The distinctions between flesh and spirit, the inward and the outward man, and the struggle there is between them, is only manifest in regenerate persons. All unbelievers led by Satan are satisfied with their spiritual or moral condition. They don't have this struggle. They may have some concern that their behavior matches their social or political setting but not an inward struggle with God's Spirit as with the believer in Christ experience. How can we be free from sin and yet continue to do wrong? In Christ, we are free from the penalty of sin (judgment) and the power of sin (hopelessness). But while still in the flesh, we are not free from the presence of sin (temptations) and the possibility of sin (failures). Paul never claimed that being under Grace instead of under the Law meant that a believer was somehow above the Law. In fact, having described such a great distance between the Law and sin, he realized that he was still far more acquainted with the reality of sin than the righteous standard of the Law. Being under grace does not eliminate the Law—it changes its purpose in our lives, from a source of judgment to a source of guidance, from an unattainable moral standard as our judge to a character study of the One who loves us. So, Paul writes, the Law is spiritual (pneumatikos); but I am unspiritual (sarkinos), of the flesh, carnal. As such, he can write, sold as a slave to sin. The expression is literally being sold under sin, which is equivalent to saying being given over to slavery. At one time sin ruled in Paul's life. The Law reminds us of what we once were, and how captivating that old life can still appear. Our hope never shifts back to the Law. We must dai |
