Beyond The Rules

Secular -

A man decided on January 1st that he was going to get completely out of debt, get physically fit, and learn three foreign languages. He went down to the most expensive gym in town, signed a binding 2-year contract, bought $300 worth of brand-new workout gear, and memorized the gym's entire rulebook—including pool hours, dress codes, and towel policies.

By March, his friend asked him, "How's the fitness journey going?"

The man replied, "Fantastic! I own the gear, I know all twenty-four rules of the facility, and I pay my dues on time every month. I haven't actually gone inside to lift a weight or run a mile yet, but legally, I'm a full member!"

folks treat their spiritual lives like that man treated his gym membership. They know the rules, pay their dues, and wear the outfit, but nothing inside has actually changed. Paul is going to show us today that having the law on paper doesn't make us righteous—only being joined to Jesus produces real life and real fruit.

Historical/Cultural Context -

Paul wrote Romans to explain the gospel and to establish the theological foundation of the faith. It was written between A.D. 56-58.

Recap -

We talked last week about how Paul switches from telling us that we are dead in sin to we are dead to sin. Meaning it has no power over us. Today Paul continues that thought of how the law has no power over the believer. In today’s message we also find that we are not divorced from the law for it is our school master to be used to convict us of how extensive our sin really was before we came to Christ.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Salvation replaces legal duty with Spirit-led devotion to Jesus Christ.

Life Point- Dead To Law, Alive In Christ

Exegetical -

Romans 7:1–6 BSB

Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death. But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Homiletical -

Paul immediately says he is talking to anyone who knows the law, whether that be Jew or Greek. Specifically the first 5 books of the Old Testament which is called the Pentateuch.

If we are dead in Christ then the law has no power over us. the law only has authority over someone for as long as they live.

Now Paul uses a standard for what used to be known about marriage. If there is a divorce on non-biblical grounds then, let’s say the woman remarries. She commits adultery.

So what are the Biblical reasons for divorce?

I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time on this because this is not Paul’s point he is using marriage as an illustration.

1) Sexual Immorality. This does not mean you have to divorce but it is an option.

2) Abandonment by an unbelieving spouse. Paul says that if the unbelieving spouse insists on leaving, the Christian is “not enslaved.”

3) Abuse and severe covenant-breaking.

Malachi 2:14–16 — God takes covenant faithfulness seriously and condemns treachery within marriage.

Ephesians 5:25–29 — husbands are commanded to love sacrificially, not harmfully.

Colossians 3:19 — husbands must not be harsh with their wives.

1 Timothy 5:8 — failure to provide for one's household is treated extremely seriously.

Psalm 11:5 — God hates the one who loves violence.

divorce being Biblically permissible doesn't mean it is biblically required. Even where grounds exist, reconciliation, repentance, counseling, and restoration can still be pursued when it is safe and genuinely possible.

We are specifically told here that if a woman is married and the man dies, she is free to remarry.

Paul is going to use this as an example of what happened to us spiritually.

We were all under law, but through Christ we are dead to the law and are then joined with Christ through whom we are under grace. In this position we will start to produce fruit unto God.

When we were living sinful lives we lived to bear fruit that leads to death

Because we have been freed from the law we now live according to the Holy Spirit and not in the old way of do’s and don’ts. We start producing the fruit of a person who is freed from the law.

Galatians 5:22–23 BSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

This is why I can say that if there is no fruit of salvation then there is no Jesus at work in your life. You are a false convert, and you need to know that you need the Spirit of God to draw you to the savior. You need to ask Jesus to save you.

Illustration -

Imagine a prisoner who receives a full executive pardon after a life sentence. The old prison rules, warden's curfews, and daily roll calls no longer govern them. Walking out the gates into a new nation with a new passport, they obey civil laws out of gratitude and dynamic citizenship, not out of fear of the cell guard.

Life Point - God’s Law Reveals Our Need For Grace

Exegetical -

Romans 7:7–12 BSB

What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. 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 and I died. So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Homiletical -

The law itself is not sin. Without the law we wouldn’t really understand how sinful we are. Paul uses the idea of coveting. He wouldn’t that it was a sin without the law telling him not to covet.

Once we know right from wrong and what is in the law. sin comes to life and seizes its’ opportunity to bring death to us.

Now here is the really interesting part. The law was given to bring life, but it actually brought to me death. For I knew to do good but did not do it.

James 4:17 BSB

Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

Paul concludes saying that the Law is Holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Now what does that tell us?

It tells us that we can take of the law what Jesus affirmed and live by it. Jesus not only affirmed the moral law, but made it more stringent as an example:

Matthew 5:27–28 BSB

You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus fulfilled our obligation to the ceremonial, and Civil, or Judicial aspects of the law.

He fulfilled the ceremonial law and did not establish the civil law for the church.

This is why you can’t just do away with the Old Testament, but must know it in it’s cultural significance for the time, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

Anyone one who tells you they don’t need the Old Testament is either ignorant or willfully ignorant.

Think about it. What scripture, when the apostles referred to scripture, are they using? The New Testament was still being written.

They were using what we call the Old Testament.

Illustration -

You can walk past a freshly painted park bench fifty times without ever wanting to touch it. But the moment a bright yellow sign is posted reading "Do Not Touch - Wet Paint," a rebellious urge triggers inside us to reach out and touch it. The sign is good and helpful, but it exposes the hidden impulse of human sinfulness to push against limits.

Life Point - Jesus Rescues The Wretched Soul

Exegetical -

Romans 7:13–25 BSB

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good. In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me. 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 serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Homiletical -

Paul is expressing how difficult it is to have 2 natures. A sin nature and a Spiritual nature.

When we sin, Christians immediately feel the war within them and the struggle that it brings.

We want to live the Holy, that is separated, life to God. But we find it difficult as we still have the sin nature within us, struggling against what we want

The world and it’s ways will feed that sin nature and will try to take advantage of you. But the scriptures and the things of God feed the New Nature, the spiritual man.

Paul calls himself a wretched individual. and laments his predicament and says who can free me from this body of sin.

When this life is over and we are with God we will be freed from this body of sin completely. Our new bodies will not be burdened with a sin nature.

Jesus taught us that sin is conceived in the mind before it is carried out. Paul eludes to this in this section of scripture as well. The battle field of both natures begins in the mind.

What are you going to feed yourself? Will you feed yourself sin, which leads to death or will you feed yourself from God’s Word leading to life. Making the decisions with your life that lead to the fruit of the Spirit?

Illustration -

An old story tells of a man experiencing a constant internal struggle, as if two powerful creatures were fighting inside his chest for control. When asked which one will win the daily battle, the answer is simple: "The one you feed." If we feed our old nature with worldly distractions, it gains power; when we feed our spiritual nature through Scripture, prayer, and fellowship, Christ gives us victory.

Also

Picture standing on the deck of a ship during a heavy storm while engaged in an intense game of tug-of-war. Every wave shifts the deck beneath your feet, making it feel impossible to stay balanced on your own strength. You desperately need a grounded anchor or rescue captain to steady you, which mirrors Paul’s cry: "Who will rescue me?"—answered only by Jesus.

Life Principle– Salvation replaces legal duty with Spirit-led devotion to Jesus Christ

Call to Action – altar call….