Who is the "Wretched Man" of Romans 7?
WHO IS THE “WRETCHED MAN” OF ROMANS 7?
Romans 7:13-25
In Romans 7:24 Paul says, What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? We know he is talking about himself because throughout the chapter he repeatedly says “I”. But is he referring to his present experience as a Christian, or is he looking back on his pre-Christian life? Those are the only viable options because a person can only be saved or unsaved. There’s no other category of existence for humans.
If Paul is writing about his experience as a Christian, he is using himself as an example to illustrate the normal Christian experience. This means that every believer, if this view is correct, should see himself or herself as sold into sin’s power (v. 14), confined to do what I hate (v. 15), forced to admit that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh (v. 18), and having the desire to do what is good but no ability to do it (v. 18). On the surface this may sound like a superb summation of the believer’s present predicament. We know from our own experience as well as from what the Bible says throughout that being a Christian does not exempt us from sin. In fact, thinking otherwise leads to big trouble: If we say, "We have no sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).Likewise, If we say, "We don't have any sin," we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1 John 1:10). Such verses reveal that no believer should expect to attain sinless perfection in this life. Furthermore, James says we all stumble in many ways (James 3:2). This means we don’t sin occasionally, but frequently, which explains why Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness (Matthew 6:12). Since we haven’t been glorified (i.e., we haven’t gone to heaven yet) we still battle with sin and often lose. But does the fact that we continue to battle with sin and yield to it regularly mean we are still enslaved to sin?
Several verses in Romans 6 and 8 indicate that we are no longer enslaved to sin. This means the person in Romans 7, who is still enslaved to sin, cannot be a believer.
Notice carefully how clearly the following verses emphasize the freedom believers have from sin:
For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin's claims. (Romans 6:6-7 HCSB)
So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11 HCSB)
But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to, 18 and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18 HCSB)
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. (Romans 6:20 HCSB)
But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the end is eternal life! (Romans 6:22 HCSB)
Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:1-2 HCSB)
Paul could not state the point more clearly that sin no longer rules over believers. Instead, believers have been set free from their enslavement to sin. Yet 7:14 says, I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. The Greek says “sold under sin,” meaning “sold as a slave to sin” (NIV) or “sold into bondage to sin” (NASB). The idea is that of being under sin’s authority. Likewise, in 7:23 Paul speaks of how his body parts are prisoner to the law of sin. These statements stand in stark contrast to the liberating texts in chapters 6 and 8. So are believers liberated from sin or are they still enslaved to sin? If you hold that 7:13-25 refers to Christian experience you have to believe both. Yet Jesus said you cannot serve two masters: No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money (Matthew 6:24). Money in that verse is a symbol of sin.
To take the argument one step further, chapter 6 indicates that Christians are in a position to fight and presumably have at least some victory over sin. Notice how Paul brings this out in 6:12-14:
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
Yet in 7:18 he says, For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. Here no hope of any victory at all against sin is envisioned. But why would Paul issue a command not to let sin reign and not to offer any parts of your body to sin if you have no ability to resist sinning?
So in light of the fact that the person in Romans 7 is completely and totally imprisoned to sin whereas the believer in Romans 6 and 8 is not, the passages must not refer to the same person.
The context of Romans 7 favors the pre-Christian experience view.
Paul refers to his pre-Christian life in 7:7-12. We know this because he speaks there of how he died because of sin, which refers to his spiritual death, not his physical death. This obviously happened before he became a Christian and therefore has to refer to his pre-Christian experience. It’s equally certain that Romans 8:1-17 describe the Christian life because there Paul speaks of being in Christ, having the Spirit, etc. So how can we determine if 7:13-25 goes with 7:7-12 or 8:1-17? A couple of indicators in the context point the way for us. First, as many interpreters have pointed out, 7:5-6 seems to be an outline for what follows:
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us and bore fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
Verse 5 refers to pre-Christian experience because “when we were in the flesh” depicts the time before we came to know Christ. Verse 6 refers to Christian experience because both “now we have been released from the law” and “since we have died to what held us” depict what happens when we come to know Christ, as does the phrase “we may serve in the new way of the Spirit.” These interpreters suggest that 7:7-25 expand on 7:5 and 8:1-17 expand on 7:6. In 7:7-25 we see how sin through the law brings death to those in the flesh, whereas in 8:1-17 we see how the Spirit imparts life to those in Christ.
The second indicator in the context makes note of the fact that 7:13-25 contain no references to the Holy Spirit, but 8:1-16 contain 17 references to the Holy Spirit. Since anyone who does not have the Spirit does not have Christ (8:9), the lack of references to the Holy Spirit in 7:13-25 strongly suggests that that section is not about believers.
Objections
Those who believe the “wretched man” is Paul the Christian typically point to the use of the present tense in 7:14-25. The best response, however, is to recognize that Paul uses the present tense to heighten the effect of what he is saying. Read vv. 14-25, substituting past tense in the places Paul uses the present tense and you can see that his argument is much more vivid in the present tense. Furthermore, if Paul had written it in the past tense it might have left us with some wrong impressions. For example, if it were in the past tense it would have to say “I was made out of flesh” (v. 14), which would imply that after a person experiences conversion he or she is no longer flesh, which isn’t true. Also, it would have to say, “with my mind I myself was a slave to the law of God” (v. 25), which could lead us to believe that being in Christ means we no longer have to value God’s law, which also isn’t true.
Another major objection comes from verse 22 where Paul says, in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. Doesn’t that show that a believer is in view? It doesn’t have to. Devout Jews cared deeply about the law and earnestly desired to keep it. Writing about them Paul says in Romans 10:2, I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. The problem is not that one can delight in God’s law. The problem comes from seeking to be justified by the law, for that is an inappropriate use of the law. Paul argued back in Romans 3:20 that the law was given to reveal sin. It wasn’t given so that people could justify themselves by obeying it.
Conclusion
Although the believer will “stumble in many ways” (James 3:2) in this life, he or she no longer suffers enslavement to sin and therefore should feel no allegiance to sin. Instead, he or she is obligated to obey to a new and better master, namely, righteousness (6:18) and God (6:22).