Amazing Grace

Scripture

Romans 7:5–6 (NET)

5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

Paul states that the sin was aroused by the law. Our sinful state is only illuminated through the law. The law doesn’t cause sin, but reveals it. It makes us want to sin more. Go back to the breathing illustration I gave

Illustration (Hyper Awareness)

Real Life Example: Pastor Lee and I would go to Colorado Springs in the summer with Pastor Christian. We would drive up to pikes peak all the time and when we would get to the top, I would always love to sit at the edge of the mountain and just take in the beauty of God’s creation. Of course, I was dangling my feet hundreds of feet from the edge and I was thinking… lol jk. But Pastor Lee would get extremely nervous. Not because he was on the edge but he became hyper aware of the situation.

Tension

WHY IS KNOWING WHAT IS RIGHT NOT GIVE ME THE POWER TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT?

Romans 7:7 (NET)

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

The Law reveals the sin in us; it makes us conscious of what is wrong with us and now we become complicit and responsible to the disobedience and conformity of the sin in our lives

The law doesn’t save us but condemns us essentially. Of course, it offers opportunity of forgiveness and atonement, but it doesn’t save us eternally.

Illustration:

It’s as if when we go to the hospital. When there is something wrong in us, we cannot know unless we get an MRI or X-Ray. These are only instruments that reveal and not heal.

Mental Struggle

Romans 7:15–20 (NET)

15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.

The tension is from us trying to do things on our own, but we can’t. Our flesh only knows how to sin. INSTEAD…

[PIVOT POINT]

The awareness the law creates is actually helpful; it’s meant to drive you toward recognizing your need for grace, not to condemn you indefinitely.

The Shift

Romans 8:1–4 (NET) [ONLY SHOW VERSES 1-2; PREACH 3-4]

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The Law Revealed || Grace in Christ Healed

Romans 8:15 (NET)

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Identity (From Wretched to No Condemnation)

We as Christ followers now walk in freedom by the power of Christ

Our old nature dies and the bond and obligation to the law as a means of justification and condemnation becomes null and void because Christ already fulfilled it . <<< CAPITALIZE ON THIS

We then become new creations and NOW we live under the covenant of Grace through Jesus Christ.

What does this mean? We now have a new identity.

Loose Identity = Revert back to what is dead

The Fruit of Grace = Peace in the Spirit <<< This is how we know that we have made the shift

Romans 8:6–8 (NET)

6 For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace,

7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Living Upright

How are we to live in this new identity?

Put to death the “deeds” of the flesh

How do you kill something living? Remove what sustains it

Your environment will either suffocate or feed the flesh

Staying at home for extenuated times is enough sustenance for the deeds of the flesh to rise up

Proverbs 21:25 (CSB) 25 A slacker’s craving will kill him because his hands refuse to work.

If idleness stirs temptation, go outside and keep your hands buys. If people’s toxic speech tempts you to do the same, leave. If your phone keeps you from pursuing God, block it.

Attention to God not Sin

Where is your attention? Is your attention all on sin?

This may mean that you are trying to work on things yourself. You are using your own power because you are focused on the outcome instead of focusing on the one who has already set you free

There is no condemnation in Christ. Does that mean nothing to you?

Focusing on sin is like going back to the law.

Instead we are to readjust our focus solely on God. When we seek His kingdom, then all else will come together. When we focus on God, we starve the very things that our flesh desires and it dies

illustration:

When someone is married, they don’t cheat on their wife because they are needing to fulfill a vow, they don’t cheat on their wife because they love them which automatically already fulfills the vow.

Story:

As a new Christian, I remember learning and walking with the Lord. I remember the liberation I felt when I first got saved. I also remember the continued battle that I witnessed with my flesh (battling the two realities of being saved and redeemed but also understanding the flesh being the flesh. One day I remember participating in a 21 day prayer and fasting with a local small church. I remember on top of cutting foods, I cut out TV. I would go to university, do my thing, workout, and then I would arrive home and start reading scripture and praying. I was doing this for 21 days straight and I started to notice something. I started to notice that I began to struggle less and less with my flesh and temptations. I noticed myself being purely in love with Jesus and wanting to just be around his presence. I was initially suffucating the flesh and got weaker and weaker as my desire for the Lord grew stronger and stronger. I was so enthralled in the things of the Lord and I forgot about my struggles. It soon became apparent to me that I began to notice. When did my struggle for this particular sin go away? I think the moment you realize that you cannot pin point a time frame of when you overcame a sin says that your focus was moved from the fault of sin (living in the law) to focused and living in the law of Grace.

What Will You Decide?

Conclusion and end with a challenge

You are not fighting for freedom. You are fighting from freedom.

[GLASS PRISON]

The door is open. Walk out of the cell.