What groundwork does Paul lay in Romans 1–7 about sin, condemnation, and Christ’s death?
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. He then presents chapter 7’s dilemma of overcoming the old Adam, with Romans 8’s indwelling Holy Spirit as the answer.
Les explains that in the first seven chapters of Romans, Paul lays all the groundwork of how we ended up in sin and under condemnation, and how Christ died that we might be justified from all that and forgiven. Les then notes that chapter 7 presents the dilemma of how to overcome the old Adam and keep it in defeat. The answer comes in Romans chapter 8: the Holy Spirit, that indwelling Spirit now becomes our Law, if you want to put it that way. In the surrounding context, Les clarifies that the law in view is not merely a fact of everyday life like gravity, but the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments, or the whole sphere of Judaism, which was weak through the flesh.