This One Is Not For You (2)
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 7:5-6 NASB
Aroused – If you had to turn a simple preposition into a highlighted announcement, you probably couldn’t do better than to translate ta dia with a phrase “which were aroused.” The preposition simply means “through,” or perhaps “by means of,” as in this case. But throwing in “aroused” gets us going, doesn’t it? Suddenly it’s not just the fact that the Torah reveals our detours for what they are. Now it takes on a different feel, as if the Torah itself is the cause of our problems. After all, as the famous illustration goes, “Don’t think of a pink elephant” immediately causes you to think of a pink elephant. So all those rules in Torah actually cause you to consider breaking them. Is that what Paul is saying?
How could he? Isn’t Paul the one who wrote, “the Torah is good and holy”? Clearly Paul does not believe that the Torah causes us to sin. “Aroused” must be modified. What Torah does is illuminate sinful acts. It’s as if we are walking in the dark and suddenly a flashlight shines on a dangerous step in front of us. The light doesn’t make us take the step. We have already decided on this particular path, but now the light shows us where the danger really lies.
What, then, is the cause of our missteps? According to this verse, it appears to be our physical existence. It’s the fact that we are “flesh” and the desires of the “body” lead us to act in ways that bring about death. But we need caution here. It might be that Paul is embracing the gnostic dualism (do you remember how powerful Gnosticism was in the first century?), but that doesn’t seem likely either. Paul’s view of physical existence is not Greek. The body is not inherently evil, separated from the true divine, spiritual realm because it is physical. Paul doesn’t really view human existence in three categories: body, mind and spirit. Greek vocabulary might not have an equivalent for nepeš but that doesn’t mean Paul is adopting a Greek view of humanity. Paul views Man as an integrated whole, a “person,” not a combination of separate functions. That means Paul doesn’t see our physical existence as some kind of corrupt perpetrator of spiritual evil. What happens to us happens to all of us no matter where the initial process begins. If I sin as a result of looking at something dangerous to my relationship with others and with God, my eyes are not the culprits. It is the whole act of seeing, from volition to retinal image to mental interpretation that leads me in the wrong direction. More importantly, even if embodiment provides the means for my choices, the flashlight of the Torah doesn’t make my body sin. It just elucidates the danger of the process. It is the process, from start to finish, that brings about the fruit for death (notice that Paul does not say “death” without qualification).
It’s also important to note that Paul talks about pathemata hamartion (what happens to us) as something evolving in us (“at work in the members”). It’s not a one-time disastrous choice resulting in excommunication. It energéō, activity over time or evolution toward a goal. One small detour leads to another and another until as last the original path is forgotten. We get so used to being lost that we think we’re on the road again. Torah is a road sign telling us we’re going in the wrong direction.
Let’s summarize: Paul writes to a primarily Jewish/Messianic audience, an audience that would have an Hebraic view of Man. He describes the process that leads to separation from God and self. That process affects the whole of the person and it happens over a period of time. In that process, Torah illuminates our mistaken direction. The end of this road is the verb karpophoréō, that is, “to bear fruit.” Unless we change directions, the choices we make will eventually lead us to produce certain results; results which take on the character of death. We don’t die instantly when we make these choices. We die incrementally, a step at a time, until one day we discover we are not only lost, we have starved ourselves.
Topical Index: ta dia, aroused, through, fruit, death, energéō, karpophoréō, Romans 7:5-6
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The flesh, I have noticed, responds to guilt in a universal way: it seeks to justify the choices of sin. In fact, I think people set the stage to justify the NEXT sinful choice at the same time they cut themselves some justifying slack for the last choice. It is for sure that we have no defense against the next sin ( because of the ‘need’ to justify ourselves that is brought on by guilt) if we decide to try to justify the last one instead of repent for it.
What produces guilt? Knowledge of the Law – of love – that I am convinced we are all aware of. What gives us that awareness? I believe God hardwired us for love, and as part of that wiring, He gave each of us a conscience that knows perfectly well what love is. Just watch any Jerry Springer episode. These folks may not seem to know anything else, but all people want justice (which is the foundation of that Throne of love) and while they were at it, they would take any mercy anybody wanted to give them, too (which is also part of that foundation). The principles of that Throne are hardwired in us. I think we all want love because we all know what it is, but it is that knowledge that produces our guilt. Only real psychopaths seem to lack guilt, but even they know enough to sneak and hide!
If we did not feel guilty, we would not seek justification. We would let our choices, with their accompanying motives, hang out on the line for all to see and to admire. But what do guilty people do? They hide in bushes behind fig leaves. Show me a person who does not hide, and I will show you a person whose conscience is dead; who is incapable of feeling guilt. I believe there are no such people. If you do see someone who does not seem to mind others knowing the truth about their sins, you will notice that they will have a whole lot of power to hide behind of some sort; either social power (social acceptance) or economic power or just plain brute force. Even the psychopaths, I have noticed, have to rely on hallucinated power. All sinners are cowards.
I am convinced that it is the Law that makes the flesh want to hide and to justify. The Law – which the Bible assures us that all of us know in our hearts – is written on all our hearts: we all know what love is! BUT, the irony is that that Law is written by means of guilt (in people alive in the flesh, anyway) on a heart of stone; while (in people who are dead to the flesh) it is written in the returned freedom of choice on a soft “heart of flesh” able and ready to choose (in obedience) anything they can see is right. Such is the absurdity of trying to make sense of nonsense. I think even the Bible fails at that one! You just have to laugh sometime, y’all!
P.S. Maybe the Bible does NOT, in fact, fail at explaining about flesh. Perhaps there are clues in that verse in Ezekiel. Perhaps the “flesh” we are currently failing in is corrupted but not ‘bad’: perhaps it is a perversion of a good design? The flesh is “weak”, but perhaps we were created that way because we were never meant to have power in the flesh. Perhaps we were designed to have powerless flesh so as to be a conduit for the power of God. Our mistake is is trying to run on flesh power, but the only ‘strength’ we can drive from corrupting the flesh is to calcify it into stone by means of a seared conscience? Another humanistic imitation of that great Rock?
Hi Laurita…you said, “Show me a person who does not hide, and I will show you a person whose conscience is dead; who is incapable of feeling guilt. I believe there are no such people.” Unfortunately, we don’t see the pro-abortion or the pro gay rights, LGBT people trying to hide their beliefs and behaviors. In fact they flaunt them and rage against others who don’t agree. But, as you also said, “If you do see someone who doesn’t seem to mind others knowing the truth about their sins, you will notice that they have a whole lot of power to hide behind; either social power (social acceptance) or economic power, or brute force.” I couldn’t agree more with your assessment. Sadly, they have begun to tip the scales of justice as more and more in society jump on their ban wagons. Since they won’t consider Torah, they’re oblivious to the fact that they need to change directions. As Skip said, they are dying incrementally, one step at a time, until one day they will discover they are not only lost, they have starved themselves. I would add that we who follow Torah also have blind spots in our lives that need readjusting and realignment lest we too fall into deception and end up on the wrong path…with no idea how we got there. Hmmm…time for a “check-up.”
I didn’t mean for my last sentence “I would add…” to sound like that was my idea. I believe that was Skip’s whole point…’they and we’ need to examine ourselves for self deception.
He certainly is making a good point, Judi, and you summarized it for me. I think truth does not originate from us, however; it is more like – as C.S. Lewis said – a “good infection”. May we all become infected!
The reason we who love Torah would continue to have those blind spots is because we’ve only gotten an inch away from the modern church’s mindset. “Most” of us to some degree or another believe that we can be Torah observant outside of a community that calls us to account for our actions. If that were true we could throw out the one third of the Torah commands that details out how to repair broken relationships. How silly we are. Sigh!
And that one goes on my wall, Pam, as my present emo (modus operandi). I aim to direct all my resources and life toward that community. The world needs to see a present Torah in action!
Amen…and not just in our moral decisions. The self deception also is alive and well in the decisions we make re: our health, our weight, our finances and, as you mentioned…relationships
Thank you, Skip! I have come to appreciate “second witnesses” as I have walked this path. I recently started reading (again)Oswald Chambers’ daily “Utmost” and today’s is in complete alignment with what you are saying. utmost dot org slash classic slash today for the 4/19 reading… Joab had not turned after Absalom, but he did eventually turn after Adonijah. I wonder if Paul was thinking of Joab’s slow (and to me, so tragic, so heart-wrenching) downfall as he wrote this letter.