What is the answer to the dilemma Paul raises in Romans 7?
The answer is Romans chapter 8 and the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit becomes our law, providing the way to overcome the old Adam and his defeat. Paul moves from the dilemma of Romans 7 to the Spirit’s enabling power in Romans 8.
Les explains that in the first seven chapters Paul lays the groundwork of how we ended up in sin and under condemnation, and how Christ died that we might be justified and forgiven. Then chapter 7 presents the dilemma of how to overcome the old Adam and how to keep it in defeat. The answer is Romans chapter 8, the Holy Spirit; that indwelling Spirit now becomes our law. Les also notes that in verse 3 the context is not merely everyday life like the Law of Gravity and the Law of Sin and Death, but the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments, and the whole sphere of Judaism. The Law could not do what was needed because it was weak through the flesh.
More Questions
Why does Paul say 'therefore' when he tells us to present our bodies a living sacrifice in Romans 12:1?
Because God secures believers so completely in Romans 8 that nothing can touch them, Paul therefore beseeches us by the mercies of God to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.