Romans 7:14 – the “fleshly me”

For we are aware that the law is spiritual, yet I am fleshly, having been disposed of under Sin.

Sin is sin par excellence, “through the precept” (: 13), Paul argued. For how else but by deception can the law (which after all is “spiritual”) be a motive for sin ?! We have already seen that this deception is because of perceiving the “you shall (not)” as a command to man. Because with that “the flesh” (= man in his corruptible status) is stimulated to activity.

Where the law is understood as a promise, the eye is focused on GOD and on what He is able to do. On the other hand, where people have expectations of human performance, disappointment is inevitable. Even if that person is a believer. Counted “according to the flesh” (8: 4), as long as we are in “the body of this death” (: 24), we are “sold under sin”.

Notice, from this verse to the end of this chapter, Paul speaks in the present tense. So it is not about the contrast between the past and the present. As if my “fleshly me” would now be an improved version of the former me. GOD still does not expect anything from the “fleshly me”. Because He does it all!

Delen: