Romans 7:9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. [ESV]
This morning, while I searched out verse 45 of Psalm 119, to get a fuller sense of it, I came across some comments that apply to other posts in this blog, the post on the Sinner’s Prayer, and on the 5 stages of the Struggle of Faith developed by Jonathan Edwards. Furthermore, (the Beatitude Life posts) what Paul experienced has much to do with the Holy Spirit working poverty of spirit into him.
Those posts are very important because their purpose is to confront all the decisionism going on in evangelicalism – potential converts signing cards and believing they are born again; believing oneself born again after saying the sinner’s prayer; believing oneself born again because one’s parents are Christians and one has attended church….
The Apostle Paul’s experience on the Damascus road (Acts 9) revealed to him that he had not been born again until that day, even though he had studied under the greatest Pharisaical teacher; the following commentary description explains this condition or situation; the commentary is about Romans 7:9 above [these can be found at Bible Hub, linked below]:
From Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible:
…but the apostle is speaking of himself, and that not as in his state of infancy before he could discern between good and evil, but when grown up, and whilst a Pharisee; who, though he was born under the law, was brought up and more perfectly instructed in it than the common people were, and was a strict observer of it, yet was without the knowledge of the spirituality of it; he, as the rest of the Pharisees, thought it only regarded the outward actions, and did not reach to the spirits or souls of men, the inward thoughts and affections of the mind; the law was as it were at a distance from him, it had not as yet entered into his heart and conscience; and whilst this was his case he was “alive”, he did not know that he “was dead in trespasses and sins”, Ephesians 2:1, a truth he afterwards was acquainted with; nor that he was so much as disordered by sin; he thought himself healthful, sound, and whole, when he was diseased and full of wounds, bruises, and sores, from head to foot; he lived in the utmost peace and tranquillity, without the least ruffle and uneasiness, free from any terror or despondency, and in perfect security, being in sure and certain hope of eternal life; and concluded if ever any man went to heaven he certainly should, since, as he imagined, he lived a holy and righteous life, free of all blame, and even to perfection;
[just like those who believe they are born again because they signed a card…]
but when the commandment came; not to Adam in the garden of Eden; nor to the Israelites on Mount Sinai; but into the heart and conscience of the apostle, with power and light from above:
sin revived; it lift up its monstrous head, and appeared in its ugly shape, exceeding sinful indeed; it grew strong and exerted itself; its strugglings and opposition, its rebellion and corruption were seen and felt, which show that it was not dead before, only seemed to be so; it was in being, and it lived and acted before as now; the difference was not in that, but in the apostle’s sense and apprehension of it, who upon sight of it died away:
and I died; he now saw himself a dead man, dead in sin, dead in law, under a sentence of death which he now had within himself; he saw he was deserving of eternal death, and all his hopes of eternal life by his obedience to the law of works died at once; he now experimentally learnt that doctrine he so much insisted afterwards in his ministry, and to the last maintained, that there can be no justification of a sinner by the deeds of the law, since by it is the knowledge of sin.
From Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
…The state to which he refers here must be doubtless that to which he himself alludes elsewhere, when he deemed himself to be righteous, depending on his own works, and esteeming himself to be blameless, Philippians 3:4-6; Acts 23:1; Acts 26:4-5. It means that he was then free from those agitations and alarms which he afterward experienced when he was brought under conviction for sin. At that time, though he had the Law, and was attempting to obey it, yet he was unacquainted with its spiritual and holy nature. He aimed at external conformity. Its claims on the heart were unfelt. This is the condition of every self-confident sinner, and of everyone who is unawakened.
Without the law – Not that Paul was ever really without the Law, that is, without the Law of Moses; but he means before the Law was applied to his heart in its spiritual meaning, and with power.
But when the commandment came – when it was applied to the heart and conscience. …the expression denotes whenever it was so applied; when it was urged with power and efficacy on his conscience, to control, restrain, and threaten him, it produced this effect.
We know enough of him before conversion, however, to be assured that he was proud, impetuous, and unwilling to be restrained; see Acts 8; 9. In the state of his self-confident righteousness and impetuosity of feeling, we may easily suppose that the holy Law of God, which is designed to restrain the passions, to humble the heart, and to rebuke pride, would produce only irritation, and impatience of restraint, and revolt.
Sin revived – Lived again…”Sin …wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.” The power of sin, which was before dormant, became quickened and active.
[concupiscence = …The Greek noun, like the verb from which it comes, meaning “to yearn,” “to long,” “to have the heart set upon a thing,” is determined in its moral quality by the source whence it springs or the object toward which it is directed. Thus, our Lord uses it to express the intensest desire of His soul (Luke 22:15). As a rule, when the object is not expressed, it refers to longing for that which God has forbidden, namely, lust. It is not limited to sexual desire, but includes all going forth of heart and will toward what God would not have us to have or be….from Bible Hub]
… that before, he was self-confident and secure, but that by the commandment he was stricken down and humbled, his self-confidence was blasted, and his hopes were prostrated in the dust. Perhaps no words would better express the humble, subdued, melancholy, and helpless state of a converted sinner than the expressive phrase “I died.”
For related posts in this blog, click the following links:
The following link is to the Sinner’s Prayer post; it also includes Jonathan Edwards 5 stage process regarding ‘The Struggle of Faith.’ He concluded the concepts inherent in the struggle of faith, after major study of professed converts that fell from faith (after the great awakening of the 1740s), and those who continued in faith; therefore, by understanding these ideas, you might more easily discern whether your own faith is genuine or counterfeit.
The following link contains the first beatitude, explained in narrative form; others should be linked at the bottom of each post, or go to the category of Beatitude Life:
https://sheeplywolves.com/the-beatitude-life/
The following link is to the first beatitude, explained via sermon excerpts of biblical preachers; the category is True Kingdom Citizen:
https://sheeplywolves.com/beatitude-poverty-of-spirit/
Link to Romans 7:9 commentaries at Bible Hub: (Bible Hub has lots of versions of the Bible; commentaries, Bible dictionaries…FREE. It is a great site for Bible students.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/7-9.htm