How to Have the Power to Obey - Romans 7:1-6 (1.20.19) - Dr. Jordan N. Rogers

[Music] the reality is if you put your faith in Jesus friend you have the power to obey you have everything you need all the freedom and all the power to do what's right and if you just can't do what's right you need to check whether or not you've been born again Romans chapter 7 verse 1 through 6 this morning what I want to talk to you about is how to have the power to obey how to have the power to obey the other pastors can attest to this just as well but one of the most frequent types of counseling that we do as pastors is when we will have someone who will say something to this effect they'll say you know pastor I'm really struggling with this sin and these things over here and I just can't overcome it I just can't stop I just can't quit doing that I can't quit being that I just can't can't can't what is going on and what this person may not understand is the fact that they're they're somewhat making a theological claim about saying I can't I can't I can't I can't change I can't do what's right I can't walk in righteousness I can't walk in holiness that's just who I am that's just the way that I am what they are in fact saying or could be intimating by that is the fact that they may not be regenerate they may not be born again you see that's my first inclination to respond when somebody asks me that question and they say I just can't quit doing this I just can't quit sinning what's wrong with me my first inclination is to to seek out an answer for their salvation and ask them are you a born-again Christian have you given your life to Jesus and has he made you new because if he has made you new not only as he given you power over your flesh but he has empowered you by the perpetual indwelling of the Holy Spirit within you he has given you freedom from bondage to sin and he has given you ability to do what's right through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit so you can do what's right you can walk in holiness and if you can't it's only because you have not been born again so I'll summarize the entire to this sermon just in this one sentence if you have been bound to Christ or if you are bound to Christ you are free and able to obey if you are bound to Christ you are free and able to obey that is the reality that is the truth and that is exactly what Paul is celebrating here in Romans chapter 7 verse 1 through 6 you remember back in chapter 6 verse 14 the Apostle said sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but you are under grace you're not under law but you are under grace and you remember in verses 15 through 23 the end of chapter 6 the Apostle answers a wrong implication that someone might have from that very statement because that statement in chapter 6 verse 14 someone could twist that and say okay so I'm not under law that's what you just said Paul I'm not under law I am under grace so if I am NOT under law does that mean that I am lawless does that mean that because I am under the grace of God that I have been given the opportunity to descend into moral Anarchy do whatever I want because I'm under the grace of God I'm not under law and what does Paul say by no means by no means you you can't continue in sin just because you're under grace no he gives you a metaphor about slavery he says God has freed you from the law but when he sets you free from that slave master the law and sin and death he bought you as his own slave and he says you are a slave of righteousness you've not given the OP not been given the opportunity to descend into moral Anarchy you are a slave of God you are not your own you are bought with a price friends we need to understand that we need to understand the fact that we do not have the freedom to act sinfully grace is not a reason for us to sin and the more you sin doesn't mean you get more grace it means you're a bad servant or you may in fact not even be a servant at all it is a dangerous thing to walk in sin Paul says no you're not a slave of unrighteousness that's what you used to be but now you're a slave of righteousness don't you remember the fruit of the sinful things you used to do for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord and so now in Chapter 7 verse 1 through 6 he's not answering a wrongful implication as he was at the end of chapter 6 in Chapter 7 he is going to explain what he meant when he said in chapter 6 verse 14 sin will have no dominion over you in other words sin will not be lord over you there is a theme that is introduced in chapter 6 and it's carried on through all the way to chapter 9 this theme of freedom and bondage of those who were slaves and those who have been set free what are they set free - who are they set free by what are they set free for so now he's going to explain to you exactly what he means a sin will not be lord over you for you are not under law so Paul what do you mean I'm not under law but I'm under grace so what I'm gonna do this morning is is I'm gonna tell you how you have the power to obey that's what he explains to you in these few verses you get three steps that you need to take three steps that you need to take to have the power to obey and just go let me go ahead and say this it's a deceitful title how to have the power to obey and and it's as deceitfully to go about the structure of the sermon because it when I say you have three steps you need to follow in order to be able to obey God it implies that you are doing something that you have to do something in order to be able to obey God and this this is what's tricky about it in the passage Paul's gonna tell you God has already done these three things God has done these three things and he did those three things when you were united with Christ through faith when you were bound to Christ he sets you free and he gave you the ability to obey so three steps in order for you to obey God and verses one through three you see this truth write this down with me the first of three to live in obedience to God you have to be free from bondage to live in obedience to God you first have to be free from bondage so if you are not free from bondage you cannot live in obedience to God meaning this outside of Christ outside of the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit to make you into a new creature second Corinthians to make you into a new creature in Christ outside of that supernatural work you are unable to obey God that's the point that Paul makes about the flesh outside of being made a new creature you're not walking in the power of the Spirit you are walking and living according to the flesh according to your appetites and desires and as much as you may desire to do what's right you don't have the ability you don't have the ability to do it so in order to live in obedience to God first things first you have to be free from bondage so at the end of chapter 6 Paul employs a metaphor he says it's because you're difficult of understanding your heart of hearing it's hard for you to understand these things so he employs a metaphor or a now to help us understand what it means to be under grace and so he uses the metaphor of slavery to be under grace doesn't mean that you're a free agent and free to choose to do whatever you want it means that you are a slave of Christ so he uses that terminology of being bought from one master and being purchased by that master to serve forevermore now he moves from the analogy of slavery to the analogy of marriage both of these analogies talk about our relationship to God your relationship to God in one sense you and I are slaves of Christ we are slaves to God we have no freedom in that sense we are bound to obey Him but in another sense union with Christ is expressed here in this passage as a type of marital Union it's a joyful and it is a blessed union and it is a union that produces fruit is a union that produces fruit but first things first if you're to live in obedience to God you have to be free from bondage so what does God do listen to this verse 1 through 3 or do you not know again he's referring back to sin will have no dominion over you and this is how you know do you not know for I brothers for I am speaking to those who are under the law that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives in this employment of a marital analogy in Paul's understanding marriage is for a lifetime in Paul's understanding his biblical understanding marriage is for a lifetime two human beings a man and a woman and only a man and a woman are united together in holy matrimony and the only thing that God has ever intended to sever that bond is what its death now you say well the bible does talk about divorce about legal grounds rightful grounds for divorce yes you know what Jesus said because he was asked that question about marriage and divorce and they came to him and asked him what happens if this person remarries what happens if this person divorces and Jesus said it was not so from the beginning it was not so from the beginning that's not how God designed marriage God didn't design marriage so that we could go down to the JP's office and get it dissolved by signing a piece of paper that's not how God designed marriage God designed marriage to only be dissolved and severed by death but what does Jesus say he says but because of the hardness of your hearts Moses gave you permission to write certificates of divorce but it wasn't so from the beginning and so in the biblical understanding the intention of God for marriage is that it is a life long bond severed only by Death and so Paul talks about your union with the law as though it were a marriage your union with the law he said well what does the law mean in in Pauline thinking and Paul's letters in the New Testament the law has many different nuanced meanings most plainly the law means the law of Moses the Old Testament law you shall not kill still commit adultery covet take the Lord's name in vain keep the Sabbath and so on and so forth the law of Moses it says you were bonded to that but when Paul talks about the law he's talking mainly not just about the law of Moses but our bondage to the law that the law in fact serves as a bond master as a slave master over us you say how is the law how is the law of Moses bondage over us let me ask you this question to answer it if all you had was the first five books of the Bible would you have much good news God created the heavens and the earth God made you God made all the creatures he said be fruitful and multiply rule over all these things and then BAM your forefathers sinned in the garden sin and death entered the world and everybody after them begins to die and then comes along this guy Moses who's given the Word of God by the Lord in Mount Sinai and their wilderness wanderings and God tells him you tell the people of Israel don't lie don't steal don't covet don't commit adultery don't take the Lord's name in vain honor the Sabbath and keep it holy and so on and let's just say that the Bible stops there that's all you have you don't have any new Testament you don't have any any Jesus coming into the world if you were to read the first five books of the Old Testament and that's all you have are you gonna come away feeling justified before God and nobody comes away feeling justified before God let me give you three reasons why the law of Moses is bondage to us outside of Christ reason number one the law only serves to demonstrate our guilt and condemnation the law doesn't show anybody how righteous we are the law reveals how much we are unlike God the law reveals how short we have fallen from his commands reason number two in my flesh in your flesh we were unable to keep the law when somebody tells you don't why does that mean that you can't lie oh you can and guess what we do we run a even as much as we want to do what's right outside of Christ what we end up doing we end up sinning so in our flesh we're unable to keep the law and then we go back to reason number one and so then we're just left condemned and guilty before God it feels like being under the law and outside of Christ is just it's bondage is what it is there's no way out as Seth said you're stuck you just stuck in it the third reason why the law is bondage is this but that our flesh outside of Christ without being a regenerate born-again person our flesh is actually stimulated to sin by the presence of the law all I need to do is say one sentence that our culture repeats over and over again just one sentence and you'll know what I mean rules were made to be come on y'all know what I'm talk to be that's it rules were made to be broken why do people say that they say that well the law stimulates some kind of rebellion within us outside of Christ when we see a speed limit sign we believe that that speed limit sign says nobody's supposed to go slower than that right you're supposed to go at least 70 and we saw it was it's no big deal it's no big deal if I cross the line here there's no big deal if I just speed on a little bit because rules were made to be broken oh you put a no trespass sign outside that fence I see a lovely pond in there I'm assuming that there's probably some pretty big fish in there or else you wouldn't tell me not to trespass so you're actually telling me that what you have in there is good that trespass sign might apply to other people but it doesn't apply to me our flesh is stimulated by rules in order to be lawless and so in that sense the law of Moses has bondage to us outside of Christ and what is it that Paul says there in verse one what is it that severs a person's bondage to the law he says the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives so what needs to happen in order for us to be free from bondage to sin and death I'm gonna die the only way out is in a coffin that's essentially what Paul is saying that is the only way to sever the tie of bondage that the law has on you so listen to this metaphor that he applies and again his point here is not to illustrate marriage his point here is not to teach on marriage his point is to illustrate what it takes to actually sever the bonds of marriage listen all he says in verse 2 and 3 he says for a married woman is bound she's tied married woman is bound to by law to her husband while he lives but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage accordingly she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive but if her husband dies she is free from that law and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress so what needs to happen in order for us to be freed from bondage there has to be a death what has to happen for our contractual agreement to obey the law of God what happens for that to have to be severed there has to be a death that has to occur so in order to live in obedience to God the first thing you have to do is you have to be freed from bondage something is unique about this illustration or this analogy because when you look at the analogy you think okay so he is about to talk about the law of God and me as a Christian me as a believer so in his analogy the husband dies and the wife is free to remarry free to rejoin her or to join herself with another so if you press this analogy you're gonna be thinking at first okay well then to correspond this the man must be the law and the woman must be representative of the Christian but that's what's unique about the illustration because Paul does not say in his explanation in verse 4 that it is the law that died he actually says that it's the believer that dies it in the analogy it's the woman that dies and yet she's the one that's free so the one who dies is the one who lives following me here so in the analogy explain this again in the analogy it is the husband that dies and the woman is free in Paul's explanation it is the woman that dies and it's the woman who is free so it is through her death that she is actually made alive it's not the man who dies the law the law has not done away with that's precisely his point the law has not done away with because we're under grace the law is still there we're not free to be moral and arcus we are still bound to obey God's law but we are not bound by the condemnation of the law so the law doesn't die what dies is my sinful nature and because my sinful nature dies now I am free to be United with Christ and have the ability to obey Him first thing that I have to have is I have a death to occur so that I am free from that bondage the one who dies is the one who lives you remember the words of Jesus it's easy to understand Jesus says for whoever seeks to save his life will lose it but the one who loses his life for my sake it is he who finds it so listen to Paul's explanation in verse two or verse four and it's a step number two to live in obedience not only do you have to be free from bondage but to live in obedience to God you have to die with Christ and be raised to new life verse 4 likewise here's my explanation likewise my brothers you also have died what tense is that in it sounds like past tense right yeah the Greek that's the imperfect tense it means it happened in the past and it has residual effects in the future so this is something that has happened you also have died you are dead to your sin you are dead to the bondage of condemnation through the law my brother's you also have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit to God or for God so he says this is how this works this is how you were set free from the condemnation of the law when you put your faith in Jesus and Jesus died for your sins that old part of you died now that of you that ruled you your appetites your sinful flesh that part of you died and it severed the bonds of condemnation and guilt not so that you could just be free but so that you could unite yourself with Christ in a new life so the first thing that God did for you is he freed you from bondage the second thing that God did did for you not only did he kill that old sin nature in the death of Christ but he raised you up to a new life in him so then you have the ability to obey the Lord to live in obedience to God you have been or you have to die with Christ and be raised to new life now look at what he says the purpose of this is four he says in order that the end of verse four in order that we may bear fruit for God in order that we may bear fruit for God why are you and I by faith United with Christ in a new life again he's using a marital analogy what does it mean for a marriage to be fruitful you remember the command that God gave to Adam and Eve be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it so part of the command that they were to fulfill was to have children the idea of fruit is that when two come together there are children there is life that comes from that union you could speak of union like a seed in the ground and when the seed goes into the ground the ground in that seed are unified and up springs of plant up Springs something that is fruitful friends our union with Christ is not just for forgiveness of sins it is for fruit bearing it is for good things to come out of it one of the most infamous or famous passages I'm sure you know it by heart Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 through 23 these are the kinds of fruit that are born out in you through union with Christ he says but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law Paul saying these are the things that are going to spring up in your life that are being born together fruit for God that is the purpose of your union with him to serve him to be fruitful for him not just to be someone who is a spectator amongst God's people but to be one who is fruitful and productive as part of God's people God freed you from bondage he put to death in you the sinful nature and he raised you up to a new life in Christ now look at the third thing that God has done set you free from bondage gave you a new life in Christ step number three to live in obedience to God you have to be empowered by God's holy spirit you have to be empowered by God's Holy Spirit this I believe seems to be the linchpin of the entire passage listen to what he says for while we were living verse five for while we were living another imperfect verb past tense for while we were living in the flesh our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death he says that's what it was that's what it was like in your person in your heart and your innermost being this is how it was before God made you knew when you were in the flesh operating solely based on your appetites to satisfy your body this is what was working that the law was actually arousing within you or stimulating within you lawlessness we talked about that a moment ago about the speed limit sign or rules were made to be broken and things like that so when we when we hear laws in our flesh when we hear laws as an unregenerate person what do we think that people who make rules are people who withhold good things from you and that there would be no need for those rules if they were not withholding something good and so those rules tell me there's something good back there that I need to I need to get and I need to break this rule to go get it just remember back in the third chapter of Genesis when the serpent comes to Eve and sin and death had not entered the world the serpent comes to Eve and he says has God told you you may eat of the tree that's in the midst of the garden and Eve says all the Lord's given us permission to eat of any tree in the garden except for the one that's in the midst of it and he said she says because in the day that we eat of it that's when we'll die and the serpent says did God really say that you would die no God knows that the day that you eat of that tree that you will be Elohim God knows the day that you eat of that tree you will be like gods you'll be made like him and he doesn't want you to be like him he's withholding something good from you and I'm gonna read one verse for you out of Genesis chapter 3 one verse for you and I want to see I want you to see how within Eve's psyche how in Eve's mind that hurt flesh was stimulated to sin by the announcement of that law listen to how her flesh was stimulated here in genesis chapter 3 verse 6 it says so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate a death and sin had not entered into the world but what was even a dove flesh and she was ruled in that moment not by sin she was ruled in that moment by flesh and the law seeing an opportunity in her flesh made her to fall because she was weak not by sin she was weak because of her flesh and so she sinned and she fell and her husband was right there with her Paul says this that that's what it was that's the way it was for us while we were living in the flesh verse 5 our sinful passions aroused by the law we're at work in our members to bear fruit for death look at verse 6 but now but now we are released from the law but now there is something that has changed he actually is an emphatic invert adverbial phrase here nuni day when you read that in the Greek you see that and you say wow he is drawing some kind of contrast here and it's a contrast of time times have changed for the believer before Christ before that time you were subject to your flesh you operated according to your appetites and even if you wanted to do what's right you couldn't do what's right because you were ruled by a corrupt heart but now what does he say but now we are released from the law from guilt and condemnation having died to that which held us captive so that here's the purpose so that we serve in the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code he says this is what's happened times have changed for the believer before Christ all we knew was how to do what was wrong even if we wanted to do what's right we're still tempted and we're still weak in our flesh so we fall but now now you have been released from that kind of bondage and what has he done what has he done it for he says so that we serve in the new way not so that we fall into moral Anarchy so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code that sounds a bit confusing because we don't really talk like that it's not readily understandable to us so let me package it in terms that we can understand in the Old Covenant if all you had was the Old Testament all you had in fact even was the first five books of the Old Testament what do you have I mean outside of Christ that's all you have you have a written code that is totally outside of you telling you you can't do this you can't do that you can't think that you can't want that you have to do this and you have to do that everything that you are being told to do and not to do is coming from outside of you the problem is that outside of Christ and without being regenerate what's inside of you won't allow you to obey that so all this written code can be telling you to do something from without but what's within is rotten and it won't respond and it won't obey appalled says that he has set us free in order that we may serve in the new way of the spirit see the Old Covenant is law coming from without but it's corrupted by what's within and we can't obey the New Covenant is where God comes within and he changes the heart and he fills us with His Holy Spirit and now the law that was without we are able to obey from within so we're not falling into moral anarchy now we have the freedom from that bondage and now we have the ability to obey it's complex thought but it's true nonetheless the problem with the Old Covenant you know there's a problem with the Old Covenant that's why there had to be a new covenant the problem with the Old Covenant was nothing with the Covenant and it was everything to do with man's heart God said I will be your God and you will be my people if you keep my commands they don't keep the commands they have to keep making sacrifices every year they don't go into the Promised Land once they get there they're kicked out and they violate the covenant why God says because your hearts bad your hearts bad you can't keep the Covenant so I'm going to institute a new covenant as what God says there's going to be a new covenant that God brings about where he takes out that heart of stone that could not obey and he puts in a heart of flesh not bad flesh but good flesh a heart that's living and a heart that is filled with His Holy Spirit listen to how God says this in Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 24 through 27 he says I will take you from the nation's that's us included I will take you from the nation's and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land I will sprinkle you sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your unclean and from all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh that is a heart that is living and I will put my spirit within you and cause you and cause you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules you see the difference here the old covenant compels us by the letter from the outside in the new covenant we are empowered by the Holy Spirit from within so if you are bound to Christ the old you is passed away behold all things have become new if you are bound to Christ you are free from that old man you are free from that old person you are free from the flesh that has bonded you bound you to condemnation and lawlessness and now that you're free and have been united with Christ now you are able by the presence of God's holy spirit within you to obey so that's why the title is a bit tricky how to have the power to obey the reality is is if you put your faith in Jesus friend you have the power to obey you have everything you need all the freedom and all the power to do what's right and if you just can't do what's right you need to check whether or not you've been born again you need to check whether or not God has actually done those things in you friend if you come to God you say God I'm lost I'm in bondage to my sin there's nothing I can do everywhere I turn I see your word and it tells me how hot and I am everywhere I turn I feel condemned then I feel guilty God would just save me from guilt and from condemnation would you sprinkle clean water on me which would you wash me off Lord would you take out this heart that's in me this heart that doesn't love you that doesn't want to serve you that can't obey would you take that rotten heart out and would you me a new heart we just make me into someone new which make me a brand new person God would you put your Holy Spirit in me and give me the ability to obey you you know what God does he does it he does it he sets you free from bondage he crucifies that old man that old woman within you and he raises you up to newness of life with Christ and he puts his Holy Spirit within you and makes you a new person and guess what if you are bound to Christ you are free and able to obey praise God man that is good news and you know a lot of times when we sin a lot of times we just we just give up on and say well there's nothing I can do I just can't overcome this now that's just who I am no the next time you're faced with that I want you to tell you and tell yourself no that's not who you am that's not who you are if you are in Christ you're a new creature you don't have to act that way you used to but times have changed you're a new person you're a new being you've been born again you've been born of the Spirit and now you're able to walk in obedience because God gave you the power to do so there are some who are in this room and you are in bondage maybe you've been around God's people a lot maybe you haven't but you are in bondage to your sin there seems to be nothing you can do to be free from that guilt and condemnation this morning as we have our invitation I'm gonna stand down front and I'm gonna ask that if you are that person you want to be set free from your bondage to sin I'm gonna ask that you come forward and speak with me and we'll talk to Jesus and you pour your how-to heart out to the Lord and say Jesus save me save me from this bondage and set me free in your name and I promise you on the authority of God's word that he will do that because if you are bound to Christ you are free and able now to obey would you pray with me [Music]

Channel: Dr. Jordan Neal Rogers

Views: 1,373

Rating: 4.5555553 out of 5

Keywords: preaching, teaching, preacher, teacher, expository, expository preaching, exposition, exegesis, exegetical, Greek, Romans, Paul, Apostle, Apostolic, Christian, Christ, Jesus, Lord, Messiah, Messianic, freedom, bondage, sin, sinful, free, save, salvation, Savior, help, help me, understand, Romans 7, Romans 7:1-6, biblical, scriptural, hope, Holy Spirit, empower, empowered, Hillcrest, Baptist, Church, Nederland, Texas, TX, Jordan, Neal, Rogers, Jordan Rogers, Dr. Rogers

Id: jPBxsazczlQ

Length: 37min 43sec (2263 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 24 2019