Romans 7:21-25 "The Basis of Our Deliverance"

Introduction

Christian discipleship is very hard. It is so true that regeneration, being born again by the Holy Spirit, is God’s work which liberates the will to freely believe the gospel by faith alone.

Being born again is a miracle. The Spiritually dead are made alive by God and it is the Spiritual equivalent of the resurrection of the physically dead. God still does miracles and regeneration the proof of that.

But once you are made alive you may have noticed that living as a disciple of Christ got much more difficult.

That is because the Holy Spirit uses the law of the conscience and the word of God to work His sanctifying grace progressively in your life.

The nature of our sinful flesh doesn’t just give up. It actually fights to make us a captive to sin.

This is not only true for us but it was true for the Apostle Paul as well as he tells us of the reality of this struggle due to the human condition. Look at this captivity in verses 21-23:

I. The Captivity (21-23).

There is a desire to do the right thing and there is even a delight in the law of God for the Apostle Paul. But he says evil is close at hand.

Evil here is that which is contrary to the moral law of God. We know that the summary of God’s moral law is recorded in the 10 Commandments.

God’s law stands as the absolute standard of moral truth and it is confrontational as it guides our sanctification.

And the Apostle Paul describes it as if there is a war that wages between that which he desires and delights in with his mind and the sin nature of his flesh.

This battle is common in the life of the Christian. Most of us know about this battle all too well. We can find it to be a very frustrating thing.

So much so that we can get very discouraged with it. And we don’t particularly like being reminded of it by preachers. So we desire to live in the land of complacency.

In Korea there is a line near the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea. It is literally a strip of land that cannot be occupied and used for military conflict.

Even though it would be nice in the battle between the flesh and the Spirit, there is no demilitarized zone in the Christian life. Yet if we are not careful we will con ourselves to believing it is there and to pretend that we can live in it.

It may surprise you to know that the human condition never takes a vacation. The Puritan John Owen said that you are to “be killing sin or it will be killing you” (The Mortification of Sin).

It is popular to equate the Puritans in our day with staunch legalism but in reality most of them understood in their day that the pursuit of pleasure without a passion for the holiness of God was contrary to our purpose.

This is why they proposed questions like: What is the chief end of man? and gave answers like: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Christian you can’t glorify God and enjoy Him forever hanging out in the imaginary demilitarized zone of your mind. Because your flesh doesn’t stop making you a captive to the law of sin. The enemy doesn’t take a break.

If you truly are His then God will see to it that your life experiences and the meaningful relationships in your life, including your church community, will prod you in the direction of the battle. Don’t despair or be discouraged in this.

But instead, rest assured that the ultimate Conquest of our battle in sanctification is secured by one far greater than us. Look at verses 24-25:

II. The Conquest (24-25).

Paul declares the reality of his own wretchedness. “Wretched man that I am” and notice he doesn’t say “wretched man that I was.”

For all of those who believe that God doesn’t want us to ever think of ourselves as wretched because it produces an unhealthy spiritual self esteem, here we have the Apostle Paul being inspired by the Holy Spirit unequivocally declaring his wretchedness.

Now why does the inspired writer of Romans say this about himself?

I think that the reality of the ongoing battle between his fleshly members and Spirit/the delight of God’s law, has convinced him of his wretchedness.

Well no wonder people don’t do it, it makes them feel miserable about themselves. This is why Preachers often opt out of gospel preaching for pop psychology and focus on felt needs instead.

Paul’s perception of himself is so bad he even ask the question in verse 24: “Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

The reality of his battle with sin doesn’t direct him to contemplate any compiled system of human pursuits of things like “3 steps to the better you.”

As a matter of fact in and of himself he sees no possibility of hope. Instead he recognizes that his condition is so hopeless that he needs a deliverer.

That is why in verse 25 he answers his own question by declaring his thanks to God for His work in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Christian the ongoing battle with sin points us to the reality of our ongoing need for grace. The battle of our sanctification as believers is not primarily about getting us to comply with God’s moral law.

The battle of our sanctification is about our hearts being sanctified away from self reliance into a deeper intimacy with God and reliance on him in Christ. The by-product of that is gospel centered obedience that exalts Christ.

This is how God exposes the futility of our identity in the self and anchors us in our identity with Christ.

Paul, this once upon a time Pharisee in training knew all about the dangers of the self reliance of religious pride. He knew all to well how it could even justify in our depraved nature even the murder of other people who disagree with you.

Christian the battle in our sanctification reminds us that we cannot look at ourselves for deliverance. We must look to God’s deliverance in Christ and everything that comes with it.

(Battle of two dogs-) Which one will win? the one that you feed.

Conclusion:

Which dog do you feed? What is the Basis of Your deliverance?

Perhaps you are an unbeliever here today. The law tells the story. Even your own conscience on the day of judgement will rise to condemn you before God.

You don’t need a lesson in self help or pragmatic principles to the better you. You need a savior! Believe the gospel of Jesus Christ for your salvation.

Believer you were not redeemed to hang out in the demilitarized zone of the 38th parallel. God is in the business of sanctifying dog of self-reliance out of you and pointing you to His provision of grace in Christ.

This is where human pride progressively bows to the glory of Almighty God. And this table displays the glory of His grace to us in Christ.

We come to Him in our battle with our sin. Weighed down with it. Maybe carrying the guilt and shame because of it.

But He doesn’t meet us with condemnation but He holds out Christ to us and He declares to us Come to my Table where I have spread my provision of grace to you in the body and blood of my beloved Son.

He calls us to examine ourselves in preparation for this table today. Confess your sin and rest in His grace.

Let’s Pray! No closed everyone together.