In Romans 7:5,6 the Apostle Paul noted that sin is caused by the Law. In verse seven he asks, “Is the Law sin?” His answer is, “God forbid, I would not have known what sin is but by the Law.” In verses eight and nine he explains that the Law prohibited what his fleshly old man wanted to do, which is common in all men, including Jesus of Nazareth Who had the same urges as all other human beings. Paul tells us in Hebrews 4:15 that He had to overcome the temptations of Satan exactly like everyone else, which He did and therefore EARNED His status as Savior of those over whom He is LORD and MASTER. He tells us that we can join Him in His Father’s kingdom by overcoming the same urges and temptations AS HE DID.

Paul notes that he did not overcome while walking in the flesh. Rather, he gave in to those urges, believing that he was in good standing with God. While he was killing Christians he “knew” that he was doing what God wanted him to do. He noted that he was “alive” (doing great) until “the Law came” (into his life) and “I died” (vs 9). When he was introduced to the Law he realized that he was a Law-breaker–a sinner–a walking dead man.

In verse 10 Paul noted that the Law was given to mankind to provide (eternal) life (if obeyed). But because he broke the Law, the Law resulted in his spiritual death. Sin, he says in verse 11, deceived him and killed him spiritually. In verse 12 he declares that the Law is holy, just and good. He, however, was evil because he broke God’s Law. In verse 13 he declared that it wasn’t the Law itself that had “killed” him, but rather sin within him that had done so, that sin had worked death in him by that which was good (the Law). In order for sin to be sin, there must be a Law. It is the breaking of the Law that produces sin.

Beginning in verse 14 we see where the whole of professing Christendom has been deceived. The problem involves timing. Here Paul begins writing about the past, the time immediately following his conversion but before he learned the whole truth about the Law, the Holy Spirit, etc. He causes confusion by writing the following 10 verses in present tense, saying “I am,” “I do,” “I consent,” “I know,” etc. instead of “I was,” “I did,” “I consented,” “I knew,” etc. We all do the same thing at times. When describing a trip to town five days earlier one might say something like this: “I AM (present tense) driving down the street when I SEE (present tense) Joe standing on the corner ….” We often use present tense language when describing a past occurrences, which is what Paull is doing in verses 14-24.

In those verses he tells about his struggle to overcome the sinful nature which continued to haunt him after he came to know the Lord and His Law. Recall that, immediately following his meeting with Christ on the road to Damascus, he spent three years in Arabia alone with the Lord where He learned the Gospel directly from Him (Gal. 1:12,15-18). Through his inner battles he learned that there was sin in him that had to be overcome by him. The sin in him was too much for him to overcome using his own power. He had to have spiritual help from on high. He had walked in the flesh for so long that it took time and effort on His part to overcome Satan’s temptations. Even with the Holy Spirit, it takes much effort on man’s part to obey the Spirit which will, if continued, result in his overcoming Satan. As the Scripture tells us: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jam. 4:7). “Resist” doesn’t mean to do it once and the battle is won. After all these years I do battle with Satan daily. I must resist the devil on continuous basis in order to remain in good stead with God. I am told that this is impossible, that, because of Adam’s sin transferal miracle, sin is inevitable, that Jesus died to make my sins disappear as soon as I repent. Read Romans 2:5. Those who continue to sin and repent have what God calls an “impenitent heart,” meaning that his continuous repentance is faked.

In verse 24 Paul had asked who would deliver him from (empower him against) the fleshly pulls within all human beings? The answer comes in verse 25: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We must make Him our LORD and obey Him totally “UNTIL THE END,” at which time we “Shall (then) be saved” (Mat. 10:22).

The last sentence in verse 25 has been misunderstood by the vast majority within professing Christendom. The result has been catastrophic as man has been pulled further and further away from God, His Law/His Truth. A misunderstanding of Paul’s statement has led to many false doctrines being declared God’s Truths and accepted by billions of salvation seekers as His truth. Paul’s statement: “So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” is proclaimed throughout the church as an excuse to sin. A closer examination of the passage and all that came before it reveals that the statement should have followed verse 23 where it serves as the conclusion of the whole argument Paul has been putting forth in chapter seven. The sentence begins with the Greek words “ara oun,” which means “therefore.” In common English it would read, “In conclusion, the sum of what I have said” in chapter seven concerning the removal of sin from the lives of God’s true saints. Many have used the sentence to “prove” that Paul never overcame sin, but rather lived the rest of his life as a sinner. This would allow Law-rejecters to continue to sin while remaining in good stead with God, which is what Paul is falsely accused of doing.

This belief would contradict all of the arguments to the contrary put forth by Paul in the Book of Romans up to this point as well as what follows. Paul insists that man can, and must, achieve victory over sin as did Jesus Christ Who commanded it in Revelation 3:21 in order to join Him on His throne in the Kingdom of God. In the final sentence of verse 25 Paul, in his unique way, is saying that, though there was a constant war taking place between his mind and his flesh, his mind (heart-spirit) won out in the end. He is simply recognizing that the two opposing forces exist within himself, and that there is a constant struggle for dominion over him. The word “serve” meant that he recognized the two factors. But just as did Jesus Christ, Paul chose to obey the Spirit of God rather than the spirit of Satan whose “fiery darts” of temptation came at him (and Jesus) continually. Why would he have told the church–then and now–to “PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD (Eph. 6:11-18) if it could not deflect Satan’s incoming darts of temptation? Paul is simply stating the fact that both the temptations and the victories were on-going within him. He states this again in the next verse.

In 8:1 he makes another statement that has also been used to excuse sin within the church. Here he says that “there is now (following victory over sin and the flesh) no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS ….” Here is where the church masses again get off the track. The universal belief is that when one is supposedly “saved” this places one IN CHRIST JESUS where one cannot be removed. In other words, “Once saved, always saved.” Which is true. The problem is that salvation is not awarded in this life, but will be awarded upon Christ’s return. Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope. It is what takes place between conversion and His return that determines one’s eternity. The finish line must be crossed before the crown of victory can be awarded. The “race” is one’s life from conversion until death. It is what takes place during the race that determines one’s future.

The problem with Christianity involves the word “IN.” If one is “in Christ Jesus” and continues to sin, then First John 1:5 is a lie. John says about the Lord that He is (totally) light, and that “IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS (SIN) AT ALL.” If one is “in Him” and sins (in darkness), then JESUS HAS SIN IN HIM. And in that there are some three billion church sinners, Jesus is literally filled with sin. John and the church cannot both be right. One is right unto eternal life and the other is wrong unto eternal death. The church chooses to embrace its own version of truth. For this reason Jesus warned that only a few salvation seekers would agree with Him while the masses would follow Satan (Mat. 7:13,14; 20:16) while believing that, due to Christ’s death, the fix is in, that He makes sin disappear as soon as it is repented of. Read The Message of the Cross. Key word–Message–where one will see that Christ died, not to make sin disappear upon repentance, but to make sin not take place at all.

The whole of Catholicism/Protestantism has embraced Satan’s version of Truth, just as did Adam and Eve. A careful reading of First Thessalonians 4:16 makes it clear that the resurrection of the Lord’s true church will involve only those who are “IN CHRIST.” Sinners (those in darkness), whether churched or nonchurched, CANNOT BE IN CHRIST, BECAUSE “IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS (SIN) AT ALL.” This is the reason they will not rise to meet Jesus in the clouds during the first (firstfruits) resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20,23/ Jam. 1:18/ Rev. 14:4). Read First Thessalonians 4:13-18. The first (of three) resurrections will involve only those who are IN CHRIST where there is NO DARKNESS AT ALL. Read The Three Resurrections. Key word–Three.

Finally, let us look at 8:1 in totality. Paul writes: “NOW (having completed the PROCESS of conversion) there is NO CONDEMNATION.” For who? “…. for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS,” who “WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH (CONTINUE TO SIN), BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT (OBEDIENCE TO GOD).” Obviously, to WALK AFTER THE HOLY SPIRIT does not include sin. In this life, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, (only) they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES NOT LEAD US TO SIN. Sin separates us from God by His removing His Holy Spirit from the sinner. Read Revelation 3:14-20 for a perfect characterization of the modern Catholic/Protestant Church System. We are living in the final days of the Laodicean era of church history. If you are in that Satan-led system, come out. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1. L.J.