The Problem of Sin and What to Do with It—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 6A/Proper 9 (Romans 7:15-25a)
Romans 7:15-25a New Revised Standard Version Updated
Edition
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
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In the
Year 2026, this reading from Romans 7, which reflects on the power of sin,
falls on the Sunday following Independence Day in the United States in the year
the nation celebrates its 250th birthday. Truth be told, a large
portion of the population, myself included, is a bit jaded about the
“celebration.” I went through the Bicentennial year of 1976 as a high school
senior/college freshman. I remember it being a big deal, at least at my high
school. It was an interesting time. The Vietnam War had ended the year before,
and a presidential election took place that very year (I would vote for the
first time). The Republican candidate was Gerald Ford, who had ascended to the
presidency after the President resigned in disgrace, having replaced the Vice
President, who also resigned in disgrace. The Democrat in the November election
was a former governor of Georgia, who was known to be a born-again Christian.
This time around, our celebration is clouded by concerns that democracy might
be under threat from a narcissistic President and his enablers. In other words,
it might be a good time to think about the power of sin to mess things up.
Paul
asks a pertinent question in this reading from Romans 7: Why can’t I do the
right thing, even though I know what the right thing is? All that the law does
is remind me of what God expects of me, but it lacks the power to enable my
fulfillment of its expectations. So, what can I do? Paul acknowledges that the
very fact that he does the things he doesn’t want to do, the things he hates, means
that the law is good. Nevertheless, it is the sin that dwells within him that
causes him to do what he doesn’t want to do. Sin is a trap that we fall into.
Now, the question is whether this sin that entraps us is a genetic matter or an
environmental one. Now, Paul didn’t have any knowledge of genetics, nor did
Augustine, whose interpretation of Paul’s understanding of sin continues to
dominate much of Western Christian thought. Augustine established the idea of
original sin that became the normative position. Even though he didn’t have
access to modern genetic theory, he believed that the sin nature was passed
down from one generation to the next so that each person is born a sinner. Even
if sin isn’t passed down genetically, it does seem to be a universal problem.
So, maybe we are born innocent, but we quickly get caught up in systems of sin,
such as racism or sexism. The Supreme Court essentially gutted the Voting
Rights Act, arguing that racism is a thing of the past. Yet, as soon as the
ruling came down, Southern States began to redo their congressional districts, diluting
majority Black districts, which traditionally vote for the Democrats. So, is
racism a thing of the past? Recent events would seem to argue otherwise.
Whether
sin is genetically or socially determined, or a bit of both, is a matter of
debate; it is difficult to deny that sin is a problem in our world. As Paul
reminded his readers in chapter 6, sin is deadly. The antidote to this problem,
in Paul’s view, involves submitting to Christ Jesus through the act of baptism.
Nevertheless, even those who walk with
Jesus still struggle with sin, which is like a virus that takes root in our
lives, driving behavior that runs contrary to God’s expectations. Now, to say
that sin exerts power over our lives does not mean we are totally depraved or
that we cannot do anything good, though Paul seems to head in that direction.
When it
comes to the law, Paul insists that the law itself is not the problem,
especially if by law, he has in mind the Torah. The issue is the ability
(willpower) to fulfill its precepts. For Paul, the issue here isn’t breaking rules
but experiencing a distortion of one’s relationship with God. It is a matter of
what serves as the center of our lives. Is it God or do we place ourselves at
the center? Harold Masback writes: “The very turn to self-assertion unleashes a
‘fleshliness,’ the self’s insatiable desire to secure its own acceptability
through acquisition and possession rather than through trust in God’s love”
[Masback, Feasting on the Word, p. 209]. Now, Paul wants to do
the right thing, but he seems unable to get there. This results from what looks
like an inner conflict. While Paul delights in the law of God in his inmost self,
his flesh does otherwise. So, as this war takes place within him, he ends up “captive to the law of sin that dwells in my
members” (Rom. 7:23). This leads him to lament that he is a wretched person,
asking who will rescue him.
So, what is the solution? Who will rescue him
(and us) from this body of death? Paul responds with a word of gratitude to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, thanks be to God. Only divine grace can
overcome this entrapment.
Too often, we think of sin as
breaking rules, which is why holiness codes emerged, such that a person shouldn’t
smoke, drink, or dance, among other things. We often think in individualist
terms. Yet, if we’re honest in our assessment, we will recognize that this sin
thing often involves systems that ultimately resist God. So, for example, there
is racism. I don’t think people are born racist, but it doesn’t take long for a
child to begin to embrace racist ideas from their surroundings. Consider also the
last of the Ten Commandments, which speaks of covetousness. Is not covetousness
the foundation of all kinds of sins, including greed, adultery, and even murder?
In 1 Timothy, we read that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves with many pains” (1
Tim. 6:10). Love of money and covetousness seem closely related, and they
do have important implications for our behavior.
Talk of sin is difficult,
especially in more liberal/progressive communities that believe that humanity
is basically good and simply needs better instruction so we can pursue justice.
The problem is that too often we fail to discern that sinful urge buried inside
us, whether it's covetousness or even racism. We want to believe that we can
steer clear of the systems that entrap us, but Paul would have us know
ourselves better. We, too, can place ourselves at the center, displacing God,
such that we seek to make ourselves divine without any help from God. When we
find ourselves in that place, it’s worth attending to the words of someone like
Reinhold Niebuhr, who wrote in his Moral Man in Immoral Society, that
“while it is possible for intelligence to increase the range of benevolent
impulse, and thus prompt a human being to consider the needs and rights of
other than those to whom he is bound by organic and physical relationship,
there are definite limits in the capacity of ordinary mortals which makes it
impossible to grant to others what they claim for themselves” [Niebuhr, Moral
Man in Immoral Society, p. 3]. He points out that educators
have “given themselves to the fond illusion that justice through voluntary
co-operation waited only upon a more universal or a more adequate educational
enterprise” [Niebuhr, p. 3].
Before we close, let us again take note of the fact that this particular lectionary reading from Romans
7 is designated to be read on or around the Fourth of July. In 2026, it is July 5th,
one day after the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing
of the Declaration
of Independence, an act that essentially led to the founding of the United
States of America, the nation of which I am a citizen. That document, which essentially
functions as the founding creed of the nation states: “We hold these truths to
be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness.” These are powerful aspirations, which the nation has
yet to fully embody. It is also clear that the Founders, including Thomas
Jefferson, the primary author of these powerful words, didn’t fully understand
their implications, as they do not seem to apply to Native Americans, enslaved
Blacks, or even women. To fully embody these aspirations would require a change
of systems, some of which have been achieved. Yet, we still fall short. We fall
short in large part because we find ourselves entrapped by systems, like racism
and sexism, that create barriers to their full realization. Why, we ask
ourselves, do we fail to fulfill these aspirations? Why do I continually do the
things I know to be wrong? Why do I resist God’s leading? Is there any hope?
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