Romans: The Law, Chapter 7: 1 to 8: 4

The seventh chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is among the most difficult and therefore also among the most controversial passages in the New Testament. The reformed preacher Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes here (in his twenty-seven continuous Bible study sermons on this chapter, in which he includes the first four verses of Romans 8) the basically incontrovertible view that the whole passage is a kind of parenthesis included by Paul in order better to explain the meaning of the (Old Testament) law and its role in the history of salvation, whereby he is, of course, concentrating on the Jewish Christian element in the Roman church. The Jewish position that the law of Moses is holy, because given by God himself, is absolutely correct, says Paul, yet it is opposed by the power of sin in man: this power is so strong that not even a holy, God-given law is in a position to help the sinner live the kind of life that is pleasing to God. Anyone who relies on the law (and this definitely includes the Ten Commandments!) for justification or for sanctification, will, despite all his good will, soon realize that he, in fact, does the opposite of what he had intended to do, the result being that, if he is honest, he will despair. But according to Lloyd-Jones, it is at this point that the Gospel comes into operation: after the despairing cry of "Who will redeem me from the body of this death?", there follows Romans 8:1-4 with its wonderful summary of the Christian message of salvation: "There is now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus." There has, in the past, been considerable controversy over the exposition of Romans 7:14 ff. Who is Paul talking about here? He writes, indeed, in the first person singular, but he would be contradicting himself in very uncharacteristic manner if he were here talking about himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Lloyd-Jones demonstrates that the traditional Roman Catholic and also Reformed and Lutheran expositions have been far too dependent on St. Augustine’s explanation of these verses and that they are therefore much too sombre. It is Lloyd-Jones’s conviction that the Epistle to the Romans contains a very positive Christian message, in particular for such people as have, in vain, been searching for salvation by means of the law. He repeatedly points out that in the following chapter (Romans 8) there is little mention either of the law or of commandments, a great deal of attention is given, however, to the Holy Spirit. And it is in the Christian’s relationship to the Holy Spirit that Lloyd-Jones sees the secret of true Christian life. Lloyd-Jones’s sermons on this passage were originally preached in 1959 in London’s Westminster Chapel and have been, over the years, extremely helpful to many Christians both for their personal lives and also in the preparation of home Bible studies, etc. If, however, you find it a daunting prospect to work through a 360 page exposition of only one chapter of Paul, you will