One of the things I enjoy in retirement is the luxury of Biblical and theological study at a slow pace. When I was a pastor, I did put in a significant amount of time in study but it was always for the next sermon or lesson to give. It wasn’t really in-depth study. It probably would have helped if I had actually learned the Hebrew and Greek languages of the Bible instead of just getting enough to pass the required courses.
Now I can take my time. Awhile back I read through the Letter of Paul to the Romans. That is a dense book – layers and layers of revelation and truth packed together and on top of each other and stirred together. Much, much more than a short road to Heaven. I came to a section where Paul’s statements drew me in. I had read them before, but I had not grasped them. I hadn’t seen what he was actually saying. I slowed down even more and dug in. This started several months ago. I read, conferred, meditated, prayed, read more, searched more. I would leave it for awhile then get back to it. Now, I may be the only person in the world who has not understood what I learned. If so, well, just be patient with me and let me share what I’ve found. It will take at least two posts. This is the first one.
The specific statements that first got my attention are Romans 7:5-6.
The primary subject that Paul was addressing was the fact that followers of Jesus “are not under law, but under grace” (6:14) because “you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that you might bear fruit for God” (7:4). It wasn’t what he was saying about the law that stirred my interest, even though it is a crucial teaching that we need to understand. But when I read the passage this time, my attention was drawn to what was being said about sin.
There is something in this passage that is different from how we usually think about sin. We typically define sin as the actions (including thoughts and words) that a person does which are wrong, that is, which are disobedient of God. We see sin as something that we do, that we produce, that comes from us and for which we are responsible. That is a valid Biblical description of sin for sure. However, if I am now reading Romans better, that is not all there is to it. As I said, Romans is dense. There’s more to it than our usual surface reading will get; well, there’s more than I had been getting.
Here is my translation of Romans 7:5-6, based on the Interlinear Greek New Testament, the Wycliffe Bible, and Young’s Literal Translation:
“For when we were in the flesh, the passions of the sins, which came through the law, were energizing in the members [of our bodies] for producing fruit for death. Now however, we are released from the law, having died to that to which we were held, in order for us to serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of writing.”
There is sin that we do, that we produce. There is also sin that produces. This is sin that energizes in our flesh, that works within us. This is sin, beyond the sins that we commit, that does something – I want to say “on its own” but I’m not sure if that’s accurate. These verses, along with others that I’ll share in a bit, made me start to understand sin to be a power that is working in us and that even uses the Law to exert its influence.
I have always believed that the powerful urge in me to do wrong was my “sinful nature.” I’m not so sure about that now. It means that I, and all humans, am under the control of a fallen, corrupted sin nature that I, and all humans, somehow inherited from Adam; sometimes it’s called the Adamic nature; it’s what some mean by “original sin” that results in our “total depravity.” This would mean that it is something added to the human make-up when the first sin was committed. The idea is that the sinful nature is something that is ours; it is a part of who we are; it is the innate unrighteousness of our character and identity which produces sinful behavior. But “sinful nature” is not a Biblical term. It’s the interpretive translation of the Greek word “sarx” which simply means ‘flesh” as in Romans 7:5. The Bible does not say the flesh itself is sin or sinful or evil, which is what the term “sinful nature” would mean. All of the New Testament writers mention one or more times the flesh of Jesus, so flesh itself cannot be sinful. Flesh is simply the physical make-up of our bodies. I’ll come back to flesh and sin later.
The problem we have is not that we have a sinful nature. Our problem is this sin as a power at work in us. Remember, this is not sin that we commit; it’s not what we do; it’s not our disobedient actions. It’s a power in us. I wish there was another word we could use to distinguish these two uses of “sin.” Since there’s not, I’m going to use all caps SIN to mean the power and sin to mean our disobedient actions.
Let’s see some of those other verses that show SIN,
Romans 5:12 “through one man SIN entered into the world…”
Romans 5:21 “as SIN reigned in death…”
Romans 7:8 “But SIN, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind…”
Romans 7:9 “when the commandment came, SIN came to life, and I died…”
Romans 7:11 “for SIN…deceived me…and killed me.”
Romans 7:17 “But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but SIN that dwells in me.”
Romans 7:23 “making me a prisoner of the law of SIN, the law which is in my body’s parts.”
Romans 8:2-3 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of SIN and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for SIN, He condemned SIN in the flesh…”
All of these statements tell something that SIN does: enters, reigns, takes opportunity and produces, comes to life, deceives and kills, dwells, and holds prisoner. The last tells us that Jesus wrested us free from SIN and condemned it.
In addition to the sins we commit, there is a SIN power that is actively working. This is what God warned Cain about: “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:6-7). The beast at your door.
Richard Beck, professor at Abilene Christian University describes this beast as “a force that enslaves human beings… Sin isn’t a mistake. Sin is a power that can reign and rule in your body, forcing you to obey. Sin can have dominion over you. Sin is a false god to whom we can give idolatrous allegiance” (Sin versus sin)
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul explained, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” SIN must be one of those powers.
When this concept of SIN jelled in my mind, I first thought a good analogy is “the force” in the Star Wars stories, but that doesn’t really work because “the force” has good and bad (dark) “sides” which Luke (and others) choose between. It was the above mentioned Richard Beck who pointed to a better analogy: the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” 
It was manufactured secretly by Sauron, the Dark Lord, in order for him to take control of the other 19 Rings of Power and thus become world ruler. He put almost all of his power into the ring, so when wearing it his power was enhanced. When he was not wearing it, the ring remained aligned to him. If someone else could get the ring and wear it they could overthrow Sauron, but they would become just as evil. In short, the One Ring could be used to dominate almost everyone and everything, but it would dominate its wearer and enslave them in total corruption. It even had a power of its own such as changing shape/size to escape the bearer’s finger.
Like the One Ring, SIN is a Force, a Power, that will dominate us and lead us into evil and will result in corruption and death.
This is good news. Yes, it is. We are not our worst enemy. We humans are not nothing but evil, rotten sinners. We are not wicked by nature. It’s not all on us. Yes, we are responsible for our choices and behaviors, but we have been invaded and captured by a powerful enemy. We have been deceived. We have been scammed. We have been overcome by an almost irresistible force. Berating and condemning ourselves and each other is not a method for finding freedom and life. That’s actually more deception. In life, it may help to understand that not all of our personal struggles with how we live come from ourselves. We can then give our attention to the beast at the door.
I will continue this study in my next post. Until then, maybe you will have time to dig into this yourself.
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