Romans 7: Not a Christian Struggle (Part 3)


At this point, everyone agrees that Paul is not speaking purely autobiographically. He is speaking as a rhetorical representative of a group of people. He’s speaking in solidarity with a group of people to make a rhetorical point. The question is, “Which group of people is in view?” The major options are below:

1. “I” = Paul as a non-Christian (viewed from his present Christian perspective).


3. “I” = Adam, or to mankind in Adam, with the Genesis narrative being in the background.

4. “I” = Paul in the years immediately following his conversion when he still tried to live under the Law before learning to live by the Spirit (= “the Victorious Christian Life” view).

5. “I” = a picture of Paul and any normal Christian who is “simultaneously justified, yet still a sinner” and is struggling with the normal tension in the Christian life (this is again the dominant view and has been since Augustine).

6. “I” = Israel in her initial encounter with the Law at Mt. Sinai and then throughout her history through the eyes of a pious, believing Israelite (“I” = Paul’s rhetorical figure of speech as a representative Israelite).

To interpret this passage correctly, you have to make sure you’re asking the right questions. Often we think in categories that are foreign, or at least secondary, to the categories in which the biblical authors thought and lived and breathed. In our age, the division between Jews and Gentiles is not prominent in our daily thought life and interactions. However, in Paul’s day, and in his dealings with the Roman church in particular, the prominent categories in his thoughts were Jew vs. Gentile, Old Covenant vs. New Covenant, Era of Law vs. Era of Grace. So, when we approach this text and ask whether Paul is speaking as a Christian or a non-Christian, we are actually asking a question that Paul was not intending to answer. Instead, a better question would be, “Is Paul speaking as a Jew or Gentile?” or, more precisely, “Is Paul speaking as an Old Covenant Jew under the Law, or a New Covenant believer indwelt by God’s Spirit?” I’ll wait until my next post to answer these questions and give my interpretation of Romans 7, but for now, I’ll make a few observations that I think are crucial to any accurate interpretation of Romans 7:


2. Paul’s concern is with the Law, not anthropology. Two rhetorical questions are asked about the Law which frame his entire discussion (7:7, 7:13), showing that Paul’s concern is with the historical function of the Mosaic Law.




6. “I” is a rhetorical device used to represent a group of people (as discussed above).

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