Paul’s words in Romans 7 cut through every illusion we might have about our own strength:
“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:21-23)
This is not a theoretical struggle. It is the lived experience of every believer who has sincerely tried to please God. We are not simple creatures; within us operate four distinct laws: the law of God, the law of sin in our members, the law of the mind, and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The law of God is holy and good, the standard itself. The law of sin in our members is the problem—an indwelling principle that resists God. The law of the mind agrees with God’s standard, but it is powerless to overcome the flesh. And the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the only means of true deliverance.
The Trap of Legalistic Effort
Legalistic teaching seduces precisely because the law of our mind says “Amen” to God’s commands. We hear exhortations from James or elsewhere—“Do this, do that”—and we agree, thinking our agreement is enough. But every attempt to obey God’s law through the law of our mind only strengthens the law of sin in our members. The harder we try, the more we fail. This is not accidental; it is by God’s design.
God allows us to enter this internal war, not to improve us, but to bring us to crisis. He gives the law so that, as we strive to obey, we discover a deeper, more powerful principle at work—one that cannot be subdued by willpower. Our repeated failures are not wasted; they are the very means God uses to expose our ruin. The law, and our legalistic struggle under it, are tools in God’s hand to bring us to the end of ourselves.
The Necessity of Crisis
Eventually, the conflict becomes unbearable. We realize that both “good” and “bad” are present in us, and that neither can produce life. The end of both is death. This is the crisis God intends:
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)
This cry is not a sign of spiritual failure, but of spiritual progress. God brings us to this point so that we will finally see what we could not before: not only did Christ die for us, but we died with Him. The flesh—both its “good” and “bad” parts—must go to the cross. God is not interested in reforming the old man; He has condemned it entirely.
The Deeper Deliverance: Death with Christ
The history of Israel illustrates this. The Red Sea was their deliverance from Egypt—Christ’s death for us. But the Jordan River, which rolled back to Adam, pictures a deeper deliverance: our death with Christ. Only when we pass through this second crisis do we enter into the enjoyment of our inheritance. Until then, we remain in the wilderness, struggling under the law, unable to enjoy Christ as our portion.
Romans 6 introduces our death to sin; Romans 7 brings us to the crisis where we see the necessity of our own death with Christ. This is not learned in theory, but in the laboratory of repeated failure. God sovereignly orchestrates our circumstances—even our time in “Laban’s house,” the house of affliction—so that we learn this lesson the hard way. There is no shortcut. No amount of repentance or renewed effort will fix what is fundamentally ruined.
What Is Lost If We Miss This
If we refuse this crisis—if we cling to the hope that our flesh can be improved—we lose everything. We forfeit the reality of our death with Christ. We remain bound to the law of sin and death, condemned to a cycle of striving and failure. The inheritance remains out of reach. Sonship is obscured by condemnation. The conscience is never cleansed, and the finished work of Christ is made of no effect in our experience. This is not a secondary matter; it is the difference between living as a slave and living as a son.
The Only Way Out: The Law of the Spirit of Life
After the collapse comes the answer:
“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)
But Paul’s thought does not end here. It continues:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
This is the only true deliverance. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free—not by empowering the flesh, but by replacing it altogether. The Christian life is not a matter of juggling four laws; it is a matter of being reduced to one: the law of the Spirit of life, which is Christ Himself living in us.
The End of Striving, the Beginning of Life
Do not despise the crisis. Do not mourn your collapse. God is not disappointed in your inability; He is using it to clear the ground for His Son. Your exhaustion, your brokenness, your utter failure—these are the very tools God uses to bring you to the reality of your death with Christ and the freedom of His resurrection life.
When you finally stop trying to improve what God has already crucified, you are ready to walk by the Spirit. Only then does condemnation lift, inheritance becomes real, and sonship is enjoyed. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is not a new command to keep, but a new life to receive. Christ is everything. There is no other way.
