THE BIG ROMANS QUESTION

Outside of predestination, one of the hottest debates concerning Paul's letter to the Romans focuses on 7:14 and following:

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, waging 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? 

So here is the million dollar question: Is this Paul describing his condition before he became a Christian or is this the ongoing reality for him as a Christian?

My study Bible comments on Paul's use of "I am unspiritual" in verse 14 and leaves itself a bit of wiggle room but comes down here: "The personal pronoun and the verb, taken together, suggest that Paul is describing his present (Christian) experience." 

A few years ago I would have never dreamed of disagreeing with the experts who write commentary for study Bibles, but I am beyond automatic agreement with any "experts" at this stage of my life. This take on "I am unspiritual" strikes me as highly questionable. Yes, the pronoun and the present tense verb might lead one to believe he is "describing his present experience". 

But absolutely everything in the context points in the other direction. 

Is Paul really confessing here that he is unable to do the good he knows he should do? The man who traveled thousands of miles to explain the gospel to thousands upon thousands of people even as his life was continually under threat - this man is ethically paralyzed? He is only able to maintain consistency when it came to "doing evil"? Really? 

And as a Christian, Paul describes himself presently as a "slave to sin"? 

Really? 

Even my study Bible chokes a bit on the phrase "sold as a slave to sin" - before reaching for an explanation of it as Paul's normal experience as a believer:

"Sold as a slave to sin", it explains, is "a phrase so strong that many refuse to accept it as descriptive of a Christian. However, it may graphically point out the failure even of Christians to meet the radical ethical and moral requirements of the gospel, and to live the life that holiness demands. It also points up the persistent nature of sin." 

Which only goes to highlight the stakes here on whether we are to understand Romans 7 as an explanation of the normative, ongoing frustrations in the life of a believer or ... as a description of what it's like to be ALMOST a believer. 

Is the power of sin defeated in the life of a believer or not?

Is wretchedness and frustration the lot of the believer this side of heaven?

Is truly righteous behavior out of the reach of even believers? 

Since this has to do with the believer's relationship to sin - what is possible and what is not - there are few questions more important if you are serious about your faith. 

Don't just listen to the first expert you hear commenting on Romans 7 - what does Scripture teach?