Romans 7 "No Man Knows How Bad He Is Until He Has Tried To Be Good!" (C.S. Lewis)

Click Here to Read or Listen to Romans 7

All quotes are from David Guzik, unless otherwise noted. 

In chapter 6 Paul talked about how it would be ludicrous to use the grace of God in order to sin all the more. It is like a slave that is set free that wants to go back to slavery. Paul continues to teach on how we have been released from the Law to serve Christ. 

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

Paul begins by saying he is writing to those "under the law" meaning his fellow Jews. He uses the analogy of marriage to say that as long as two people are married it is unlawful for them to be with someone else. But if one dies, they are released from the oaths they made under the law and are free to marry someone else. 

Likewise those who have died to the law through what Jesus did on the cross are free to give themselves to another. When we were in bondage to sin the law only aroused in us our sinful desires. But now that we have died to the law, we are released to live in the new way. The way of the Spirit. 

“Believers are through with the law. It is not for them an option as a way of salvation. They do not seek to be right with God by obeying some form of law, as the adherents of almost all religions have done.” (Morris)

The Law and Sin

Now Paul talks about the relationship between the Law and Sin. Paul first of all makes clear that there is nothing wrong with the Law. After all, it was given to Israelites by God. God revealed the Law to Moses to give to the Israelites. It is holy and reflects God's will for any and all of life's biggest decisions. Many will still say today the Ten Commandments are the best standard of right and wrong and can be universally to bring good to society if they are obeyed. 

The Law shows us our own sinfulness. Paul uses the example of coveting. When the Law commanded Paul not to covet, it made him realize his covetous nature, and it produced in him every kind of coveting. What was meant to bring life brought death. But make no mistake the law is holy, righteous, and good. Someone said, "You can't break the law, you can only break yourself against the Law". It is like a wall that won't move as much as you want it to. You can bang your head against it, but you are going to have the same results every time and it won't be fun. 

The law is like an x-ray machine; it reveals what is there but hidden. You can’t blame an x-ray for what it exposes.

The law sets the “speed limit” so we know exactly if we are going too fast. We might never know that we are sinning in many areas (such as covetousness) if the law didn’t show us specifically.

The law sets the “speed limit” so we know exactly if we are going too fast. We might never know that we are sinning in many areas (such as covetousness) if the law didn’t show us specifically.

Paul then makes his famous statement about his own desire to keep the law but his futility in actually doing so. He says, 

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Can you relate to the struggle Paul describes? It is not like we don't know what is right and wrong. For 95% of the decisions we make it is black and white what is wrong and what is right. Even if you are not a Christian, your conscience will guide you in matters of right and wrong. Paul knows something is wrong when he notices that no matter how badly he wants to do something right, he often does the very opposite. 

We see this battle of knowing what is the right thing to do, but consistently fall short of it every time. It is not like we never do anything right, but the more we understand the spirit of the law, we are even more convicted. Like when Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, 

"You have heard it said, do not commit adultery, but I say that whoever looks at person with lust in their hearts has already committed adultery in their hearts." Matthew 5:28 

Jesus was not just looking at the outward act but the condition of a person's heart. For Paul this persistent lack of doing what he wanted to do was the evidence of his sinful nature. Paul said, "It is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:20

 For what I am doing, I do not understand: Paul’s problem isn’t a lack of desire – he wants to do what is right (what I will to do, that I do not practice). His problem isn’t knowledge – he knows what the right thing is. His problem is a lack of power: how to perform what is good I do not find. He lacks power because the law gives no power. The law says: “Here are the rules and you had better keep them.” But it gives us no power for keeping the law.

Anyone who has tried to do good is aware of this struggle. We never know how hard it is to stop sinning until we try. “No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.” (C.S. Lewis)

Paul concludes with these words, 

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

It is only as Paul realizes that he has nothing to offer God in terms of his own goodness, that he can truly recognize how much he needs Christ. It is at this point he realizes how grateful he is to God for giving him Christ. Christ delivers him from his awful condition, which leads to death, and gives him both life now and life for eternity. This is the Good News. 

The Good News isn't good news until we fully accept the bad news. We can't realize how beautiful the gift is until we realize why we need it so badly! 

Give thanks to God today for what he was given you. A way out of the slavery of sin that affects all of us. He gave us His only Son because He loves you and me and wants us to be restored to the image He gave us when He created us. He wants us to return to the relationship Adam and Eve had with him in the garden before they chose to sin and disobey God.

The ancient Greek word wretched is more literally, “wretched through the exhaustion of hard labor.” Paul is completely worn out and wretched because of his unsuccessful effort to please God under the principle of Law.

The glorious truth remains: there is victory in Jesus! Jesus didn’t come and die just to give us more or better rules, but to live out His victory through those who believe. The message of the gospel is that there is victory over sin, hate, death, and all evil as we surrender our lives to Jesus and let Him live out victory through us.