Romans 6-8: The “law of the Spirit” and Spiritual maturity (Part 1)

1. Our Former Husband: The Flesh
2. The “Law of sin”
3. The “Law of the Spirit”
4. The “Law of the Mind”
5. Spiritual Maturity

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In Romans 6-8, Paul makes an appeal to a variety of different forms of “law”. However, because these terms are entirely absent in the New Testament with the exception of this one epistle to the Romans, proper handling of this writing in order to arrive at the correct interpretation has eluded, and continues to elude much of Christian scholarship. In chapters 6-8 of Romans, Paul includes three terms which seem to be of his own devising:

• Law of sin or Law of sin and death
• Law of the Spirit
• Law of the mind

Our Former Husband: The Flesh 

In Romans 7, Paul begins by addressing his Jewish audience and directing attention to the Torah, specifically it’s rulings regarding marriage and adultery. When husband and wife enter into a marriage contract, the Torah is said to hang “over” the two, as a spiritual standard acting as a witness against them should one or the other decide to transgress the terms of the marriage. The marriage contract only lasts for as long as both are living:

“Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?” – Romans 7:1

When the husband of a married woman dies, the woman is released from the law that bound her to him, and she is therefore able to marry once again. Paul equates the church with the woman in this example, in the sense that we are now an eligible bride, free to marry Christ:

“So, my brothers and sisters, 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 we might bear fruit for God.” – Romans 7:4

We have gone through a type of death (spiritual death) and as a result, we have been released from the law that bound us to our former husband. According to Paul, ritual baptism is a memorial to this event. As we become fully immersed, we take on the sensation of sinking into the oblivion of death, and when we rise we are proclaiming our new life in Christ:

“…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” – Romans 6:3-4

The principle question is this: according to Paul, who or what is our former husband? Most will reply without hesitation: “the former husband was the Torah.” However, on closer inspection, it doesn’t seem congruent or logical when we compare that conclusion with what Paul actually writes. Paul mentions that before we made this transition through death, we were “in the realm of the flesh” operating under our “sinful passions”:

“For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.” – Romans 7:5

If our former husband was the Torah, this opens a host of obvious problems. Assuming that marriage to the Torah implies a life of seeking to obey it, how can it possibly be compared to the “realm of the flesh.” Wouldn’t it make more sense to associate the “realm of the flesh” with a life of unrestrained sin? Paul makes it very clear that our former husband was sin, or at least the flesh leading us to sin, and not the Torah:

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin…count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 6:6-7,11

What joins man and wife together in a marriage? The marriage covenant between them. In turn, the Torah enforces that marriage covenant. Therefore the Torah is only used in this thought experiment as the enforcing principle that “binds” us to one of two husbands. Before we die through Christ we are bound and married to sin (by the Torah), after we pass through death into life we are free from sin and bound to another, Christ. In an effort to ensure that the reader would not confuse the two, Paul writes:

“What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not!” – Romans 7:7

Is the Torah itself sin? Paul’s reaction is appropriate: Certainly not! How dare we as Christians ever relate to God’s standard of holiness with such contempt. Nevertheless, Christians continue to teach that our former husband, before we are saved and while we were living in sin, was the Torah.

During our past life as bride to sin, we were “living in the realm of the flesh” (Romans 7:5) setting our minds “on what the flesh desires” (Romans 8:5).

The Torah has a strange effect when placed in proximity to the flesh. The flesh, once exposed and condemned by the Torah, rather being brought to remorse, is only drawn more powerfully to sin; it’s passions become aroused (Romans 7:5). Paul reflects on his former life, when after having learned the Torah prohibition against coveting, he was paradoxically suddenly inclined to seize every opportunity for covetousness:

“But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.”- Romans 7:8

Before he knew the commandment, he was without guilt and therefore “alive” in that respect. After having grown aware of the commandment, he was pulled into a strange desire and fixation against it. After breaking the commandment, the commandment that was meant to preserve life has now brought about his spiritual downfall:

“For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.” – Romans 7:8-11

Such a process is not without purpose. As sin becomes “utterly sinful” we are led to become painfully aware of our condition:

“Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” – Romans 7:13

We recognize the futility in our attempts to break the cycle of sin. Even further, it becomes powerfully evident that we are slaves to sin:

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” – Romans 7:14-15,18-19

The “Law of Sin”

While we were married to the flesh, our behavior was under its control, our lusts aroused at its whim, our minds were set on its desires, as if we were under the control of a law antithetical to God’s law. Paul calls this the “law of sin”:

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” – Romans 7:21-23

No matter how hard we tried to obey God, we found that God’s law alone was powerless to help us – its effect was weakened, because our flesh sabotaged our efforts:

“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh…” – Romans 7:3

Knowing that his audience, or attentive critics could twist his description to justify holding a view that is disparaging of the Torah, Paul writes:

“So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good…And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the Law is good.” – Romans 7:12,16

The problem is not with the Torah, but with man. The spiritual defect is with us. The Torah is good, if handled correctly:

“Now we know that the Law is good, if one uses it legitimately” – 1 Timothy 1:8

This unfortunate predicament of seeking to remedy our guilt and shame by attempting to negate our flesh through sheer will, yet finding ourselves powerless against it, is the sentiment behind the term “under the law.” This is why being “under the law” is associated with slavery to sin. If sin is our master, we are “under the law”:

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” – Romans 6:14

The very human, yet flawed reaction is to assume that we have even the slightest grasp of the repercussions of our sin, and that we have the capacity to repair the damage. Paul calls this pursuit a “zeal for God but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Seeing no other way, the pious have but only one course of action: they must earn their way back to God through religious devotion. They place themselves “under the law”, so to speak, in order to move through it and emerge as “righteous” on the other side. Yet, they are ignorant of the standard of perfection required. According to Paul, the law has an impenetrable ceiling. All those seeking a way out through it, have been captured and held in custody (Galatians 3:23). No man under the law, has ever managed to break through the Torah and emerge as “righteous” except for one, Christ (Galatians 4:4).

Paul breaks it down like this: We are held spiritually captive because of an unbreakable bond that binds us to the flesh and it’s insatiable desire for sin (the law of sin). We can close our eyes to the reality that we are wed to sin, by suppressing our flesh and focusing our energy on noble pursuits and the “works of the law”. However, reality will eventually hit and we will inevitably wake to the harsh truth of our condition. What are we to do?

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” – Romans 7:24

We come back full circle, arriving where we began in this inquiry. As Paul had communicated in the beginning of Romans 7, only death can end a marriage. Through faith in Jesus, we “die” to the world of our former husband, and are brought to a new life where we are wed to Christ. By doing so, Jesus releases us from the flesh and the “law of sin” attached to it:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus…who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. – Romans 8:1

When we are free of the “law of sin”, we are liberated to serve in the “newness of the spirit”:

“For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by [we have died to the law binding us to sin], so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” – Romans 7:5-6

Elsewhere Paul writes:

“…but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” – Romans 2:29

The “letter” or the “letter of the law” is a Jewish idiom referring to the disposition of obeying the bare minimum required in the Torah while disregarding the principle. Much of the known discussion around the subject identifies the condition as a failure to connect the head with the heart. While the “letter” may dominate the intellect of such people, their hearts are untouched by the spirit behind the letter. The zeal that results is therefore misplaced, and the knowledge gained is without its intended effect for lack of wisdom. In the contention over circumcision, Paul saw the perfect example of grasping the letter but missing the spirit. Paul exposes the contradiction of placing so much emphasis on circumcision and being Jewish, while at the same time neglecting what really matters:

“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law…you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” – Romans 2:18,21-23

What good is circumcision and Jewish ancestry, if a Jew is going to live in a manner that contradicts the essence of what it all means?

“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.” – Romans 2:25

Paul offers a provocative question: When the gentile who does not have the advantage of circumcision (Jewish upbringing) lives a life that better represents the spirit of the Torah, aren’t they more Jewish than the Jew who has circumcision but doesn’t obey the Torah?:

“So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?” – Romans 2:26

To truly be Jewish, is to live the essence of what it means. It’s a way of life, it’s a spiritual inward condition, not merely physical. The physical, the “written code” or the “letter” means nothing absent of the spirit behind it:

“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.” – Romans 2:28-29

The “Law of the Spirit”

When we as gentiles devote ourselves to God with heart and mind, and exemplify the inner quality intended by the Torah, the spirit behind the law is at work within us even while physically uncircumcised. Paul calls this the “realm of the spirit”:

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit.” – Romans 8:9

The ultimate goal of the Torah is not circumcision, the sabbath or any other ceremonial law or activity. The corpus of law within the Torah served as a guide to lead his people to the spiritual principle behind it. Therefore, It is only through internalizing the spirit behind the Torah, that we are able to truly fulfill the level of righteousness it has always required:

“And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” – Romans 8:3-4

When we are living in the spirit, our behavior is governed by the “law of the spirit.” The “law of the spirit” frees us from the “law of sin” which formerly set us under spiritual slavery to sin:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death” – Romans 8:1

When we are equipped with the assistance of the “law of the spirit” we are without excuse if we decide to gratify the desires of the flesh once again:

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want.” – Galatians 5:16-18

Through our behavior we demonstrate that we are slaves to either righteousness, or sin. There is no between:

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. – Romans 6:15-22

Romans 6:15 addresses the problem of sin even after salvation. Even while living in the “realm of the spirit” we can still choose to depart, placing ourselves back “under the law” where sin was our master:

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” – Romans 6:14

 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” – Galatians 5:18

Until the redemption of our bodies, we will continue to struggle against the “law of the flesh” and experience the tension between both laws at war within us. It’s inevitable that at times I may fail, however, since I am now saved, Paul writes that it’s no longer me but “sin living within me”:

“And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” – Romans 7:17

The difference is our allegiance no longer belongs to sin:

“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.” – Romans 6:17

The “Law of the mind”

If two laws are at war within us, how can we tip the scales? What can we do to strengthen the “law of the spirit” to give it the advantage? The “law of the flesh” is also waging war with a third force at work, the “law of the mind”:

“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” – Romans 7:22-23

Our mind activates the law corresponding to the nature of the thought it engages in, similar to the way the needle on a record player settles in one groove or another on a record. Those who live “according to the flesh” have submitted themselves to the control of the “law of sin” because they indulge their thoughts on the things of the flesh, where as those who live “in accordance with the spirit” set their minds to the worthy things their spirit desires:

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” – Romans 8:5-8

This is why Paul writes in Romans 12:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2

 And in Colossians:

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” – Colossians 3:2

And in Philipians:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” – Philipians 4:8

And in Timothy:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” – 2 Timothy 2:15

This is why Peter writes:

“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” – 1 Peter 13

And in 2 Peter:

“Therefore, I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body,b 14since I know that it will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.” – 2 Peter 1:12

Peter writes of a step by step process in our faith, leading to the ultimate goal of love:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” – 2 Peter 1:5

Notice that in this process, before self-control and love can occur, one must first pass through knowledge.

After having provided the tools to properly understand our situation and the stakes involved, Paul provides a somber proposition:

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” – Romans 8:12-13

We know that we have the “Spirit of God/Christ” within us, if we are vigilant to avoid sin:

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.” – Romans 8:10

If the spirit of Christ dwells in us, then we can be sure that we have spiritual life in addition to the promise of the future redemption of our bodies during the day of the resurrection:

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. – Romans 8:10-11

To struggle with a double mind and a divided allegiance, is to occupy the infant stage in one’s walk in the faith:

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:1

Again, tying spiritual growth with knowledge – the book of Hebrews indicates that the infant stage goes in parallel with a resistance to move beyond the “basic principles”:

“Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!” – Hebrews 5:12

Spiritual Maturity

Those who are infants, are inexperienced in “the message of righteousness”. Therefore when one is mature, concern is directed towards the refinement of behavior, as well as study and training in “good from evil”:

“For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.” – Hebrews 5:13-14

Spiritual maturity requires our diligent effort towards “renewing” our mind through study. When our mind is fortified with God’s word and occupied with Godly things, we strengthen our mind to always choose the “law of the spirit” when opposition is felt by the “law of sin”. Through training in “good from evil” we can determine in every situation, the best plan of action in order to resist the “law of sin” and keep ourselves within the “law of the spirit”. By resisting the “law of sin” we remain in the “realm of the spirit” where we stand approved by God, without guilt, and with the peace of having the indwelling “Spirit of Christ” that gives us righteousness and eternal life.