Romans 7:21-25 (NIV)
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.


These verses are very revealing for those interested in the context of the subject Paul is addressing. In verse 22 Paul says, " For in my inner being I delight in God's law." It is a verse like this that I believe that lets us know that Paul is writing these verses in the context of his being a Christian. The word "law" is important in these verses for it is not being used as in the 10 commandments, but in that as a principle is at work in Paul's spirit. Paul also acknowledges that another principle is at work in his body and that law is pulling him toward sin and slavery. The question of all questions is when he asks, "...Who will rescue me from this body of death?" The question is not what can, but who can save me from this body of death. He answers the question in verse 25 where gushes forth with, "Thanks be to Go--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Paul goes on to explain the victory that is ours right now. The hope we have in Jesus Christ is not only for our future, but also for the here and now. In chapter 8 Paul begins his conclusion on the matter of life in the Spirit.



Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.



Read these verses carefully and very prayerfully. Ask God to show you all the richness of the truth that is laid out before us.