Edenic Law and the Book of Romans: Part 5

Paul delights in the principles of God but finds that the way the flesh works wages war against that principle.

Paul’s use of the term “law” in Romans can be confusing. For instance, Romans 8:2 mentions “the law of the Spirit of life” and “the law of sin and death.”1  Sometimes, it is obvious Paul is talking about the Law of Moses, but in instances like these, it is helpful to think of a law as being a principle. For instance, earlier in Romans, Paul writes, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” (Romans 3:27).

If we translate “law” as “principle,” things become a little clearer: “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of principle? By a principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith.”  In other words, the way faith works precludes boasting, while the way works “work” encourages boasting.

Understanding “law” in this way helps us understand what Paul says when describing what causes us to sin. He writes in Romans 7, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:21). Here, Paul talks about a principle at work in his flesh before talking about a collision of principles in the next couple of verses—“For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (v. 22-23). Paul delights in the principles of God (which are, for instance, outlined in the Law of Moses) but finds that the way the flesh works— “another law”—wages war against that principle.

Paul’s point is that we experience a battle between the principles of God and the way the flesh operates. Think of it as having the desire to fly but encountering the law of gravity. However, Paul speaks here of those who are no longer under the Law of Moses in the sense that the Jews were in the Old Covenant.

You can see how Paul divides Romans 7 into two halves by using the past tense in the first half before moving to the present tense in the latter, including verses about the ongoing battle. Paul’s point is that this battle commences once one is free from the constraints of the Law of Moses.

In other words, under the Law of Moses, people who demonstrated Old Covenant thinking didn’t encounter that battle. Paul himself is a classic example. Elsewhere, he gives us his resume as a Pharisee under the Law— “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:6). Saul of Tarsus was most certainly not blameless, evidenced by him persecuting followers of Jesus of Nazareth. However, such was Pharisaical thinking that one could appear righteous, and it is not until you meet Christ that the conscience is pricked, and the battle begins.

The Principles in Eden

To summarize, we can return to Eden, where the two principles are on display. The “law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2) is the principle by which we accept the provision of animal skins, walk in the newness of life and live. The “law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2) is the principle by which we continue to wear fig leaves, sin, and die.

Paul then writes about the incapability of the Law to save sinners— “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” (Romans 8:3). We can think of the “law” here as either the Law of Moses or the commandment in Eden. In both cases, the law did not work. Adam and Eve sinned despite the clarity of the commandment. People like Saul of Tarsus sinned despite their (supposed) adherence to the law.

The only thing that works is God sending His Son. In other words, fig leaves do not work. Instead, the solution is found in God providing us with animal skins.

Fulfilling the Law

Paul then continues: “In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4). 

What is the “righteous requirement of the law”? One view is that the Law of Moses demanded judgment upon sinners and that when the sacrifice of Christ covers our sins, which Paul just mentioned in verse 3, and we share in Christ’s sacrifice, then God is satisfied there has been a death—sin is atoned for.

However, there is a more satisfactory way of looking at the righteous requirement of the law. Paul used the same word dikaioma, translated “righteous requirement,” in Chapter 2, where he speaks of someone who “keeps the precepts of the law” despite not being under the Law. The same word is used in Revelation 19:8 for the “righteous deeds” of the saints—again, people who are not under the Law of Moses. Both passages speak of how we can keep the spirit of the Law of Moses. Paul explains what that looks like later in Romans saying, “The one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8). In other words, the righteous requirement of the Law is to love one another. 

It is the principle of love that works to save people and fulfill the purpose of God. God sending his Son (Romans 8:3) was an act of love, as is our response to accepting the animal skins of God’s provision. Rote adherence to the law does not work in this way. Someone like Saul of Tarsus could consider himself blameless under the Law of Moses. Still, his lack of love, and hence the fact that he did not keep the righteous requirement of the law when he persecuted believers in Christ, shows us that the principle of salvation by law does not work.

A Change of Mindset

When it comes down to it, the difference between the two principles Paul talks about in Romans is how we think. Paul calls the two mindsets connected with the principles to “set the mind on the flesh” and “to set the mind on the spirit.” (Romans 8:5-6). In the context of Romans, setting the mind on the flesh is not being a pagan devoid of any knowledge of God and indulging in the desires of the flesh. What he’s talking about is being under the Law of Moses and thinking one can be saved by keeping it according to the letter. That mindset only results in death, as Paul says— “to set the mind on the flesh is death.” (Romans 8:6). This is the fig leaf religion of Eden.

On the other hand, Paul describes the animal skins religion of Eden with the words, “to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6). This mindset is the antidote to the problem in Eden. Consider, first, an echo with Proverbs. Paul tells us the mind of the spirit brings “life and peace” and the wise man similarly says, “Let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.” (Proverbs 3:1-2). The mind of the spirit is to have the law of God on the heart, and in the next few verses, the wise man gives us the solution to the desires of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Proverbs 3:5-10).

In these three couplets of verses (5-6, 7-8, 9-10), we’re told how the mind of the spirit works. Instead of giving in to the lust of the flesh, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” Instead of giving into the lust of the eyes, “Be not wise in your own eyes.” Instead of giving in to the pride of life, “Honor the LORD with your wealth.” Of course, those same three natural desires caused Eve to give in to the serpent.

Paul goes on to say, regarding the mind of the spirit, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14). Here, Paul echoes Jesus’ experience when, after the voice of God said at his baptism “This is my beloved Son.” (Matthew 3:17). He was “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1). Jesus overcame the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life in his three temptations, and thus fulfilled the wise man’s words “Let your heart keep my commandments.” In fact, each time Jesus quoted Scripture, he did so from the very context that Proverbs 3 builds on from Deuteronomy 6-8. There, in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, we read about the key to being spiritually minded: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” Love fulfills the Law, and having God’s commandments on the heart is the mind of the spirit.

Our Relationship with God

Paul sums up the mind of the spirit with the words, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15). What does it mean to “receive the spirit”? Think of it as the attitude with which we accept the commandments of God and how we view God. If we look at God as a hard taskmaster, demanding obedience and threatening us with punishment if we disobey, then when we read his commandments, they will be received in the wrong spirit – the “spirit of slavery”—and produce in us the mind of the flesh. On the other hand, if we understand that God is teaching us to be loving Fathers, then we receive “the spirit of adoption” and develop the mind of the spirit.

It’s all about understanding the principles governing how God works in our lives. Earlier in Romans, Paul wrote, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5). How exactly does that happen? Does God simply zap us with his spirit, and we experience love? Again, it’s about the attitude with which we experience God. Before those words, Paul wrote, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.” (v. 3-5). In other words, how we receive the spirit is an understanding that when we go through suffering and experiencing difficulties in our lives, God is working with us to produce the mind of the spirit.

Elsewhere, Paul writes:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7.)

To receive the spirit of God is to experience his goodness and loving kindness as we relate to him as our kind, compassionate, and loving heavenly Father.

In verse 5, where Paul says “renewal of the Holy Spirit,” the only other occurrence of the word for “renewal” is found in Romans, where Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2). Once again, we have reference here to the way God works in our lives— “by testing.” Through that process, whereby God puts us through experiences out of love, we receive the spirit, our minds are renewed, and we develop the mind of the spirit.

In an earlier article in this series, we looked at how Paul uses the example of David in the first few chapters of Romans. In Psalm 51, as a response to his sin, David pleaded with God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10). How did God do that for David? In the same way God works in all our lives by experiencing His love, or, as Paul puts it in Romans, “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4).

Richard Morgan,
Simi Hills Ecclesia, CA