A Tale of Two Natures

Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good... For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand... O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 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.

When the new man and the old flesh wage war inside you, the only deliverance is found outside yourself, in Christ.

The Goodness of the Law That Exposes Sin

I love this section of Scripture, partly because it is so backwards and strange that my dyslexic mind totally grasps it. We have been walking through Romans 7, considering the goodness of the law in light of the question, "Is the law sin?" That question stems from the law's power in exposing our sin. As I have repeated, the law of God reveals the righteousness of God, and in that light we begin to see how completely lost we are.

So the law is very good at exposing sin — the sin of every individual, including the believer. Even after a person puts their faith in Christ for salvation, their sin is still evident. Not only evident: we saw in verse 5 that indwelling sin, resident within every individual, is inflamed by the law. The passions of indwelling sin are ignited by the law, ultimately leading to death.

How then is the law good, if it exposes sin and ignites it to pour forth with power? It is good because it is the expression of God's character, which is holy, just, and good. And it is good because it reveals the cancer of sin resident within every one of us. It shows us what is actually there, causing the terrible problem.

A friend of mine had surgery this week to remove a tiny four-millimeter tumor behind his ear, near a nerve. About a year ago he had vertigo and extreme headaches, and they couldn't tell what it was. They saw the symptoms, so they did an MRI — and there it was. "That's the cause. If we remove that, the symptoms will go away." We see the symptoms of sin in the world, and the law exposes what is causing them.

Two Natures at War

Although we have been crucified with Christ, the old sin nature is still quite active, and the law makes it painfully evident. So if, after conversion, we try to maintain our righteous position by keeping the law, the law will do what the law does — "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). Paul says, "I would not have known covetousness had the law not said, 'You shall not covet.'" Even post-conversion, the law reveals what is within us, and sometimes we are amazed at what is there.

Think of Peter. Jesus told His disciples, "All of you will be offended for Me this night." Peter said, "Though they all... I will never." Can you relate to saying, "Lord, I will never"? Within a few short hours he was confronted with the reality that, though his spirit was willing, his flesh was weak.

If you try in your own might, even after receiving the Spirit of Christ, to maintain righteousness by the law, you will always be convicted as a sinner, defeated by the power of indwelling sin. Sin is terribly powerful, even in the life of a follower of Jesus. Though we who are in Christ have a new spiritual nature — "if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) — we still find ourselves in Romans 7: the good I want to do, I don't do; the bad I don't want to do, I practice.

It is like spiritual schizophrenia. Pastor Mark Childers reminded me of the best example this morning: in The Lord of the Rings, Gollum goes back and forth between Sméagol and Gollum. The old man needs to die daily. Paul says in Galatians 5:17, "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

The I/Me Key

In this last section of Romans 7 we see a tale of two natures within the believer, perhaps more clearly than anywhere else in Scripture. It is my opinion that Paul contrasts these two natures using two personal pronouns: I and me. Every time you see "I," that's the new nature — who Paul really is in Christ. Every time he uses "me," that points back to the old nature. I call this the "I/me key," and it is a key to unlocking Romans 7. Without it, you'll have a hard time with this seemingly schizophrenic passage.

In thirteen verses, Paul uses one of these personal pronouns thirty-three times; add "my" and it's thirty-seven. This is one of the most personally focused passages in Paul's writing, which blows away the theory that Paul is setting up a hypothetical. Some commentators say this is not Paul's personal struggle — that maybe some weird carnal Christian experiences this, but surely not the apostle Paul. No. This was Paul's own experience, probably early in his conversion. It is the dreadful internal struggle of a Christian living out Galatians 5:17. When you recognize that, you understand why he could say, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). This is not the experience of an unbeliever; it is what a Christian with the war between Spirit and flesh experiences.

Sin Always Brings Death

Look at verse 13: "Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not!" At the close of the last section he said the law is holy, just, and good. Yet the law, being good, exposes sin and ultimately brings about a spiritual sort of death — the vitality of the Spirit's work in our life is gone, the witness for Christ is gone, the fruit of the Spirit no longer evident, even though you're a believer.

So the question arises: if the law is good, how did something good bring death to me? Paul reveals that death is the result of sin. "The wages of sin is death." Our flesh, indwelt by sin, is brought under bondage and death. It's as if the new man, "created in righteousness and holiness after God" (Ephesians 4), is carrying around a dead body, burdened by the stench of sin. Sin is always a killer. The problem always was and always will be sin.

After salvation, our sinful flesh often tricks us into vainly imagining that by our own effort we can now maintain the righteousness we never could before. We foolishly assume that by our wit and strength we can maintain righteousness by the law. But the law draws sin into the open so that we are once again driven to Christ. This is why the gospel is necessary in the life of the Christian — whether you've been one for five days, five years, or fifty years. We need the gospel every day, because we constantly need grace. Hebrews says the throne of grace is open so we can "obtain mercy and grace for our time of need." The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we realize our need of grace is constant.

The Law Is Spiritual, But I Am Carnal

Not only is the law holy, just, and good — it is spiritual. The law ought not be relegated to a mere moral code or ethical system. Adam Clarke says, "The law of God is a spiritual system; it reaches to the most hidden thoughts, purposes, dispositions, and desires of the human heart and soul; it reproves and condemns everything, without hope of reprieve or pardon." The law reaches deep within and exposes how desperate we are. This is why it is impossible for carnal humanity to fulfill the righteous requirement of God's holy, just, good, and spiritual law.

Remember the key: "I am carnal" is the new nature speaking. In our flesh we always say, "I'm a pretty good person." But the spiritual nature recognizes our lostness. So there is inner turmoil — the spiritual nature created in righteousness recognizes, "I am fallen, a sinner, in need of grace continually," while the other part within our members says, "No, everything's okay, I've got this, we can justify this." Every Christian here knows this back and forth.

The believer must recognize that, even though regenerated by the Spirit, they are still carnal, and this flesh will not go with us into the next life. Thank God for that! "This corruption will put on incorruption, this mortality will put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15). We'll celebrate what brings that about next Sunday — the resurrection of Jesus. When we see Him, we'll be like Him, and this old body will be gone. Salvation is always by grace, never accomplished by our own strength or law-keeping.

My Own Behavior Baffles Me

Verse 15: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." The new nature says, "What I am doing, being led by the flesh, I don't understand. I find myself doing the very thing I don't want to do."

Guys, have you ever had words coming out of your mouth and thought, "Why am I saying that?" Ladies, you've experienced it too. Your spouse says, "Why did you say that?" and you answer, "I don't even know where that came from." And God says, "That was always there. You just got a chance to see it." Why? So you can confess it, repent, be forgiven, and be cleansed. That is the power we find in Christ.

This was Paul's experience. Here was a former Pharisee who said, "According to the law, I am blameless" (Philippians 3:6). Then he gets saved and finds himself tossed to and fro. It's even worse than just failing to do good — the new nature actually hates to do bad, yet finds itself doing what is repulsive. J.B. Phillips translates verse 15, "My own behavior baffles me." It's a Jekyll-and-Hyde existence. Or, even better, the Hulk: "You don't want to see me angry." Then it's unlocked and you think, "That was in there?" Yes, that was in there.

The Four R's

If you find yourself this week with the good you want to do undone and the bad you don't want to do practiced, what can you do? Here are the four R's from Scripture.

First, recognize that sin and sinful passions desire to bring you into bondage. Recognize that what Paul says here is true — until we are set free by the death of this physical body, there are two natures.

Second, remember that Christ has set you free from sin's hold, as we saw in Romans 6. You no longer have to be held in sin's clutches.

Third, repent from the sin you are currently practicing.

Fourth, return to following Christ by faith and walking in the Spirit. That language may sound flowery, but after Easter we'll spend a five-week series in Romans 8 looking at victory by walking in the Spirit, to the point that Paul says, "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." God's aim is not that we live a Romans 7 existence, but the victory of Romans 8. I know many in this church walking in that victory.

The Good Key

Verse 16: "If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good." Besides the I/me key, there is the "good key." Paul uses the word "good" eight times in this section. In English they all read "good," but in Greek there are two different words. One is agathos — from which we get the name Agatha — meaning intrinsically, internally good. The other is kalos, meaning beautiful or externally good.

In verse 12 Paul said the law is agathos — internally good. Here in verse 16 the word is kalos — externally beautiful. So he is compounding what he said earlier: the law is not only intrinsically good, it is also beautiful, good on the outside, good through and through. Five times in this section he says something is internally good, and three times externally good. When we get to verse 18, we'll see why it matters.

It Is Sin That Dwells in Me

Verse 17: "But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." Some get confused and think this is a "the devil made me do it" excuse. I did junior high ministry for four years. You'd see a junior higher do something wrong, say, "Don't do that!" and they'd answer, "I didn't do anything." Having kids now, I know it doesn't start in junior high — it starts at age one. "Don't hit your sister." "I didn't hit her." "I saw you." "I didn't do it." I think they're convinced they didn't, but they did.

It's no longer "I," the new man, who does it, but sin dwelling within "me," the old flesh. Ephesians 4:24 says the new man is "created according to God in true righteousness and holiness," while verse 22 says of the old man, "corrupt according to deceitful lusts" — epithymia, the same word behind "You shall not covet." So when the Christian steps into sin, it is not the new nature, but the old nature, in which sin still dwells.

Verse 18: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." The will to do good is not resident in the old nature — the old nature wants to sin. But the desire is present in the new man. Why can't he perform it? Because the old nature, at this point in Paul's experience, was rather strong.

In our School of Discipleship we discuss this: when you are born again, you are a babe in Christ — a baby, quite defenseless against the giant that is your flesh. When temptation comes, the giant carries the new nature along kicking and screaming. Unfortunately, some have been in church twenty or thirty years and remain "Baby Huey Christians." They never put their flesh to death, never stop feeding it, so they are perpetually in Romans 7 and know nothing of Romans 8 and the victory of Christ. I've counseled people who didn't even know Romans 7 was in the Bible, essentially crying, "O wretched man that I am!" I show them the chapter, and they ask, "What do I do?" Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) — which is what Romans 8 is all about.

Nothing Good Dwells Within

Notice the "good" words in verse 18. "In me dwells no good thing" — agathos, internally good. Since nothing internally good is resident in me, it can't produce anything externally good, "for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts." So when he says, "but how to perform what is good I do not find," that good is kalos, externally good. Why can't he find it? Because the source within is evil.

So if you are looking at pornography, or lusting, or raging on people, and you keep saying, "I've just got to stop doing that symptom" — it's symptomatic of what's inside. You need to deal with what's inside, or you'll always have the problem on the outside. You must put to death the members of sin, or you'll always be overcome.

Verse 19: "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." There's a play on words here: "the good," kalos, "that I will to do, I don't do; but the evil," kakos — yes, you heard it — "I do." The evil I don't want to do, that I practice continually; it's present active indicative, continual action.

Verse 20 repeats verse 17: "If I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." Apply the key, and it makes sense — I, the new man, do what I, the new man, do not want; it is no longer I doing it, but sin dwelling in my old nature.

Let's remember what we've seen: "Sin should not reign in your mortal bodies" (Romans 6:12). "The sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death, but now we've been delivered" (Romans 7:5-6). "Do not present your members as instruments to do sin" (Romans 6:13), "for you are the slave of whoever you obey" (Romans 6:16). The new heart, granted at the new birth, brings new desires for righteousness. But in our newborn zeal we think we can reject sin by our own power — and the law only reveals the depths of sin within us, inflaming the very passions we sought to conquer.

Who Will Deliver Me?

Verse 21: "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good." The new man desires to do good, yet finds this principle — evil, kakos, resident within. Verse 22: "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." But verse 23: "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."

The response: "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" The original reads, "the body of this death." It is said that in Tarsus, the city where Saul was born, a murderer was punished by lashing the body of his victim to him. The murderer would go about carrying the dead man, until decay brought illness and his own death. Paul seems to have that picture in mind: "I've got this old wretched man bound to me. Who will deliver me?"

This is the cry of the new man. Notice, "O wretched man that I am" — the old flesh doesn't say that. Only the new man created in righteousness cries out. And notice he asks not "what" or "how" or "when," but "who?" Paul is not ignorant of the answer.

I Thank God Through Jesus Christ

Verse 25: "I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!" God is the Deliverer; Jesus is the means. This is why He is named Jesus. The angel told Joseph, "You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus means "Jehovah is Salvation." God is the Deliverer; Jesus is the means whereby we are delivered.

Christian, every day of your life until you breathe your last and shed this fleshly tent, you and I must recognize that Jesus is the only way to deal with our sinful flesh. If we try to apply the law to maintain righteousness, just trying harder and pressing through, we'll always be conscious of the continual kakos in us.

So Paul concludes: "With the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." This is the reality for the Christian. We have been made a new creation in righteousness and true holiness; God sees us in Christ as holy and blameless. But we still have a second nature — the old nature. If you walk in it, perpetually feeding it, it will grow strong enough to overcome the new nature, and you'll serve the law of sin in the flesh. You will never accomplish the law in the flesh. The answer is to put the old nature to death daily. "I have been crucified with Christ; the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who gave Himself for me." Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

You Don't Need a Coach, You Need a Savior

Let me finish with a reading from my friend David Guzik: "Even though the law is glorious and good, it can't save us — and we need a Savior. Paul never found peace or praise to God until he looked outside himself and beyond the law to his Savior, Jesus Christ.

"You thought the problem was that you didn't know what to do — but the law came as a teacher and taught you, and you couldn't do it. You don't need a teacher, you need a Savior.

"You thought the problem was that you weren't motivated enough — but the law came as a coach to encourage you on, and still you didn't do it. You don't need a coach, you need a Savior.

"You thought the problem was that you didn't know yourself enough — but the law came as a doctor to perfectly diagnose your sin problem, and it couldn't heal you. You don't need a doctor, you need a Savior."

Jesus is the Christ — the Savior. And He is your Savior not only on the day you receive Him, but fifty years from now, every day of your life. The law's purpose is to drive you to Him all the time. This is why it is not a bad thing to meditate in His law day and night — because it pushes you closer to Jesus.

Hosanna — Save Now

On Palm Sunday two thousand years ago, pilgrims from all over Israel headed to Jerusalem for Passover. As they climbed the hills, they sang the Psalms of Ascension, the last being Psalm 118. It was not abnormal for them to sing, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," when Jesus entered Jerusalem — they did that every year. They also sang, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." What they failed to recognize was that the Psalm was being fulfilled before them as Jesus entered Jerusalem, and they cried, "Hosanna!" which means, "Save now."

We need Hosanna every single day! And He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the Savior.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You that You are our Deliverer, and that You have made a way by which we can be delivered and saved. You sent Your Son; You spared not Your Son. "How shall You not freely give us all things?" Lord, we thank You for the forgiveness we have in You. We pray that we would today rejoice in that forgiveness and walk in Your truth by walking in the Spirit. We praise You, Jesus, that You loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, and by grace You saved us. In Jesus' name. Amen.