2023 0528 Romans 7 Rescued!

Law is Good

Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

I am Unspiritual

Romans 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

The Persistence of Sin

Romans 7:20

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

a final statement of the power of sin

Final Comment on the Human Condition

Romans 7:21–25 NIV

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Human Condition

Romans 7:21 NIV

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

the law of Satan

I want to do good but I do evil

no matter what I do, evil is strong

this is the dilemma we all face

there is no strength in us to do good

the human depravity is there

no matter how we disguise it

Inner Delight

Romans 7:22 NIV

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

encounter with Jesus changes all this

God’s law is delightful

there is something liberating about an encounter with Jesus

nothing positive about doing evil

it just keeps digging a bigger hole for you

Law of Satan

Romans 7:23 NIV

but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

here is the depths of despair

I am in a war

I am a prisoner

the law of sin, the law of Satan is actively working against me

it is violent and soul destroying

it cannot be ignored it is ever present

Wretched Man

Romans 7:24 NIV

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

we are wretched without Christ

we need a rescuer

we cannot do it

the world cannot do it

Satan put us here in the first place so he is useless

who will rescue me

this is the culmination of Paul’s argument

this is the utter despair of the human condition

do not be deceived this is each one of us

we all need rescuing as we all fall short of the glory of God

Jesus Christ My Saviour

Romans 7:25 NIV

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

thanks be to God

our cry every morning, every evening

every moment of the day

thanking God through jesus Christ our Lord

here is the conflict in the whole human condition

a slave to God’s law in my mind

also a slave to the law of sin in my sinful natiure

Romans 8

Romans 8:1 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

it is not ignoring the personal responsibility

it is an acknowledgement of the power of sin

there is conflict between the spiritual redeemed man and the sinful nature

No condemnation in Jesus Christ