Romans 7:13-25
Notes
Transcript
This week in Romans is one of the most discussed or debated sections in scripture maybe
There seems to be 2 camps people fall in to
One camp believes Paul is talking to believers in this section because he uses I
The other camp believes Paul is talking about the Jewish life before Christ and how the person was unable to gain righteousness through the law
In this section Paul is writing to a group of Jewish people and showing them as one commentary puts the outline
“The failure of the law to produce righteousness as due to the inability of human beings to overcome their own sinful bent.”
Church if last week was explaining how the Law is good but that sin was always the problem
Remember that before the Law we didn’t know we had a problem
We still had a problem
Remember just because you don’t go to the doctor and they tell you are sick doesn’t mean you are not sick
You are still sick
Not knowing you don’t have a problem is not an excuse
The law only defined the problem to us and diagnosed the problem of sin in our lives, it was always there just now we know it
So now what do you do with this knowledge that what you are doing is in fact sinful
That is what Paul is going to show in this section of the letter
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
Sin has always been the problem
The Law is good because it came from God but it could not save
As good as the law was it could not save
It played a roll though by identifying or diagnosing the real problem in our lives
Sin
Our bodies our flesh
And because of that sin nature in our lives
Our default setting is to sin
Which is why church when Jesus saves you He doesn’t just wash you and make you clean
He doesn’t just refurbish you
Church when Jesus comes and saves you You Must die
The Old Self must die in order that new life may grow
Then Paul says it
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
There you have it church
The one verse if taken by itself could be used to essentially continue on in the sin
Even though prior to this Paul has boldly said shall we continue on in sin just so that grace could show off?
NO
Paul does not and will not give you allowance to continue on in sin once you come to know Christ
How could he if in Chapter 6 he says that you who are in fact free from sin
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Church because of salvation in Chris you are free from Sin
In Romans 7 Paul is illustrating I believe a person coming to the realization of their own personal sin
You can’t come to know Christ apart from knowing your own sin
Without knowing your own sin you don’t believe you need a savior
Paul is illustrating a person who is understanding their own personal sin
I believe Paul is talking about an unbeliever who through the law has knowledge or is getting knowledge of his own personal sin
I am doing what I don’t want to do anymore
I am realizing that it is sin inside me that is doing it
Think back to your own salvation experience
You first had to understand you were a sinner
You first had to realize that what you were doing was sin
You understood you were diagnosed with a problem that has always been there
Called sin
You were understanding that for the first time you were a sinner and there was separation between you and God
This is what Paul is showing to the Jews in Rome
That through the Law you realized your sin
The Law didn’t make you sin
The Law isn’t the problem
Sin is
Paul continues to drive this point home to the Jews in Rome
I believe he continues to drive it home for us
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
Church let me be clear this is not an excusal to sin in your daily life
Oh sin is so hard and so powerful I just can’t overcome it
Have you missed the previous chapter that if you are a believer in Christ that you are no longer a slave to sin
Rather this is the person who has a head knowledge of Jesus but no heart knowledge of Christ
This is the person who knows what sin is
Who knows that sin is evil and it leads to death
This is the person who church has played christian without being a Christian
This is a person who knows the law and is coming to the realization that their good works can’t defeat sin
This is a person who has come to the end of their rope in how to defeat sin
Paul is setting up the utter defeat of this person by Sin
You can kind of feel the impending end come for this person
Total defeat by sin
20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
This comes to find when I think of this person
The person who knows about Jesus and knows the law
Church understand this sermon is not meant to call into the question your salvation but you need to know that simply being a member of a church
Simply knowing in your head what the Bible Says is not enough
You have to get that from your head down into your heart
That is salvation
This person that Paul is describing knows that their actions are evil
They agree the law is good and the law is revealing the junk in their lives
This person I believe illustrates a person coming to know Christ
That apart from Christ there is no salvation
This is a person who has come to the end of their rope in trying to gain or earn salvation
And they cry out
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
This is a person who I believe Paul is showing they are being defeated by sin in their life
And they come to realize they are a sinner in need of a savior
They cry out who cane save us
Sort of that question type that Paul is always asking in His letters
This is a person who has come to understand that there is no salvation through anyone other than Christ
Salvation is not found in the law
Salvation is not found in church membership
Salvation is not found is doing what you think is the right things to be doing
Church Salvation is only found through Jesus
The Jews would have understood from the Old Testament the way to righteousness with God is through the law
In fact it all hinged on their obedience to the law
We have seen though you cannot keep the law
No matter how good you are there is still sin inside you
So Paul essentianally asks this question
Who can set me free from the body of this death
Who can defeat death and set me free from the law of sin
Church it is only Jesus
12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Church
This what Paul is saying in his letter
No matter how much you work at obeying the rules
Or in the jewish case no matter how much you work at following the law it will not lead to righteousness with God
In fact it will only show you and reveal to you more and more sin in your life
The only salvation is found in Christ and Christ alone
It is only repenting of your sin and trusting in Jesus
It is only obedience to Christ that we are made righteous with God
So wether you believe Paul is writing to believers here or wether you believe he is writing to non believers
Exalting Jesus in Romans Thanks Be to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord! (7:24–25)
For Christians, we can read this text and be reminded that our only hope for obedience is through our union with Christ
And church that goes for non Christians as well
And then church as the commentary put it again
Exalting Jesus in Romans Thanks Be to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord! (7:24–25)
The passage should, on either reading, make us thankful that wretched people have a wonderful Messiah.
So church as we come to a close this morning
CLOSING
The band will come up
And maybe you are here and you have a personal relationship and maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer at the altar maybe you just want to praise God for the salvation work He has done in your life
Or maybe you are here and you don’t have a personal relationship with God
Maybe this morning you have come to realize your own personal sin and how you are in need of savior
If that you would come to the front there will be people down front who you can talk to about salvation
The alter is open
Would you be obedient
THOUGHT
If Romans 7:1-13, were about
Before the Law we didn’t know
The law defined what was already the problem of sin
We know that Jesus came to defeat sin
Romans 7:14-25, is about
how the blinders have been removed and know you know the problem is sin in your life
You recognize that what you are doing is sin and then you start to say no I don’t want to do this