20250803 Romans 7:14-20 The Believer’s Battle Against Sin (part 2)

Welcome to Vertical Church

Acts 2:42 (LSB)

And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.

We began our church with the desire to fulfill the mandate of this verse. To devote ourselves to what the early church was devoted to.

Devoted to the teaching of the word of God

Devoted to genuine Christian relationships and the fulfilling of commandment of Christ to love the household of faith

Devoted to the proclamation of the gospel through the ordinances of believers baptism and communion

Devoted to the prayers through singing and public prayer

The 5 Solas - God alone is our source of Salvation

We believe Scripture alone is the Word of God

We believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

WE believe that live and exist for the glory of God alone

We are called Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and God focused

With that in mind, Let us worship God

Call to Worship

Scripture Reading - Galatians 2:20

Introduction: Romans 7:14-20 The Believer’s Battle Against Sin

Part 2 - the believer’s salvation: justification, sanctification, glorification

The believer’s union with Christ. The death of sin.

The believer’s freedom from the penalty of sin and the power of sin and someday the presence of sin.

Well, it’s the end of another week on Things Unseen, and we’ve spent these few minutes each day this week reflecting on what I’ve called “soul shapes.” It wouldn’t surprise me if this week some of us have either thought or heard words like this: “Something seems to have bent him out of shape today.” It may be because they’re irritated and irritating, or they’re moody and uncommunicative—that’s obvious. But what isn’t so obvious about this being bent out of shape is why it’s happened. We see the effects, but we don’t always know the reason, the cause. And that’s what I mean by a person’s soul shape: the inner distortion that takes place invisibly in our hearts that manifests itself either quickly or slowly in patterns of life that are un-Christlike.

Earlier in the week, I mentioned how helpful something I read in Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s diary has been to me: “The seeds of every known sin are in my heart.” But at the same time, as we’ve noticed, we are individuals, and sinful distortions manifest themselves in particular ways in particular people. We’ve a common disease, the same basic distortion, but it shapes itself individually.

When I was growing up, toothpaste used to come in metallic-type tubes. And sometimes, little nicks or holes would appear, and as you squeezed the toothpaste, instead of it coming out the mouth of the tube, it would come out one of these little nicks in the side. And then, when you put your finger on that nick to try to prevent the toothpaste coming out, whenever you squeezed the tube the toothpaste seemed to find another little nick from which to emerge.

And I used to think that that was a parable of the way sin works in our lives. Our sinfulness manifests itself at particular points of our spiritual weakness, and we try to cover that point up. But then it just reappears in another form. Sin will always out. And the fact that it appears in one guise in my life and another guise in your life doesn’t mean that you have conquered sin in the area that I haven’t; it just means it’s manifesting itself at your lowest point of resistance, wherever you happen to be weak and easily tempted.

So much more could be said about different soul shapes. But I want to end this week by sharing with you something that’s been helpful to me personally. I think it helps protect Christians who are serious about sanctification. It helps to protect them falling into the temptation of being judgmental about the frailties and weaknesses of others.

Around the time I was helped by those words of Robert M’Cheyne, I was also helped by some words of the great seventeenth-century writer, John Owen. He wrote this—think about this in terms of soul shapes. He says, you don’t measure someone’s spiritual growth by the height that they seem to have attained, but by the distance they’ve had to travel and the obstacles they’ve had to overcome to arrive at where they are today.

I often think about that. I see people who really don’t seem to be very tall spiritually, at least certainly not when compared with others. Some of them seem to be in so much need at times. They need encouragement. They almost seem to limp along, while others walk easily or even run. But then you discover their background—the damage that’s been inflicted on them by others, the few privileges they’ve had to help them. They seem to us to be the little people. But we’ve not taken into account the tremendous obstacles they’ve experienced and overcome. The truth may well be they have grown far more than we have, even if to all appearances they have not reached the height that we think we have attained. But nothing is hidden from the eyes of our Savior. And He sees, hidden in the inner soul shape of these so-called little people, a development of spiritual graces that’s been far greater than ours, perhaps, because by His grace, they’ve overcome tremendous obstacles.

We’ve been thinking about soul shapes, and what I want us to avoid is knowing about soul shapes and then being critical of the shapes of others. And that’s why I mention this as something to bear in mind. Don’t measure someone else’s soul shape or spiritual growth by how tall they seem to be. But learn the obstacles they’ve overcome, and then I think you’ll really begin to appreciate them. That’s something to bear in mind when you’re at church this coming Lord’s Day, isn’t it? It’ll make you a more appreciative member of whatever church you belong to. I hope you have a blessed weekend and Lord’s Day. And, if you can, join us again on Things Unseen next week.

Galatians 2:20 LSB

20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Our battle against sin:

(1) was accomplished in eternity past

(2) involves the death of sin

(3) involves the life of Christ

(4) is lived by faith

(1) Our battle against sin was accomplished in eternity past

Galatians 2:20 (LSB)

the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

How long has Christ loved you

Christ died in my place, the just for the unjust, to bring me to God. And you remember how later in these writings, Paul says that there are several dimensions to this death of Christ. He died for the guilt of sin.

(2) Our battle against sin involves the death of sin

Galatians 2:20 (LSB)

20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live

The penalty, the power, and someday the presence of sin

OT salvation - by faith they were crucified with Christ

(3) Our battle against sin involves the life of Christ

Galatians 2:20 (LSB)

but Christ lives in me.

(4) Our battle against sin is lived by faith

Galatians 2:20 (LSB)

And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God

As the mountains surround

Jerusalem, so may the Lord

surround you, His people, from

this time on and forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 LSB

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.