When Paul talks about the struggle to do what the Law requires in Romans 7, is he reflecting on his own experience as a Jew? Alternatively, Paul may be speaking of his post-conversion struggle with sin. It is even possible that Paul is speaking hypothetically, not using his own experience as a guide. Who is the Wretched Man in Romasn 7:24?
Cranfield (Romans 1:344) lists seven possible interpretations of the “I” in chapter 7:14-25:
- It is autobiographical; Paul is describing his own present Christian experience.
- It is autobiographical; Paul is describing his own past Christian experience.
- It is autobiographical; Paul is describing his own pre-conversion experience in the light of his current Christian faith.
- It presents the experience of a non-Christian Jew, as seen by himself.
- It presents the experience of a non-Christian Jew as seen through Christian eyes.
- It presents the experience of a Christian who is living at the level of the Christian life that can be left behind, who is trying to fight the battle on his own strength.
- It presents the experience of Christians generally, including the very best and mature.
Cranfield sets aside the second possibility as impossible in the light of Philippians 3:6b and Gal 1:14. The fourth possibility is rejected because it contradicts the view of the Jewish “self-complacency” described in chapter 2. The use of the present tense tends to argue against the second and third options. The present tense is too sustained throughout the section for this to be a historical present for vividness. The order of the sentences argues against 2-6. If verse 24 is the cry of an unsaved man, then all of the preceding material should also be before salvation.
The Wretched Man
There are problems with thinking that the “Wretched Man” is Paul’s pre-Christian experience based on recent studies of Judaism by E. P. Sanders and others. This “New Perspective on Paul” argues that Judaism was not a “works for salvation” religion and that “rabbi Saul” would not obsessed about his lack of perfection in following the Law. I suppose it is possible that Paul was a particularly obsessive follower of the Law, but it is also popular scholarship that reads Luther’s own struggle into the passage.
The problem, for Cranfield, in accepting either the first or seventh option is that they present a dark view of the Christian life and one that seems to be incompatible with the concept of the believer’s liberation from sin as presented in 6:6, 14, 17, 22, and 8:2. But it is important to understand that the very fact that there is a struggle indicates that the Spirit of God is present in the writer’s life, for without the Spirit he will never realize that he is in sin and struggle to remove himself from that state. He observes it is “relatively unimportant” that we choose between the first or seventh option since they are virtually the same thing. If it is autobiographical, then Paul struggled with sin as a very mature Christian. Is that possible? While we might think a mature Christian has risen above the wretched struggle, that is not true.
What is the significance of this passage to the believer? We can learn from this passage that it is clear that if Paul himself struggled with sin, then we should realize that we, too, will struggle with sin. In fact, I think there is more danger in “not struggling” than being content in your walk with God.
The sin of complacency is far more dangerous than we might think.
“In fact, I think there is more danger in “not struggling” than being contented in your walk with God. The sin of complacency is far more dangerous than we might think.” – Amen. I totally agree.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
The significance of this passage is in the fact that even Paul struggled with sin. To the people receiving this letter, would have been encouraged knowing they are not alone in there struggle with sin. Some people may have even thought that once they were saved, temptation would never be a problem for them. And if Paul himself struggled with sin they would be able see that the fight against sin is still there. However, a mistake can be made that the struggle will always be there so why try to fight it. In a sense, becoming complacent. The way I see it, if I am not striving forward with my walk with Christ, I am falling back. There is no sitting in the middle hoping for my state of being to change. Christians are to be continually refined to be more like Christ. This process takes time and effort. If the effort is not there, growth will not be happening on its own. A Christian should see struggle as a joy because through trials comes perseverance. James 1:2-4. Knowing that even the leader of the Church, Paul, was struggling with sin would have given the church in Rome an idea that struggle will happen but fighting against temptation is a must.
Paul’s letters to the Romans and so many others provides us with such a great, important and helpful guidelines on how to live our lives in a way that Christ would be happy and proud of. Paul’s life and testimony is not necessarily one of a kind. Certain things he lived through may be unique to him and his story, but when you think about it, we are all similar to Paul. Complete sinners, lost in darkness, yet when we came to know Christ he gave us new life and we are to proclaim it and be proud that our Father is the creator of the universe. “Coming to Christ means, in effect, to experience a totally new change of status with respect to sin and the law” (Moo, 2464). I often times find myself thinking that Paul is somewhat arrogant and wants to show off how close and spiritual he is. I am missing the point. I get caught over thinking and judging Paul’s character when i should be focusing on what he is saying. As human beings we need to be careful with complacency. As stated above, it is far more dangerous than we think. We all struggle with sin and are at different levels. The beauty of it is that Christ accepts us as we are, loves us and is willing to work with us and through us and out testimonies to bring others to him (similar to Paul and his letters that we read and learn from even now).
This is an especially fascinating discussion for me since I was always taught and interpreted Romans 7 as Paul talking about his own struggles with sin. I found it interesting how Longenencker, for example, interprets this passage as Paul presenting the experiences of a Jewish person trying to live out the Law faithfully (p. 184-185). Regardless, however, I find the arguments that this is Paul’s own self-analysis the most compelling. After all, Paul does mention elsewhere that he does not believe that he is yet perfect in this life (Phil. 3:12), nor are the rest of us as Christians expected to be flawless (1 John 2:1). But this passage is powerful. If Paul, a spiritual leader who was confident enough in his spiritual life to encourage less mature believers to imitate him (1 Cor. 11:1), struggled with sin, then we can realize that we will struggle with sin as well. Just because we struggle with sin does not mean that we are horrible Christians or that we need to be unsure of our identity in Christ (John 10:27-29). Rather, because we are fighting against this is sin is an indication that we may be on the right track. Now, of course, this is not to say that because we know that we will struggle with sin that we should just give up (see Romans 6). Instead, we need to be living for God to the best of our abilities even though we know that we will fail at times.
At the end of this blog, you say, ”The sin of complacency is far more dangerous than we might think.” I agree. Complacency means we aren’t moving forward, and the only way to move forward and grow as followers of Christ is by navigating through adversity when it comes our way. This passage is very important to believers because Paul here is bringing light to our inevitable struggles. The fact that the apostle Paul here is talking about how he (assuming that at least a couple of his “I’s” are referring to himself, lets us know that even he experienced pain and struggle. Adversity and heartache knows no boundary or border. Paul indirectly makes it clear that even the most mature of Christians struggle with sin.
Romans 7:24 reads, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” I believe that here Paul is referring to himself in this passage. Whether this is alluding to his past experience as a Jew or at his current state while writing this passage as a Christian, it’s important to know that regardless of when he wrote it, it’s still vital that we understand one thing: We must remember that God chose Paul to preach amongst the Gentiles…yet he was a sinner. This is a good reminder that even though we all sin, and some more than others, that we are always being called to serve The Lord and further his kingdom regardless of the sins that we have committed in the past and still commit in the present.
I think Paul is trying to get across that the more we try to go deeper with our relationship with Christ we can face a lot of struggles in growing and that struggle can produce good fruit that may have you getting closer to Christ. we offend get stagnate in our walk with God never want to take the risk. but i think Paul is explaining as we go on life will get tough its not going to be easy, i think he was talking about his current self the one dying to his flesh daily and writing all these letters for God. someone that useful for god was probably having a lot of temptation thrown at him by the devil. so many if we are not the enemy’s big target to take down we could be doing something wrong, were called to preach the gospel and the demons will try to depress us that’s when we need to trust in God just as Paul did and finish our calling on our life. of course it will not be easy, were humans. but we serve a super natural God.
Knowing Christ does not mean that you won’t struggle with sin. In fact with Christ we are tempted in different ways that still have difficulties. As humans we have fallen and that means that sin is still sin that is a trap. Sin is a serious chain that entraps humans. I believe that Paul is speaking about himself, past or present. With or without Christ humans are still struggling with sin. Paul is talking about how God is the way to being rescued. With God we can be forgiven and saved and because of what Jesus did on the cross for our sins we are given new mercies every day. The significance of this passage is to show that even though Paul was this amazing missionary that preached the gospel and did all these God lead things that he too struggled. Even those who appear to be the best Christians have personal struggles of their own. Everyone deals with sin but those who are close to God learn to overcome what they are dealing with over time. With time we grow and become wiser which Paul talks about later on. Sin is significant because it is what separates us from God but because of Christ we can be made new and have that relationship with Christ our souls desire.
This chapter has always been something that I have always wondered at. We know Paul as the great Apostle who wrote so much on living a holy life. Could it be that Apostle Paul really struggled with sin? I believe that it is all a part of the journey of sanctification. I really like your point that the struggles of sin just show that the Spirit of God is at work. Without the Holy Spirit, we wouldn’t know what is sinful or what is holy. For the Spirit of God is warring with our sinful nature. The struggle only comes from trying to live for the Lord, but still living in a fleshly nature and a sinful world. Paul says this is in Galatians 5:17, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
While we are still in this world, we can not expect to “arrive”. We can’t expect to be perfect and have it all together. Because we are being conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). To be conformed takes time, and it won’t come easily. It is a challenge to become someone different from what and who you used to be and what you are around. But God is faithful and will complete what He has started in us(Philippians 1:6). It is al apart of our spiriryal growth, with the Holy Spirit we can expect change.”[we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)