Christian Growth Through Conflict

MEMORY VERSE: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things [margin, or, these things]; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” —Revelation 21:7

ROMANS 7:13-25

PAUL’S observations concerning his imperfections, set forth in our lesson assignment, represent more than merely his struggles against sin. They are designed to emphasize the futility of any member of the sin-cursed and dying race endeavoring to gain life by keeping the Mosaic Law. The Law, Paul declares, was “ordained,” or intended, to give life, but because of human frailty it brought death instead.—vs. 10

Paul’s lesson in the earlier part of the chapter is that so far as Christian believers are concerned the Law is dead, and that therefore they are free from it. He likens this to a woman who becomes free from her husband when he dies, and therefore can properly marry another. Our freedom is from the Law, and in this illustration we have been married to another, even Christ.—vs. 4

The triumphant climax to this presentation, the point to which Paul was leading, is found in the first verse of the next chapter, where he says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” To be in and under the Law resulted in nothing but condemnation, but to be free from the Law, and to be in Christ, covered by the robe of his righteousness, means “no condemnation” to the consecrated believers.—Isa. 61:10

Paul’s question, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” is translated in the margin as “this body of death.” It has been suggested that here Paul is referring to the ancient custom of tying certain criminals to a corpse until they died, and that he is likening his own sinful flesh to a dead body to which, apart from Christ, he is tied. However, the fact that we are unable to do the things which we would does not give us the liberty to cease trying as best we can to keep the body under control. It is our obligation to maintain this conflict against sin, while rejoicing that our acceptance with God is through the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our memory verse pertains to a different group of overcomers than those of the Gospel Age. The first six verses of Revelation 21 present a symbolic description of the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom here on the earth, and the rich blessings which will reach the people through the agencies of that kingdom. Through that kingdom “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (vs. 4) All things are made new through the rulership of that kingdom.—vs. 5

In verse 6 the speaker is identified as the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” This is Jesus, who, in his pre-human existence, was the Logos, the beginning of the creation of God, the “firstborn of every creature.” (John 1:1,2; Col. 1:14-18) It is he who says, “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”—vs. 6; ch. 22:17

It is Jesus who, in our memory verse, says that those who overcome shall inherit all things. The marginal translation gives the correct thought by using the expression, “these things.” The restored world of mankind will not inherit “all” things, but they will inherit the blessings described by John in the opening verses of the chapter. “These things” will be freedom from sickness and death, and the fellowship of the Creator and his beloved Son throughout the endless ages of eternity as humans restored to perfection of life. The overcomers of the present age will inherit “glory and honor and immortality,” and joint-heirship with Christ in his kingdom.

QUESTIONS

How did Paul illustrate the fact that he had been made free from the Law?

Can any member of the fallen race obtain life by his own righteousness?

What did Paul mean by “this body of death”?

Who are the “overcomers” referred to in our memory text, and what blessings will they inherit?

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