Chapter seven of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Rome has been used with devastating success by Satan to lead billions of church people away from God and to himself by convincing them to reject God’s commands to obey His Law, which He condensed into the Ten Commandments.  Man’s obsession with destroying His Law is maintained in spite of many New Testament passages which He commands us to obey that Law.  Under Satan’s guidance, church people had come up with a myriad of excuses to do away with God’s Law and, again under the devil’s leadership, to come up with more user-friendly, self-satisfying suggestions.  Read John 14:15,23; 15:10/ Mat. 14:21; 19:17/ First John  1:6; 2:5 :3:22/ Rev. 12:17; 15:12; 22:14) .  As we study chapters seven and eight we will come to understand how so many have been so deceived for so long.  Few salvation seekers, Jesus warned, would enter His strait (difficult) gate and walk His narrow (restricted) way.  It is along His (one and only way) that the Truth seeker can receive the revelation necessary to connect the Lord’s “headlines” to His “fine print.” It is this “fine print” that provides the seeker with the necessary “how to” information which, IF believed and obeyed, prompts God to fulfill His promises (“headlines”) (Mat. 7:13,14; 20:16;22:14).  Let us begin now to gain such revelation by opening our minds to the “voice” of God–His Word (Exo. 19:5).  Everything concerning the spirit world comes back to the Holy Bible which God has preserved over thousands of years and which can be found everywhere in the world today.  Those with eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches will search out His Word, study it, believe it and obey it.

The following three postings will involve all of chapter seven and the first 16 verses of chapter eight.  In 8:2 Paul lays the ground-work for the entire teaching by informing us that when he writes about “the Law” he is referring to “the Law of sin and death” as well as “the Law of holiness and life, HE IS REFERRING TO THE SAME LAW, JUST AT DIFFERENT TIMES.  The law of sin and death refers to the Law as it applied to mankind BEFORE CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION.  This involved people who did not have the Holy Spirit with which to resist Satan and to obey God’s Law.  The Law of holiness and life refers to those who came to believe after Christ’s death WHICH MADE THE HOLY SPIRIT AVAILABLE TO ENTER INTO A PERSON’S HEART, ABIDE THERE AND LEAD ITS HOST TO OBEY THE LAW OF GOD FROM WITHIN.   MAN WOULD NO LONGER NEED TO TRAVEL TO THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM IN ORDER TO ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE.  TRUE SAINTS HAVE HIS LAW WRITTEN IN THEIR HEARTS (MINDS).  THIS ENABLES TRUE SAINTS TO COMMUNE DIRECTLY WITH GOD AT ANY TIME, ANY WHERE.  THIS IS THE PRIMARY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND HIS LAW.  THIS TRANSITION FROM A STONE-ETCHED LAW TO A SPIRITUAL LAW (Rom. 7:14) WAS PROPHESIED BY GOD IN JEREMIAH 31:31-34.  HEBREWS 8:8-12 CONFIRMS THAT HE FULFILLED THE PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.  THE OLD TESTAMENT CHURCH IS CALLED “THE CHURCH (CONGREGATION) IN THE WILDERNESS” (OF SINAI) (Acts 7:38).  God has ONLY one Law which has been in effect since He spoke it to the Israelites and wrote it in stone.  Originally, it was written in stone and could be approached only in the Temple..  It is now written in the hearts of His Very Elect where they are led by His Holy Spirit to obey it and given the power to do so by the Spirit.  It is an ever-present entity in the lives of those who have sanctified their entire beings unto God to be led by, and if obeyed, to be blessed by Him both in this life and the life to come.  Those who do so will be in the first resurrection–the “resurrection of the saints (“first-fruits”).”  Read The Three Resurrections.  Key word–Three.  The vast majority of church people misunderstand Romans seven and eight because of all of the supposed “contradictions” found therein.  I understand exactly why this is the case, having suffered through much confusion relative to those chapters.

In my younger years what I heard from the pulpits did not make sense when compared to what Paul and others were saying.  Along with the “contradictions” written by Paul played havoc with my Truth-obsessed mind.  However, as the incredibly patient Lord led me into ever deeper study He was introducing me to His “fine print.”  Later, after I was truly converted and had received His Holy Spirit, I was able to be taught the Truth by the Spirit as well as by men who had trod that same path and were kind enough to share their learnings with others.  In every case, the Truth of God proved to be the opposite of what has been called “Bible truth” within the Catholic/Protestant religious system known as “the church.”  My assignment from the Lord is to tell church people God’s Truth.  THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH HAS NEVER HEARD THE TRUTH, AND WORSE, SHE REJECTS IT WHEN SHE DOES ACCIDDNTLY HEAR IT.  Read Luke 10:16 for the results of rejecting God’s Word.

Paul’s “contradictions” (7:1,6,7/8:2-4) have proved to be confusing for many people, myself included in times past.  As I have stated previously in other series, I once destroyed a Bible because of all of its “contradictions” relative to the Law.  This Satan-induced fit of rage took place before the Lord opened my eyes to the finer points found in His Holy Scriptures, taught me to search for, find, learn and obey them, then told me to make them available to the Institutional Church.  Several years ago He began to speak to me about establishing a website so as to share what He was telling me with the church world.  I had no idea how to establish a website.  Each time I tried to do so I ran into a closed door.  I finally gave up and left it in His hands.  Not long afterward He moved on a stranger to do for me what I could not do for myself.  And here I am, sharing God’s Truth with church people all over the world.  And I still don’t know how to set up a website.  Now let us begin our study of Romans chapters seven and eight.

In 7:1 Paul reminds the (biological) Gentile church members that they KNEW THE LAW,” and that they, as well as every human being on earth, WOULD BE UNDER THE LAW AS LONG AS THEY LIVED.   In verses three and four he compares the convert’s relationship with God to the marriage law He had prescribed for all Israelites.

The lesson found in chapters seven and eight is deep and requires us to plow through things that are neigh on to being impossible to understand without further study.  We must remember that we are reading the writings of the Apostle Paul who spoke and wrote unlike anyone else of his era, or possibly any other era.  Recall the Apostle Peter’s said about Paul’s speech and writings that “his words are hard to understand.”  Indeed they are.  But they are as vital as they are confusing, God demands that we allow His Holy Spirit to explain what he (Paul) is saying to us.

In order to understand what some of the Bible writers are saying to us we must study God’s Bible according to His Bible study rules as presented in Isaiah 28:9-13.  As He says, these rules are for those “WHOM HE CAN TEACH KNOWLEDGE AND GIVE UNDERSTANDING OF HIS DOCTRINES.”  NOTE ALSO THAT ONLY THE SPIRITUALLY MATURE CAN BE TAUGHT HIS DEEP TRUTHS.  Read Hebrews 5:11-6:2.  Spiritual maturity comes only by much study using a mind that is open to Him and is willing to reject any teachings that do not align with the Holy Scriptures.  And there are many, very, very many.  Only by following the Lord’s study instructions can one truly understand Paul’s writings.  Note that the Isaiah 28 study instructions are repeated verbatim, meaning that they are sure and unchanging (Gen. 41:32).

In 7:4 we find THE verse that has caused so much trouble for the church because it SEEMS to be saying that Law was done away with.  The statement that true saints are “dead to the Law” would SEEM to say that the Law was no longer relevant.  As further study reveals, this is the opposite of the Truth.  Verse six SEEMS to be saying the same thing.  There is it written: “But now we (Paul included) have been “delivered from the Law wherein we were held (captive).”  Admittedly, this  verse SEEMS to be a powerful, anti-Law statement.  Paul addresses this error in 8:2 where tells us that he is referring to the “THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH” under which Old Testament people lived.  That Law never went away, as we will see when we come to that verse.  Verse 8:2 is THE PIVITAL POINT IN UNDERSTANDING CHAPTERS SEVEN AND EIGHT.  We will study it in one setting when we come to it.  L.J.