Staying Under the Law Brings Frustration and Failure
Thinking about Romans 7:15-16.
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. (Romans 7:15-16)
Those who tried to remain under the law would remain the slaves of sin (Romans 7:14).
Paul then describes the frustration of trying to live up to the demands of the Holy Law.
Frustration and Failure.
What then is [Paul’s] problem? What has him so frustrated? It’s that he cannot resist ALL temptation. It’s that he cannot fully satisfy the righteous demands of law. It’s that he cannot fully supply what the law demands though his heart longs to do so. It would be of no real help for him to bring his sinning down to one sin a year. That would be less than the holy demand of law. The “good” he seeks for is the full satisfaction of God’s Law. THIS he cannot deliver. And THIS is what enslaves him and plunges him into frustration. - McGuiggan, Romans, 215
What Paul did, he didn’t accept as being acceptable.
He falls short of doing what he wants to do. He doesn’t want to ever sin, but he does - and he had - and so he had failed, even though he desired to live up to the demands of the Law.
He had sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23).
However, Paul still does not blame the Law. The Law is “good.” The problem was he could not flawlessly keep the Law.
When most people fail or get in trouble over something, they start blaming others.
“My football team lost because of those lousy refs!”
“I was driving recklessly because my kids made me late.”
You could fill in the blank with any scenario.
When Paul considers his shortcomings under the law, he doesn’t blame God - he doesn’t blame the Law. He accepts responsibility for his own failure. That doesn’t mean he was okay with his failure - it’s certainly not what he wanted.
But Paul is encouraging his readers to accept full responsibility for their sins and to see how the Law could not forgive them, so they would turn to the only One who could forgive them (Romans 1:16-17).
