Your High Calling as a Christian (Romans 7:1–13)

Introduction

Attention

We are continuing our series in the Book of Romans will be in Romans chapter 7 versus 1 through 13. We're going to talk today about the high calling you have as a Christian. God has called you to live out your life for him. And it's a high calling.

I was at home this week watching the Padres play the Cubs. and the Padres were down at some point in the game 8 to 0. and I just couldn't take it anymore. I said I'm not watching this. I've given up hope. That's it. There is no way the Padres are going to come back. In fact I looked on Twitter and I was following people who are into the Padres and somebody makes a joke. Had the Padres would come back and win 9 to 8. and me and that guy we both lost hope at that point. Do I turn off the TV? Went and took care of some things and went to bed. I woke up the next morning.I woke up the next morning and looked at the sports score. that my my jaw dropped. The Padres. in fact never gave up hope like I did They came back and beat the Cubs 9 to 8.

And sometimes in our Christian life, we can feel like we're down 80 like we keep falling back into the same old habits. There's no hope and you want to turn off the tv. And Justice move on. But there is a new power in your life There is a power to overcome the enemy. There is an over power to overcome defeat. And in fact, the victory has already come. on the cross. The Lord has already won the battle. And he's calling us as men and women in Christ to live out our high calling in him. How can we do that? Let's take a look at Romans 7.

Scripture Reading

Romans 7:1–13 CSB

1 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? 2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress. 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law. 7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again 10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

Pray

Paul starts off this passage in Romans 7:1 by saying he is “speaking to those who know the law.” The audience that he is speaking to are the recipients of this letter, the church in Rome. This church in Rome likely has a Jewish Christians and a Gentile Christians. You'll see in this letter topics specifically addressed toward Jewish Christians, and then other topics that include Gentile Christians.

It's clear that whether you were a Gentile Christian or a Jewish Christian in Rome, you were someone taught in the law. He says I am “speaking to those who know the law.” Remember that, in the early church, these new believers don't have a fully written out New Testament. Now they had witnesses to who Jesus was and would hear the stories of what he did in his ministry. But they are being taught Jesus from the scriptures, which were for them the Hebrew scriptures, which we would describe as the Old Testament. The New Testament is just starting to be written and they would get these New Testament letters as they arrived to them.

So these early Christians would be people who were adept at understanding the law. We see the term, “the law,” multiple times in this passage. Verse one speaks to those who know the law. In verse 4, talks about in relation to the law. Verse five, sinful passions aroused through the law. Verse 6, we have been released from the law, and so on. Romans 7:1-13 really deals with the law and how the law exposes sin in our life. It gives us two examples and I wanted to take a look at each example from verses 1 to 13.

Example #1: The Law and Marriage

The first example he gives is Romans 7:2-3. We know this is an example because he starts off by saying in verse 2, “For example.” He'll do the same thing in verse 7 where he will again say, “For example.” In verses two to four he gives an example of marriage.

Now it's important to note in this example on marriage that Paul is not teaching everything about marriage. This is not something for us to get a full throated theology on marriage. He's giving a specific example of a law, which in this case, is the law against adultery, Exodus 20:14 “Do not commit adultery.” Both examples take from the ten commandments. This example is adultery, and the other example is coveting.

The way he gives this example, he says in Romans 7:2-3:

Romans 7:2–3 CSB

2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.

So when he says she is free from that law, it is this law in Exodus 20:14 “Do not commit adultery.” This is purely a picture of marriage in its purest form and just specifically giving the example of someone in a marriage relationship defying that marriage relationship through the sin of adultery. He's going to ultimately use this example as an illustration to describe to us what has happened between the law and our relationship to Christ.

Paul likes to use marriage as an illustration to describe our new relationship in Christ. Take a look at Ephesians 5:22-25:

Ephesians 5:22–25 CSB

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

Just as in Romans 7, in Ephesians 5 Paul is using this picture of marriage as a way to describe the relationship of the church to Jesus Christ. In this text, we all, the church, we all play the role of the wife who submits to the husband, the head, Jesus Christ. We're all responsible to submit to him, to the one who loved us and sacrificed everything for us.

And I would dare to say here, that in this text of Ephesians 5, the higher calling is on the husband, because the husband is called to love his wife as Christ loved the church.

We live in a day with rampant divorce. And I believe that's because we live in a day where husbands don't live in the fear of God for their marriage. Husbands have a high calling. It is a calling to love your wife's sacrificially. It is a calling that when you see Christ and you see what Christ has done for you, you are to emulate and live out that example to your wife.

And when you love your wife as Christ loved the church, let me tell you, you will have a wife who willingly submits to her husband. Why do I know that? I know that because the church willingly submits to Christ. The church says Christ lead me and guide me. The church says Jesus I put my faith in you because of your love for me.

Too often today we have husbands pointing the finger instead of being the ones sacrificing everything for their wife. Men, the Scriptures teach us to defend the vulnerable and to love your wife well. Take a look at Malachi 2:14-16:

Malachi 2:14–16 CSB

14 And you ask, “Why?” Because even though the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, you have acted treacherously against her. She was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant. 15 Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit? What is the one seeking? Godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, so that no one acts treacherously against the wife of his youth. 16 “If he hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord God of Israel, “he covers his garment with injustice,” says the Lord of Armies. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously.

The Lord uses this picture of marriage in this scripture and says, “Husband, love your wife well. Watch yourself carefully. Do not treat your wife treacherously.” Husband, you have a high calling on your life in your marriage.

Example #2: The Law and Coveting

Now let's get back to Romans 7. In the first example, Paul used an illustration of marriage in breaking the commandment against adultery within marriage. He's going to give us another example from the ten commandments in the commandment against coveting.

In Romans 7:7:

Romans 7:7 CSB

7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.

Now, what does it mean to covet? To covet means to have this insatiable desire to have something that's not yours. This desire that says, "If I just had this thing, then everything would be okay.” This law against coveting is in Exodus 20, in the Ten Commandments again, Exodus 20:17:

Exodus 20:17 CSB

17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

In other words, there is an insatiable desire that you have for something that's not yours, something that belongs to someone else. It’s an internal compulsion, you might call it an obsession. In the extreme sense of this, you might think of someone who is a stalker. You have this obsession. Maybe on an everyday level, it's just obsessing over riches or a new car or something else.

Now, as he's describing this example, he says in Romans 7:7 that he “would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.” So here is the picture. Coveting existed within me before I knew the law. Before I read the Ten Commandments, I still would find myself obsessing over things, desiring things, and wanting things that don't belong to me.

But when, in essence, it was exposed to me through the law, having the law say, “Do not covet,” it made me aware of covetousness within me. It makes me think of my coveting.

There's an interesting thing about the human condition. It’s interesting that we've had the 10 Commandments for thousands of years, yet for thousands of years we continue to break them. It's not as if we say, "God said not to do that, and we stop."

When somebody tells you you don't do that, that's bad. There's some part of you that says, "Well, why are you telling me not to do that? It must be fun. I want to do it more!”

The Role of the Law

The law exposes sin within me, but the law and in of itself does not save me from that sin. It just identifies the sin in my life. The law served as an identifier to the disease of sin within us.

In Romans 7, he gives us a clear description of sin's effect on us. What does sin do? Since seizes an opportunity. When there is an opportunity presented to you to sin, there is a compulsion within you that will say, “Ooh.”

In Romans 7:8:

Romans 7:8 CSB

8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.

And again, in Romans 7:11:

Romans 7:11 CSB

11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.

The world often throws sin at us in the most deceiving ways. And do you know what's interesting about the enemy? The enemy is called a deceiver, Revelation 12:9 “the one who deceives the whole world,” but he's not super original. He's been playing the same playbook over and over and over. And he's just been at it a long time. It's the same playbook that he used in Genesis 3:1:

Genesis 3:1 CSB

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Did God really say? And then, how will that deception come? It's been a long week You deserve to have some fun. Is it really that bad? Are you really going to hurt anyone? Do you remember how much fun that sin was? Oh, God doesn't really care about what you do with your life. Your family's not going to know. Nobody's going to know.

And what happens? You fall into that sin and it's a deception. You end up in hurt and pain.

And what ended up being the good thing the whole time? The good thing was the law. The good thing was God's word. God gave us his Word to reveal to us what we need to know about his Son and to protect us in our life. Therefore as it says in Romans 7:12:

Romans 7:12 CSB

12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

God loves you and cares for you. And he puts boundaries in place to protect you. He describes in Romans 7:13:

Romans 7:13 CSB

13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

Sin, all it does is it produces death within me. But the law is a good thing. When I am in God's word, when God's word exposes the sin in my heart, it's a good thing. And God's word, what it'll do is have sin become sinful beyond measure.

While in the beginning there was coveting within me, it already existed in my life, maybe I was a little confused about it or I was acting out on it and not and sure what was hurting me. The sin was still there, but maybe it wasn't clear to me.

But then when God's word exposes it as sin, I come to this knowledge that is not only affecting me, but in the end, at the end of the day, it is rebellion against God. Now I realize that sin is sinful beyond measure because God has warned me about in his word.

The role of the law in God's word exposes the heart and is an identifier of sin. It points us to the one who loved us enough to create boundaries in our life.

Now let's get back to the first example in Romans 7:2-4 in this illustration from marriage. In verse 4 Paul's really explains to us what the cross has done in our life as Christians. Romans 7:4:

Romans 7:4 CSB

4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.

In Romans 7:3, the wife became free from the law. Now when she was married, she was legally bound to her husband. She was under the law of her husband. While her husband was alive, she found herself breaking this covenant.

In the same way, when we are outside of Christ and in the world, we are people under the law. And when we find ourselves doing things that go against the law, which we do, we find ourselves breaking the covenant that God has laid out for us.

But in this picture of marriage, when the husband dies, the wife is now free from that law. She has broken away from a covenant she couldn't keep, and she is now free to belong to another.

Now this is an illustration of what happened to us at the cross. As men and women under the law we were people who broke the covenant of the law and we found ourselves condemned under the law. But when Christ took on our death penalty on the cross, he in essence freed us from that judgment. In Romans 7:4 “you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another.”

As people freed from the law we are people free to belong to another. This is in fact a miraculous thing that God does, that through faith in Christ, I can be freed from my just sin penalty and say I am not under the law, that I now belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, Jesus Christ.

Now this is why the church is the wife willingly submitting to her husband the Lord. He has set her free, and she belongs to him. And let me tell you, the enemy can not go after Christ. But if the enemy can't go after Christ, who do you think the enemy will go after? His bride.

Paul has this concern in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3:

2 Corinthians 11:2–3 CSB

2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Now he is speaking to the church, the church of Corinth. He says, I promised you in marriage to the Lord. But I'm. fearful for you. I am fearful that your minds and your heart may be seduced away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul has his concern for the church and is certainly a concern that we have today. A concern that says church don't lose your devotion to Christ.

When you drove in today, you may have noticed that we put up some new signs along the driveway. When you drive in, you see the three values that we have for Catalyst Church. When you drive in, on your left, it says, faith. You drive up a little more on your left. And if you didn't notice it when you drove in, you'll probably notice it on the way out. When you drive in, it says faith, and you drive in a little more. It says family You drive in some more, it says Fellowship.

But what is that all about? We value faith in Jesus Christ. Now, when you come to Catalyst Church, you will know that faith in Christ is our utmost priority. We believe that faith will change your life And when faith changes your life, when faith in Christ changes your life, the Bible says that you become part of God's family. And we believe that God values the family, and we value the family. God has brought us in his sons and daughters, brothers and sisters in Christ. He loves you and he has made you part of his family. And as part of God's family. you are called to a local fellowship with local church, a community. a community of believers. And God works through his people. God works through his people who fellowship together. And the Church of God is stronger when the family is united in fellowship. And so we. value fellowship.

If you think about those three things, faith, Family Fellowship, that's really what happens in the life of a believer. You put your faith in Jesus Christ. God brings you into his family, and you become part of the Fellowship of believers. Faith Family Fellowship.

But as you drive in here and as you drive out the first thing you see when you drive in and the last thing you see when you drive out as that reminder about faith. When you drive in and when you drive out, I want you to remember faith in Jesus Christ, because I want to present the church as a pure Virgin to the Lord. A bride adorned for her husband. That happens when we have men and women devoted to Christ. There is a high calling on your life to be devoted to Christ.

But how do we live out this high calling?

Two things. First,

Christians live out their high calling by living as people who belong to Jesus.

We get to Romans 7:4-5:

Romans 7:4–5 CSB

4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us to bear fruit for death.

You get to the second part of verse 4, and then in verse 5, Paul really represents to us only two options in your life. You are either bearing fruit for God. or bearing fruit for death. There is no third part. We're not bearing fruit for your job or bearing fruit for your 401K or whatever it is. In your life, you only bear fruit for God or you bear fruit for death.

In Matthew 7:15 the Lord is warning us against false prophets, those who come. to you looking good, but inwardly they are full of death. He describes it as they're coming to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You go down to verse 18, he says this in Matthew 7:18-20:

Matthew 7:18–20 CSB

18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.

The Lord is saying the same thing here in Matthew 7 that Paul says in Romans 7 that in your life, you are either going to bear fruit for God or bear fruit for death. And no matter what you proclaim about yourself, your life is going to express. the fruit of what's in your heart. A heart full of sin is going to produce a life full of sin. But a heart alive through faith in Christ is going to produce a life that's alive and devoted to Jesus Christ. Which do you want?

Behind us, we have the remains of what used to be a community garden and we are hoping to revive that. now the community garden was started by the Paradise Hills Foundation. and it was really cool. They had Boy Scouts here and kids and people going through programs, different things. And they were out here planting fruits and tomatoes. And we were having these beautiful looking tomatoes and beautiful looking vegetables and different flowers were coming up in the garden. It looked wonderful. But late last year, I noticed it wasn't being taken care of. And weeds were starting to grow all around it. And finally reached out to them and just said, hey, what's going on? This garden that was beautiful is now full of weeds, and it's not being taken care of. They let us know they wouldn't be able to keep up with it anymore. So we're looking at ways to revive the garden

ApplyWhat's interesting is our hearts can look like that garden that's not being taken care of. Now, our heart is meant to be a beautiful display. Springing forth from the richness of God's word, from the richness of what he's doing in our life. And what God has implanted within us, it bears fruit. It's meant to bear fruit and look beautiful. But when rebellion against God is planted, those weeds start to sprout up as well. Can choke out the fruit.

God has placed a high calling in your life. to be devoted to Christ and bear fruit for God.

Christians live out their high calling by living as people who belong to Jesus.

Second and last,

Christians live out there high calling by living in the newness of God's spirit.

Take a look at Romans 7:6:

Romans 7:6 CSB

6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.

Pause describing here in verse 6 what has really happened in the Christian life. We have died to what held us down. that if you're in Christ today, that a death has already occurred in your life. There is an old man that is gone, that death occurred on the cross. And this old. person inside of you. has died. and is on the cross with Christ. and that death within us. was necessary. God needed to break that boundary. by taking on our death. So that in exchange. we can live in the newness of his life. The newness of the spirit of God. Christian. There is a new life within you. There is a New Hope and a new power within you. Today you have the ability to serve in the newness of God's spirit.

We see this in many places, but we can be reminded of this today in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

We need to be reminded of this often. We need to be reminded, because we can be tempted to look behind. We can fall into old habits But there is a new self that you can put on today, because there's a new power within you. This is why Paul says this to the church in Colossae. He says in Colossians 3:9-10:

Colossians 3:9–10 CSB

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

Christians can be tempted to fall back into old habits. Christians can be tempted to look back. But God is calling you to look to him. He. is calling you to live out your high calling by living in the newness of God's spirit within you. It is a tremendous act of God's grace. that he has put a new life in you, a new power, that he is renewing you. and you can live in that new power by being devoted to your. lord.

Christians live out their high calling by living as people who belong to Jesus.

Christians live out there high calling by living in the newness of God's spirit.

Conclusion

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!