Sermon for July 5, 2020 ?? Minutes

This morning I'll be reading Romans chapter 7 verses 15 through 25.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Romans 7:15–25

Romans was written by Paul and he wrote these verses to try to help us in understanding that the conflict in personal sanctification involves seeing the relationship between ourselves and the sin dwelling inside us and how we are rescued from this dying body.

Romans 7:15–25

15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. 22 For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. 23 But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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I imagine that a lot of you celebrated July the 4th yesterday in one way or another.

July the 4th is a holiday that we have set aside to celebrate our independence,,, and July the 4th 1776 is the birthdate that we remember as the beginning of our great nation.

This is a holiday that usually we can put aside our differences and celebrate today,,, or at least we can agree that this day is a day that we should all celebrate and recognize since we all share in the enjoyment of our freedom today.

I've thought several times in the last few months that our country couldn't be any more divided than what it is right now.

But after looking at information on google,,, I found a paragraph that stated that after the revolutionary war,,, Americans continued to celebrate Independence Day every year,,, in celebrations that allowed the new nation’s emerging political leaders to address citizens and create a feeling of unity.

By the last decade of the 18th century,,, the two major political parties,,,—the Federalist Party and Democratic-Republicans—,,, that had arisen began holding separate Fourth of July celebrations in many large cities.

That appears to be very divided to me,,, maybe even worse than what we are today!

That's why that we need to spend our time studying the Bible and try to learn all that we can to help us along the way,,, because that’s the only hope that we have of repairing the damage that we have in this country.

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The scripture that we have this morning is hard to understand and requires careful thought and study.

It's easy for me to get lost in Paul's explanation found in these verses,,, and maybe it is for you as well.

Hopefully after looking at these verses this morning,,, it will help all of us,,, to understand them better.

Also,,, since yesterday was July the 4th,,, the holiday where we celebrate our freedoms that we cherish so greatly in this country,,, we will try to see how we can enjoy freedom from sin through our understanding of these verses today.

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As I told you at the beginning,,, Paul wrote this to help us to see that understanding the conflict in the way that we want to live and the way that we actually live,,, involves seeing the relationship between a believer and the sin that lives inside us,,, or is present with us in our natural bodies.

In the previous verses in this chapter,,, Paul has been speaking of other things and in verse 14 he has made a transition from the previous subject to this one that we are discussing this morning.

The statement,,, The Law is holy,,, in verse 12,,, is not only the conclusion of Paul’s previous argument,,, but also an accepted fact among Christians,,, something that none of us would argue about.

The Law comes from God who is Spirit (John 4:24) and expresses God’s will for human living.

Paul,,, using himself as the example,,, in verse 13,,, said the problem is,,, that I am unspiritual,,, in other words,,, I'm made of flesh” and I continue with my fleshly body.

In addition it says in verse 14 that he was sold as a slave to sin,,, so he still felt the effects of sin residing in him.

In relating his personal experience in verses 15–25 Paul was describing his present conflict as a Christian with indwelling sin and its continuing efforts to control his daily life.

The clause, “sold under sin”,,, describes someone who hasn't repented of their sin,,, but,,, it also describes a Christian,,, because sin also resides in a believer,,, and we are still subject to sin’s penalty of physical death.

As a result, indwelling sin continues to seek to claim what it considers its property even after one has become a Christian.

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Verse 15 says: 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.

This verse is describing a personal battle within himself that,,, possibly,,, many of us can identify with.

Paul is saying that he doesn't understand why that he isn't practicing what he wants to do and he doesn't understand why he does what he hates,,, or what he knows is wrong.

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Verse 16 says: 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

Paul agreed with the law and its goodness,,, but sin is like an alien power,,, something that has residence within him and causes him to do things that he hates.

He continues to do these things even though he knows that he shouldn't.

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Verses 17 and 18 say: 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.

Even after we have became Christians,,, there is no part of us that is sinless,,, no place without sin’s presence,,, and as a Christian we are unable to keep from doing the things that we know we shouldn't do on our own.

The only thing that is good in a believer,,, is the presence of the Holy Spirit.

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Verses 19 and 20 say: 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

Paul recognized that even as a believer he had an indwelling principle of sin that once owned him as a slave and that still expressed itself through him to do things he did not want to do and not to do things he desired to do.

This is a problem common to all believers.

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Verses 21 through 23 say: 21 So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. 22 For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. 23 But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that Paul was a person who tried to learn from his experiences,,, and when Paul says in verse 23 But I see a different law in the parts of my body,,, he wasn't talking about the Law given through Moses,,, but that he was talking about what he has learned through his personal experience.

He has learned that this is the principal of sin and it's waging war against the Christians mind and making him a prisoner of the law of sin at work within his members.

And it's this war that threatens our peace of mind as Christians,,, if we try to fight this battle in our own strength.

But we see the cry for help,,, and the answer to all of this,,, in the next two verses.

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Verses 24 and 25 say: 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.

Paul knows that this struggle is something that we cannot win by ourselves because he hasn't been able to win this war on his own either.

We must have help,,, and we receive that help,,, from Jesus Christ our Lord!

(10:56)

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Paul knew that these types of battles would always be a struggle for us if we didn't receive help to fight them.

This is something that cannot be won without paying attention to the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit.

So many times when we have problems of any kind,,, we try to take care of it ourselves and then it becomes a much bigger problem.

The best thing to do is keep our focus on Christ as He helps us through our daily problems.

It's through this relationship that allows us to defeat the enemy that is waging war inside us.

This battle is easily won this way,,, but as we see from these verses,,, it is a struggle trying to do it on our own.

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So,,, If we want to win this war that is being fought within us,,, we can see that we must have an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ.

It's through the Holy Spirit leading us every day that allows us to defeat sin living within us.

Sin will quickly get a hold if we let it and then satan will use that against us to try to convince us that we cannot win.

That's why that no matter what,,, we must have our minds set on Christ.

Paul figured out that he couldn't win without the help of the Holy Spirit and wrote these words to help us see that for ourselves.

Sin is something that we all struggle with,,, whether it is what we consider small sins if we are Christians or larger sins,,, that someone might have,,, even if they are Christians,,, or,,, someone that is not a Christian.

Quit trying to fight these battles on your own and let the Holy Spirit win them easily.

And that's done by letting our relationship with Jesus Christ guide us daily in everything that we do!

That allows us to win freedom over sin and allows us to celebrate the freedom that truly matters today,,, and if we all have that freedom,,, our country can truly celebrate together.

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