New Idea on Rom 7 ego

[mikew]

A new discovery occurred last night regarding Romans 7 where Paul speaks as if describing his own experience with the word ego (Gr) appearing over and over again.

Before looking at this, it should be noted that Paul was very strategic in his argument to the Romans. The English translations show the strategy through the variations in pronouns. When Paul wanted to use a softer approach he would say "we should" (Rom 6:4)-- this was more inclusive as showing himself and his audience in the same situation.
There were other moments Paul is more direct and strong in speech say "don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies" (Rom 6:12).

And even in Rom 2:1 Paul used a singular "you" to make an accusation only if someone is actually guilty. "You therefore are without excuse
whoever is judging..." (my paraphrase). The strategy was to make a statement about guilt that was very harsh yet the guilt pronouncement only applied to the man who was guilty or who took it personally. (This is in contrast to using a plural "you" that would be an accusation against the whole Gentile audience.)

So in Romans 7 Paul spoke as representing himself using the pronoun "I" (for English language). And many speculations have been made about the meaning of Paul's writing -- was it his own circumstances or was he representing people who weren't believers or whether this represented the encounter of Israel with the Law of Moses?

Now it was discovered that Paul was actually writing in empathy with the Roman Gentile church experience. The first encounter with the Law then came when Gentiles started joining the essentially all Jewish followers of Jesus. This could have been in the period AD40-50. So the Gentiles believed upon Christ yet were introduced the Law, which then became a burden upon them(Rom 7:9). As time progressed and the Jews were expelled from Rome, the Gentiles increased animosity to the Jews and the Law and largely rejected the practice of the Law.

But the Law was sort of the embodiment of the idea of obedience to God. The Romans wanted to do good (Rom 7:19) but they didn't like following the Law so these believers turned opposite to the Law and made a doctrine to sin in order to increase grace (Rom 6:1), a doctrine made under feelings of despair.

Paul was showing that he encountered the same sort of feeling and problems so that the Romans wouldn't feel condemned that they were failing in the flesh and they wouldn't see Paul as an isolated saint who had been all ready been made perfect.

In all this Paul was also trying to show that the Law is spiritual and good while at the same time seeking not to make them think they need to follow the Law of Moses.

Does this make sense?

Blessings,

Mike