Roman's Outline - April 2016

 

Romans 7 – Struggling with sin

v1-6
How do these verses answer the question of 6v15?
What is our relationship to the law now?
Note positive comments on the law: v12,14,16, 18,22,25
…and the negative: v4,5,6, 9-10
Gal 3v21
Gal 4v22-26
Gal 5 v1
Eph 2v15
Heb 8v13, 10v9

Can we pick and choose bits of the law eg keep the moral but ditch the ceremonial? Gal 5v3
What purpose then does the law have for us? Gal 3v24
Augustine: ‘Love God and do as you please’
 
v7-8
Does the law cause sin? (v13 as well)
Why does Paul pick coveting from all the commandments?
Coveting – the desire for autonomy
v9 – once I was alive apart from the law – what does this mean? – Paul would have been brought up with the Torah
Internal versus external commandments and sins
Are there ways in which we are tempted to have a pharisaical view of God’s law and the Christian life?
 
Verses 14-21

Who is ‘I’ in this struggle? Does it refer to Paul before or after his conversion or neither? …………………….Many different opinions
NT Wright: not an individual but the nation of Israel
John Stott: a faithful old covenant believer
Tim Keller/Simon Ponsonby (traditional reformed view): Paul the Christian
Roger Forster: the Christian but not spirit filled
Verses which might suggest that this struggle occurs before Paul’s conversion?: v14,15,18
Verses which suggest this struggle is ongoing in the Christian experience:
Note the tense change in v14
Sin is killing him in v7-13 but this changes to a struggle in v14-21
v22 – the inner being delights in God’s law  cf 8v7 – v22 cannot refer to the non Christian state
Self awareness – v18
v24-25 – the ultimate anti-climax in the Bible

Note 3 meanings of the word law in these verses

  1. Torah v 14,16,22,25
  2. A principle v21
  3. A force or power v23 and 25


Jekyll and Hyde

Freud: libido and superego
Challenge and question: Do we recognize and struggle with sin in our own lives?
Comfort: The great apostle did too!
v24-25 – Why is it liberating to be honest about our guilt and sin yet certain of our forgiveness. What happens if we forget one or the other?