Romans (Session 8) Chapter 7

[Music] okay well let's borrow hearts for the word of prayer heavenly father we just thank you for the evening we thank you for your word we thank you for this opportunity to explore your word we do pray father that you would indeed be among us we pray father you put a hedge about us put the forces of darkness to confusion we pray that your spirit would guard our thoughts and discernments we do pray father you would reveal to us your will help us father to be more effective for you as we commit this evening and ourselves into your hands in the name of yeshua our lord and savior jesus christ amen well we're exploring paul's letter to the christians at rome we're reading a piece of writing that represents his definitive statement of christian doctrine by what is arguably one of the brightest people that's ever walked the planet of the earth his his logic his brilliance his background his perception of both the hebrew and gentile worlds is probably unexcelled he was a pharisee of the pharisees taught by gamalia himself but he also had the benefit of a profound greek education from obviously a very wealthy family and so he's he's this isn't an unlettered fisherman on the side of the sea of galilee this is one of the most brilliant people we encounter we've just been through some pretty heavy stuff in the book of romans but we're entering what probably is one of the last of the really tough chapters in the book of romans chapter 7 i like to call it law school we're going to talk about some sensitive subjects and we don't try to play favorites we try to have something to fend everyone we don't keep it to just a few but we're going to get into some very difficult material so just by way of review in chapter one of course we had an introduction and we were introduced to the problem of what we call the pagan man and uh how paul deals with that that was followed then by two more the moral man the religious man by these three we got we level the playing field because they're all lost the pagan man's loss for his reasons the creation itself's enough to condemn him moral man while well intended is not good enough and for a religious man interestingly enough he picks of all people jews that with all their procedures and rituals they still are ineffective at reconciling themselves to god all three of them religion is man's attempt to reconcile himself to god and he always fails only god can breach that gulf and he did it by an astonishing procedure but that's just setting the groundwork to understand the problem what is god's greatest problem we dealt with that in chapter three and it was summarized by socrates many centuries ago in a sense he said i it may be that deity can forgive sins but i don't see how he understood the problem on some of my graphics i said it was 500 bc someone pointed out to me that he died in you know 3.99 so that was off a little bit i didn't have the right date from some quote that i got that from but in any case god's greatest problem is how can a god who is holy and just who cannot violate his own nature how can he reconcile himself to sinful man the leniency would violate his justice and without leniency we're in big trouble and what he ended up doing is paying the price himself and that's what we're going to learn about and god's greatest gift of course is that reconciliation through jesus christ that's what paul is dealing with here and he dealt in chapter five he dealt with the sequence to maturity where the highest level of that strange enough is hope then in the last chapter we discovered not only have we been justified meaning that means declared righteous we are freed from the that that back up justification frees us from the penalty of sin our passport stamped we're declared innocent we're not innocent but we have been declared righteous by god hasn't changed us yet the changing of us which is subsequent to that is saying we call sanctification and uh but uh justification separates us from the penalty of sin sanctification separates us from the power of sin and the astonishing discovery is not only has god paid for our sins he has provided us the opportunity to be freed from the bondage of sin for us when we sin it's a choice we have the opportunity to make that choice not once going down the sawdust trail at a revival no no no no that's accepting christ which leads to justice that gives us justification doesn't give a sanctification sanctification is a moment by moment choice that we'll do imperfectly but but sin does not reign anymore it's not in control of us anymore that was the shocking assertion of chapter six and that's going to lead to one of the most difficult questions the most difficult chapters in the book namely chapter seven what about the law how many of you have heard of the ten commandments okay it's about ninety percent that's pretty good okay no i'm kidding okay see you and i let's stand back for a minute you and i live in an age of deceit it's hard to remember a cultural setting throughout history that isn't more imbued with lies than where we live today it shocks many people where the educated side not so our culture is built on myths that are contrary to known truth we're not talking about being misinformed we're talking about inculcation of our kids with things that we know are not true dave breese wrote a fabulous book the seven men who ruled the world from their graves which talks about men like charles darwin karl marx sigmund freud and others for starters the theory of evolution most of us i think in this audience recognize the fallacy of that most scientists today acknowledge the fallacy of that where they're probably the first culture that makes it against the law to teach intelligent design the theory of evolution however goes far beyond biology and anthropology however it permeates our entire culture our psychological concepts our social concepts and our political philosophies are influenced by that model the man's getting better and better the ascent of man those little charts whether it's the the national geographic or whatever in court for example we excuse responsibility for crimes as a result of environmentally introduced factors think about that the paradigm of ancient scent of man man's getting better and better and better you know it's astonishing to me when i read the federalist papers these were papers handed out during our revolution that's college reading today they were passed out on the street corners and yet today it takes a college education to follow the anyway the incentive man is based on the erroneous view that man is improving himself through education and technology and so forth not so you'd notice not so you notice see it assumes too that man develops in response to his environment that's just taken for granted by most people let's see what the bible says about that a minute it assumes that with a proper environment education one can change the fundamental nature of man no evidence of that see that contradicts what the scripture said all along jeremiah says tells us that the true jeremiah god says the heart is deceitful above most things no all things right of all things and desperately wicked the right in translation that incurably wicked who can know it see a word desperately comes from a nosh which means to be incurable desperately wicked nowhere in the bible cover to cover is the heart of man cured nowhere is the heart repaired or cured the miracle of regeneration is that we have been given a new heart you say that's just a figure of speech no it isn't it's a very very fundamental dynamic this topic that we're hitting head on here is one of the most difficult ones in doctrinal issues the so-called depravity of man very uncomfortable it's one of the most reluctantly accepted documents of the serious problem i can remember as a teenager very much in the bible loving the word growing and yet i found it hard to really accept this idea that man is intrinsically evil but you parents of small children understand that you don't have to teach them to be bad you have to what you have to teach them is on the other side of that coin and all you have to do is take a look at our society and see the depravity of man well this is what this chapter is gonna hit the deal with romans chapter seven it's gonna clarify for us i want to highlight something else before we get into this you know many times in the bible we're highlighted as in the new testament to appreciate the old paul says in romans this very book that we're going to when we get to chapter 15 we're going to encounter the verse paul will say for whatsoever things were written before time were written for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have what scriptures is paul talking about the old testament whatsoever things were written before time were written for us the book of leviticus with all its strange things written for us the torah the five books of moses are rich resources for the new testament christian the tragedy in christianity today not just america but in general is that the christians folks in the new testament if anything and every you know they they've been taught that the old testament superseded by the new no no no no no that's not that's not the way it works the new testament is in the old testament concealed and the old testament is in the new testament revealed and that's not a new idea that was first quoted by augustine i want to highlight before we get into some things here some caveats see one of the things that you'll discover among christians especially they're sort of two kinds those that have no grasp of the old testament at all that's one form of error tragedy you miss a lot you won't really understand our our heritage the gift that god has given us to understand it's jewishness on the other hand you find those that start to discover the richness of passover the seven feasts of moses and on and they get so enamored with the old testament that they crawl back under the law both are dangerous for different reasons see one of the things you want to understand the treasure of our heritage and the patterns that we find see the the the jewish the jews catechism is this calendar you really as a christian need to understand the jewish calendar and the feasts of israel it's visa moses among other things a lot of other things but you want to be aware of legalism there's a tendency when you get into all of that to fail to appreciate what christ has done for us and we're going to get into that here head on remember the council in jerusalem acts 15. paul and peter and others were having incredible success for almost two decades of gentiles coming to christ and what they assumed the community being a jewish community with jewish traditions and what have you is that the way you came to come to god is to become is to prosecute to become a jew first and then accept christ and paul and they finally had a big showdown on this in acts 15 and james presides over this council and both peter and paul point out what's been going on in fact peter has a twisted phrase he's we play our cards right we might be saved like they are speaking of gentiles you see the inversion and so you want to remember that was resolved there if you have any questions about that you want to reread acts 15. paul is hammered away at this already in the last few chapters that abraham was saved while he was still a gentile he was saved before he was circumcised and before the law was forgiven was given entry paul builds a whole case i just read this by way of review that abram was saved in genesis 15 verse 6 he doesn't get circumcised until genesis 17 right the law isn't given until exodus 20. later you follow me it's important and it's not just an historical incident paul builds his case on that for us to understand that abraham was saved by faith not by keeping the law it wasn't given yet and not because he was circumcised that came later okay those have their role but in chapter three paul hammers always says therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin it has a key role but it doesn't save anyone a few verses later he says therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds the law let's remember that let's remember that because we're going to get into a lot of these issues and there's value and paul is going to deal with okay what's the law for then is it evil hardly no no no and we're going to deal with that head on the law see the mosaic law is where many christians go to find christian living ten commandments i live by the ten commandments really you're the first person ever seen that did you obviously think of the chain you know the chain you break one link and it fails to hold you up you know he offends at one point as guilty of all the scripture says that's yet in spite that's where christians oftentimes now paul is going to show us that the mosaic law has no claim on the believer now while we're here in romans you're not in agreement yeah that's right and yet you'll discover that there's tremendous treasures in the messianic movement and yet the minute you get into that you'll be barraged by various publishers and documents and so forth that try to get you to keep the torah oh you don't worship on sunday worship on shabbat the seventh day is shabbat but that's and there's a church tradition of sunday fine paul says don't let anyone judge you in the keeping of any holy day so don't make it a you know worship and you want to worship fine but you're not keeping the law that's not what we're dealing with here so to hang in there see the law condemned a man to die it was a administration of condemnation second corinthians 3 90 gets into that see you don't if you're trying to find out how to christian live a christian life you don't go to the judge who sentenced you to die and ask him how you're going to live i kind of like that sort of put it in focus for me let's see what's going on here the burden of the law remember stephen when he was before the sanhedrin this young guy before the most august body of judaism in front of them says said that they had received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it that's his accusation and its course stood peter speaks of the law calls it a yoke which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear that was in the in the council for jerusalem so let's go on here in the last session we were together paul said for sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law but under grace now we sort of know that intellectually what does that mean well that's what we're going to get into in chapter seven chapter seven is an amplification of that whole issue so let's jump into romans chapter seven and we're going to have four verses thrown at us and i'm stunned to discover that most commentators miss what paul is saying they don't miss the point exactly but they don't drive at home the way paul did so i want you to alert yourself to these four verses of the first four verses of chapter seven paul continues after chapter six he says know ye not brethren parenthesis for i speak to them that know the law notice these members he's not speaking to people who don't know the law he's speaking to those that know the law these people are steeped in the torah or the pentateuch for those that prefer the greek thing no you're not brethren for i speak to them that know the law how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he lives no that's pretty straightforward right we're not alive anymore it doesn't have a dominion over you where are we together so far one of the things by the way just by way of review understand that some of the most brilliant minds have tried to attack or unravel paul's logic and throw up their hands because he is bulletproof you're dealing with one of the most brilliant minds that's ever walked the earth and his use of language especially in the greek is so precise we could easily spend you know an hour on each verse i attended a very well taught church in southern california calvary chapel costa mesa and uh what we used to do sunday nights that go through the bible in about two years do the your review kind of thing thursday night they went through the book of romans in two years and uh so there's a verse by verse and really you know donald gray barnhouse's commentary on the book of romans is ten volumes i mean you can spend a lot you know because each of these things has so many interests so we're but understand that this is thorough stuff anyway you know you're not brethren for i speak to them that know the law how that the law has dominion over man as long as he lives now he's going to create an analogy here and an allegory if you will and first don't be confused he's not talking about marriage he's using it as an allegory watch what he says here for the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband follow it so far understand what he's saying now i'll tip you off he's really not talking about marriage he's using that as a as a model here he continues so then if while her husband lives she be married to another man she shall be called what an adulteress but if her husband be dead she is free from the law so that she is no adulteress though she be married to another man understand the concept here okay in either case she's married another man but if if the husband still isn't dead she's indulgence if the husband's dead that's okay that's that's the point he's making here right wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto god so he's pointing out that you being a believer in christ it's like you have your married christ right get the picture you should be married to another if the another is alive you're adulter right a believer is identified with jesus christ in his death is no longer under the law we learn from verse 14 of the previous chapter and paul's readers remain at new law the statement was not restricted to jewish believers it's a blanket statement that's true of jew or gentile in terms of adulterous or not right gentiles who knew the principle that the law has authority over man only as long as he lives and that came up several times in the previous chapter now paul's illustrated this evident truth by an allegorical example if you're in christ trying to keep the law that you're free from makes you an adulterer you're dead to the law follow me see what he's saying here that's heavy language that's heavy language he's going to amplify it but you get the idea here back there verse 2 says for the woman which hath and husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband right see a married woman actually it says the under a man woman is bound her husband as long as he's alive but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage that is the law of the man okay you as a believer are married to one thing either christ or the law take your pick not both take your pick by the time we're through your pick will be very easy here she's bounded by marriage as her husband while he lives and obviously his death frees her from that marriage that's his point so then if while her husband liveth she'd be married to another man she shall be called an adulteress but if her husband be dead she's free from that law so that she is no adulteress though she'd be married to another man you with me pretty straightforward but it's amazing how many people read this and assume he's talking about marriage and husbands and divorced no that's she's using that as to set a model a point he's trying to make here paul's pointing that out if the wife marries if she comes to another man while her husband is alive she is called in the future sense shall be publicly known as an adulteress so the jurisdiction law conversely on the death of her husband she is free from that marriage she's not adultery daughters if she marries even though she comes to another man a widow who marries again is not guilty of adultery okay the mosaic law by the way had no provision for a married woman to get a divorce so that's not that's not what this is about anyway okay but this she's she in effect is a type of the believer here wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto god who are you married to then huh christ good for you exactly both idiomatically as a believer but also you're actually there's going to be a marriage supper to celebrate it in another formality so this is speaking of the believer as a bride of christ collectively speaking right this is the key to the entire book of romans this is the key to the entire book of romans that you're freed from the law now we're going to find out if that's the case what's the law forward so we'll get in there and so this is an allegorical example the first husband is the fallen adamic nature if you will second husband is christ that's one way of profiling this there's other ways so you're dead to the law you also died paul says you were put to death if you will to the law by christ just as a believer has died to sin so is he set free from sin that was what chapter 6 was all about so he also died to the law and is separated and set free from it that's the part that we need to understand you're set free from the law a wife is no longer married to her husband when he dies or a christian is no longer under the law that's the net of it okay the separation was through the body of christ that is because of christ's death on the cross the handwriting ordinance that was against us to telesty painful that's what john 19 30 is all about we talked about that last time so as result christians belong to another to him that is raised from the dead and the purpose of all this is that we might bear fruit to god and that's all through galatians philippians and elsewhere only a person who's spiritually alive can bear spiritual fruit that is holy living and so forth a person that is married to christ should also bear spiritual progeny sons in christ if you will now he moved paul now moves from this there's something interesting here at this point he changes pronouns up till now he's been speaking logically to make a point from verse five on he shifts personally he moves from the second person plural you people to the first person plural we including himself in other words you're going to notice as he continues here he's in the same bucket with all of us okay for when we were in the flesh paul included the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death this is a pharisee of pharisees talking here we were in the flesh that's the imperfect tense means constantly we just wasn't once we were constantly the flesh while we were in or under the domination of if you will the sarcs the the sin nature when we were in the flesh we were under the dominion of our sin nature we're in the flesh we'll use expression in the flesh but we use those idioms so casually i want us to under understand what we're trying to communicate with those the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies he's going to give you some strange examples here the purpose of law this describes the believer before he was saved all of us were in the flesh all of us were dominated by our sin nature the law with all its prohibitions aroused sinful passions as he'll explain in the next half a dozen verses you know you walk on the grass i mean if you walk by someone's house you never think of walking on the grass unless there's a sign says keep off the grass then you'll take a court you know right okay paul repeatedly affirmed that sin leads to death and i don't have to list that that's been all through this series obviously sin leads to death the law energized our rebellion the law cannot bring us to righteous life it can only demonstrate to us our sinful nature the law doesn't make us good it lets us realize how bad we are another way of saying that if you understand this passage you'll understand what most people who have ever lived have not been able to grasp let me say that again if you understand this passage you will understand what most people who have ever lived have not been able to grasp what is the purpose of the law of god what is the purpose of the law of god to make us behave better if so it doesn't work this purpose isn't achieved that's not its purpose the law can't save it can show your need for salvation back in chapter five a couple sessions ago paul said moreover the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more about what he's saying here is the law where the law enters that sin might about offense might abound it gets worse if the law was to prevent sin law wasn't to prevent sin it makes it worse it it highlights things you might not have and it might not have occurred you to try okay your kids don't touch the stove oh really you know whatever you've seen it all okay this strange thought echoes throughout the book of romans that the law was given so that sin might increase you've got to be kidding is that what he said yeah paul is going to discuss this in more depth when the law comes we will sin more which we will reveal to us our sin nature and the point that we'll get out of this is that we by our own effort can't make it man through religion cannot reach god religion is man's attempt to reconcile himself with god doesn't work that's the point the most anti-religious person that ever walked the face of the earth is jesus christ god did it all we're down to verse six we're making progress here but now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in the newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter the word delivered here means released or unshackled we as believers are unshackled from the dominion of sin doesn't mean won't sin but when we do it's a choice the unsaved don't have the choice we were held constantly bound by we were identified with christ believers are dead to the law like the widow released from the marital obligations so believers are released from the law and its arousal to sin so that we what serve that's present tense that means constantly served present not past or future present continually and constantly served the purpose of the release from the law is so that we may serve that is it actually means to be slaves of the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code and the word slaves are used all through when we say served but that's the use of the doulos term letter versus spirit the letter of the law depends on the flesh the spirit depends on god's power that's our choice that's available to us the letter produces rebellion the spirit produces god's desires the letter results in more sin the spirit results in righteousness that counts by the way and we go through all the verses here the letter brings wrath the spirit brings joy peace and productive productivity the letter is not of faith the spirit is by faith that's the weapon the letter kills the spirit gives life see the law can only condemn it can't free but apart from the law sin is dead the law is not the cause of the act of sin the principle or nature of sin within the individual is the law of specific commandments stimulate the sin principle into acts that violate the commandments then give those acts the character of a transgression a transgression is a specific violation you see apart from the law sin is dormant that does not mean that sin has no existence without the law but without the law sin is less active for the law arouses sinful passions sin still there don't misunderstand him now here's verse 9 is a strange verse many people miss this paul says for i was alive without the law once but when the commandment came sin revived and i died really what on earth is he talking about when would paul have been alive and then the commandment came and he died what's he referring to here make a guess age of accountability when he reached the age of accountability that's when the commandment was operative that's when he that and this is one of a few verses that we base our view on that the small children are saved before the age of accountability so that was alive once that was prior to his awareness understanding of the full impact of god's commandments this verse is also viewed as a basis for children being saved prior to the age of accountability the other place is second samuel 12 where david's child dies and once he dies he freshens up and goes back to work and the servers are astonished well as long as he was sick he was praying and concerned but once he died okay i'll be with him he'll i'll i'll join him later you see from that he he saw him as saved you see that's those two places anyway verse 10 and the commandment which was ordained to life i found to be unto death this is paul his assessment he then understood for sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it it slew me sin did from apart from the law the principle of sin was dormant and inactive but using the commandments of the law it demonstrated its controlling force over one's actions sin controls if you let it where sin deceived him that has led him astray and put him to death he said the same thing in second chronicles 11 and first first letter to timothy chapter 2. how does it deceive him how does it get him to fail by luring him to try to live for god by his own effort that's you know the wrong you got two choices that's the wrong one to lure him to try to live for god by his own effort you can't make it that's what the law is there to teach you walter martin used to dramatize this you should say there's two paths to get to heaven plan a from the time you're born you never sin when you're tired frustrated feeling anger you never never sin all through your life you never never sin and then when you die you go up to the throne say move over now there's two of us walter had sort of a irreverent way of making his point sometimes plan b was to trust christ christ christ righteousness wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and justin good okay the law is designed to show his the believers helplessness his paul's helplessness the law is designed to show paul's helplessness that's what it's for and paul continues to explore this paradox he continues in verse 13 was then that which is good made death unto me god forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good that sin my by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful but it's amplifying it's showing me see it's the sin nature revealed by our inability to keep the law and that is our enemy within he's going to use that expression in a minute even the believer can't keep the law you got that the believer can't the holy spirit can the believer can't trying to keep codes no smoking no dancing whatever just stimulates the old nature rebellion rebellion no one asks for a show of hands okay for we know that this law is spiritual but i am carnal sold under sin i am present tense first person this is autobiographical paul talking about himself not you him talking by himself the law is spiritual the law comes from god who is spirit and expresses god's will for human living that's the secret and plenty of authority on that all kinds of verses paul said the problem is that i'm carnal sarcas fleshly made a flesh i'm unspiritual this is paul talking this is present tense that means it's continual not once and before or it's continual i am carnal i'm fleshly unspiritual continuing let's go take a look at an interesting event that i'd like to talk about let's pause for a minute and jump into john 11. most of you will remember that's lazarus and all that then said martha didn't jesus lord if thou hate been here my brother had not died but i know that even though whatsoever thou will ask of god god will give it thee jesus said jesus saith under thy brother shall rise again martha said on him i know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day jesus senator i am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die believe us thou this said unto him yay lord i believe that thou art the christ son of god which should come into the world and said where have you laid him and they said unto him lord come and see then we have the shortest verse in the bible jesus wept in the english that's the shortest verse in the greek there's another verse it's even smaller but anyway then said the jews the leadership around there behold how he loved him and someone said could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave it was a cave and a stone lay upon it and she said take away the stone martha the sister of him that was dead saith in him lord by this time he stinketh you know there's places you can't you can't improve on the old king james lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four days wow okay they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid and jesus lifted up his eyes and said father i thank thee that thou hast heard me and i knew that thou hears me always but because of the people who stand by i said it that they may believe that thou hast sent me and when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud voice lazarus come forth why did he use the name lazarus so they all wouldn't come out right okay no just one and he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was bound about with a napkin and jesus said that him loose him and let him go and and many of the jews which came to mary and had seen these things which jesus did believed on him boy i can imagine lazarus went through three stages first he was dead no doubt about that four days right he was raised but he was defeated he was bound up right bound in grave clothes can you visualize him sort of coming out wrapped up like you know some poor movies imitation of a mummy or something i mean can you visualize that then he was dangerous to god's enemies he was dangerous he was dead then he was defeated then he was dangerous why am i getting through because that's where we are see from that day on the pharisees couldn't have him walking around so from that day forth we find out this is later a little later in the chapter of john from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death lazarus so he was dangerous praise god so are we three categories of people well before i get to this you and i were dead but christ has fulfilled the law for us so we're no longer dead we're in christ but we're still bound in our grave clothes christ's instruction is loose and let him go we need to be freed from the baggage of our past we need to be free from the encumbrances so that we too can be dangerous we want to be about like lazarus dead now alive but defeated most of us are we're saved by christ but we struggle because we're still trying to do it with our grave clothes no we need to be dangerous three categories of people a natural man he's lost the carnal man he's saved but undelivered and the spiritual man and paul is here dealing in all three cases well that's two cases of believers they're alive they're dead to the law but still defeated because they're trying to keep the law under their own strength the only way to keep the law of god is by the holy spirit that's the whole message here in relating his personal experience in chapter 7 to the rest of this rest of the chapter paul is going to consist consistently uses the present tense she previously used the imperfect tense of the errors tensed now he's going to use the present tense these things should be continuing you with me he's describing the present conflict as a christian with indwelling sin and continuing efforts to control his daily life and he has this it sounds like devil talking if you watch it closely starting verse 15. for that which i do i allow not for that which i would that do i not but what i hate that do i sounds a little weird hadn't the have you ever felt that way where i'm con constantly not practicing what i would like to do but i keep on doing that which i hate that's another way to rephrase it maybe yet this is the guy that's speaking here that god selected to write 14 epistles most of the new testament this is the guy that brought the gospel to the very limits of the roman empire talk about dedication commitment and yet here out of this utter despair come these letters of victory he continues here for then i do that which i would not i consent unto the law that it is good key insight contrary to human nature i agree with the law that it is good and right and the word the greek word here for good is kalos means noble excellent in verse 12 he said earlier he used that word it meant just useful and upright this is this is a higher channel now then it is no more i that do it but the sin that dwelt in me what i what i don't want to do i do it's not me it's the sin that's in me that's what he's saying okay the same nature that is and this does not mean he's avoiding personal responsibilities just describing it to his nate that nature that's inside he's speaking of the conflict between his desires desire to please god and yet the sin nature that's within them some of you may remember the flip wilson theology the devil made me do it remember he had he had a whole humorous thing he used to do ascribing whatever it was he's doing to the devil the devil may be by that dress yeah whatever okay for i know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good i find not is in the flesh note that qualifying for phrase in my flesh that is the old self another way of saying it the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak for the good that i would i do not but the evil which i would not that i do see all these are present tense they all talk about constant action this is a restatement of what we said in verse 15. now if i do that i would not it is no more i that do it but sin that dwelleth in me the source of the sin is the old nature god has already judged it and has no more right to rule over me it is put to death that's what romans 6 was all about and paul recognized that even as a believer he had an indwelling principle of sin that once owed him owned him like a slave owned him like a slave and it still expresses itself through him to do things that he did not want to do and not to do the things he desired to do that's the struggle that's within all of us the difference is we now have dominion we have the ability to choose this is a problem obviously coming to all believers i find then a law that when i would do good evil is present with me and here again the word law really means that principle the law principle the word hears is enormous the law principle is the reality of ever present evil in the individual believer whenever he wants to do good whenever you want to do good there's that fight going on inside for a delight in the law of god after the inward man the inward man that's a term he uses in the corinthians letter in ephesians letter the inner inward man the light in god's law was repeatedly the psalmist's response also especially in psalm 119 i'd like the law of god there's the longest psalm the acrostic psalm in this in the in the psalms every verse deals with that see you and i are regenerated a believer has a new nature a new capacity for loving spiritual truths you have a passion in you that has been awakened by the regeneration that will be new and growing if you feed it the real you is what paul is saying the real you wants to succeed and the holy spirit gives you the means to do that first john 3 whosoever abideth in him in christ sinneth not whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him little children let no man deceive you he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous he that committeth sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose the son of god was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil that's his job whosoever is born of god doth not commit sin for his seed it remaineth in him but he cannot sin because he is born of god this is the most misunderstood passage especially by some of the major cults no one a mourner nor one born of god keeps on sinning remember your christians bar of soap first john 1 9 you don't memorize any others memorize this one it'll save you a lot of grief if we confess our sins he is faithful we may not be but he is he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all in righteousness who the christians borrow so precious precious verse ephesians 4 that ye put off concerning the former conversation the government is the old english for behavior concerning the former behavior the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that she put on the new man which is after god which after god is created in righteousness and true holiness keep on being renewed he's saying present tense passive voice that is the action is received passive active voice is the subject is doing the thing passive voice the subject receives the action you allow it to happen you allow yourself to be renewed in the spirit of your mind how do you do that in the spirit to renew your mind and romans 12 when we get to that is specifically going to put this into practical terms for you paul continues but i see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members so you recognize the facts of experience paul saw another law or principle at work within him and this is the principle of sin he called it sin living in me in other words there's a there's a now a battle going on inside us the new nature is called the law of the mind by paul here because it has the capacity of perceiving and making moral judgments o wretched man that i am who shall deliver me from the body of this death this is a saved man saying this oh wretched man that i am who shall deliver me from the body of this death this is a saved man the word wretched here same word it's used in the letter to laodicea by the way carries with the note of exhaustion because of the struggle who is going to deliver me he's helpless he's helpless paul recognized that as long as he was in his mortal body he would have to face the conflict with the indwelling sin principle so it hasn't gone away it's still there but he's got victory over he got a means of victory he would have defeat in his own strength yes i thank god through jesus christ our lord so then with the mind i myself serve the law of god but with the flesh the law of sin that's paul that's his answer to the question that was triumphant immediate through jesus christ our lord that's the answer we're heading now to the pinnacle that's the next chapter chapter eight and uh so a little closing thing run run and do the law commands but gives me neither feet nor hands better news the gospel brings it bids me fly and gives me wings okay next session we're going to talk about deliverance in detail we now know that we have a choice we now know that there is the power not only to be we not only have been removed from the penalty of sin by justification we're on the prog on the process towards being delivered from the power of sin that's what the next chapter is going to highlight for us glorification is the removal of the presence of sin that's yet future study chapter 8 it's one of the most favorite chapters by many in the entire bible first 17 verses are going to be practical discussion that we've been talking about here how to put it in practice and then there's a tour de force that is in my mind unexcelled anywhere in the scripture chapter eight fabulous fabulous chapter let's stand for closing word of prayer chapter six said it ain't going to rain no more speaking of the sin principle and the law's role there is to reveal all that to us it can't save us but it certainly can show us our need for the solution that god has provided let's buy our hearts father we just praise you for who you are we thank you for the incredible gift of your son jesus christ we thank you father you've gone to such extremes that we might live we thank you father you have managed a way to provide his eligibility to us that we indeed might grow and live that we might be more effective stewards of the opportunity but before us we thank you father for your word we thank you father for the gift of your holy spirit we do pray father you would reignite in each of us a new hunger a new passion a new appetite for your word and that ministered by this holy spirit we might better apprehend what it is you'd have of each of us in the days that remain as we commit ourselves without any reservations whatsoever into your hands in the name of yahushua our lord and savior jesus christ amen [Music] you

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Length: 57min 51sec (3471 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020