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RomansThe Letter from Yeshua's Emissary Sha’ul(Paul) to the Messianic Community in Rome Chapter 7 - (CJB)* A Study to Help New and Young Christians - Previous Study |
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1. Surely you know, brothers — for I am speaking to those who understand Torah — that the Torah has authority over a person only so long as he lives? 2. For example, a married woman is bound by Torah to her husband while he is alive; but if the husband dies, she is released from the part of the Torah that deals with husbands. 3. Therefore, while the husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress if she marries another man; but if the husband dies, she is free from that part of the Torah; so that if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. 4. Thus, my brothers, you have been made dead with regard to the Torah through the Messiah’s body, so that you may belong to someone else, namely, the one who has been raised from the dead, in order for us to bear fruit for God. 5. For when we were living according to our old nature, the passions connected with sins worked through the Torah in our various parts, with the result that we bore fruit for death. 6. But now we have been released from this aspect of the Torah, because we have died to that which had us in its clutches, so that we are serving in the new way provided by the Spirit and not in the old way of outwardly following the letter of the law.
........ 7. Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, “Thou shalt not covet.” 8. But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of evil desires — for apart from Torah, sin is dead. 9 I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, 10. and I died. The commandment that was intended to bring me life was found to be bringing me death! 11. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me. 12. So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good.
........ 13. Then did something good become for me the source of death? Heaven forbid! Rather, it was sin working death in me through something good, so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure. 14. For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15. I don’t understand my own behaviour — I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16. Now if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17. But now it is no longer “the real me” doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18. For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can’t do it! 19. For I don’t do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don’t want is what I do! 20. But if I am doing what “the real me” doesn’t want, it is no longer “the real me” doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21. So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,” that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22. For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; 23. but in my various parts, I see a different “ torah,” one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” which is operating in my various parts. 24. What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? 25. Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin’s “Torah.” |
Study - Chapter 7 Ch 7: verses, 1-6, Paul here takes a deep dive into why we can be free from the Sin that is still part of our old "nature'. He states the Law, The Torah, that had us under its power before we received the 'New Nature', the Life Of Christ, it has no power over us. As long as we focus on the fact we have been transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness and have been translated into "The King of His Son". Just like when a woman whose husband has died is no longer tied to her dead husband and can marry again so we are free from the 'Old Nature'. As we continue living according to the "New Nature". Now I think I can hear some saying 'But I am still doing things I did before I was saved, so how can I continue on?". Paul has an answer for this further on but for now he stating a "Legal Fact". As long as you focus on what has been "Made New", and are not trying to stop the "old" you are heading in the right direction. What happened at the Cross when you accept that Jesus died for "Me", then in spiritual sense you died and have received New Life, Being Resurected in Christ. That "death" has released you from the power of the 'Old Nature', you now live in the power of the "New Nature". ........ Ch 7: verses, 7-12, Again Paul starts on a legal argument. This is because some might say "How can this be?". "If The Torah caused me to sin it must be bad". The Law or The Torah is designed to show Sin as sin. Without The Torah, you would not know what it was causing you to Sin. So the Law is good in that it caused there not to be any excuse that 'our sin' can be put aside causually. We have to own up to the fact that we have have sinned then we can get forgivness of that sin, receive the free gift of salvation and start our "New Life". Paul continues to show that Sin left its own devices causes death. That without knowing The Law Sin had no power to bring death. But I needed to see Sin as it is so I could be free of that Sin. So here is real conundrum, what was sent to make us free has caused death. He goes on to share just how difficult it is to be free of Sin. When one tries to do good bad happens. So what is the answer? Paul is about to unwrap this in the next several verses. ........ Ch 7: verses, 13-25, The Law being good has caused me to die, not really but The Law showed up my sin and that sin is what is causing me to die. Paul here tackles the Age-Old Problem. How to we overcome the 'Old Nature' that keeps getting the way of living the life we know we should live as a New Creation. So if we acknowledge that the Law - The Torah is good or is "Life", we still find that we are having to cope with our 'old nature'. How do we get free from the effects of the 'old nature' and live a life confident that we are pleasing to Our Father? The following verses Paul tries to explain what has been difficult for some people to get their heads around. I hope that my simple explaination helps because this is one of the most important points that Paul makes in helping us to understand how to live a victorious life. Paul explains that he found {and we all find this}, that he 'sees' things happening in his flesh, his daily life things that he does not approve of. Verse 15: "I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate!";(CJB)*. My paraphrase of these verses: - "I find that I am doing things I don't want to do." So, "Now that I have judged the things that I am 'doing, are things I don't want to do', it is not me that is doing them." It is sin in my flesh or my members which is part of my 'old nature'. Since it is not me that is doing these things and they are happening without my permission, then it is no use me trying to stop them. Because as Paul states "21. So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,” that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me; (CJB)*". Verse 23 continues this delema. Paul's lament in verse 24 is, "What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death?"; (CJB)* The answer is in verse 25, "Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin’s “Torah.”; (CJB)* As we focus ourselves on Jesus, we have His Nature then we are not trying to stop "Those Things" with our will. What we focus on is what we become, our willingness to see ourselves as "being in Christ" then our actions move on His way of doing things. The next chater explains just how this all works out for us as we change the way we make decisions and follow Christ. ........ |
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(CJB)* The Complete Jewish Bible" used with permission. |
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