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In my last post I established that in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul insisted that in order for guilt to exist, law must exist. So please come with me on an excursion into this letter on the roller coaster ride of Paul's use of the word "law."

Look first in Romans 3:27. Here Paul cited a "law of works" and a "law of faith." I believe Paul sometimes used the word "law" to indicate some sort of rule or situation, as in That's just the way things are. He wrote that boasting is excluded from the Christian's life, certainly not by the "law of works," but instead by the "law of faith."

Look at another instance of this use of the word "law" in Romans 7:21-8:2. Paul even cited this "law" as a find, a discovery. Immediately I think of Newton "discovering" the "law of gravity." Same kind of usage.

In this passage (Romans 7:21-8:2) I find at least six different "laws." I think Paul left it to his readers to determine if any of these overlap in meaning.

• Law in my members.
• Law of my mind.
• Law of sin.
• Law of God.
• Law of the spirit of life.
• Law of sin and death.

If this seems more confusing rather than less, you're not alone. Peter wrote a long time ago that "brother Paul" wrote some things "hard to be understood" (2 Peter 3:15-16).

So what do I make of it for my Christian journey? Glad you asked.

I think Paul enjoyed puns. He certainly knew and could use the word for "commandment" (Romans 7:8-7:13). He simply decided to have some artistic joy and climaxed his argument with a set of puns.

How does a reader understand puns? The reader simply understands by context the meaning of each varied use of the word on which the pun turns.

Well, it helps to live in the same time and culture as the writer. But since I don't, I have to do the best I can by immersing myself in the Word under the Holy Spirit's guidance. You can, too.

So, you and I have a whole lot of reading to do if we want to understand Paul's use of the word "law" in the Epistle to the Romans.

Please come back next post and I will share with you some results of my reading.