In verse 24 Paul says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” In relationship with the law which Paul has been talking about from 7:1 Paul confesses that he is “a wretched man”. (24) The problem is when Paul said these words. There are three main interpretations of this passage.
1. This was before he was born again, or his condition when he was an unbeliever.
2. This was his condition after he was born again. In other words he is referring to his condition as a Christian.
3. This is his condition right after he was born again. It is like those who have not received the “second grace”.
What is extremely interesting is when you look at Christian history during the first centuries the first interpretation was the common thinking. In other words this was his condition before he was born again. A famous theologian, Argentines, of the 400s at first followed this interpretation. Later he gave up this interpretation and claimed that the correct interpretation had to be number two. Later the reformists and Puritan leaders began to believe in the second interpretation. This is the condition of those who are born again. However, there were some people who thought that Christians who were born again could not be “wretched” (24) so some people appeared claiming the third interpretation.
Which interpretation is correct? Today while gaining a correct understanding of this passage and while gaining an understanding of what man is, let’s walk a life of a real victorious Christian. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of this.
I. Paul’s struggle (vs. 14-20)
First let’s look at Paul’s struggle. Let’s look at verses 14 and 15.
In verse 7 Paul brought up the problem “Is the law sinful?” Paul answers, “Certainly not!” Then he talks about the purpose of the giving of the law. That was that by the law we would realize that we are terrible sinners. Sin brings death. Sin uses the law and makes us into bigger terrible sinners. This explanation is in verse 14. If you look at this verse well, you will see that he says “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” in the present tense. Up until now has been different. He has been using the past tense. For example in verse 9 he says, “Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.” Until the commandment came, he had no relationship with the law, but when the commands came, sin was born and he died. However, here he is saying, “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” (14) in the present tense. This means that verse 14 does not refer to his condition before he was saved but refers to his condition after he was saved. Paul who was saved and was facing his deep sin confessed, “What a wretched man I am!” (24)
Even Paul who was saved and lived in faith was in such a struggle that he confessed, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (24) No matter how much of a burning a faith a person has there are times that he falls. Elijah did too. In I Kings 18 there is the story where the prophet Elijah fought and had victory over the 850 prophets of Baal on Mt. Caramel. In this event he has the appearance of a roaring lion, a very powerful prophet. However in the next moment, Ahab’s wife, Jezebel appears and sends a message that she will kill Elijah. Then Elijah became fearful and fled. He sat down under a broom bush and prayed, “I have had enough, LORD. Take my life.” (I Kings 19:4) Just before that Elijah was on fire, but now that same Elijah is crying, “I have had enough, LORD. Take my life.” (I Kings 19:4) No matter how great a man seems, even if he shows himself strong, in the end he is man. We are all weak.
No matter how brave and faithful a Christian is there are times that he experiences disturbances and discouragement. This is how it is. Just because you become a Christian doesn’t mean that since you have believed for many years that you won’t be depressed. No matter how strong you are, there are times that you are discouraged and struggle looking like a weak person.
Paul was the same. In verse 15 he confesses, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
II Cor. 1:8
Paul is confessing that he was being persecuted very badly to the point beyond his “ability to endure.” (II Cor. 1:8) We don’t know how much pressure that was for him. However, it was more than “ability to endure.” (II Cor. 1:8) Even Paul who spread the Gospel had weaknesses. He didn’t do what he wanted to do, but what he hated to do. He sinned. Verses 18 and 19 say the same thing. Paul’s struggle was that even though in his heart he desired “to do what is good” (19) he had a contradictory self or a weak self that did evil things.
This is a truthful confession of Paul. This confession means that the Apostle Paul had worries, problems, and struggles, and he had a problem that in his heart he wasn’t always following the will of God, and had a terrible struggle within his heart over it. If that’s the case we Christians will have such a struggle. Everyone worries, suffers, and while floundering has a fight going on in their heart. That is what Christians who are human too are like.
II. The cause of struggles (vs. 21-23)
Next let’s look at the cause of struggles. That is that Christians have two laws at work within them. Look at verses 21 to 23.
These two laws are the heart of the inner person and the law of flesh within the outer person. If we use the words of 8:2 to express it, it would be “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death”. This “law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death” are fighting in our heart and so struggles occur. Therefore, those who don’t believe in Jesus don’t have such struggles and worries. Those who don’t believe in Christ are completely controlled by “the law of sin and death”. Both the outer person and the inner person are controlled by the same law and so no struggle occurs. They only have to deal with their conscious. Therefore, those who don’t believe in Christ don’t worry about the fact that they didn’t pray. However, when they believe in Jesus and welcome Jesus into their heart they receive “the law of the Spirit of life” (8:2) so no matter whether they have a small or large faith, “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death” (8:2) are fighting in their hearts and struggles occur. However, there is no reason for worrying. The fact that there are struggles in itself means that there is life there. The life is planted there so when you turn your back even a little on God, you become anxious, and fear occurs. We become anxious because the seeds of life are planted within us. Therefore, the fighting between the power of life and the power of sin begins in our hearts. This fighting will continue until the power of life makes an overwhelming victory.
II Timothy 3:12
If we want to live in Jesus Christ from the moment that we make such a decision, the power of sin and death begins fighting within us. Before we made a decision we didn’t have such a struggle so we wonder why we are so confused. However, it is just because “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death” (8:2) are fighting in our heart.
In Acts 17 when Paul was evangelizing in Thessalonica, the people there called the Christians, “men who have caused trouble all over the world.” (Acts 17:6) The Christians hadn’t done anything. They only believed in Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior of the whole world. However, in the Thessalonians eyes, these Christians were like people who had turned the world upside down. Where people that really believe in Jesus Christ are, such a changing revolution appears.
Matt. 10:34-36
This means that when we really try to follow the Word of God that peace will deteriorate within our families. That is because there are some people that are trying to live by the law of the world and some that are trying to live by the Word of God. They are in conflict with each other. Wherever there are works of life, always the power of sin and death arises and acts up. For example, when Jesus appeared, a man who was possessed by a demon ran out shouting. When Jesus, life itself, appeared, the powers of death couldn’t hide any longer. Struggles occur in the church in the same way. The law of life and the law of sin and death are fighting in our hearts so peace deteriorates. Therefore, the church always needs to pray that we can see things from God’s point of view, and walk in the will of God.
III. In the Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 24,25)
The solution to this, how we can have victory over the law of sin and death is only in Jesus Christ. Please look at verses 24 and 25.
When Paul said, “What a wretched man I am!” (24) he meant that within himself he had no power to have victory over the law of sin and death. Even if he wanted to do good, he had no power to do good. Also within himself he was “a slave to the law of sin”. (25) Even though he wanted to follow the Word of God, he couldn’t follow it. This was the frustration that Paul faced. This wasn’t just Paul, but something that can be said about all Christians. We all have no power to win over sin. We are all nothing but wretched men.
Paul gives us here the answer to how we can be set free from “the law of sin and death” and how “the law of the Spirit of life” (8:2) will work. That is not within him at all, but by the grace of God. In verse 25 Paul said, “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!” He knew it was only by the grace of God. He was a terrible sinner. He had no power within himself to have victory over sin. God through Jesus Christ took upon himself that sin. We need only to humble ourselves before God, repent, return to God, and hold onto God by grace. If we do that through Jesus Christ God’s righteousness and strength will have complete victory over sin and death. Paul knew this principle. His lament was a blessing. This is really a confession of a person who has deeply entered God’s grace. A person that has no faith would not have such a lament. A person without faith can not see his weaknesses or shamefulness. When God’s light of grace, the powerful light shines on a person, then for the first time he can see what a terrible sinner he is. Only those that through the Lord know their weak and short points can make such a confession. Therefore, if you look at the letters that Paul wrote, you can see that the longer he walked with Christ, the more humble he became. In Corinthians which was written in the earlier part of his ministry, he wrote about himself as “the least of the apostles”. (I Cor. 15:9) In Ephesians which was written in the middle of his ministry, he wrote, “I am less than the least of all God’s people.” (Ephesians 3:8) In his first letter to Timothy which was written near the end of his ministry, he wrote that Jesus came to save sinners and adds about “sinners- of whom I am the worst”. (I Tim. 1:15) He is seen as becoming the humblest of the humblest. This was Paul’s understanding of the Gospel. This is the same in the Spiritual world.
There are some people that think that they are a strong vessel. They think that they are not doing anything especially bad and that they are observing worship on the Lord’s Day. Even though they look at themselves and they haven’t changed at all, they think, “What a pity”, but they aren’t sad at all. This is a disaster. They need to call out,” What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (24) and repent. “This body of death” (24) refers to the method used as a death penalty at that time. They would tie a dead corpse to a living prisoner that had been sentenced to death. As the dead corpse decayed the germs would spread over to the living prisoner that had been sentenced to death and gradually he would die. It usually took 2 to 3 months for him to die. Our body is “this body of death”. (24) “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (25)
Only Jesus can. Between verses 24 and 25 the mood changes. It is like a crow that was crying is now a crow that is laughing. There is a huge gap. This is because we should not spend a long time lamenting and in despair. When we look at our wretched condition, we feel compelled to yell out,” What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (24) However, we should not hold onto that forever. We have to rise up from the despair through Jesus Christ. The key word is “Jesus Christ”. (25) Not by our own strength, but by focusing on Jesus Christ, power will spring up, and we will be full with hope. Jesus who gives us salvation does not want us to continue in the condition of being ordained to death. He rose on the third day. He destroyed the power of death completely and rose again. Here is our hope. He has all authority on heaven and earth. He can completely destroy the power of Satan. Even if you have no hope within yourself, you can have victory through Christ. This was the power of victory that Paul had.
Therefore, we should not continue forever in despair and discouragement. Christians also get depressed. No matter how great a Christian a person is, everyone experiences despair and discouragement. However, what makes the difference is in the midst of it what you are looking at. It is here, “Through Jesus Christ”, (25) that we have hope. We are bothered by sin and death, and we become weak and depressed, but let’s remember that our Lord, Jesus Christ powerfully and completely destroyed the control of sin and death. It is only by holding onto His grace, and by faith, that we can walk a victorious life. That is the road that we should take.