Quotes of Leading Christians
Against Eradication of Sin in the
Believer:
Quotes of Leading
Christians
This page is devoted to understanding the teaching of the Word of God on several aspects of the sanctification of the believer. We provide quotes from many Christian leaders, past and present, as we ask the following questions....
First, do Christians still retain (to any extent) a natural inclination toward sin or has this "sin nature" or "Adamic Nature" been removed by God by virtue of the new birth, or by virtue of the so-called "second work of grace?" To phrase it another way, is our old nature eradicated by God? Does the Bible teach "eradication"? What of so-called "entire sanctification?"
I affirm that the Christian is not primarily a "sinner", i.e., not to be characterized by sin. We are called to walk in the light as Christ is in the light (1 John 1:7), to live victoriously in the power of the Holy Spirit, to live as saints and children of our heavenly Father. We are called to be partakers of the divine nature, in other words, to become Christ-like. Yet, I believe the old nature stays with us until God calls us home to heaven or until Jesus returns, whichever comes first; therefore, we must know how to win the battle against sin and this lingering propensity to sin.
Secondly, In Romans 7:14-25, is Paul speaking as a regenerate man or as an unregenerate man? Is he speaking of himself or someone else?
We will now turn our attention to the way that John Calvin, Martin Luther, Charles Hodge, John MacArthur, and other writers would respond to our inquiry. Quotes are compiled by Douglas Gwinn and are listed by author in alphabetical order.
Carl Bangs | Albert Barnes | Donald Grey Barnhouse | C.K. Barrett | David Benson | Louis Berkhof | G.C. Berkouwer | E.C. Blackman | K. Bockmuehl | James Montgomery Boice | Henry G. Bosch | F.F. Bruce | Stuart Briscoe | Ernest Dewitt Burton | John Calvin | Anthony Campolo | Lewis Sperry Chafer | James D.G. Dunn | Charles R. Erdman | F.W. Farrar | Billy Graham | William Hendriksen | Charles Hodge | R.C.H. Lenski | D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones | Martin Luther | John MacArthur | John G. Mitchell | H.C.G. Moule | John Murray | Thomas Nettles | Anders Nygren | J.I. Packer | J. Edwards Roberts | Eduard Schweizer | John Stott | Charles Swindoll | F.C. Synge | Joseph Henry Thayer | Anthony C. Thiselton | W. H. Griffith Thomas | A.W. Tozer | David Tryon | Curtis Vaughan | Howard Vos | G. Walters | John Wesley | The Westminster Confession | Warren Wiersbe | A. Lukyn Williams | The Testimony of Scripture
Carl Bangs - Arminius: A Study in the Dutch
Reformation; Abingdon Press, 1971. [From the chapter, "Arminius' Theology
Reviewed"]
Arminius adheres closely to Reformed theology generally in speaking of sanctification, although within that tradition he makes some points more emphatically than others. Sanctification, applied to man as sinner, is
a gracious act of God by which he purifies man who is a sinner and yet a believer from the darkness of ignorance, from indwelling sin [peccatum inhabitante] and from its lusts or desires and imbues him with the Spirit of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, that, being separated from the life of the world and made conformable to God, man may live the life of God, to the praise of the righteousness and glorious grace of God and to his own salvation [Writings, II, 120].
It consists of the death of the "old man" and the quickening of the "new man." This sinner-yet-believer is both contaminated by sin and united to Christ through faith in him. The line between the unregenerate and the regenerate, drawn so sharply in Arminius' earlier Dissertation on Romans 7, is here softened. He no longer denies the presence of "indwelling sin" in the believer, or else he has forgotten his youthful distinction between sin as inhabitans and inexistens. Now he stands squarely with Luther and Calvin in holding to man as simultaneously justified and sinful.
Sanctification, then, is a process of dying to sin and rising to new life, and it is coextensive with the life of faith. "This sanctification is not completed in a single moment, but sin, from whose dominion we have been delivered through the cross and the death of Christ, is weakened more and more by daily losses, and the inner man is day by day renewed more and more, while we carry about with us in our bodies the death of Christ, and the outward man is perishing." [Writings II,121] [p.346]
Albert Barnes, Epistle to the Galatians;
Harper & Brothers, 1849
[on Gal. 5:16] Live under the influences of the Holy Spirit; admit those influences fully into your hearts . . . . If a man would yield his heart to those influences, he would be able to overcome all his carnal propensities; and it is because he resists that Spirit, that he is ever overcome by the corrupt passions of his nature . . . . If we live under the influences of that Spirit we need not fear the power of the sensual and corrupt propensities of our nature [p.381].
[on Romans 7:14-25] I regard it as describing the state of a man under the gospel, as descriptive of the operations of the mind of Paul subsequent to his conversion.
Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans, Eerdmans,
1983
[7:15-24] The law has entered and done its work in the believer. He still possesses the Adamic nature even though he has been declared justified and joined to Christ in His resurrection . . . . When we are born again new desires are implanted along with the divine nature. However intense these new desires may be, within ourselves is still a principle that is contrary to the will of God; this principle of evil, which opposes every claim of God, hinders and impairs every effort to please Him . . . . Even though the believer can live in triumph over eruptions of sin, the old carnal nature is still within, contaminating everything . . . . my illustration in no way supports the false doctrine of the eradication of the old nature . . . . The believer in Christ is given power to overcome the outbreaks of Adamic nature, but its presence constantly contaminates his life on earth [Vol. III, pp. 237ff.].
C.K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Epistle to
the Romans; Harper's New Testament Commentaries; Henry Chadwick, Editor;
Harper and Brothers, 1957
[re: 6:14] It is of the essence of Christian life that men are simul justi, simul peccatores, at the same time righteous and sinners. They are righteous in Christ, sinners in themselves (or, in Adam). Because Christ is now hidden from men's eyes in heaven until his parousia, the holiness and righteousness of Christians, which are not their own but his, are hidden, and the body of sin is all too clearly visable [p.129].
[re: 7:14] We have already seen that Paul uses the word "flesh" in at least two senses; sometimes it merely describes the physical aspect of human life, and sometimes it takes on a darker tone, and describes a proclivity to sin by which all men are affected. From this Christians are delivered, but their deliverance is never in this life so complete that Paul finds it unnecessary to warn them against the flesh, and exhort them not to live in accordance with it [p.146].
. . . the Christian . . . has died with Christ to sin, and been raised with him to live a new life. Yet true as this is, it is still necessary for the apostle to urge him to do what he has already done -- to die to sin, and to offer himself to God as one whom God has raised from the dead. He is, and he is not, free from sin; he lives, and he does not live, for God; he is at the same time a righteous man and a sinner. This ambiguous personal position reflects the eschatological situation. The Age to Come has dawned, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; but the present age has not passed. The two exist uneasily side by side, and Christians still look earnestly for the redemption of the body (8:23), knowing that they have been saved in hope (8:24) . . . ourselves also groan inwardly, while we still look forward to our adoption as God's children, the redemption of our body (8:23). Thus the digression comes back to the main theme of redemption in Jesus Christ [pp.152,153].
David Benson, A New Look at Colossians;
Creation House, 1973
The "old" preconversion man is still all too much with us, even though he walks side by side in the Christian with the "new" man [p.61].
Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology; Eerdmans,
1979
This Scriptural term [sanctification] denotes that act of God whereby the pollution and corruption of human nature that results from sin is gradually removed . . . . The old structure of sin is gradually torn down, and a new structure of God is reared in its stead. These two parts of sanctification are not successive but contemporaneous. Thank God, the gradual erection of the new building need not wait until the old one is completely demolished. If it had to wait for that, it could never begin in this life. With the gradual dissolution of the old the new makes its appearance. It is like the airing of a house filled with pestiferous odors. As the old air is drawn out, the new rushes in. This positive side of sanctification is often called "being raised together with Christ;" Romans 6:4,5; Col. 2:12; 3:1,2. The new life to which it leads is called "a life unto God;" Romans 6:11; Galatians 2:19.
. . . The sanctification of the believer must, it would seem, be completed either at the very moment of death, or immediately after death, as far as the soul is concerned, and at the resurrection in so far as it pertains to the body.
. . . According to Scripture there is a constant warfare between the flesh and the Spirit in the lives of God's children, and even the best of them are striving for perfection. Paul gives a very striking description of this struggle in Romans 7:7-26, a passage which certainly refers to him in his regenerate state. In Galatians 5:16-24 he speaks of that very same struggle as a struggle that characterizes all the children of God [pp.533-540].
G.C. Berkouwer, Faith and Sanctification;
Eerdmans, 1952
It will not do, however, to write off Perfectionism simply because it has illicit relations with nomism and synergism. The problem which Perfectionism throws into our laps is and remains important. It must be answered by an appeal to Scripture.
Let us first of all consult our Confession. Lord's Day 44, for instance, is openly hostile to the central thesis of Perfectionism. "But can those who are converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?" -- that is the question, and we know what Perfectionism replies to it. But his is the answer of the Catechism: "No; but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience; yet so that with earnest purpose they begin to live, not only according to some but according to all the commandments of God."
. . . According to Rome (Roman Catholicism), one takes part in the supernatural life of God through baptism; and so it brands the Reformed view of sin as pessimistic. Concupiscence may still be present in the baptized person, but it is certainly no longer of a sinful character. In justification, human sin, according to Rome, is not merely covered but actually eradicated.
. . . Did the Reformers perhaps expect too little of the justified believer? Did they, on account of their "pessimistic" view of original sin, detract from the power of grace? Or is their confessional legacy, Lord's Day 44, for instance, a true replica of the Scriptural portrait of the believer? . . . And in Lord's Day 21 the believer admits his sinful nature against which, he says, he must struggle all his life long (Heidelberg Catechism).
Hence the warfare of the Christian is indissolubly connected with his sinful nature . . .
Since the natural interpretation of Romans 7 coincides with the over-all testimony of Scripture, there is no reason to abandon it. Paul saw the natural man as an object of God's wrath (Romans 1), and speaks of children of wrath (Eph.2:3), led by the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience (Eph.2:2), dead through sin and trespasses (Eph.2:5), full of the works of the flesh (Gal.5:19). Of the mind of the flesh Paul says that is death and enmity against God; "for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be" (Romans 8:5-7). It was further reflection on these truths which led Augustine to alter his views on Romans 7.
. . . We are here privy both to Paul's confession of being sold under sin and led captive (Romans 7:23) and to his sudden upsurge of joy over belonging, after all, to his Lord, Jesus Christ.
. . . The subject of Romans 7 is not the natural man as seen by the believer, but the believing child of God as by the grace of God he has learned to see himself. From this knowledge is born his confession of guilt. From this knowledge, too, springs his daily tussle with himself. It is surely not a tussle without tension. Woe to him who would rest upon grace as upon his (own) laurels and forget the law of sin in his members! Whatever hope there is must be of faith.
. . . The believer who understands his justification and views his life against the backdrop of Divine grace, will gain a deeper knowledge of his own sinfulness [pp. 47-67].
E.C. Blackman, "Sanctification"; article in,
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible; George A. Buttrick, Ed.;
Vol.4; Abingdon Press, 1962
. . . In short, the experience Paul has in mind when he speaks of sanctification is too rich in significance to be confined to any single moment of the Christian career. If justification is taken to mean that act of God which starts a believer on his experience of salvation, sanctification has a much broader range. It is the process thereby inaugurated, presided over by the Spirit, and mounting up to a maturity definable in terms of Christ's own perfection (Eph.4:16). Sanctification will be complete at the time of Christ's final intervention (1 Thess. 5:23) [p.213].
K. Bockmuehl, New Dictionary of Theology;
article on "Sanctification;" InterVarsity Press, 1988
Believers are thus both passive and active in their sanctification . . . . In sum, sanctification is seen as a one-time event and as a process, the believers being and becoming holy and acting correspondingly . . .
Theology today should recover and present the whole range of aspects of the biblical teaching: Christians are called to sanctification. It is part of the purpose of their election and remains the indispensable condition of their communion with God. As the complement of justification (forgiveness of sins) it is, in the first place, a work of God, more specifically of the Holy Spirit, both as a one-time act, valid for all time, imputing and imparting holiness, and as an on-going, progressive work. In the latter sense, it also becomes a human work. It takes place in our earthly lives, as a moral and spiritual cleansing and dedication of soul and body, harnessing and deploying all human faculties in the service of God, for the upbuilding of Christian fellowship and the implementation of God's will in the world. Holiness means to be at God's disposal; it is task oriented. Sanctification will find expression in a life of prayer and spiritual warfare and discipline, i.e., in acts of asceticism, as well as in good works that benefit people for time and eternity. It is the restoration of the image of God in man, the gradual assimilation of the believer to Christ and "the mind of Christ," and the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (2 Cor.2:4).
Directed by the double commandment of love of God and love of neighbor as the fullest description of human dedication, it works by the instruction and drive of the Holy Spirit through which we fulfill the requirements of God's law (Romans 8:14,4) and obey the NT exhortations. Finally, sanctification, the eager pursuit of holiness in the midst of an unholy world, is the positive alternative to secularism, the attitude of a world turning away from God [pp.613-616].
James Montgomery
Boice, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Galatians;
Frank Gaebelien, Ed.; Zondervan, 1976; Vol. 10
[5:7] Some have maintained that there is no conflict within the Christian because of the supposition that the old nature governed by the flesh has been eradicated. But this is not true according to this and other passages. Naturally the flesh is to become increasingly subdued as the Christian learns by grace to walk in the Spirit. But it is never eliminated. So the Christian is never released from the necessity of consciously choosing to go in God's way. There is no escape from the need to depend on God's grace [p. 495].
Henry G. Bosch, Our Daily Bread: July 19,
1988; Radio Bible Class devotional; Dennis J. De Haan, Editor.
Being a Christian does not mean that we will be carried through life on "flowery beds of ease." As members of a fallen race, we are subjected to sickness, accidents, and tragedy like everyone else. Furthermore, we encounter the added struggle of spiritual conflict with the Evil One and the lifelong battle against our own sinful tendencies. Yet the Lord always sustains us through each trial and works to bring good out of the most trying circumstances.
F. F.
Bruce, The New International Commentary, Colossians,
Eerdmans, 1984
[3:5] The impartation of the new nature by Christ does not effect the immediate annihilation of the old hereditary nature; so long as they live in this world, the old nature persists like a dormant force which may spring into activity at any time. Hence the tension which arises not from any inconsistency in Paul's premises and his recognition of the facts of human life, but from well-known conditions of Christian existence [p. 142].
Stuart
Briscoe,
Romans, The Communicator's Commentary; Ed., Lloyd
Ogilvie; Word Books, 1982
[on Romans 7: 14-23] The believer who holds the law of God in high regard will, like Paul, find himself in something of a battle. One part of him will give assent to the goodness of the law, but another part of him will rebel against it. In response to the principles of God outlined in the law, one part of the believer will aspire to great deeds, but another part will pull him back from achieving them. Challenged by the law to be done with lesser things, the believer may resolve to change his ways only to find that, like the dog which returns to its vomit, he goes back to do again the things he loathes. Paul, in three great cycles establishes this to be his own experience and draws some important conclusions. First, the law is good; second, he is bad. (To use the words of the Lord Jesus, he finds that "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.") Third, he attributes his failure to the presence of sin dwelling in his members [p. 149].
Ernest Dewitt
Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians; The International
Critical Commentary; T. & T. Clark, 1959
[5:16] . . .Paul enjoins them to continue to govern their conduct by the inward impulse of the spirit, emphatically assures them that so doing, they will not yield to the power within them that makes for evil . . .
[5:17] . . .the flesh opposes the Spirit that men may not do what they will in accordance with the mind of the Spirit, and the Spirit opposes the flesh that they may not do what they will after the flesh. Does the man choose the evil, the Spirit opposes him; does he choose good, the flesh hinders him.
John
Calvin (1509-1564), Institutes of
the Christian Religion, Westminster Press, 1960
3.3.10. Believers are still sinners
Thus, then are the children of God freed through regeneration from bondage to sin. yet they do not obtain full possession of freedom so as to feel no more annoyance from their flesh, but there still remains in them a continuing occasion for struggle whereby they may be exercised; and not only be exercised, but also better learn their own weakness. In this matter all writers of sounder judgment agree that there remains in a regenerate man a smoldering cinder of evil, from which desires continually leap forth to allure and spur him to commit sin. They also admit that the saints are as yet so bound by that disease of concupiscence that they cannot withstand being at times tickled and incited either to lust or to avarice or to ambition, or to other vices. . . . .We accordingly teach that in the saints, until they are divested of mortal bodies, there is always sin; for in their flesh there resides that depravity of inordinate desiring which contends against righteousness.
3. 3. 11. In believers sin has lost its dominion; but it still dwells in them
We say that the old man was so crucified [Rom. 6:6], and the law of sin [cf. Rom 8:2] so abolished in the children of God, that some vestiges remain; not to rule over them, but to humble them by the consciousness of their own weakness. And we, indeed, admit that these traces are not imputed, as if they did not exist; but at the same time we contend that this comes to pass through the mercy of God, so that the saints -- are freed from this guilt. And it will not be difficult for us to confirm this opinion, since there are clear testimonies to the fact in Scripture. What clearer testimony do we wish than what Paul exclaims in the seventh chapter of Romans? First Paul speaks there as a man reborn [Rom 7:6] . This we have shown in another place, and Augustine proves it with unassailable reasoning.
2. 2. 27. Our will cannot long for the good without the Holy Spirit
. . . [Romans 7:19] But they wrongly pervert the whole argument that Paul is pursuing here. For he is discussing the Christian struggle (more briefly touched in Galatians [ch.5:17]), which believers constantly feel in themselves in the conflict between flesh and spirit. But the Spirit comes, not from nature, but speaking of these regenerated, because when he had said that no good dwelt in him, he adds the explanation that he is referring to his flesh [Romans 7:20]. What does he mean by this correction: "In me, that is, in my flesh" [Romans 7:18]? It is as if he were speaking in this way: "Good does not dwell in me of myself, for nothing good is to be found in my flesh." Hence follows that form of an excuse: "I myself do not do evil, but sin that dwells in me" [Romans 7:20]. This excuse applies only to the regenerate who tend toward good with the chief part of their soul. Now the conclusion appended clearly explains this whole matter: "For I delight in the law . . . according to the inner man, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind" [Romans 7:22-23]. Who would have such strife in himself but a man who, regenerated by the Spirit of God, bears the remains of his flesh about with him? Therefore, Augustine, although at one time he had thought that passage to be concerned with man's nature, later retracted his interpretation as false and inappropriate.*(footnote)
*Augustine (354-430) Against Two Letters of the Pelagians.
Where Calvin writes "natural man", Augustine has "man under the law." The point was discussed with animation in the Arminian controversy, Arminius taking the view at first adopted by Augustine and, as Calvin states, finally rejected by him in the passage cited. See Arminius, Dissertation on the Seventh Chapter of Romans (Works of James Arminius, 1560-1609): "The man about whom the apostle treats in this passage is an unregenerate man, and not placed under grace but under the law."
See also Carl Bangs, above.
3. 3. 14. Against the illusion of perfection
Certain Anabaptists of our day conjure up some sort of frenzied excess instead of spiritual regeneration. The children of God, they assert, restored to the state of innocence, now need not take care to bridle the lust of the flesh, but should rather follow the Spirit as their guide, under whose impulsion they can never go astray. . . . . The thing is indeed monstrous!
Anthony Campolo, Seven Deadly Sins; Victor
Books, 1987
The Apostle Paul recognized this tendency to despair among sincere Christians who, in spite of accepting Christ as Lord, still experienced lust in their lives. His response to those who taught that the saved are spiritually perfected is brilliantly set forth in his Epistle to the Philippians. There were pious pretenders in the Philippian church who put down those who, in humble honestly, admitted to having sin in their hearts. Paul endeavored to set the record straight on this issue. [he then quotes Phil. 3:12-14]
In this passage Paul makes it clear that as a Christian, he was a person who was "in process." He declared that the Spirit did not instantaneously transform him into a perfected person, because there was much within him that warred against the work of the Spirit. [he then quotes Romans 7:22-24]
When we become Christians, we give to the Holy Spirit the freedom to transform us into new creatures who are freed from sin and motivated by love. However, this transformation takes time. The lusts of the flesh must be driven out of our consciousness, and that process takes a lifetime to complete. If we are spiritually disciplined through regular prayer, Bible study and the strengthening fellowship of other Christians, we can experience increasing conquest over the flesh by the Spirit. There will be struggles and temporary setbacks, but in the midst of all this Paul gives us this assurance:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
When I say that it will take more than a lifetime to be freed from all the effects of the lusts of the flesh, I do so in the confidence that beyond the grave we will become people who are fully motivated by love as God intends us to be. Jude 24 tells us that when the Spirit finishes His work in us, He will be able joyfully to present us "faultless" before the throne of grace. And the Apostle John gives us the good news that when we see Christ, either on His return or in the resurrection, we shall be as pure as Jesus Himself (1 John 3:2).
Having faced the realistic declaration of Scripture that freedom from lust is not something which is instantaneously experienced with conversion, but is the result of a long and arduous spiritual struggle, we must press on toward becoming what Christ expects us to become. In order to do this we must carefully examine those things which increase lust, so that we may avoid them, and discover those things which enhance love, so that we can develop them in our lives [pp.34-36].
. . . The conquering of lust, as I stated earlier, is a lifelong process [p.49].
Lewis Sperry Chafer, He That Is Spiritual,
Zondervan, 1967
There is abundant Biblical testimony to the fact that the "flesh", the "old man", or "sin" are the sources of evil, and are the possession of the child of God so long as he remains in this earthly body. He has a blessed "treasure" in the possession of the "new man" indwelling him; but he has this treasure "in an earthen vessel." The earthen vessel is the "body of our humiliation" (2 Cor. 4:7; Philippians 3:21) . . . Though born of God and possessing a new divine nature, the weakness of the flesh and the dispositions of the sin-nature abide until the final change from earth to heaven.
In 1 John 1:8,10 we have clear warning against any presumption concerning sin. First, Christians are warned against saying that they have no sin nature: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." This is distinctly concerning the sin nature of the Christian and has no application whatever to the unsaved. It is addressed to believers, and to all believers. It will not do to suppose that reference is made in the passage to some unfortunate, unenlightened, or unsanctified class of Christians. There is no class distinction here. It is the testimony of the Spirit of God with reference to every born-again person. For any such to say that he has no sin nature means that the person is self-deceived and the truth is no in him. This passage is evidently intended for "correction" to those Christians who are claiming to be free from the sin nature and who may have made themselves believe that they are free. A self-satisfied mind is not necessarily the mind of God . . . . The source of sin is, then, the sin nature rather than the new divine nature . . .
Two general theories are held as to the divine method of dealing with the sin nature in believers. One suggests that the old nature is eradicated, either when one is saved, or at some subsequent crisis of experience and spiritual blessing, and the quality of the believer's life depends, therefore, on the absence of the disposition to sin. The other theory contends that the old nature abides so long as the Christian is in this body and that the quality of life depends on the immediate and constant control over the "flesh" by the indwelling Spirit of God, and this is made possible through the death of Christ . . . Both theories cannot be true, for they are contradictory . . . . The extreme teachings of the eradication theory are to the effect that a Christian will have no disposition to sin tomorrow and thus the theory prompts one to an alarming disregard for true watchfulness and reliance upon the power of God . . . The teachings of the eradicationists are based on a false interpretation of Scripture concerning the present union of the believer with Christ in His death. That in the Bible which is held to be positional and existing only in the mind and reckoning of God, and which is accomplished once for all for every child of God, is supposed to mean an experience in the daily life of a few who dare to class themselves as those who are free from the disposition to sin . . . . The conclusions of the doctrine of eradication are based on false teachings concerning the Bible use of the word "flesh." [excerpts are from Chapter 6, entitled, "Walk in the Spirit", pp.96-133]
James D.G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament; SCM Press LTD, 1977
Thus we come to understand that for Paul the distinctive characteristic of the religious experience of the disciple of Christ is experience of sharing in Christ's sufferings as well as of sharing in his life (Romans 8:17; 2 Cor. 1:5;4:10; Phil. 3:10f; Col. 1:24). Against the enthusiasts of 2 Corinthians, Paul insists that the experience of the Spirit is not of power alone, nor of power that transcends and leaves weakness behind, but of power in weakness (2 Cor. 4:7; 12:9f; 13:3f.). To put it another way, religious experience for Paul is characterized by eschatological tension, by tension between the new life which he shares as being "in Christ" and the old life which is his "in the flesh" (2 Cor. 10:3f; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:20-24; Phil. 1:21-24; Col. 3:9f.), by warfare between Spirit and flesh (Romans 7:14-23; Gal. 5:16f.), by the frustration of having to live out the life of the Spirit through the "body of death" (Romans 7:24f; 8:10f.; 2 Cor. 4:16-5:5). No religious experience however profound or spiritual or inspired or glorious sets the believer free from the limitations of his present existence. On the contrary it is precisely that experience which most clearly manifests the paradox of power in weakness, of life through death, of greatness as serving, which is to be recognized as typically Christian [p.195].
Charles R. Erdman, The Epistle of Paul to the
Galatians; The Westminster Press, 1930
[Gal. 5:16,17] If a man so lives (walking by the Spirit) he will not yield to sinful desires of the flesh . . . a reference to all evil impulses . . . One must be aware of the reality of the conflict . . . Therefore a Christian is not to suppose that he can escape from the conflict because he has been "born after the Spirit." The old appetites and weaknesses and tendencies remain even in the heart of a true child of God. One who holds any other belief is in imminent moral peril [pp.108-109].
[Erdman, Epistle of Paul to the Romans; Westminster Press, 1925; section entitled, "The Life of the Believers"]
[Romans 7:7-25] . . . He describes the battle against evil fought by a soul which has been enlightened by the law of God and renewed by the Spirit of God, a battle in which hopeless defeat is turned into victory by the triumphant power of Christ [p.79].
F.W. Farrar, The Life and Work of St. Paul;
E.P. Dutton and Company, 1880
[speaking of Romans 7] Here he writes as it were with his very heart's blood; he dips his pen in his inmost experience. He is not here dealing with the ideal or with the abstract, but with the sternest facts of actual daily life. There have been endless discussions as to whether he has in view the regenerate or the unregenerate man. Let even good men look into their own hearts and answer. Ideally, the Christian is absolutely one with Christ, and dead to sin; in reality, as again and again St. Paul implies even of himself, his life is a warfare in which there is no discharge. There is an Adam and a Christ in each of us. "The angel has us by the hand, and the serpent by the heart" . . . When we have once realised that the "I" of the passage is used in different senses - sometimes of the flesh, the lower nature, in the contemplation of which St. Paul could speak of himself as the chief of sinners; sometimes of the higher nature, which can rise to those full heights of spiritual life which he has been recently contemplating; sometimes generically of himself as a member of the human race - it is then easy to follow his history of the soul. [in a footnote re: 7:25 he says, "An 'infection of nature' remains even in the regenerate."] [Vol.II, pp.234-236]
Billy Graham, Peace With God; Grason, 1984.
From the chapter, "Enemies of the Christian"
The flesh is that evil tendency of your inward self. Even after you are converted, sometimes your old, sinful cravings will return. You become startled and wonder where they come from. The Bible teaches that the old nature, with all its corruption, is still there and that these evil temptations come from nowhere else. In other words, "a traitor is living within." "That wretched bent toward sin is ever present to drag you down." War has been declared! You now have two natures in conflict, and each one is striving for dominance.
The Bible teaches "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh" (Galatians 5:17). It is the battle of the self-life and the Christ-life. This old nature cannot please God. It cannot be converted, or even patched up. Thank God, when Jesus died He took you with Him, and the old nature can be made inoperative and you can "consider yourselves to be dead unto sin" (Romans 6:11). This is done by faith.
William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary:
Exposition of Paul's Epistle to the Romans; Baker Book House, 1980
Clearly, in Romans 7:14-25, the apostle, in the words of John Calvin, "in his own person describes the weakness of believers and how great it is." [p.228]
Charles Hodge (1797-1878), Systematic Theology;
Baker Book House, 1988; Abridged Edition, Edward N. Gross, Editor
According to the Scriptures, the universal experience of Christians, and undeniable evidence of history, regeneration does not remove all sin. The Bible is filled with the record of the inward conflicts of the most eminent of the servants of God, with their falls, their backslidings, their repentings, and their lamentations over the nature of the conflict between good and evil in the heart of the renewed is fully described...
Such being the foundation of the Scriptural representations concerning sanctification, its nature is thereby determined. As all men since the fall are in a state of sin, not only guilty of specific acts of transgression, but also depraved, regeneration is the infusion of a new principle of life into their corrupt and perverse nature. It is leaven introduced to diffuse its influence gradually through the whole mass. Sanctification, therefore, consists in two things: first, gradual removal and destruction of the power of the principles of evil still infecting our nature; and secondly, the growth of the principle of spiritual life until it controls the thoughts, feelings, and acts, and brings the soul into conformity to the image of Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24) . . . .[pp.466,467]
The doctrine of Lutherans and Reformed, the two great branches of the the Protestant Church, is that sanctification is never perfected in this life; sin is not in any case entirely subdued. Even the most advanced believer has need, as long as he continues in the flesh, to pray daily for the forgiveness of sins. . . .
Anything less than loving God constantly with all the heart, all the soul, all the mind, and all the strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, is sin.
More definitely is this truth taught in those passages which describe the conflict in the believer between the flesh and the Spirit. The seventh chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans is an account of his own inward life at the time of writing . . . It proves that even Paul was not free from sin, that he had to contend with a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, that he groaned constantly under the burden of indwelling sin. At a still later period of his life he writes:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. [Phil.3:12-14]
This is an unmistakable declaration on the part of the apostle that even at this late period of his life he was not yet perfect; he had not attained the end of perfect conformity to Christ, But was pressing forward, like one in a race, with all earnestness that he might reach the end of his calling . . .
Similarly, Galatians 5:16-26 recognizes the fact that Christians are imperfectly sanctified and that in them the renewing principle, the Spirit as the source of spiritual life, is in conflict with the flesh, the remains of their corrupt nature . . . . The whole Christian Church with all its members prostrates itself before God, saying, "Have mercy upon us miserable sinners." . . . We may also appeal to the conscience of every believer. He knows that he is a sinner. He never is in a state which satisfies his own conviction as to what he ought to be . . . [pp.472,473]
R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's
Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians; Augsburg Publishing
House, 1961
[on Galatians 5:16] This is what Paul intends to convey to the Galatians as regards their daily life and conversation: that in thought, word, and deed they ever use what regeneration has brought to birth in them; then any stirring of what is still left in them of sinful flesh, their old depraved nature, will not be carried out into action but will be crushed in its incipiency. . . .The analogy of Scripture shows that we never use the Spirit as a means, but we do so use our own "spirit." So Paul here bids the Galatians to use in their walk and conversation what is spirit in its nature, i.e., the reborn, new man. Then when any craving, lust, evil desire of what is by nature flesh starts in them, they will not let it come to a head in action [p.282].
[on Gal.5:17] The old nature in us wants things that are contrary to the new, and vice versa. The two natures in us thus lie in constant conflict with each other. They are not opposites that as such live far apart, each following what it craves; they lie face to face, in constant clashing . . . This makes plain that Paul does not here mean that what we may want according to our spirit is always blocked by our flesh even as this is not the fact. In the believer the spirit does indeed, dominate; he has crucified the flesh . . . Regeneration renews, liberates, frees the will. The spirit = the liberated will. This liberated will is still hampered by the flesh which ever seeks to obtain control again in order to usurp the throne. The flesh does not succeed; we need to keep on walking with what is spirit [pp.282,283].
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression;
Eerdmans, 1986
....Scripture makes it very plain and clear that there is no part of this Christian life which is without its dangers. Nothing is so false to the teaching of the New Testament as to give the impression that the moment you believe and are converted, all your troubles are at an end and you will never have another problem. Alas, that is not true, and it is not true because we have an enemy, the Adversary of our souls. But not only do we have to contend with the enemy, there is still the old nature within, and these two together make it certain that we shall have troubles and difficulties; and it is our business to understand the teaching of the scripture with respect to these, lest we be caught by the guile and the subtlety of the enemy [p.121].
[re: Romans 8:15-17] What is the cause of the discouragement in this case? It is nothing less than the problem of living the Christian life, the problem, if you like, of dealing with sin. Paul has been dealing with that problem from the beginning of the sixth chapter of this mighty Epistle, and he is still dealing with it here. These people to whom he is writing have been converted and have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but now they are up against the problem of living this new life which they have received, in a world that is antagonistic and utterly opposed to them. They have to live it also in the face of certain things they find within their own nature. It is a fight, people who are now concerned about following the Lord . . .[p.164].
The Christian who does not know his own sinfulness and the blackness of his own heart is the merest child in the Christian faith, indeed, unless he has some knowledge of it, I query whether he is in the Christian faith at all. Clearly, according to the Scriptures, people who are not aware of indwelling sin, are either the merest tyros (novices) or else are unregenerate [pp.168-169].
There are certain dangers confronting all of us in this Christian life against which we need to be protected. The fact that a man is a Christian does not mean that he is perfect. Alas, you did not immediately on belief in the Lord Jesus Christ arrive at a state of complete perfection. Indeed you do not arrive at that state at all in this life; there is imperfection remaining, the 'old man' remains [p.242].
Martin Luther (1483-1546), Commentary on
Romans; Kregel, 1977
In 7:25 the Apostle writes: "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This is the clearest passage of all, and from it we learn that one and the same (believing) person serves at the same time the Law of God and the Law of sin. He is at the same time justified and yet a sinner . . . the whole man, one and the same person, is in this twofold servitude. For this reason he thanks God that he serves the Law of God and he pleads for mercy for serving the Law of sin. But no one can say of a carnal (unconverted) person that he serves the Law of God. The Apostle means to say: You see, it is just so as I said before: The saints (believers) are at the same time sinners while they are righteous, because they believe in Christ, whose righteousness covers them and is imputed to them. But they are sinners, inasmuch as they do not fulfill the law, and still have sinful lusts. They are like sick people who are being treated by a physician. They are really sick, but hope and are beginning to get, or be made, well. They are about to regain their health. Such patients would suffer the greatest harm by arrogantly claiming to be well, for they would suffer a relapse that is worse (than their first illness). [pp.114-115]
John MacArthur, Liberated for Life, Regal,
1976
[Galatians 5:16-18] One of the first things a new Christian discovers is that life is a conflict. Although he is a "new creature" spiritually, he still bears the sin principle within his body. Sin is present; he is human (see Romans 7:14-25). People who are not Christians face no trouble of this kind. There is no conflict, because the Spirit is not there to struggle against the flesh.
Notice the word "flesh" in verse 17. The word can refer to the physical body, without any theological implications (see Luke 24:39). Or, it can be used in a theological sense to refer to that part of man that becomes the beachhead to sin - the lower nature. It is a "landing field" for Satan (see Gal.3:3). Or, it can mean human self effort, striving to accomplish holiness on your own (see Romans 4:1; Gal. 6:12) . . . .
The flesh - human inclination to sin - is a powerful force and the only way to conquer it is by walking in the Spirit. [pp.107-109]
John G. Mitchell, Fellowship; Multnomah
Press, 1974
The more one knows the Saviour, the more one realizes his own weakness and failure . . . . What I am trying to get to your heart is this: when we have seen the Lord, when we really know Him, then we recognize our own sinfulness and our own inability to do the things we should do. We realize the need to walk continually in fellowship with Him . . .
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:1,2
In this chapter, John is pleading for moral fitness, for day by day walking with God. May I remind you that he is not dealing with judicial fitness, which was forever settled at the cross. Our position before God cannot be changed. He is dealing here with the matter of fellowship with God. Again I repeat it, because I want it clearly in your minds. We have bodies that have desires and lusts that are contrary to the character and will of God. Even though we yearn for the things of God, we do things that we should not do. Paul says, "What I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that I do" (Romans 7:15). So we have a real problem with these bodies that are not yet glorified [pp.37-47].
H.C.G. Moule, The Epistle of St. Paul to
the Romans; Vol.19 of "The Expositor's Bible"; A.C. Armstrong and Son,
1903
[re: Romans 7:7-25] So we read this passage again, and note this absolute silence in it about the Holy Ghost. And we dare, in that view, to interpret it as St. Paul's confession, not of a long past experience, not of an imagined experience, but of his own normal experience always - when he acts out of character as a regenerate man. He fails, he "reverts", when, being a sinner by nature still, and in the body still, he meets the Law, and meets temptation, in any strength short of the definitely sought power of the Holy Ghost, making Christ all to him for peace and victory [pp.194-195].
John Murray, The New International Commentary,
Romans; Ed., F.F. Bruce; Eerdmans, 1980
[7:7-13] We must conclude, therefore, that this passage is an account of pre-regenerate experience.
[7:14-25] For these reasons we are compelled to conclude that 7:14-25 is the delineation of Paul's experience in the state of grace.
[7:25] . . . the apostle did not disavow his own personal responsibility and agency in the service of the law of sin . . .
Thomas Nettles, By His Grace
and For His Glory, Baker Book House, 1986
Paul's discussion of the struggle in Romans 7 must be understood as that of a Christian. He wants to do good; a lost man loves evil. He delights in God's law; the lost man is hostile to God and does not submit to God's law. Then why does he describe himself as a slave to sin and a prisoner to the law of sin? Certainly, some would contend, such a condition cannot be true of a Christian. The careful reader must see that, though the law of sin is present "in my members", it is only "with the flesh" that Paul says he serves the law of sin (Romans 7:23,25). The flesh, that principle of seeking pleasure from the created order without primary allegiance to the glory of God and obedience to God, is no friend to the Spirit nor to the process of sanctification. It should not be startling that Paul claims that "with the flesh" he serves the law of sin. Romans 8 continues to represent the flesh, a principle or affection that dominates the "old man", as the enemy of life in the Spirit. So it is with Galatians 5. Rather than deny the captivity of the flesh to the law of sin, the Christian must realize that it is exactly because of this reality that he is called on to mortify the flesh. Thereby continues the truth that struggle is exactly the condition of a Christian. The slavery to sin is not absolute but is in the context of the Christian's desire to follow God's law. His status as prisoner is true in the context of his effort to attain the proper freedom for which Christ has freed him. In light, therefore, of the new love for God's law, the desire for holiness and freedom in Christ that is set before the saved person, Paul describes a constant state of struggle the redeemed one has in seeking to consummate these growing desires [p.332,333].
Paul's painful appraisal of himself in Romans 7:14-25 does not attempt to abstract sin as an entity apart from his "nature" as a regenerate person. Rather, he recognizes its operation through the flesh as an ever-present hindering factor . . . [p.346]
Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans; Muhlenberg
Press, 1949
The result, then, is that chapter 7:14-25 does not refer to the pre-Christian life . . . Like the rest of these chapters, chapter 7 treats of the Christian life. . .
But if we are right in holding that he is here speaking of the Christian life, it must be affirmed with utmost emphasis that, according to Paul, the soul of the Christian is not characterized by division and discord. As we saw above, the idea of the divided will - that man both wills and does not will the good, that he desires both the good and the evil - is not at home in the mind of Paul. It is falsely read into his words. . . . He has in mind the tension which exists, in the Christian life, between will and action, between intention and performance. With that dualism in the Christian life Paul is well acquainted. . . . "in Christ" he is "free from sin"; and yet sin has not vanished from his life. He still lives "in the flesh", and there sin finds its point of contact. The Christian is not only a member "in Christ", but he continues to be also a member "in Adam." Therefore his life is a constant battle against sin. The situation is the same here, when Paul speaks of the Christian's relation to the law. The same dualism obtains here. When finally the new aeon has come to consummation, there will be no tension between will and performance. But as long as the Christian is not only "in Christ," but also "in the flesh," that tension remains. The will to do the right is always present in him; but he steadily falls short in performance. The Christian's yearning and prayer are that the will of God may "be done on earth as it is in heaven." But in all that he does, experience shows it does not happen that way on earth. . . .
For he is speaking just of the Christian; nor is this the only place where he says the same. See, for instance, Galatians 5:17, where there is no doubt that he refers to the Christian: "The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would." Since Paul, in Galatians, can say that about the Christian, why should it be impossible for him to say it in Romans 7:14-25?
As a Christian he belongs to Christ and lives his life "in Christ"; but as one who belongs to the old aeon, he still lives "in the flesh." That dualism is not found in chapter 7 alone, although many see it here particularly, and what is said here has received particular opposition. The very same dualism faces us in both chapter 6 and chapter 8. The parallelism in these three chapters can be outlined thus:
Chapter 6: We are free from sin - yet we must battle against it.
Chapter 7: We are free from the law - yet we are not righteous according to its criterion.
Chapter 8: We are free from death - yet we long for the redemption of our bodies.
The Christian has no right to set himself above the law. It is not in that sense that he is "free from the law." . . . He is indeed "in Christ", and therefore a new man, a spiritual man; but he has not thereby ceased to be a child of Adam, a being of flesh and blood, a man of carnal nature. It is that which deprives the law of its dunamis (power) to effect the good . . .
It ought to be noted that when Paul speaks of the Christian's carnal state he uses the word sarkinos, and not sarkikos. The Christian is no longer "carnal" in the sense that he still lives in the flesh (en sarki) and participates in its condition. It is the latter sense which is expressed by the word sarkinos. Sin is always most definitely a reality in his life. Together with the whole race, he is "sold under sin." Even though through Christ he has been made "free from sin," so that it is no longer his lord, nevertheless, as long as this life lasts, he still lives under the condition of sin. He lives as a sinner among sinners, not as a sinless saint among sinners.
That is the enigmatical in the Christian life. The Christian is at the same time "free from sin", and yet subject to the condition of sin. He is not "carnally minded", and yet the flesh sets its mark on all that he does. No corresponding enigma rests on the natural man . . .
When one has become righteous through Christ, have not new possibilities opened for him? The characteristic fact for the Christian is just this, that he is never left to himself. He lives his life "in Christ," and new powers come to him through that relationship [pp.284-303].
J.I. Packer, Knowing God, InterVarsity
Press, 1973
(in discussing the effect Romans should have on the believer) . . . only if, as a new man in Christ, you have committed yourself to total holiness and then found in yourself that the flesh is at war with the spirit, so that you live in contradiction, never fully achieving the good you purposed nor avoiding all the evil you renounced (chapters 6 and 7); only if, on top of this, "losses and crosses" are upon you (illness, strain, accident, shock, disappointment, unfair treatment); only then will Romans 8 yield up its full riches and make its great power known.
[in Romans 7:7-13] . . . he had told how, before he was a Christian, "sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me" (verse 11, RSV); and he had gone on (verse 14-25) to review the present, in which, Christian and apostle though he now is, "I can will what is right, but I cannot do it . . ." (verse 18, RSV) [p. 233].
J. Edwards Roberts, "Sanctification"; article
in A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels; James Hastings, Ed.; Vol. II;
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908
. . . (Christ) is the Advocate upon whom we may rely for help in the struggle with sin (1 John 2:1) . . . Both of them (Peter and John) view sanctification as a state into which the believer is introduced by an initial act of faith in Christ through whom he is begotten of God (1Pet.1:3,18,23;2:3,9;1Jn.1:9;5:1); but it is also a state which has to be progressively realized by abiding union with Christ (1Pet.1:5;2:11;5:10;1Jn.1:7;2:1;3:2).
. . . The believer identifies himself with Jesus Christ in the spiritual significance of these tremendous events; then he becomes 'dead unto sin and alive unto God', though actually he is rather dying than dead to sin . . .[pp.561-566]
Eduard Schweizer, Theological Dictionary
of the New Testament, Vol. VII; Gerhard Kittel, Ed., 1964; Eerdmans edition,
1971. "Sarks"
. . . Sarks is for Paul everything human and earthly, which includes legal righteousness. But since this entices man to put his trust in it, to find security and renown thereby, it takes on for Paul the character of a power which is opposed to the working of the Spirit. The sharpest formulation is in Galatians 5:13,17, where sarks is an independent force superior to man. Paul realizes, of course, that this power which entices away from God and His Spirit is not just a power alien to man. It belongs to man himself . . . The sarks of Galatians 5:24 is not, then, a part of man which he may put off or overcome. It is the man himself [pp.133,134].
NOTE: Schweizer and other writers in Kittel go on to interpret Romans 7 as a discussion about a pre-Christian man.
John Stott, The Cross of Christ, InterVarsity
Press, 1986
Galatians 5:24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."
It is essential to see this text (as indeed every text) in its context. Paul in Galatians 5 is concerned with the meaning of moral freedom. He declares that it is not self-indulgence but self-control, not serving ourselves but serving each other in love (v.13). Behind this alternative is the inner conflict of which all Christian people are conscious. The apostle calls the protagonists "the flesh" (our fallen nature with which we are born) and "the Spirit" (the Holy Spirit himself who indwells us when we are born again). In verses 16-18 he describes the contest between the two, because the desires of the flesh and of the Spirit are contrary to each other . . .
How then can we ensure that the desires of the Spirit predominate over the desires of the flesh? Paul replies that it depends on the attitude which we adopt to each. According to verse 24 we are to "crucify" the flesh, with its evil passions and desires. According to verse 25 we are to "live by" and "keep in step with" the Spirit.
My concern in this chapter is with verse 24, because of its assertion that those who belong to Christ have "crucified" their flesh or sinful nature. It is an astonishing metaphor. For crucifixion was a horrible, brutal form of execution. Yet it illustrates graphically what our attitude to our fallen nature is to be. We are not to coddle or cuddle it, not to pamper or spoil it, not to give it any encouragement or even toleration. Instead, we are to be ruthlessly fierce in rejecting it, together with its desires. Paul is elaborating the teaching of Jesus about "taking up the cross" and following him. He is telling us what happens when we reach the place of execution: the actual crucifixion takes place. Luther writes that Christ's people nail their flesh to the cross, "so that although the flesh be yet alive, yet can it not perform that which it would do, forasmuch as it is bound both hand and foot, and fast nailed to the cross."[Martin Luther, Epistle to the Galatians, p.527] And if we are not ready to crucify ourselves in this decisive manner, we shall soon find that instead we are "crucifying the Son of God all over again." The essence of apostasy is "changing sides from that of the Crucified to that of the crucifiers."
The crucifixions of Galatians 2:20 and 5:24 refer to two quite different things, as mentioned in an earlier chapter. The first says that we have been crucified with Christ (it has happened to us as a result of our union with Christ), and the second that the people of Christ have themselves taken action to crucify their old nature. The first speaks of our freedom from the condemnation of the law by sharing in Christ's crucifixion, the second of our freedom from the power of the flesh by ensuring its crucifixion. These two, namely to have been crucified with Christ (passive) and to have crucified the flesh (active), must not be confused [pp.348-349].
When we turn to the Bible, we find the same tension, of which we are aware in our personal experience, between the pressures which condition and even control us, and our abiding moral responsibility nonetheless. There is a strong biblical emphasis on the influence of out inheritance, of what we are 'in Adam'. The doctrine of original sin means that the very nature we have inherited is tainted and twisted with self-centeredness. It is, therefore, 'from within, out of men's hearts', Jesus taught, that evil thoughts and actions come (Mark 7:21-23). It is not surprising that he also described the sinner as a 'slave to sin' (John 8:34). We are, in fact, enslaved to the world (public fashion and opinion), the flesh (our fallen nature) and the devil (demonic forces). Even after Christ has liberated us and made us his slaves instead, we are not yet entirely rid of the insidious power of our fallenness, so that Paul can conclude his argument in Romans 7 with the summary: 'So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin' (v.25b) [pp.94-95].
Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, Multnomah Press, 1986. From the chapter entitled, "The Depravity of Humanity: Exposing the Dark Side"
Moses acted in the flesh as he killed an Egyptian . . . Before you get too pious and judgmental with Moses, just think about . . . your life. Call to mind a few of the times you knew what was best and you did what was worst . . . Want to know why you did it? Because you're depraved . . .
I ask you, how could a man as godly as David fall as far as he did with Bathsheba? . . . The answer is going to sound terribly familiar - he is depraved. He has a nature that will never improve. He has lust, just like every man and woman reading these words right now. And he yielded to it . . . He was responsible, just as you and I are every time we yield.
Most of us have been down the pike far enough to know that we cannot trust our sinful nature . . . Why did Peter do that? (deny Christ) . . . I repeat, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, you and I are prone to wander, prove to leave the God we love because of the depravity of humanity.
Can it be that a man as fine as Paul would be included? Romans, chapter 7, I think, is the finest explanation of humanity's depraved nature found anywhere in the scriptures . . . Listen to the personal testimony of a great man of God . . . Read Paul's admission slowly and thoughtfully . . . [he then quotes Romans 7:15-24] . . . I hardly need to amplify. Paul's testimony is everyone's testimony. That's why we sin . . . Even though we wish to do good, evil is present in us. . .
We really have two options. First, we can choose to live as victims of our depravity . . . "for evil is present in me", as Paul wrote. Or second, we can choose to live as victors through the power of Jesus Christ.
Each one of these people we've studied made a deliberate decision to sin. They weren't duped . . . They played into the hand of the old nature and they carried out exactly what the old nature performs . . . disobedience. They chose to live as victims, at least at that moment.
Let me encourage you to live as a victor through the power of Jesus Christ. Start by coming to the cross, by faith. Ask Christ to come into your life. Then as you face evil, as you come across it, as it rears its head in temptation, claim the power of God that Christ offers, now that He's living within you [pp.219-229].
F.C. Synge, Philippians and Colossians: SCM Press LTD; 1958
[Colossians 3:9b] Here we meet the paradox again, that as long as we are on this earth we are both old Adam and new Adam, both citizen of heaven and citizen of earth, both justified and sinner (in Luther's phrase).
It is better to translate 'put off the old man and put on the new' . . . It is a process whose goal is a shedding of the old fallen Adam until we are made in the pattern of Christ himself, the pattern of unfallen Adam [pp.88-89].
Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; 1885; Zondervan, 19th Edition, 1978
Sarks, when either expressly or tacitly opposite to 'the spirit (of God),' has an ethical sense and denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God; accordingly it includes whatever in the soul is weak, low, debased, tending to ungodliness and vice ("Thou must not understand 'flesh', therefore as though that only were 'flesh' which is connected with unchastity, but St. Paul uses 'flesh' of the whole man, body and soul, reason and all his faculties included, because all that is in him longs and strives after the flesh." - Luther, Preface to the Epistle to the Romans) [p. 571 of Thayer]
Anthony C. Thistleton, in New International
Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 1; "Sarks" or "Flesh"; Ed.,
Colin Brown; Zondervan, 1975
God sent his Son in the likeness of a human being determined by sin that in this most Godlike of all men he might bring sin (self-justification before God on the basis of human achievements) into judgment, so that after his death only God's achievement might remain. The believer is thus already dead in respect to the ambitions and drives that mould life apart from God. In this sense he is no longer in the flesh (Romans 8:8ff). Moreover, ne now lives according to God's life; "for I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is in my flesh" (Romans 7:18). For man, indeed, desires to achieve what is good, i.e., the true life. But actually he achieves the evil which he does not desire, namely death, because he does not allow God to care for him, but desires to care for himself. "So then, I of myself, serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh (in actuality) I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:25b). Though Paul adopts a typically Greek manner of speaking, his understanding of man is completely different. Even the nous, the rational power of mental comprehension, is unable to find out what is good, since the true meaning of life remains hidden from it by sin [p.676].
W.H. Griffith Thomas, Studies in Colossians and Philemon; Baker Book House, 1973
[Colossians 3:8-10] What is the "old man?" . . . It is a description of what we were like in Adam as a result of his fall, having the natural characteristics of all unsaved persons . . . It is, as Bishop Moule points out, "an abiding element (Gal.5:16,17) in even the regenerate and spiritual, though it may be continuously overcome in a practical and profound manner, in the strength of the new man . . ." "The flesh" is the evil principle within, never in this life eradicated, but by the indwelling power of Christ effectually and continually counteracted [pp.109,110].
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God; Christian Publications, Inc.; 1948
Our trouble springs from the fact that we who follow Christ inhabit at once two worlds, the spiritual and the natural. As children of Adam we live our lives on earth subject to the limitations of the flesh and the weaknesses and ills to which human nature is heir. Merely to live among men requires of us years of hard toil and much care and attention to the things of this world. In sharp contrast to this is our life in the Spirit. There we enjoy another and higher kind of life; we are children of God; we possess heavenly status and enjoy intimate fellowship with Christ [pp.117,118].
The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels [p.113]
The victorious Christian neither exalts nor downgrades himself. He interests have shifted from self to Christ. What he is or is not no longer concerns him. He believes that he has been crucified with Christ and he is not willing either to praise or deprecate such a man. [unknown source for Tozer quote]
David Tryon, Victory Over Sin; Moody Press, 1986
You with your sinful nature, are incapable of producing any good thing. The sinful nature with which you were born remained unchanged when you were born again . . . Paul said, "Nothing good dwells in me" (Romans 7:18). That is what God says about you with your sinful nature: nothing good dwells in you. Nothing. Take a moment and let that sink in. Ask the Holy Spirit to drive it home and enable you to accept God's estimate of you. Don't shrink from believing it utterly; accept the truth of it without reservation, even though at the moment you cannot see all that it implies. It seems to be a truth that should lead you to despair, but the acceptance of it is the beginning of the pathway that leads to deliverance [pp.6-7].
Curtis Vaughan, The Expositor's Bible
Commentary, Colossians; Frank Gaebelein, Ed.; Volume 11; Zondervan,
1978
[Col.3:9b,10] . . . The essence of it is that the Christian has had a radical, life-changing experience in which he has put off the old self with its practices (i.e., habits or characteristic actions) and has put on the new self. The metaphor again is one of clothing. The "old self" (i.e., the old, unregenerate self; RSV, "old nature") is like a dirty, worn-our garment that is stripped from the body and thrown away. The "new self" (i.e., the new, regenerate self; RSV, "new nature") is like a new suit of clothing that one puts on and wears. The picturesque language gives vivid expression to a great truth, but one must be careful not to press the imagery too far, for we are painfully aware that the old nature is ever with us [p. 213].
Howard Vos, Galatians: A Call To Christian Liberty; Everyman's Bible Commentary; Moody Press, 1971
[re: Galatians 5] Verse 17 describes essentially the same struggle within the believer as appears in Romans 6 and 7. Briefly, the idea is this. Within the believer are two natures, an old nature and a new nature, a flesh.y nature, and a spiritual nature. The first he receives at birth and the second by regeneration [p.100].
G. Walters, The New Bible Dictionary; J.D. Douglas, Editor; article on "Sanctification"; Eerdmans, 1962
As justification implies deliverance from the penalty of sin, so sanctification implies deliverance from the pollutions, privations, and potency of sin. As to the intensity and extensiveness and steps of this latter deliverance, however, there is much discussion. The prayer that God will sanctify the believers wholly so that their whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of Christ is followed by the assertion that 'faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it' (1 This. 5:23,24) . . . Does sanctification by faith mean that complete sanctification is received as a gift in the same manner as justification, so that the believer is instantaneously made holy and enters once for all into actual, practical holiness as a state? Some would argue that at a crisis-experience, subsequent to conversion, the old man is crucified once for all, and the root of sin extracted or the principle of sin eradicated. Some would go further and would stress the need for the reception and the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit (notably the gift of tongues) as evidence of such a work of the Spirit . . .
The believer is to have no illusions about the intensity of the struggle with sin (Romans 7 & 8); Galatians 5), but should realize also that sanctification does not occur in installments merely by his own endeavours to counteract his own evil tendencies. There is a progression of moral accomplishment but there is also a mysterious, sanctifying work within him. Moreover, it is not merely a synergism whereby the Spirit and the believer each contribute something. The action is attributable both to the Spirit and to the believer in the paradox of grace. God the Spirit works through the faithful recognition of the law of truth and the believer's response of love, and the net result is spiritual maturity expressed in the fulfilling of the law of love to one's neighbour. The consummation of sanctification to the believer who, by gracious faith in the work of Christ, by the Spirit 'purifieth himself' (1 John 3:3), is indicated by the assurance: 'we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is' (1 John 3:2) [pp.1140,1141].
John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley;
Vol. 1; Abingdon Press, 1984
Sermon #13, On Sin in Believers [2 Cor. 5:17]
'But was he not then "freed from all sin", so that there is no sin in his heart?' I cannot say this: I cannot believe it, because St. Paul says the contrary. He is speaking to believers, and describing the state of believers in general, when he says, 'The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: these are contrary the one to the other.' Nothing can be more express. The Apostle here directly affirms that 'the flesh', evil nature, opposes 'the spirit;, even in believers; that even in the regenerate there are two principles 'contrary the one to the other' [p.321].
Sermon #21, "Sermon on the Mount, I " [Matthew 5:1-4]
'Poverty of spirit', in this meaning of the word, begins where a sense of guilt and of the wrath of God ends; and is a continual sense of our total dependence on him for our every good thought or word or work; of our utter inability to all good unless he 'water us every moment': and an abhorrence of the praise of men, knowing that all praise is due unto God only. With this is joined a loving shame, a tender humiliation before God, even for the sins which we know he hath forgiven us, and for the sin which still remaineth in our hearts, although we know it is not imputed to our condemnation. Nevertheless the conviction we feel of inbred sin is deeper and deeper every day. The more we grow in grace the more do we see of the desperate wickedness of our heart. The more we advance in the knowledge and love of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . the more do we discern of our alienation from God, of the enmity that is in our carnal mind, and the necessity of our being entirely renewed in righteousness and true holiness [pp.482,483].
The Westminster Confession, Chapter xiii (1647)
(i.) They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by His word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and they are more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
(ii.) This sanctification is throughout the whole man, yet imperfect in this life; there abideth still some remnant of corruption in every part: whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war; the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
(iii.) In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome; and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God [as quoted in, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics; Vol.XI, pp.182-183; T & T Clark, 1920].
Warren Wiersbe, Be Free, Victor Books
[Galatians 5:16,17] The conflict. Just as Isaac and Ishmael were unable to get along, so the spirit and the flesh (the old nature) are at war with each other. By "the flesh", of course, Paul does not mean "the body." The human body is not sinful; it is neutral. If the Holy Spirit controls the body, then we walk in the Spirit; but if the flesh controls the body, then we walk in the lusts (desires) of the flesh. The Spirit and the flesh have different appetites, and this is what creates the conflict. [p.129]
A. Lukyn Williams, The Epistle of Paul the
Apostle to the Galatians; Cambridge University Press, 1911
[Galatians 5:17] The verse is a very brief summary of the experience described in Romans 7:17-25. By 'the flesh' St. Paul here means the propensity to evil, which makes itself felt through the physical nature.
Romans 7:14-25
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing. 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.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, wagin war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin [NIV].
Galatians 5:16,17
J.B. Phillips: Here is my advice. Live your whole life in the Spirit and you will not satisfy the desires of your lower nature. For the whole energy of the lower nature is set against the Spirit, while the whole power of the Spirit is contrary to the lower nature. Here is the conflict, and that is why you are not able to do what you want to do.
RSV: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would.
Living Bible: I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit's instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won't always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to. For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures.
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