Session 4.19: May 1, 2026

Study session scripture: Romans 7:13-25

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Study session topics:

• The Law and sin, continued

  • v. 13 summarizes vv. 7-12

  • The law does not bring death

  • The law reveals sin as sin

  • Sin takes provocation from the law

  • The law, operated on by sin, brings us to the end of ourselves

• What is the state of the man in vv. 14-25?

• Paul as an unsaved man -Calls himself "sold under sin"

• Says "nothing good dwells in me"

• Wonders "who will deliver me from this body of death?

  • Problems with this view:

    • The way Paul describes himself here is different from how he describes his unsaved state elsewhere

    • Paul expresses delight in God's law, which is absent in unbelievers

    • Paul describes himself in the past tense in vv. 7-12, but here he describes himself in the present tense

• Paul as a "carnal Christian"

• The man in the passage speaks in despair, as if he has been defeated

  • This view holds that the passage talks about a Christian who lives in sin, and Ch. 8 is about a life of victory

  • Problems with this view:

  • This view suggests that there are 2 stages of Christian experience, where a person first accepts Christ as Savior, then later accepts Him as Lord

  • Paul does speak of his flesh, but there is a struggle that a so-called "carnal Christian" has given up on

• Paul as a man under conviction

  • This view claims that Paul is speaking neither as a regenerate man nor an unregenerate man

  • The strongest argument for this position is that Paul is speaking as a man who has come to the end of himself after being confronted by the law

  • Problems with this view:

  • It still doesn't account for the change from past to present tense

  • Paul knows who his redeemer is

Study session audio: