Sin's Power & Paul

On Sin's Power and Paul - An Often Miss-understood Topic

I'm sure you've heard it as I have many times; people referencing Romans 7:14-24 as an example of how we are slaves to sin and that even Paul could not escape that slavery, that power of sin's influence in his life and in our lives today. I've heard this section referenced this way in sermons, Bible studies, Christian conversations etc. Christians saying "I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway," (verses 18-19, NLT), as a cover for their sin, as a notion that the struggle of sin is about our nature. Christians use this passage of Scripture to describe the human condition as bound in slavery to sin, a slavery that persists into the life of a disciple of Christ and lasts our lifetime, an excuse that says we can't stop sinning, not that we don't or won't, but that we can't. It's a convenient way to excuse our failures of faith and obedience. We say, "just like Paul, I know what to do, but I don't do it," then we laugh off our sin as if we can't be expected to be any better than the great Apostle Paul. We can't be who we aren't right? Hey, even Paul continued to struggle with sin right? Even he said he wanted to do what was good, but couldn't. Right?

Here's the often miss-understood passage from Romans 7:14-24 (NLT):

"So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life - that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?"

Ok, looks like this supports the Christian argument that even Paul is a slave to his sin, so we must be as well. He said it right there, "I am all too human, a slave to sin," and "this power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me." Here's the problem: using that passage to say Paul, or Christians in general, are still bound to slavery is wrong because it takes Paul completely out of context. In fact, Paul argues against that very notion in the surrounding chapters, 6, 7, and 8. In fact, if you read 3 verses longer, you'll see Paul proclaim that for those who belong to Christ, "the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death," and further "And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins."

So wait, Paul said we're slaves to sin AND he said that we have been freed from that slavery?

Yeah, Paul said that once you come to faith in Christ, you die to sin. Your old life controlled by sin is gone, and you are living a new life. Sin's power is broken. This is the symbolism behind baptism. A sentiment echoed in the great hymn lyric, "my chains are gone, I've been set free." You see Jesus died to set the captives free. The captives are humans who are slaves to sin. Here's what Paul says about sin's power in chapter 6 (just before he describes this human struggle of slavery to sin), setting the tone so that we can understand the dynamic he's describing in the often miss-used passage (which comes after this).

"Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised with him as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live, do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your while body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace." Romans 6:5-14

So you see, sandwiched between this miss-understood passage that Christians use to excuse their disobedience, Paul clearly declares that sin is our choice. That we have been set free from it's power. That we are not slaves to sin any longer...if we have given ourselves fully to Christ. He uses Jesus as an example - his death put an end to sin's power, and now he lives for the glory of God. The implication there is that if we find ourselves slaves to sin...then we haven't fully given ourselves to Christ, and we cannot yet live for the glory of God.

I'm not saying that "real" Christians don't sin. They do. We all do. But, if Paul is correct, Christians are not slaves to sin, which means that when we sin it is by our own choice. We choose to embrace that sin over obedience to God. We choose our master.

So how do we explain this strange argument by Paul that seems to be his admission that he's a slave to sin? In chapter 6 he says we are free from sin, but in 7 he says we're slaves, but in 8 he says we're free again. Well...read Romans in context. He's writing to a largely Jewish population who has lived and died by the law for a long time. Many of them believe that they are saved by adherence to the law. He's describing in this section that the law exposes the fact that we as humans are slaves to sin. Sin entered humanity through Adam and made us all slaves to sin's power. God gave us the law to show how good he is and to expose our sin. Paul is pointing out that even though we have good intent to live by the law, that we want to do good, we can't, because the law doesn't set us free, only Christ does. See? He's describing the human condition apart from Christ to a people who lived apart from Christ and don't yet understand if the law saves them or if Jesus did. Yes, he references himself as the example, but that's to show an example.

Look at Romans sequentially and remember, he's arguing for the fact that we are saved by grace and that Jesus is the answer to it all, from the beginning. He's telling the gospel story from beginning to the future and he uses his human state as an example. He's using a first person voice through each stage of the story.

In chapter 4 Paul uses Abraham to argue that we are saved by faith...not by adhering to the law. Then he talks about how sin entered the world through Adam, and how Jesus proved the perfect human example by living a sinless life and taking on sin in his death. Adam was not a slave to sin - he chose it. After that, humanity became slaves to sin until Jesus in His humanity, lived a sinless life. In chapter 6, Paul declares that through Jesus' death, sin's power over humanity is broken. What broke with one man Adam, was fixed by one man, Jesus. Between the two men is the human state of slavery to sin. In chapter 7, Paul uses an example to show that we are no longer bound by a law that governed our former life, because as shown by baptism, that life has gone and a new one has come. Then he refers back to the law given after Adam and shows that it's purpose is to expose sin in our lives, to expose our slavery. This is where he talks about a life of slave to sin where the passage is taken out of context to describe the Christian life. No! He's using that slavery to sin to talk about life before Christ and under the law, which is where chapter 8 starts off again - new life in Christ, life in the Spirit, life set free from the old law that no longer binds us. You see Jesus restored us to the pre-fall state where we have a choice once again just like Adam did. We get to choose sin or not, and it's not what we do that saves us, but it's our faith in Christ who has already saved us. That's why the gospel is so amazing!!

See it now? He's telling a story, and like all stories, this one is meant to be read from start to finish.

If you even hear a Christian use Romans to justify our continued slavery to sin, you know that they are taking one small section completely out of context. You know that they don't understand the gospel story, our story. In fact, the majority of Romans declares and re-iterates the notion that those who are in Christ are set free from that slavery. That's the good news! That's the gospel story!

I'll end with this quote, from Paul, in Romans chapter 8:

"Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do." Romans 8:12

You have no obligation - it's your choice. You are free to choose...and what's amazing is even if you choose to sin, you are still free because of Christ. The cycle is broken. The power is broken.