Romans 7:18
***What Does Romans 7:18 TRULY mean?
Here is Romans 7:18 from the KJV. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
Is Paul saying that he was BORN with a SINFUL NATURE? NO! Absolutely NOT!
In the CONTEXT, Paul said that he was ALIVE once and then he died. And to me, this teaches us that all humans are BORN innocent and PURE before God. And when they reach and age where God knows in the heart that they know right from wrong, then God holds them accountable if and when they sin.
We all have fallen short of the glory of God because we all have SINNED of our OWN free will knowing that we were disobeying our CONSCIENCE.
To read the CONTEXT, please click the BLUE links.
To read the STUDY and the context, please scroll down.
Can Christians Live Without SIN?
Does Romans 7:14-25 Mean We Have a Sinful NATURE?
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What Does Romans 7:14-25 TRULY Mean?
The key to understanding the teaching of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7 is that he is talking to the Jews who are under the Law of Moses. Remember when Paul said he becomes a Jew to win a Jew? Well, that is what Paul is doing in Romans 17:14-25. Paul is liking himself to an UNREGENERATE Jew who does NOT yet KNOW Jesus, according to 1 Corinthians 9:20-22.
Let me show you what I mean.
Romans 7:14-25.
“For we (Jews) know that the law is spiritual: but I am CARNAL, sold under sin. (In other words, Paul is saying, for example, when I was once CARNAL and sold under sin, then this is how I struggled to keep the law. Paul was NOT carnal which we can clearly see in the next chapter. In other words, Romans chapter 8 is the ANSWER to Paul’s hypothetical question in verse 24 in chapter 7 that he already KNEW the answer to. Thank God for Jesus Christ, that is the ANSWER)
Romans 7:15. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Romans 7:16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Romans 7:17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Romans 7:18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (In other words, when I USED to be CARNAL sold under sin, I could not find any way to keep the law all of the time)
Romans 7:19. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Romans 7:20. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Romans 7:21. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (Here we see Paul giving a HINT of what he learned AFTER he became a Christian. You can overcome evil when memories of the pleasures of sin are still alive in you)
Romans 7:22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Romans 7:23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (The law is the knowledge of sin. And the law of sin is the knowing the punishment of the law, which is being put to death, the curses of the law for not keeping the law, and being cut off from God and from the people)
Romans 7:24. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Romans 7:25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (There is the ANSWER, which Paul explains in detail in the CONTEXT in chapter 8. They did not have chapters and verses in the letters to the churches that they wrote. This next sentence is Paul SUMMARIZING verses 14-24) So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Now let us read the details of the ANSWER of HOW to win the CARNAL war against the FLESH BEGGING you to give into the temptations of the MEMORIES of the pleasures of sin in your mind.
Romans 8:1-19.
“There is therefore now no CONDEMNATION to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk NOT after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Remember that walking after the flesh is having a FEAR of not being GOOD enough to PLEASE God. And that EVIL is PRESENT with you, Satan is condemning you by reminding you of all your past sins.
That is that way is WAS under the LAW. There was no PEACE in your mind. No FREEDOM from CONDEMNATION. Remember, Paul is still talking to the Jews who were under the law. Paul is teaching them to REST in Jesus)
Romans 8:2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me FREE from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:3. For what the law could NOT do, in that it was weak through the flesh, (Having no help from the Helper, the Holy Spirit dwelling in the unregenerate Jews and Gentiles. But NOW,) God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (How? By REMOVING the EVIL that was PRESENT with the unregenerate Jews and Gentiles. All they had to please God was their OWN righteousness. But Jesus died and rose again)
Romans 8:4. THAT (Or so THAT) the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk NOT after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (For you see, every time you go BACK keeping the law in your OWN STRENGTH, you are walking after the FLESH. You are still living in FEAR that you are not do ENOUGH to PLEASE God. So, REST in Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to LEAD you. Take one step at a TIME.
We have TWO commandments, LOVE God and walk in LOVE. Do what the Holy Spirit says and do not get all stressed out by what MAN is saying that you MUST do right now)
Romans 8:5. For they that are after the flesh do mind (Listen to and obey) the things of the flesh; (To WORRY more about pleasing men to THINK they are pleasing God) but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and PEACE.
Romans 8:7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is NOT subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Why? The carnal mind does not REST in the GIFT of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and it is always WORKING to BE more righteous. How can you be MORE righteous than the PERFECT righteousness that God made you by FAITH in Jesus?)
Romans 8:8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:9. But you are NOT in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (And the Apostle Paul was NOT carnal in Romans 7:14. But rather, he BECAME carnal as an EXAMPLE to show us the DIFFERENCE between walking after the FLESH and walking after the SPIRIT)
Romans 8:10. And if Christ be in you, the body is DEAD because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Did you get a hold of what Paul just said? Walking after the flesh is DEAD WORKS. How so? The Holy Spirit may want you to work on overcoming a DIFFERENT sin than the pastor of the church wants you to overcome.
So, seek you first what God wants. And God wants you to be PERFECT. Everytime we CONFESS our sins and BELIEVE we are forgiven and CLEANSED from all unrighteousness, we are PERFECT in the eyes of God)
Romans 8:11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Romans 8:12. Therefore, brethren, we ARE DEBTORS, (BUT) NOT to the flesh, to live after the flesh. (In other words, you do NOT have to do what your flesh is BEGGING you to do. And the MORE you overcome that begging of the flesh, the LESS your flesh will beg you. And before you know it, the EVIL PRESENCE is no longer THERE. It is GONE!)
Romans 8:13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if you THROUGH the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. (Please read the study How You Can Live Your Life Free Form Sin!)
Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:15. For you have NOT received the spirit of bondage again to FEAR; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Romans 8:17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 8:18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are NOT worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.”
So again, Romans 7:14-25 does NOT teach us that we have a sinful NATURE that compels us to sin. The more you CONFESS that you cannot stop sinning, the more you will have that WARRING between your flesh and your spirit that wants to serve God.
Another thing that I noticed is while Christians who teach the sin nature doctrine may SAY they believe there is a Devil that tempts people, they seem to blame God for all of the evil in the world. And they FOCUS on verses like Romans 3:10-18 to try to prove that all humans are TOTALLY DEPAVED!
So, be sure to read the next Verse Study on Romans 3:10 to learn its TRUE sound Biblical meaning of that passage of Scripture when it is correctly understood in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
So again, NO! Romans 7:14-25 does NOT prove that ANY human is BORN with a sinful NATURE. But rather, every human being LEARNS to walk in righteousness. And sadly, some people LEARN to corrupt their own minds and harden their own hearts to SIN against their conscience.
And the TRUTH of the matters is that every man has sinned at some point in the life, we all have FALLEN short of the glory of God BECAUSE we all have SINNED at one time or another in our life.
And it was Satan, the DEVIL who entices us to SIN.
Now sadly, Christadelphian Christians do NOT believe that Satan, the Devil, is a REAL literal BEING. And the Christadelphian Christians ALSO wrongly believe, as well as, some other church denominations, that God created EVIL and that Yahweh is the CAUSE of all of the EVIL in the world.
Plus, Christadelphian Christians, as well as other church denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, sincerely, but wrongly believe in the FALSE doctrine or original sin. And thus, they build their other man-made doctrines upon the false doctrine of every person being born with a so-called sinful NATURE.
Again, once Christians understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And that you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become a Lord, a King, and a God, to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angel waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called >>> Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? <<<
More studies coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God. If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1-In the BEGINNING, and D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>> D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS! <<<
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>> C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH! <<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!
To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>> N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE? <<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>> U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY! <<< and >>> V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED! <<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me.
My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com.
Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
RETURN to HOMEPAGE at
The end.
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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ!