Verses five and six of Romans chapter seven are two of the most confusing verses found in the Holy Scriptures. I understand why Law-deniers use them to “prove” that the Law was done away with and has no place in the New Testament Church. Paul’s writings are designed by the Lord to separate church sheep from church goats and church wheat from church tares. Recall that the wheat and tares, sheep and goats all remain in the same field/pasture (church) until the end when God will separate them and judge them according to their “WORKS” (Mat. 16:27). Until then they will “remain together” until the “harvest” (return of Christ)–Mat. 24:30. Only those who diligently study God’s Word, believe and obey it are able to discern who are the sheep/wheat and who are the goats/tares. Let us study so as to be found worthy of everlasting life. Let us judge ourselves by God’s Word so as to remain in the sheep/wheat categories (1 Cor. 11:31).

In Matthew 13:1 we find Jesus walking down to the sea shore followed by “great multitudes” of people.
Surrounded by the masses, He got into a boat and pushed out into the water so those on the shore could hear Him as He spoke about the Kingdom of Heaven and how to enter it. He then had to explain to His disciples what He had said, for He had spoken to the multitudes in parables, WHICH MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND HIS MESSAGE. Later, His disciples asked Him why He spoke to the multitude in parables but to them (the disciples) in plain language. He replied that He spoke to the people in parables because THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND HOW TO ENTER IT. Why did He not want them to know God’s Truth (“mysteries”–vs 11)? Because He knew all men, their hearts, their attitudes and their desires (Jn. 2:23-25; 6:64; 13:11). He knew that those Jews followed Him wherever He went in order to be healed, etc. They were not interested in His message, but rather what they could get from Him using the least amount of effort on their part.

Nothing has changed. Truth deniers have set their hearts against God’s Words which command them to obey His Law. Unless they turn from their wicked ways and become “soil ready to receive His seed (Words)” He will not accept them, nor will He allow them to understand His deep Truths (vss 12-15). Read Matthew 13:1-9 and Hebrews 5:11-6:6. As Jesus tells Law-rejecters in Matthew 15:9 and Luke 6:46, religiosity has no effect on the situation. In fact, He HATES their religiosity, their assemblies, their singing, their prayers, their preaching, their Bible study, etc. (Amos 5:21-25). To reject any part of His Law (Genesis to Revelation) proves that one DESPISES BOTH HIM AND HIS SON (Lk. 10:16). He says in Deuteronomy 5:9 that they who reject His Law HATE HIM. This is the same Law Paul calls “holy, just and good.” Read Psalm 5:5 for an eye-opening Truth concerning spiritual hate. For those who reject the Old Testament, believing that it was “nailed to the cross,” read Matthew 5:18, Ephesians 2:20, Second Peter 1:21, Second Timothy 2:15, Isaiah 28:9-13, Isaiah 42:21, Galatians 6:16, Ephesians 2:12, Matthew 10:6, Romans 7:7, Acts 17:11, Acts 20:27, James 2:10, John 8:31, Romans 15:8, First Corinthians 10:11, Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 13:8, Romans 7:12, Romans 2:13, James 2:10, Romans 3:1, Galatians 3:8, Acts 7:38, Leviticus 11:44,45, Deuteronomy 5:9; 7:9,10, First John 2:5, John 14:6. Now back to Romans 7:5.

A proper understanding of Romans seven, verses five and six are vital to understanding the difference between the letter of the Law (Old Testament) and the spirit of the Law (New Testament). The Law is eternal, unchanging and all-encompassing. It is also God’s one and only standard by which He rules His Very Elect. One either obeys it and lives eternally or disobeys it and dies eternally. When the Roman soldiers came for Jesus, he told Peter, who had just cut off the ear of one of the soldiers: “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.” That statement also has a positive application. The Word of God is His “sword” (Eph. 6:17/ Rev. 19:15,21). His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword that man can produce. His Word cuts going in and coming out. It cuts through all non-Biblical proclamations, laying bare the lies that Satan has deceived salvation-seekers into accepting as the “Word of God” (Rev. 1:16; Heb. 4:12). Read the Introduction to this website where you will find a list of some of those lies which the church declares to be Bible truths. Why? Because they either do not know God’s Truths, or they know them and reject them.

In 7:5,6 we find Paul using such words as “flesh,” “motions,” “members,” “letter,” “oldness,” “newness,” “dead” and “held.” Remember, this is the Apostle Paul whose words, as Peter said, “are hard to understand.” God will give understanding to those who truly seek it, who will study His Word “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” God will give knowledge (of his Truth) and wisdom (how to utilize His Truth) to those who obey His study instructions (Isa. 28:9-13). Those who refuse to do so will believe Satan’s lies. Now let us examine Romans 7:5,6 with our hearts open to the voice of the Holy Spirit, without which God’s “fine print” Truths cannot be understood.

The expression: “in the flesh” means living in obedience to the call of Satan to our inner (fleshly–old) man. When we were obeying Satan, the “motions” of our sins, which were “by the Law” produced “fruit” leading to “death.” The English Word “motions” is the Greek word “pathema,” meaning the afflictions, curses, suffering s which God places on man because of man’s sins. The Lord’s definition of sin is found in First John 3:4: “To transgress the LAW is sin, for sin is the transgression of the LAW.” SIN IS THE BREAKING OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS–THE LAW OF GOD–THE HOLY BIBLE IN CONDENSED FORM. I remind Law-haters that First John is in the NEW TESTAMENT and was written by the APOSTLE JOHN, a NEW TESTAMENT messenger. The Apostle James tells us that to BREAK ONE of the Ten Commandments is to break the ENTIRE LAW –GENESIS TO REVELATION (2:10). James is a NEW TESTAMENT book.

The “motions” (curses, afflictions from God) are caused by sin. Sin is caused “by the Law.” Without the Law there is no sin (Rom. 5:13). If we do away with the Law, we do away with sin, which means we have no need for a Savior. In doing away with the Law, we do away with the Savior by leaving Him hanging on the cross–dead. The Law is eternal and always in effect. When we break it we obey Satan’s call to “walk in (obey) the flesh.” Sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:2), making us spiritually dead. WHEN WE WERE IN THE FLESH (LIVING IN SIN) WE WERE SPIRITUALLY DEAD. WHEN “CHRISTIANS” SIN THEY BECOME SPIRITUALLY DEAD. SIN IS SIN, DEATH IS DEATH. It is the Law that produces death, but only when we disobey it.

The nation’s speed laws produce trouble (“death”) for us, BUT ONLY IF WHEN WE BREAK THEM. Our system of societal law is there for our benefit. If we break that law, we pay a price in terms of fines, jail terms and even physical death. If we break God’s Law we receive punishment (sickness, accidents, bad “luck,”) on a personal basis. When a nation sins the “motions” of her sins produces such “fruits” as wars, depressions, inflation, pandemics, crime, invasion, etc. The Law of God must be obeyed in order for God to bless us (Deut. 28:1-14). When we disobey His Law He curses us (Deut. 28:15-68). Why? To get us to return to Him, repent and walk in holiness. When we obey His Law He blesses us for doing so.

When we were unjustified and unconverted we were enslaved to the Law because we did not have God’s Holy Spirit with which to obey it, making us low-hanging fruit for Satan. We were living under the “Law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). Sin automatically produced death with no way to avoid it. However, Christ’s death changed everything. Now sin (Law-breaking) could be forgiven and erased. Through justification all of our past sins could be forgiven. With true conversion comes the promised Holy Spirit–the power of God written on our hearts which enables us to fight off Satan’s temptations, which we must do in order to sit with Jesus on His throne in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:21/ 1 Jn. 2:6). Which brings us to verse six.

“But now (following justification and conversion) we have been delivered from the Law” (of sin and death–8:2). Because of Christ’s death we can be forgiven of all our past sins (justification) and can use the Holy Spirit to resist Satan’s temptations to sin again. This we must do in order to qualify for salvation upon Christ’s return to earth. Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope. Now that we have been cleansed of our past sins and have the power to resist the flesh’s pull to sin in the future, we can truly “walk in newness of (spiritual) life” and not in the “oldness of (fleshly) life.” Having the power to resist sin, WE MUST DO SO IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR ETERNAL LIFE. God does not give us His Holy Spirit so that we can sin and get away with it. He gives us His Spirit to enable us to STOP SINNING, which He commands us to do (Jn. 5:14; 8:11,34).

The Law has not changed. It is eternal. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection we can obey it from within by the power of the Holy Spirit. written in our hearts (Jer. 31:31/Heb. 8:8-13). THE CHOICE IS OURS. We can obey God and retain His Holy Spirit within us, or we can sin and have Him take His Spirit from us. This is the meaning of Isaiah 59:2: “Your sins have separated you from your God.” God is on His throne in heaven; Christ is on His throne at God’s right hand. It is Their Spirit that indwells their Very Elect. King David understood this. When he sinned he begged God to “not take Your SPIRIT from me” (Psa. 51:11). The Spirit’s departure creates a void which Satan’s fallen angels quickly fill. Abiding in the sinner, he is free to direct his/her life to commit more sins. In this way, sin begets sin.

Being a “Christian” has no meaning if one continues to sin. God’s Spirit will not remain where sin is present. Loss of the Holy Spirit opens the sinner up to Satan’s demons. Without the Holy Spirit, one automatically receives one or more. Only those led by God’s Spirit are His true children–His Very Elect. All others in what is called “the church” are controlled by Satan. Read Revelation 3:14-20 where Jesus is addressing the final church era which corresponds to the modern day church. We are living in the Laodicean (final) era of church history. Peter tells us that only the righteous in the church will be saved. Righteousness/holiness is the RESULT of obedience to the Law (Rom. 8:4). Salvation is the RESULT of righteousness/holiness (Rom. 5:21 and 6:22).

I will now remind you, and me, of the words of God given to the Apostle John as recorded in the third chapter of his first epistle. Read these passages carefully, believe them and act on them if you are not presently doing so: “Every man that has this hope (of salvation) PURIFIES HIMSELF as He (Jesus) is pure (vs 3). “Sin is the TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW” (vs 4). “Whoever abides in Him (Jesus) DOES NOT SIN. Whoever sins DOES NOT KNOW HIM” (vs 6). “He who does righteousness is righteous, even AS HE IS RIGHTEOUS” (vs 7). “He who commits sin is OF THE DEVIL” (vs 8). “Whosoever is born of God DOES NOT SIN” (vs 9).

Jesus warned us to: “Let no man take your crown” (Rev. 2:10; 3:11/ 2 Tim. 4:8). Our “crown” is salvation that is “laid up” for us in heaven. God “tries” (tests) us to see if we will obey Him and thereby EARN the crown that is waiting for us. WE EARN SALVATION BY OBEYING HIS LAW. If we follow men who do not follow God (Law-rejecters whom He calls “workers of iniquity”) we allow them to rob us of the salvation that awaits our rebirth at the return of Jesus Christ. Read Born Again. Key word–Again. If your leaders are not preaching God’s Truth found in the Scriptures given above, this proves that they are not God’s messengers–He has not sent them. They are the “ministers of righteousness” (false prophets) who have been sent by the “angel of light” (Satan)–2 Cor. 11:13-15. You must leave them immediately and embrace the living God. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1. L.J.