Sermon Tone Analysis

Struggling with SIN

The end of the whole thing is that we arrive at an inward situation and not merely an outward one.

Actually we break this last commandment, not to covet, before we break any of the others.

Any time that we break one of the other commandments of God, it means that we have already broken this commandment, in coveting.

—Francis Schaeffer

Who is “I”?

Who is “I”?

Romans 7:7 “What shall we say, then?

Is the law sin?

Certainly not!

Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.

For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.””

1. “I” is autobiographical, Paul and his struggles over sin

2. “I” is Adam at the fall in the Garden of Eden and identifying the universal human struggle with sin.

3. “I” is the Jewish nation and identifying the unique struggle with sin created for Jews by the presence of the law.

4. “I” is US the entire Homan race and how we come face to face with the LAW

Illustration about when we were kids at Jones Beach and the shark copters

Romans 7:8 “But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.

For apart from law, sin is dead.”

Romans 7:9-11 “Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.”

Genesis 3:4-5 ““You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

Sin promises to satisfy our desires even more than the last time.•

Sin promises that our actions can be kept hidden, so no one will know.•

Sin promises that we won’t have to worry about consequences.•

Sin promises special benefits: wisdom, knowledge, and sophistication.•

Sin promises power and prestige in exchange for cooperation.Don’t buy the lie

When John Belushi died in the spring of 1983 of an overdose of cocaine and heroin, a variety of articles appeared, including one in U.S. News and World Report, on the seductive dangers of cocaine: “It can do you no harm and it can drive you insane; it can give you status in society and it can wreck your career; it can make you the life of the party and it can turn you into a loner; it can be an elixir for high living and a potion for death.”

Like all sin, there’s a difference between the appearance and the reality, between the momentary feeling and the lasting effect.

Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”

If the law causes so much difficulty, what useful purpose does it serve?

(1) It is a revelation of the nature, character, and will of God.

(2) Its ethical components were incorporated in Christ’s teaching.

(3) It teaches us about sin.

(4) It demolishes self righteousness.

Romans 7:13-14 “Did that which is good, then, become death to me?

By no means!

But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.”

How can we be free from sin and yet continue to do wrong?

In Christ, we are free from the penalty of sin (judgment) and the power of sin (hopelessness).

But while still in the flesh, we are not free from the presence of sin (temptations) and the possibility of sin (failures

Paul shares three lessons that he learned in trying to deal with his old sinful desires.

(1) Knowledge is not the answer (7:9).

Paul felt fine as long as he did not understand what the law demanded.

When he learned the truth, he knew he was doomed.

(2) Self determination (struggling in one’s own strength) doesn’t succeed (7:15).

Paul found himself sinning in ways that weren’t even attractive to him.

(3) Becoming a Christian does not stamp out all sin and temptation from a person’s life (7:22–25).Being born again starts in a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ takes a lifetime

Those who are really under grace take sin seriously.

Sin is no longer their master, but it is still a powerful adversary.

If we don’t take sin seriously, we fall into it.

If we don’t take victory seriously, we fail to utilize the Holy Spirit’s help

First: Put to death the misdeeds of the Body

Romans 7:16–17 (NIV84)

And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?”

Psalm 19:12-13 “Who can discern his errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.

Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”

Romans (The Struggle Within / 7:7-25)

One of the ongoing duties of God’s Spirit is to convict us of our potential for wickedness.

Serving “in the new way of the Spirit” (7:6) includes regular encounters with the Spirit’s convicting ministry in our life (see John 16:7–15)

When we are made aware of sin, we have a clear responsibility: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NIV).

Picture the highly trained commander of a modern tank equipped with laser guidance systems, electronic wizardry, and atomic power.

In preparation for a crucial battle he:

• loaded up with the wrong fuel

• filled his magazines with the wrong caliber ammunition

• picked up the wrong maps and directions

• left most of his crew in their bunks

How effective would he be under fire?

Yet how often do we undertake spiritual warfare in our own strength, using our own tools and resources, and making up our own directions as we go along?

We

Our Stride Isn’t Wide Enough

Many years ago when the children were small, we went for a little drive in the lovely English countryside, and there was some fresh snow.

I saw a lovely field with not a single blemish on the virgin snow.

I stopped the car, and I vaulted over the gate, and I ran around in a great big circle striding as wide as I could.

Then I came back to the kids, and I said, “Now, children, I want you to follow in my footsteps.

So I want you to run around that circle in the snow, and I want you to put your feet where your father put his feet.”

Well, David tried and couldn’t quite make it.

Judy, our overachiever, was certain she would make it; she couldn’t make it.

Pete, the little kid, took a great run at it, put his foot in my first footprint and then strode out as far as he could and fell on his face.

His mother picked him up as he cried.

She said to me, “What are you trying to do?”

I said, “I’m trying to get a sermon illustration.”

I said, “Pete, come here.”

I picked up little Peter and put his left foot on my foot, and I put his right foot on my foot.

I said, “Okay, Pete, let’s go.”

I began to stride one big stride at a time with my hands under his armpits and his feet lightly on mine.

Well, who was doing it?

In a sense, he was doing it because I was doing it.

In a sense there was a commitment of the little boy to the big dad, and some of the properties of the big dad were working through the little boy.

In exactly the same way, in our powerlessness we can’t stride as wide as we should.

We don’t walk the way we should.

We don’t hit the target the way we ought.