11/15/23 Paul Gives Testimony

Romans 7:7-13

I want to review a little about what we have seen Paul teach int his book so far.

We have learned the truth that All are sinners and without excuse.- chapters 1-3.

We have learned that we are justified by faith, and Paul illustrated this in four ways in chapters 4-5.

We have learned that In Jesus Christ, we are dead to sin and to the Law - chapters 6-7:6.

Last week, we learned that we have been liberated from the Law of God by our death with Christ on the cross and that we are no longer married to the Law,

We are now married to Jesus and are free from the Law.

What blessed truths! Amen?

In the verses before us this evening, Paul is going to illustrate his teachings about the Law of God by sharing with us an intimate look at his own life.

In these verses, and through the end of the chapter, Paul gives us his spiritual autobiography.

Now, when someone testifies in church, they usually paint a good picture.

However, imagine someone standing in the congregation and saying –

"Folks, I want you to know that I am saved, but that I have been sinning. In fact, my heart yearns for sin, and even though I know it is wrong, sometimes I still give in to my desires. Please pray for me, because every time the Lord tells me not to do something, I want to do that thing more than every!"

Nobody would do that, but if we were honest, most of us would have to say, that is just where we are tonight.

In these verses, Paul is going to reveal a side of himself that most of us try to keep buried.

In Verses 7-13 he tells us of the days in his life before he came to know Jesus.

He is taking us back to a time in his life when the Law ruled everything he did.

He will share with us what he has learned about the Law of God.

It isn't pretty, but it is a teaching that every person in this room needs to hear this evening!

So let's join Paul as he tells us His experience from Darkness into Light and from Self-righteous Pharisee to a God Conscious Saint and learn the lessons that we need for our own life.

I. The Law Revealed Sin

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

A. Paul’s Shocking Opening

Paul opens this section with a question: "Is the law sin?"

What a shocking question!

The Answer “God forbid” - Of course not he says!

The Law came from the Lord and so it cannot be evil.

However, while the Law is good, it is given that we might have a proper understanding of the nature of sin.

B. The Law Is Sin Revealing

7c “for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

Paul reveals to us the truth that it was the Holy Law of God that taught him what he came to know about sin.

He mentions the sin of lust and tells us that, had the Law not said, "Thou shalt not covet", he would have never known what lust was.

He isn't blaming his sin on the Law, he is merely pointing out the truth that the Law made plain exactly what sin really was.

The Law identifies sin!

Paul had lived his life trying to keep the letter of the Law so precisely, that he missed the whole spirit of the Law.

He had been trained to believe that sin was something a person did in the physical realm,

But through the ministry of the Spirit, Paul learned that sin was something that began in the heart.

This is what Jesus taught

Let’s turn over to Matthew 5:21-48.

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, [transliterated from Aramaic to Greek, meaning: empty worthless] shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Why? Because the heart matters more than the gift

25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Sin is a matter of the heart, not the body

29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The heart is more important than the law

33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, [To swear falsely, not to fulfill one’s oath] but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

It starts in the heart

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. \

Don’t hold on to your pride and your things so hard that you hurt your heart and your relationship with God

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Sin begins in the heart - but if we stop it there, sometimes go the extra mile to stop it there, we will not sin.

Yet, the lost man can never see this truth until it is revealed to him by the Spirit of God.

Perhaps this is what Paul is referring to here.

Maybe he is remembering that day when he held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen.

Maybe it began to dawn on his mind then that his religion was pretty small after all.

Maybe it was that day on the road to Damascus when the Lord Jesus spoke to him and he knew that his self-righteousness would never be good enough.

The bottom line of all this is that the Law reveals the sinfulness of human flesh through our actions,

But it also reveals the wretchedness of the human heart!

Now back in Romans chapter 7...

I. The Law Revealed Sin

II. The Law Rouses Sin

8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

A. Sin Uses the Law

Paul tells us that sin uses the Law as an opportunity to tempt us to evil.

The word "Occasion" literally means "opportunity".

Sin sees the Law as its opportunity to create in us a desire for sin.

B. The Flesh Is Tempted by Restriction

Paul tells us that the sin caused him to lust because the Law had forbidden covetousness!

Now understand that sin is not within the commandment, the commandment or law is not sinful.

Sin is within man.

So Paul is telling us that because of the presence of the law sinful man was tempted by the NO, to say, OH Yeah?

We see this same truth in and around us all the time.

For instance, when you see a sign that says "Keep off the Grass",there is a part of you that wants to step on it.

When we see a sign that says "Speed Limit: 55" we want to do at least 60, just to show we can violate the law and get away with it.

The Law always reveals an attitude within the sinner that wants to try to get away with breaking it.

This is exactly the process that brought sin into the world to begin with.

God made man in His image and placed him in a perfect environment.

God gave man access to every thing in creation, with the exception of one tree

Genesis 2:17 KJV

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Yet, when that Law was given, there arose an opportunity for sin to come to life.

This Law proved to be the springboard Satan used to entice man into sin - Genesis 3:1-7.

Genesis 3:1–7 KJV

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

C. The Law Points Out the Sin

“For without the law sin was dead.”

The last part of this verse does not attempt to teach that before the Law there was no sin.

From reading the Bible it is plain to see that sin was as rampant then as it is now!

What this means is that where the Law does not exist, the full knowledge of what is wrong does not exist either.

When the line is drawn by the Law, the rebellious spirit within man wants to immediately step over it.

I. The Law “Revealed” Sin

II. The Law “Rouses” Sin

III. The Law Ruins Sinners

9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

A. He Once Felt Alive

9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

In this verses, the Apostle tells us that there was a time in his life when he felt alive.

Before the Law he felt alive.

Even in the Law the times when he was following after the Law and was keeping it externally he felt good.

He did so because he thought that it was the means to his salvation.

He kept the Law in an effort to gain eternal life.

And, he was doing quiet well,

Philippians 3:4–6 KJV

4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

He was keeping the law well, but didn’t see that He was in fact dead.

“but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”

When he saw the other parts of the Law that he could not keep, he felt dead.

When the Spirit opened his eyes to the fact that the Law could be broken just as easily in the heart as it could in the flesh, Paul died to sin and the Law.

He came to realize that all his effort, all his righteousness and all his hopes and dreams were come to nothing.

Paul learned the harsh reality of Isaiah 64:6 first hand –

Isaiah 64:6 KJV

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

It works the same way for you and I.

When we see ourselves as we really are,

Through the eyes of God and through the eyes of the Law of God,

It has a way of shattering our self-image.

In fact, the knowledge of the reality of sin is devastating!

However, it is that first, essential step to salvation in Jesus!

Before we can ever be saved, we must first become lost!

He Once felt alive, but it didn’t last long.

B. He Trusted the Wrong Thing

10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

In v. 10 He is saying the very commandment that had promised life, he found to just bring death.

He had trusted the Law to give him eternal life,

But in the end, all the Law could deliver was condemnation, death and the reality of one day being in Hell!

The Law cannot save!

Keeping lists of do's and don'ts cannot save.

The Law can be the instrument God uses to bring us to life,

But the Law itself can never give life!

This is a lesson that many in our day need to learn!

Many trust some religious work or sacrament to get them to God.

This will always fail!

Nothing can save the soul but Jesus!

Acts 4:12 KJV

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Ephesians 2:8–9 KJV

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

v. 11 Sin had taken the opportunity the Law had given it in the life of Paul and had lulled him into believing that a life lived keeping the Law was a life that would be saved.

Paul came to realize that a life lived under the demands of the Law was nothing more than a living death.

When Paul saw the truth of his situation, he did what many need to do this evening.

He threw off his dependence upon the Law and embraced Jesus as the only means of his soul's salvation –

If anyone is trying to be good so that they might please God, you need to know now that it will never work!

The Law must be abandoned for the Prince of Life!

I. The Law “Revealed” Sin

II. The Law “Rouses” Sin

III. The Law “Ruins” Sinners

IV. The Law Reflects Sin

In other words it points out the sin, not causes the sin.

12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

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 by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

A. The Law Is Holy, Just and Good

If there is a problem, it is with the offender and not with the Law!

There are those in our day who do not like the Bible to be preached in its entirety.

They are opposed to preachers naming sin and holding people to God's standards.

Friends, there is nothing wrong with our Bible, and it needs to be preached,

The problem is with those who are hearing the Word of God preached.

Their hearts are evil!

B. It Wasn’t the Law, but Our Sin

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 by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Here, Paul tells us that the Law was given to reveal the truth about sin.

You see, sin is so deceptive that it can take the Law,

Which was given as an instrument of life, and

Twist it into an instrument of death.

The Bible is clear that the Law was given to us to point us to Jesus –

Galatians 3:24 KJV

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

It was given so that man could see his need of a Savior and then turn to Him and be saved.

It was never given as a means to righteousness or salvation!

It was given as a signpost to point us from death unto life.

The Law can never save the soul, but it can point us to the One Who can.

It cannot get the job done, but it can make us so miserable in our present condition that we want to find something better.

That better thing is a Person and His name is Jesus.

He died on the cross for our sins.

He fulfilled the Law and the righteous demands of the Law.

Now, by placing our faith in Him, we can be eternally saved by grace through faith!

This is the reason why the Bible must continue to be preached in its entirety and why sin must be named from the pulpit.

Men need to see the truth about their sin and their condition.

Until they do, they can never be saved!

CONCLUSION:

I hope you can see that the Law can do many things with sin.

It can Reveal Sin; Rouse Sin; Ruin Sinners and Reflect Sin.

But, there is one thing the Law can never do with sin.

It can never Remove Sin.

For that - we need the blood of Jesus!

Where do you find yourself this evening?

Trying to do good by keeping the Law?

Or, are you trusting Jesus alone for salvation?