By Faith - Romans 7
Notes
Transcript
Romans 7 - The Battle Ensues
Romans 7 - The Battle Ensues
This week we are going to look at all of chapter 7. There are two main things we can pull out of Chapter 7. The first is the battle between Flesh and Spirit, between the Law and the Spirit, between who we are and who we want to be. The second is that we are released from the Law.
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? 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. 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.
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. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us to bear fruit for death. 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.
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. And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 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.
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave under sin. For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
The Law is Holy, Just, and Good
The Law is Holy, Just, and Good
Before we look at these things we have to see that neither Paul nor the Bible as a whole is bashing the Law. The Law is Holy, the Law is Just, the Law is Good.
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
What is the Law? It is not just the 10 Commandments and it is not even just the 613 commandments. It is the totality of the Old Covenant that tells us how to live rightly with God. It is all the rules and regulations. It is the entire body that explains how fallen humanity can live rightly with God. That is not bad. It is good because it tells us what we need to know.
The problem is not the Law, it is that sin used the Law against us.
and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me.
Think of it this way. We have speed limit signs on the roads and highways. They tells us what the Law says the speed limit is. Are they bad? No, that are simply telling us what the rules are.
Or think of a game. If I want to sit down and play Sorry with someone. I want to make sure we understand the rules to the game so we can enjoy our time together. If I am playing Sorry with Sorry rules and you playing Sorry with Life rule we are going to have a hard time. We are not going to enjoy our time together.
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.
The Law is not bad. The problem is
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave under sin.
The Law is not the problem, sin in us is the problem.
So God, in Christ, frees us from the demands of the Law and now we are obligated to the Spirit.
The Battle is Real
The Battle is Real
For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
We are freed from the Law but we have this battle raging on within us. Our flesh wants flesh things and our spirit wants Spirit things. These things are at odds with each other. There is a spiritual battle that exists but we can use some simple terms to explain it.
The battle that exists is really just a conflict of interest. There is a conflict of Interest between what our flesh desires and what our spirit desires.
This definition from Investopedia is helpful:
A conflict of interest occurs when an entity or individual becomes unreliable because of a clash between personal (or self-serving) interests and professional duties or responsibilities
The reality is that we are pretty unreliable, but God still chooses to work in and through us.
It would be like hiring an employee that also currently works for a competitor and they will still be working for that competitor. Their loyalty is in question. The crazy, absurd, and mind blowing thing is that is what God does. Our spirit is made alive but our flesh is still being redeemed and it works for sin in the meantime.
There is agony in the battle
There is agony in the battle
We enter into this battle and the result is that we are wrestling with sin and it is agony. We desire to walk with God but we also desire to satisfy the fleshly desires. We are not even just talking about sin, and by that I mean the obvious list of does and don’s, yes that is part of it because sin but the reality is that it is anything that is contrary to what the Spirit of God is leading us to. Whatever is not of faith, that is of the Spirit is sin.
Think of provision for a minute. As a man I have a desire to provide. This is a desire that is from God.
But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
God has given me a desire to provide for my family. Now that can look like all sorts of things. There are some things that we can unequivocally say are sin. I am not supposed to steal, rob a bank, knock over a convenience store, or sell drugs to provide. We get that, it’s easy for most. But where it gets even harder is what if God is calling me to do that one way but I want to do it a different way. I am now in a battle between choosing God’s way with the prompting of the Holy Spirit and my way from what my flesh desires. The result is that agony because I have a conflict.
The Battles are Endless
The Battles are Endless
Because we are talking about the flesh vs the Spirit the battles we will face are endless and on this side of eternity we will not see the end of them. A few examples:
Forgiveness
Reconciliation (different than forgiveness)
Finances
Stewardship
Creation Care
Interpersonal Relationships
Submission
The list will go on and on because anything you can put a name to will result in a battle between the flesh and its desires and the spirit and its desires.
So we need tools to know how to fight.
There are No Quick Fixes
There are No Quick Fixes
The Battle is hard in generally speaking, we as the people are almost obsessed with comfort, convenience and ease of use.
We like five steps to happiness, seven minute abs, and new and improved. But the reality of situation is that we are in the process of becoming what we will be and it takes time, attention, and dedication.
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.
We have a new way of living so we need new tools to grow in this new way of living. Spiritual Disciples are tools that help us in our growth. If we give ourselves to them we will grow, if we do not then we will not.
Glenna Marshall says,
The real reason we don’t practice spiritual disciplines regularly is that we have too many reasons. And our reasons are excuses, a long litany of things we choose before we choose Christ.
How many people have you met that have been walking with Jesus for 10, 15, 25, 50 years and they are still wrestling with the same things. How long have you or I been wrestling with the same things? Maybe if we give ourselves over to certain patterns like Jesus did we can have better success in this battle.
Spiritual Disciplines are not about doing, but about becoming.
Dallas Willard who wrote a lot on Spiritual Disciplines says,
“we can become like Christ by doing one thing—by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself.”
So let’s look at some Spiritual Disciplines and see how we can practice them.
Spiritual Disciplines are things we practice. They are things we do in the natural, but they affect our relationship with God and others. To reiterate we are not doing these things to earn something, to get something, or to make something. We do them because of what we already possess. We can generally break these down into two categories, self-denial and engagement.
We are going to take the next couple of weeks to sidebar from our journey thought Romans to look at these. I have no idea how long it will take. Maybe two weeks, maybe four. I really believe this is something God is calling us to push into.
Disciplines of Abstinence (Self-Denial)
These are ways of denying ourselves something we want or need in order to make space to focus on and connect with God.
Solitude: Refraining from interacting with other people in order to be alone with God and be found by him. (Solitude is completed by silence.)
Silence: Not speaking in a quiet place in order to quiet our minds and whole self and attend to God’s presence. Also, not speaking so that we can listen to others and bless them.
Fasting: Going without food (or something else like media) for a period of intensive prayer — the fast may be complete or partial.
Sabbath: Doing no work to rest in God’s person and provision. God designed this for one day a week. We can practice it for shorter periods too. This like active rest. We are resting in the Lord and what He has done and provided and not striving.
Secrecy: Not making our good deeds or qualities known to let God or others receive attention and to find our sufficiency in God alone (e.g., see Matthew 6).
Submission: Not asserting ourselves in order to come under the authority, wisdom, and power of Jesus Christ as our Lord, King, and Master. (If you think of this as submitting to a person as unto Christ then it’s a discipline of engagement.)
Disciplines of Engagement (Christ in Community)
Disciplines of Engagement (Christ in Community)
These are ways of connecting with God and other people, conversing honestly with them in order to love and be loved.
Bible Reading: Trusting the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Scripture as our guide, wisdom, and strength for life. (Related disciplines include Bible study, Scripture meditation, praying God’s Word, and Lectio Divina).
Worship: Praising God’s greatness, goodness, and beauty in words, music, or silence. (We can worship God privately or in community.)
Prayer: Conversing with God about what we’re experiencing and doing together. (As we see in the Lord’s Prayer the main thing we do in prayer is to make requests or intercessions to our Father for one another.)
Soul Friendship: Engaging fellow disciples of Jesus in prayerful conversation or other spiritual practices. (Related spiritual disciplines or practices include small groups, spiritual direction, and mentoring relationships.)
Personal Reflection: Paying attention to our inner self in order to grow in love for God, others, and self. (The Psalms in the Bible model this.)
Service: TALK ABOUT VOLUNTEERING Humbly serving God by overflowing with his love and compassion to others, especially those in need. (Also tithing and giving.)
https://www.soulshepherding.org/spiritual-disciplines-list/
Spiritual Disciplines are not about doing, but about becoming.
Talk about service