In the first section of Romans Chapter 7, Paul explained that we have been delivered from the Law so that we can serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Rom 7:6. However, he then identified that, even though we have died to the Law with Christ, if we set our mind on the things of the flesh when the word of God is proclaimed to us, it will bring us back into captivity to the law of sin and death. He said, ‘I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.’ Rom 7:9.

It is helpful to remember that when Paul referred to ‘the commandment’, it has a much broader application than the commandments that belonged to the Law Covenant. The coming of the commandment equally applies to the proclamation of the word of faith that belongs to the New Covenant. Rom 10:8. We must obey the word of faith that is proclaimed to us. However, it is only possible to obey the word of God by setting our mind on the things of the Spirit so that we are receiving the resurrection life of God in the fellowship of Christ’s offering. Setting our mind on the Spirit is believing. It is the work of faith. 1Co 2:13-14.

Paul described the operation of the carnal mind that leads to death, by saying that when the word of God is proclaimed to us, it gives the law of sin the opportunity to deceive us into laying hold of the word in the flesh. Rom 7:8. That is, it provokes us to covet the word as a resource that will facilitate our religious aspirations and projections. This is great deception because, as soon as we lay hold of the word of God as a resource, we immediately come under its judgement. Laying hold of the word in this manner is not an action of faith.