The Members of the Body Pt. 1

The War in My Members

Romans 7:13–25 (ESV)

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.

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.

17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,

23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

What’s the Issue?

First of all, the issue is NOT the law.

The law is good and is NOT responsible for death.

Paul preached that the fault lies with sin, not with the law.

Paul preached this to believers.

Through the law, sin is revealed in all its hideousness, and the law is vindicated as good.

Romans 5:20 (NLT) - God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

Law

Law — means an inward principle of action, either good or evil, operating with the regularity of a law. The term also designates a standard for a person’s life.

The apostle Paul described three such laws.

“The law of sin” Operates through the flesh, causing one to sin. The only way we can overcome “the law of sin.” Is through another law.

“The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” sets us “free from the law of sin and death” When we follow this law as believers we can actually fulfill the righteous requirements of God’s law.

God’s law - (10 Commandments & Torah) is the standard for human action that corresponds to the righteous nature of God.

Wretched

As born again believers we are free from the condemnation of the law.

Although sin continues to dwell within us.

Why? Because we still have a fleshly body, we were born into sin… and because we live in a fallen world.

Therefore we need to be aware of how far they fall short of God’s absolute standard of righteousness.

Paul cried out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

And the answer is that the one who will deliver them day by day is “Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The Conflict of Two Natures

Christians still struggle with sin through their whole lives.

Galatians 5:17 ESV

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

1 John 1:8–9 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As Christians were supposed to grow in sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

Romans 8:2 ESV

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

We are delivered daily from the indwelling power of sin by...

Walking “not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”

By not “setting our minds on the things of the flesh, but … on the things of the Spirit”

By the indwelling presence of “the Spirit of God [who] dwells in us”

So what are the members that Paul is referring to is Romans 7:23?

First, let’s define what the term “Member” actually means.

Greek: μέλος, melos - Member, a limb or part of the body

Yatsur (Hebrew)

melos (Greek)

The first Hebrew word is derived from a root meaning "to knead," "to mold in clay," "to create."

The term member refers to any feature or part of the body.

James 3:5–6 ESV

5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

"The members" is equivalent with "the body"

The members of the body are not self-governing, but execute the orders of the mind, obeying either the fleshly (lower nature) which produces sin, iniquity, unrighteousness and uncleanness.

Or we can follow the spiritual (higher nature), which obeys the Divine impulses in the believers life fulfilling the law of Christ. (Expound).

The War Within

James 4:1 ESV

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

We must be regenerated!

When the Spirit of Christ becomes the governing power, using our members and all of our abilities, in the execution of His plans.

This is not done while we remain passive, but only when we have actively presented or yielded our members to His service.

Romans 6:19 ESV

19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

The consequence of living according to the law of sin is death.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 7:5 ESV

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.

Discipline

Jesus taught the severe discipline is needed to subdue the members of the body to perfect submission under the law of the Spirit of life. Everything that contradicts that must be “cut off.”

Matthew 5:29–30 ESV

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Paul also speaks of putting to death (the King James Version "mortifying") the "members which are upon the earth"

Colossians 3:5 ESV

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

What’s the solution?

Romans 6:13 - Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

And right before that in Romans 6:9-11, it says...

Romans 6:9–11 ESV

9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

So if you are dead to sin that makes you not a sinner...

You are saved by grace!

Conclusion: No Condemnation.

Romans 8:1 ESV

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