Romans 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Paul has been describing his pre-conversion state of being under law since verse 7 and he now asks the question, who will deliver me from this body of death? If he had been talking about his own indwelling sin after conversion, why would he ask who would deliver him from this body of death? He had already stated a deliverance from that which held him captive in verse 6 and indeed in all of chapter 6. Here he speaks of needing of a future deliverance when asks, “who will deliver me?” Are we to believe that Paul, as the mature Christian writing the epistle to the Romans, is still captive to sin and needing deliverance from the law of sin and death? Are we to believe that Paul’s statement in Romans 8:2 [For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.] has not yet happened to him? I don’t think so. No, Paul is talking about being delivered from an unsaved wretched man state to a saved state of being in Christ Jesus.
Focus on Christ #85
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2 comments:
Your observations are good. In fact, I believe they are air-tight.
Mark,
Thanks. I believe those who believe it is proper to use the ten commandments for sanctification think that Paul in these verses is doing that very thing. To do this they have to ignore what he said in verse 6 of this chapter and in many other places.
I am having a slight pause, but I will get back to more soon.
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