(Rom 7:7-13) Only Christ Can Change Us, Not Rules!
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INTRODUCTION:
Can rules change us?
Over the years many public policy scholars have suggested
>>>>>the difference between a criminal and a law-abiding citizen is mere knowledge.
One prominent scholar suggested exactly that.
That the reason the inner-city families have higher crime rates is because they lack the cultural literacy
to be able to keep a job,
obey the laws,
and just be a good to citizen of this country.
That in order to succeed in this society, there are hundreds of just cultural understandings that we need.
That because people don't know idioms like," I got ran over by a bus".
They can't be successful.
And in that professors mind that idea made a lot of sense.
The inner-city crime problem was because they just don't know better.
Then one day, that same professor was pulled over by a policeman and a thought came to mind.
Did that professor not know it was illegal to speed?
>>>>>>>>>Yet. He broke the law anyway.
Have you ever had a speeding ticket?
Was it because you didn’t know you were breaking the law?
In other words - rules don’t change us.
In other words, that professor had bigger problem than what he didn't know.
Our problem is not that we don’t know the rules.
Knowing
>>>>The problem is we have a sin nature.
Many scoffers of the Bible have suggested… It's not fair for God to judge people who don't know God's rules.
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
Yet, teaches us that we all have the Law written on our hearts.
We might not know the 10 commandments,
but our conscience knows it is wrong to
steal,
commit adultery,
murder,
and lie …
So is our problem is not because we don't know that sin is wrong?
Our problem is that we have nature.
Our passage this morning addresses the question – Is there something wrong with the law?
Is the law sin?
Is the law evil and unjust?
Is the law the reason that people go to hell?
And this text will teach us that it is not the law that's the problem.
>>>> It’s you and me.
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
From this text we ought not to trust in rules to change us,
but
PROP: We ought to trust Christ alone to change us.
PROP: We ought to trust Christ alone to change us.
TRANS: This text teaches us two reasons why our sin nature is the problem.
TRANS: This text teaches us two reasons why our sin nature is the problem.
Why should we trust Christ and not rules?
Because
1) The Law is not the problem. (, )
1) The Law is not the problem. (, )
Many scoffers of the Bible have suggested… It's not fair for God to judge people who don't know God's rules.
Yet, teaches us that we all have the Law written on our hearts.
We might not know the 10 commandments or even the name Moses per say,
but our conscience knows it is wrong to
steal,
commit adultery,
murder,
and lie …
To be frank, you don’t need the Law to teach you those things because it is part of being human.
Our hearts were made knowing what God’s law required.
But even so, this passage makes that even a mute point.
The problem is not ignorance to the Law,
nor what the law says.
Because,
As our text teaches us that Law is not the problem.
How do we know that the Law is not the problem?
a) The Law by itself is not sin. (v.7)
b) The Law is pure and good. (v. 12)
c) The Law teaches us that we need the Gospel. ()
One reason,
a) The Law by itself is not sin. (v.7)
a) The Law by itself is not sin. (v.7)
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Romans 7:1
Paul just blatantly says here – by no means is the law sin.
The idea that a holy and righteous God wrote something that is evil – is illogical.
God has a character that is holy, and Good, and righteous.
Therefore he did not write a law that was sinful – that's is an illogical thought.
ILLUSTRATION:
We all bear fruit of the kind that we are,
and God’s Law is stamped with his Character.
Just like if you wrote a letter today, your character would be embedded in what it says.
Have you ever sent a nasty gram too somebody?
Once we were moving out of an apartment and our lease required us to have the carpets steamed cleaned.
So we called and scheduled an appointment with a local cleaning company.
But they never showed.
So we called and scheduled an appointment with a local cleaning company., But they never showed.
If I was to read the letter that I sent to them today – I would be embarrassed about what it said.
From the words that the I used .... to the attitude that I had
- my character was embedded in my letter… My letter demonstrated that I was a sinner.
The same way, God's character is embedded in his word.
In fact,
He picks this idea back up in verse 12.
What does Paul emphasize?
12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
In other words, the law is not evil were sinful because it is pure and good.
Holy here has the idea of being separated that which is evil and sinful.
Further text says that even the commands found in the law are holy, good, righteous
That,
b) The Law is pure and good. (v. 12)
b) The Law is pure and good. (v. 12)
12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
In other words, the law is not evil
Holy here has the idea of being separated that which is evil and sinful.
Further the text says that even the commands found in the law are holy, good, and righteous.
So the very commands of God are stamped with his Character.
In other words, the law is not evil. The problem is not with the Law.
In other words, the law is not evil. The problem is not with the Law.
c) Law does not bring death. (v.13)
But Paul goes on to explain how the Law was Good to us.
Believe it or not,
the law is not only good in character… But it's good to us.
Have you ever considered the Law as something good for you?
We so often think of the law as a judge that condemns us…
>>>>But we forget why God brought the law before he brought Jesus.
Because
Have you ever considered why God didn’t just skip the Law and bring Jesus to die for us.
The Law is not the problem because -
c) The Law teaches us that we need the Gospel. ()
c) The Law teaches us that we need the Gospel. ()
c) The Law teaches us that we need the Gospel. ()
c) The Law teaches us that we need the Gospel. ()
The second reason that we ought to look to Christ to change us is that the law was meant to point us toward need for Jesus.
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Paul makes the point that he only knows sin because he knows the law.
Some have struggled trying to understand what Paul meant,
but the simple answer is this.
- It's not that Paul didn't know sin before the law.
>>>>>As though he was sinless, and then the Law made him a sinner.
As though he was sinless, and then the Law made him a sinner.
- But that the law taught him that he acted wickedly.
ILLUSTRATION:
Think of the law as like a measuring stick.
Would you know that a football field is 100 yards if you didn't have a yardstick?
In the same way, Paul did not know he was a sinner until he had the law to measure has sinfulness too.
In fact, Paul uses covetousness as an example of how he knew sin because of the law.
Coveting can basically be boiled down to us sinfully wanting something. My I want’s are controlling me.
It's our passion for that which is wrong and wicked.
It's our passion for that which is wrong and wicked.
Paul loosely quotes – the 10 commandments -
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
In other words, Paul understood that he was a thief and a sinner because of the law.
Because of the law he understood that stealing was wrong.
Because of the law he understood that stealing was wrong.
So in summary,
1) The Law teaches us righteousness.
1) The Law teaches us righteousness.
“Thou shall not covet”
b) Law gives life.
2) The Law teaches us how we are sinful.
2) The Law teaches us how we are sinful.
And
3) The Law exposes our guilt before God.
3) The Law exposes our guilt before God.
Now, realize how this teaches us that we need the Gospel.
We must realize how this teaches us our need for the gospel.
Can you be saved if you do not think your lost?
The front door to the gospel is believing you are sinner.
Many people have said, “you can't be saved until your lost”
Many people have said, you can't be saved until your lost.
The law teaches us that we need Jesus because the law exposes our guilt and sin… It prepares us to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the law is not the problem.
In fact the law teaches us that we need Jesus Christ.
So what is the problem?
And to put it bluntly –
3) Our Sin nature is the problem.
3) Our Sin nature is the problem.
The Third reason we should look to Christ - is because our sin nature is the real problem.
This passage not only clarifies that there is nothing wrong with the law,
but that it exemplifies that the real problem is us.
>>>>>That before we believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ we had a sin nature that enslaved us.
And riddled throughout this section is references to how our sin nature is the real problem.
Observe how our sin nature is the real problem.
a) Sin is what produces rebellion against the Law. (v. 8, 11)
b) Sin produces death through the Law. (v. 10)
c) The Law arouses our sin nature. (v. 9a, 13b)
To Begin with,
a) Sin is what produces rebellion against the Law. (v. 8, 11)
a) Sin is what produces rebellion against the Law. (v. 8, 11)
8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
I love the way that our Bible translates this.
Sin seized the opportunity to use the law to tempt us to do greater sin.
In fact, Paul already alluded to this in .
In fact, Paul already alluded to this in :
5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
What might be confusing about this verse is what Paul means that- "apart from the law sin lies dead".
And we can best understand this verse,
as meaning not that there was no sin before the law.
After all Cain killed Abel long before the law.
So this verse must mean -
Sin increased and became greater once the law was established.
You want to tell me that rules change people?
According to Paul - Rules make disobedience worse.
Like I said before, the law exposed our sin nature.
Further,
b) Sin produces death through the Law. (v. 10)
b) Sin produces death through the Law. (v. 10)
10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
This verse actually challenged me to be a little more careful and how I talk about the law.
It is true that were condemned under the law,
but is it the law what condemns us?
According to this passage,
the law was meant to bring life to us.
echoes this -
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
But for a sinner, the law doesn't bring life.
>>>>>It brings eternal death in the lake of Fire.
It brings eternal death in the lake of Fire.
Then what is the cause of our death?
It is certainly not the law that was meant to give us life,
but our sin that produces death.
8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Finally,
c) The Law arouses our sin nature. (v. 9a, 13b)
c) The Law arouses our sin nature. (v. 9a, 13b)
Romans
Although many philosopher and public policy scholars have claimed that the problem with our society is that we just don't know better.
11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Romans
>>>>>Paul points us to a greater reason.
Paul points us to a greater reason.
It is not ignorance to the law that arouses sin, but the knowledge of the law that arouses sin.
It is in fact the exact opposite of ignorance.
It is in fact the exact opposite.
9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.
The Law arouses greater sin.
Another example of this in our text -
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
Paul concludes this paragraph by telling us why God gave us the law.
Have you ever considered why God gave us the law
and didn't just skip the law and go to Jesus?
Our passage teaches us the purpose of the Law was so that we would become exceedingly guilty before God.
>>>>>The very purpose of the law was to convey to you and me that we need Jesus Christ.
The very purpose of the law was to convey to you and me that we need Jesus Christ.
d) Sin brings us under judgement. (6:23; 7:10, 12)
It is very clear on this point – the law is not the problem, our sin nature is the problem.
CONCLUSION:
So what we do with the text like this?
The book of changes in important topic in the Christian life and was sad as we often look to the wrong thing.
Biblical change is important topic in the Christian life and sadly we often look to the wrong places to change us.
In this case… Too often we look to rules to change us.
In this case… Too often we look to rules to change us.
EXHORTATION: If I can just keep the rules … I can change… but the problem is we literally can’t keep the the rules.
We need more then rules to change us… otherwise why do we need Christ.
We
>>>> That is the whole point of the Gospel.
In Paul's day, the Jews struggled with looking towards the law to change them.
And Paul's very clear, that rules cannot change us.
In Paul's very clear, the rules cannot change us.
Not even God's law.
Not even God's law.
Instead, our sin nature uses the law to make us greater sinners.
But to really understand how to apply this passage,
we need to consider how we in our modern culture use law the wrong way.
But now consider - the question at hand.
And what might surprise us is how often we look to rules to change us.
Can Rules change us?
When God makes it very clear that not even his Law can change us.
How do we trust rules to change us?
And what might surprise us is how often we look to rules to change us.
When God makes it very clear that not even his Law can change us.
Some are lost in their sins - because they are trying to earn their salvation by keeping the rules.
>>> But one of the reason’s we know good works do not save us is because we can’t keep the rules.
But one of the reason’s we know good works do not save us is because we can’t keep the rules.
So we do rule keeping to get saved.
May I suggest that legalism has the same problem
>>>> In Legalism we are trusting rules to keep us from sin, but again we can’t keep the rules.
We have made a mistake if we think the person who is struggling with sin just needs a rule.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Additionally,
Pragmatic five-step programs – is similar. Five step programs often are trusting rules to help us change.
Pragmatic five-step program – is trusting rules to help us change.
I appreciate the honesty of some people when they say the five rules for overcoming X.
In fact, I appreciate the honesty when people say the five rules for overcome X.
It's not that legalism and pragmatic programs don’t have level of help… But ultimately they rely on you changing by keeping rules.
If rules were all that we needed … then why do people jump from one five-step program to another.
Further,
Parenting is often a place where we wrongly use rules. So often we think rules and punishments is what going to make Johnny be a good kid.
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
And there is a balance here.
So there a role and purpose
So rules have a place for giving wisdom and teaching self control in our parenting.
Scripture does not tell us
But that only works if we do not try to make the Law what changes are children.
Paul Tripp addresses Parenting and the Law -
“If rules and regulations had the power to change the heart and life of your child, rescuing your child from himself and giving him a heart of submission and faith, Jesus would have never needed to come!”
Paul Tripp Proposes this Principal for rules and parenting -
Paul Tripp Proposes this Principal for rules and parenting -
“If rules and regulations had the power to change the heart and life of your child, rescueing your child from himself and giving him a heart of submission and faith, Jesus would have never needed to come!”
“Your Children need God’s law, but you cannot ask the Law do what only grace could accomplish.”
(Parenting: 14 Gospel Principals That Can Radically Change Your Family)
Now there is a balance here -
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
There is a use for the Law, but as Paul Tripp said - we can’t ask the Law to accomplish what only grace accomplishes.
Some parents get the idea - my kids just need to know the Grace of Jesus. And they will be fine.
But they only can understand their need for Jesus if they know the Law and convinces them they are helpless, lost sinners.
To often “grace filled” parenting is parenting without discipline.
>>>>>>>>>>[[[[That is not what I am teaching this morning.]]]]
But I believe the balance is a right use of the Law to give wisdom and conviction, while looking only to Christ and grace to change their sin nature.
And what is true of parenting,
Is true in all the other places in our life.
Adults included.
>>>> Biblical Change doesn’t come through rules, self-help, and determination.
But by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is a good use of the Law and rules,
but we can’t ask the Law to change us because only grace can change us.
What Paul communicates in this section is that,
the Law is not the problem.
Our sin nature is the problem
And the Law can’t change our hearts.
But
We ought to trust in Christ alone to change us.
Remember how our sin nature is changed - by the Gospel of Christ.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also 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.
From this text we ought not to trust in rules to change us,
In this text teaches us that keeping misses the point.
We more often than not to sin despite knowing it's wrong.
That is our sin nature that is the problem.
TRANS: This text teaches us three reasons we know sin is the problem.
but
PROP: We ought to trust Christ alone to change us.
May we this morning look to Christ alone, the only one who can change our sin nature and give us a new life.
Response:
a) Why would a Jew question whether the Law is sin? How does their question show a wrong view of the real problem?
b) How do you look to rules?
Does this passage teach you change by rules?
c) What is the true and ultimate source of change? What about the Gospel gives us this change? (see , )
d. Mediate and pray that God will help you claim the new life found in Christ.