct.

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Hebrews 9:28).

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