Am I Free or Not?

Nathanael Mills

Romans • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Romans 7

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How many people here are at school or uni or tafe at the moment? How good is that feeling of freedom at the end of exams? The start of the exam week is a dark place to be, but the end feels so good! When you lecturer or teacher tells you to put down your pen at the end of the exam… it feel so good. Like you being set free. Suddenly the world is a brighter place, and filled with possibility. There is nothing quite like it. That first few breaths, that first sip of beer, the first song you hear in the car are so much more enjoyable.

I would also like to point out this morning; the sensational job that Josh skinner did of that reading. All of the “what I want to do, I do not do’s, and don’t do but I want too’s” was quite the tongue twister. And he smashed it. The second thing I want to point out is that it twists more than the tongue. Believe me. I know that I have never had so much trouble wrapping my mind around a piece of scripture than . It is complicated and confusing. is actually the most debated chapter of scripture in the entire bible… My lecturer’s laughed at me when I said what I was preaching on this chapter. One even said that he would never preach on it... Well if anyone is arrogant enough to think they are better than a lecturer it’s a student. I’m not sure I’m just more of a man, or more of a fool. But we are going to step straight into it this morning. With Prayer for us much divine help as possible.

Yet none compares the to freedom we have in Jesus. Exam relief is nothing compared to the relief you get from him. To be free in Jesus better than anything else. Do you remember that moment when you place your faith in Jesus? The feeling of relief, and joy that came with it? The knowledge that everything was going to be ok now, no matter what! In those moments you were untouchable. Nothing could bring you down from that high.

Pray

And the very next day you begin the process of living the best life you can for God. You are going to make him happy. And you are going to be happy doing it. You want to make God proud of your life. You want to take advantage of your freedom. It might look like getting rid of book and dvds that you know a good Christian wouldn’t have. You start some good habits, praying and reading you bible. You vow to only listen to worship music from now on. The holy life is the life for you.

starts with one main point. It is found in v4.

This goes well for a few days or weeks. But things start to change. The joy is harder to find, and sometimes seems impossible. You have gotten a little busy to pray and read the bible, so that’s dropped off. You still attend church though so, you know, that’s good. Then you do something that you shouldn’t have. Something that you know doesn’t sit in the grey area of obedience. You watched porn, you yelled at someone in anger, you stole something small. Whatever it is, it was something you know you shouldn’t have done.

“you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.”

The guilt and confusion set in. You have no idea why you did it. You don’t want to do these things anymore. You are free, you believe in Jesus. Questions start to come? Do I really believe in Jesus? Did I do salvation wrong? Am I saved if I’m still doing these things? Shouldn’t I be free, and joyful?

If you can remember the last few weeks of Romans, Paul has been reminding us of all the transformative benefits of being a Christian. At the beginning of Romans He made sure that we understood in detail the sinful, and hopeless state of man. In it reads

I remember those days like they were yesterday. Because they were. Every day I do things I shouldn’t, and I think, what they heck Nat. What are you doing, you don’t want this. Are you a idiot. I feel like I’m looking at my hands saying “you have betrayed me”.

“They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil…”

This is how every Christian feels. Frustrated and confused. With a question of “Am I free or not?”. This is exactly the question that Paul is addressing in Chapter 7. Am I Free of Not? It is a question and a situation that he had in his life as well. And he know that any Christians in Rome are going to be experiencing it to.

This is how every Christian feels. Frustrated and confused. With a question of “Am I free or not?”. This is exactly the question that Paul is addressing in Chapter 7. Am I Free of Not? It is a question and a situation that he had in his life as well. And he knows that any Christians in Rome are going to be experiencing it to. And he is going to give them an answer.

On and on. Paul made certain that we knew exactly where man was at before Jesus. Praise God he didn’t stop there. He did not leave us in a pit of despair. But then continued to tell us of the righteousness, and justification, and peace we can have through faith in Jesus. He told us that Jesus represented us when he died upon the cross. It was because of this representation that we can say we have already been counted as dead. And just as we were represented in his death, we also are represented in his resurrected life forever more. We are bound now to Jesus. His death and his life. This is in fact the very thing that was being made much of in the baptism this morning.

Paul starts in the first

First Paul starts with 6 versus talking about the freedom that we have in Jesus. The first 3 versus can be a little confusing. It looks like he is talk about the laws around marriage, divorce and adultery. While this is a passage that highlights how we should see marriage, and behaving in it. Understanding the in’s and out’s of marriage law is not the reason that Paul has it here. What he is doing is highlighting the relationship that we have with the law and with Jesus. He is pointing out what happened when we placed our faith in Jesus. The relationship we were in with the law, and how we came to the relationship we now how with Jesus. The shift from one to the other

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

So Paul reminds us of what it was like when we were under the law. And says that our relationship to it, is a marriage. It is close, it intimate, it is until death. It wasn’t a relationship that was on again off again, we weren’t dating law. It wasn’t a boyfriend or girlfriend, who we are in a loose arrangement with. It wasn’t limited to weekends and the leftover time from your mates. It was marriage, it all the time and forever. Just like the vows, it was until death do us part.

Baptism is an incredible moment in your life. If there are people here this morning that believe that Jesus is the one and only way and are not baptized. And their always are a few, particularly in a Baptist church. What are you waiting for? Are you ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, or is it what you boast in? Are you waiting for an extra spiritual experience on top of salvation? Why? I’m not just saying this to get out of my sermon. But is there anyone in this situation that would like to be baptized right here and now. The only conditional is that you believe Jesus is your savior. If there is anyone, please raise your hand.

It was a bad marriage. Paul says that before we believed in Jesus, we were willing to suffer to sin. That is what passion means, a willingness to suffer for something. We were willing to endure suffering because the law aroused our desire for it. and as a result we…sinned. We produced fruit for death. acts of sin. Good for no one.

Well I guess I must keep preaching. Perhaps the space and the intensity of the situation was off putting. But if there is anyone that fits into that category of believing but not having been baptized this morning please come and see me after the service. I’d love to chat.

That is the life each one of us had with the law and sin before we came to know Jesus. Stuck in a bad marriage that had us willing to suffer for the sake of sin. This was a truth, or still is a truth for everyone here.

Let’s get back to guess... As I said Paul has been telling us of the wonders of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sharing with us the details of what it means to have faith, and share in the death and life of Jesus forevermore.

We were trapped… Only death could separate the relationship we had to the law, to break the trap that we were in. Then came Jesus. And we shared in his death. as we have spoken about for almost all of Romans. He came on to the scene, died in our place. And in his death we were set free from the relationship we had with the law. Set free from the relationship that bound us to sin, and acts of sin. Set free, so that we might be married to Jesus. That we might be bound forever to him, and produce fruit of God. Not fruit of death but of life. Good works for God. Freedom! You are free from the law. Praise God.

starts off no different. Again he is sharing a detail of the Christian life with us. When we become bound to Jesus in death and life, we become unbound from the law. Paul likens the relationship to a marriage. You cannot be married to two people at once. Before believing in Jesus. As a non-Christian, we were bound to the law. And if we are being honest it was a harsh marriage.

Paul wants us to remember our freedom.

The Law that is being spoken of, is the Mosaic law. The law that Moses received on Mt Sinai. Starting with the 10 commandments and continuing with a great number of religious laws detailing how Israel was going to live in relationship with God. These are not laws that we are as familiar with. But I have so say that while growing up, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know the 10 commandments.

But after the prasing is done, and haleluyas as settled down. There is a question remaining. Didn’t God give us the law? Wasn’t the law the 10 commandments given to Moses good? How could it be bad? How could it produce sin? Is the law sin?

1. You shall have no other Gods but Yahweh

Paul spends some time now showing us that the law is not bad, it is not sin, and it doesn’t cause to sin. What it does is reveal sin in our lives. We all know the feeling don’t we, when you are sound asleep, and suddenly there is a noise in the house that you know doesn’t belong there. The creaks, the fridge humming, the fish tank bubbling, and your eldest daughter talking in her sleep saying “No Connie, I said No!” are all acceptable sounds. But there was a bang, or a scrape that didn’t belong. Well the easiest solution is you immediately get up and take a look. Of course you usually spend 10 min debating if it’s worth seeing if people have broken in and stolen all your stuff, or if you would rather they just stole it for the sake of getting more sleep. The Law, is like turning on the light in your conscience. It reveals the situation for what it is. Paul says “I wouldn’t have known what it was to covet if the law had not said “You shall not covet”. It reveals the situation. But it is not limited to revealing what we should or shouldn’t do, but our own spiritual state. Paul says again, I once thought I was alive, I thought I was doing well, ticking boxes, kicking goals and having a great time doing it. Then I turned the light of the law on, and realised I was actually dead, and sin reigned in my life. The Law is a harsh light that leaves nothing hidden. It shows us the truth. When bound to the law, we are all found to be like Paul. Dead!

2. Do not make Idols or worship them

The law also affords opportunity for sin. Going back to the illustration of turning on the light when you hear that sound in your house. What else happens when you turn on the light, and you find your house filled with thieves. Yes turning the light on will allow you to see them, but it makes their job of stealing a heck of a lot easier. How much easier it is to steal stuff if the lights are on. You can see what is worth taking, and now that the owner knows you are there, you don’t need to be quiet about it. In fact the more aggressive the better. Paul says that the law also has this effect on sin. It wakes it up and increases it’s activity. It the light the law provides to turn you to sin, and in so doing kills you.

3. Do not misuse the name of the Lord

Does the law then kill you? Does what is good cause what is bad? The answer is again No! it is not the lights fault that you were robbed, or consequently killed. No one every blames the light for murder. It was the thieves in the night, it was sin taking opportunity.

4. Keep the sabbath day holy

What Paul is doing is making darn sure that we understand that although the Law is something that we must be freed from, it is not the law itself that is the issue, but the sin that sits so closely at hand with it. It is why being freed from the law is such a delight, for it also means freedom from the sin that is always so close to it.

5. Respect your mother and father

But how is this an answer to our question about freedom. Am I free or not? Now I know that Paul has said, I am free from the law, and from sin. I don’t blame the law, and I don’t blame God, for sin. Because I know that the law was good and holy. And God only gives good gifts. But even though paul has said I’m free, I still sin. So where do I go now. Am I free or not?

6. Do not murder

Let me tell you that Paul shares your frustration! Listen to his words in v 15 & 19 “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” These are the words of a man at peace. Paul is intensely frustrated with himself. The Good works, the fruit of God, the holy life is somethings he desires deeply. He is married to Jesus, and he desires to please him. His eye are fixed on these good things. But he only does what is evil. He only creates fruit for death, and he hates it. He is frustrated. Listen to v24 “24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

7. Do not commit adultery

So If someone as faithful, and mature as Paul is suffering from the same issue that we are, what hope is there? Can we ever know our salvation? Can I know if we are free or not?

8. Do not steal

Pauls reasons for talking about our freedom from the law was not for nothing. He says now in v14 “14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.” The freedom that we have so far participated in is a spiritual freedom. Our spirits are free. We desire good things now, we hunger for holy living. We know that there can only be true satisfaction in life from God. All of these things indicate our spiritual freedom. But we are not solely spiritual beings are we. We have flesh and bone. We have physical bodies. and freedom that has been won by jesus, that death that we shared in with Jesus, the resurrection and the new life that we are reborn into is spiritual. Not yet physical. We have not physically been reclaimed yet by Jesus. We are not yet physically free.

9. Do not give false evidence against your neighbor

This why we are so frustrated. This is the reason. We are torn in two. The spiritual part of us, is free, and desires good and holy things. But the physical has not yet participated in the death and resurrection of Jesus. If we had, we would be in heaven. If we had Jesus would have come already. But we haven’t and so we are frustrated and torn in two.

10. Do not covet

So what do we do with the sin that we commit? Pauls says in v17 “17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” Paul says that you are free, from guilt and shame over sin. The sin that is being committed is not you. It is sin it’s selfs fault. You are free. This is who you are.

I’m sure that they ring a bell. These were the commands that were to be kept in order to have a relationship with God. Pretty simple yea? That’s why we didn’t need Jesus? They are so simple and easy to keep that Israel had broken their first commandment before Moses even Got down from the mountain. They are of course impossible for us to keep. Jesus takes our understanding of these laws to a whole new level in the Sermon on the Mount. In , he says that if anyone who has hated his brother, has murdered him in his heart & anyone who has lusted has committed adultery. It only gets easier and easier… sigh… We must keep these laws in order to have a relationship with God! To be considered holy and just and good. Who could possibly do it? This is of course a Sunday school answer isn’t it. No one! The Law does not bring with it salvation.

But… you will continue to be frustrated. Because you long to participate in the full freedom of Christ. Because this is who you are now, but you can’t quite embrace it. Because you are not married to Jesus, but you are being held back by the flesh.

Being bonded to the law is a harsh thing. Look at the description that Paul gives it. It holds us captive, it arouses our sin, we are slaves to it, and it results in the fruit of death. Nothing about that is appealing is it? If you saw death fruit at the supermarket would you pick it up? It is a terrible thing to be bonded to the law. There is no salvation in it. We cannot keep it. And so, we are doomed by it…

So… Am I free or not? Paul says Yes your free, but you must wait a little longer to fully enjoy it. Listen to his words at the end of the chapter and hear his frustration, and then listen to the hope that he leaves you with. That hope that we are to cling today.

Praise God then that we are reminded by Paul that in placing our faith in Jesus, sharing in his death we die to it! We die to the law. It no longer has a hold of us. But instead Jesus does! And how much easier it is to be bound to Jesus. Instead of a list of commandments to maintain the relationship with him, to keep us counted as righteous, justified and good, we are told we simply need to place our faith in him and he will do the rest.

Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Hearing this news is like getting to lay down in a comfy hammock with a cold beer on a warn summers evening at the end of a hard day. It is a load off.

We are frustrated, but we are not without hope. Jesus is coming.

How are we left thinking of the law after what Paul has so far said about it? It holds us captive, it arouses our sin, we are slaves to it, and it results in the fruit of death. Raise your hands if law is actually not all that good. You can be honest, no judgement here. And if you think the law is awesome raise your hand? Ok. Now raise your hand if you didn’t raise your hand.

But let us in the mean time remember that we are free because of him. Let us do all that we can to do good works, because that is what we desire now. And sin that is committed, will not be remembered as yours.

The truth is Paul has painted the law in very dark colours. And we are lead to think that it is not a good thing. Let me ask you this. God gave us the law. Does God give us bad things? Is the Law good or Bad?

Lets say with Paul v25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Versus 7-13 reveals that Paul has realised that the people in Rome, that he is writing to would be asking these very questions. Particularly the Jews, they like many of us grew up knowing the law to be a good thing.

Paul starts by asking the question. What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no mean. The law is not sin, it is what reveals sin for what it is. We all know the feeling don’t we, when you are sound asleep, and suddenly there is a noise in the house that you know doesn’t belong there. The creaks, the fridge humming, the fish tank bubbling, and your eldest daughter talking in her sleep saying “No Connie, I said No!” are all acceptable sounds. But there was a bang, or a scrape that didn’t belong. Well the easiest solution is you immediately get up and take a look. Of course you usually spend 10 min debating if it’s worth seeing if people have broken in and stolen all your stuff, or if you would rather they just stole it for the sake of getting more sleep. The Law, is like turning on the light in your conscience. It reveals the situation for what it is. Paul says “I wouldn’t have known what it was to covet if the law had not said “You shall not covet”. It reveals the situation. But it is not limited to revealing what we should or shouldn’t do, but our own spiritual state. Paul says again, I once thought I was alive, I thought I was doing well, ticking boxes, kicking goals and having a great time doing it. Then I turned the light of the law on, and realised I was actually dead, and sin reigned in my life. The Law is a harsh light that leaves nothing hidden. It shows us the truth. When bound to the law, we are all found to be like Paul. Dead!

The law also affords opportunity for sin. Going back to the illustration of turning on the light when you hear that foreign sound in the night. What else happens when you turn on the light, and you find your house filled with thieves. Yes turning the light on will allow you to see them, but it makes their job of stealing everything you have infinitely easier. How much easier it is to steal stuff if the lights are on. You can see what is worth taking, and now that the owner knows you are there, you don’t need to be quiet about it. In fact the more aggressive the better. My guess is that a few people will not be sleep well tonight. Paul says that the law also has this effect on sin. It wakes it up and increases it’s activity. It seizes the opportunity the law provides to turn you to sin, and in so doing kill you.

What Paul is doing is making darn sure that we understand that although the Law is something that we must be freed from in order to be with Jesus, it is not the law itself that is the issue, but the sin that sits so closely at hand with it. It is why being freed from the law is such a delight, for it also means freedom from the sin that is always so close to it.

I would say now, that the Law is wholly defended. Paul has done his job well. We know that the law is good. It reveal the truth of ourselves, and our actions. But that it also awakens sin, and gives it opportunity. And at no point does it save us from our sin. But we cannot blame the law for the actions of sin or for what it reveals of our spiritual state. It simply reveals.

Paul pushes on again. Into the third section of chapter 7. This one is again different from the last two. Where in the first, Paul spoke of the hope of being separated from the impossible law and being bound and secured in the death and life of Jesus. And in the second part, defended the law, showing us how it worked as a holy light, to reveal our death, and sin. As well as sins closeness to those under the law. We now see in the third part an intensely personal admittance by Paul. This I believe is his confession as frustration as a Christian.

It is a state that all Christians are aware of. It doesn’t take much for us to join with Paul in his annoyance. In saying “I do not do what I want to do.” How often we say this very same thing, if not with our lips then with our hearts. How often do we say, I want to now be obedient, but I cannot. I want to worship God alone, but I still harbour affection for Idols. I want to do all that I can to please God but I cannot. Instead I do only things that offend him instead. How frustrating it is…

But why is it frustrating. Why do we find Paul driven to the point of calling out at the end of the chapter “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Because we should be free from sin and the law now! Isn’t this just what Paul said. Did he not just say that when you believe in Jesus you die to the law and are joined with him. Yet here we find our selves, frustrated, in anguish, and possibly angry that the freedom has not been delivered. Pauls says that it feels as though there is now a war of two wills raging within him. One that desires only to serve God. And one that doesn’t.

How does this situation make sense? How can Paul at once say, that we are free from the law, but equally complain about being still bound to it? In the opening verse it says the Law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. Paul is pointing out the fleshy substance of man. The Law is a thing of spiritual divine origin, but Paul, and us alike are a thing of flesh and earth. And although Pauls spirit has changed sides, and now has a new identity and freedom in Christ, the fleshy substance of Paul has not yet experienced it’s death in Jesus, it has not caught up with the reality of who he is now in Jesus. And so there is a war of wills taking place. His flesh still operates under the law, while his identity is free in Jesus. This is why he can say that he is a slave under the law still, and not contradict the beginning of Chapter 7, where he said he was dead to it. This means that his flesh is still experiencing the harsh light of the law, still seeing it’s death, and still providing opportunity for sin to revive, and increase.

It is important to know that Pauls desires, like our desires are now set on the things of God though. He says that he now delights in the law of God. It isn’t crushing him with the impossibility of every achieving it. He is free of that. But now he delights in doing it, because it pleases God. However despite this, Paul says that he cannot do good. Everything he does is contaminated with sin.

It is clear then why Paul cries “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And we can join him in that. Your frustration as a Christian is not a failing, but a part of the life we have on earth. Do not become down trodden, or think that you are a failure because you struggle to obey God. Paul did to, I do to, Mark does to, the Elders do to, the person to your left and to your right does. We all do. It is a fact of who we are now. But one day we will die. And we will be given new bodies, and the war of wills will be over. We will be able to not just want to obey, but be able to. We will delight in the fullness of our freedom. Praise God for that.

But we are not there yet. And our current reality is a hard one. But look at the sentence that Paul says after crying out “who will save me?”.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Never again will we be ignorant of our sin, never again will we be totally enslaved by the law.

If you are frustrated this morning, with your obedience to Jesus, be reminded that while we still struggle in the here and now, our security is assured.

In closing look now at chapter 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Though we are in a way stuck between worlds. Both free from and held by the law. We are not a people condemned. But at peace with God. This is who we are.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Lets Pray.

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