Romans 7:14-25

So, we've been continuing our study through Romans, which has been a great joy and a challenge so far.

Last week, I talked to you a bit about Paul's case that he's been building for us, justification by faith alone, and he's talked to us quite a bit about the law up to this point.

But mostly about what the law cannot do. The law cannot save us, he said in chapters 3 through 5. It cannot sanctify us, he said in chapter 6.

It can no longer condemn us, the first six verses of chapter 7.

We are justified through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, forever. Praise God.

That our right standing before him is conditioned only on our belief in him.

And that belief is a gift from him.

Jesus sought me when a stranger.

We are now bound up with Jesus Christ.

Last week, we talked about what the law can and does do.

The purpose that it does in fact serve.

And we saw from the text that it exposes, arouses, and reveals the magnitude of our sin.

Those verses 7 through 13.

And now we get back to what the law cannot do.

We get back to the fact that the law cannot sanctify us.

So, we were saved by faith.

We're not now being perfected by the law.

We were saved by faith and we shall be perfected by faith.

That's the major point of the text that's before us.

But I think for us to really properly understand this, to wrap our minds around it, to find the value in the text for us,

we must first understand the vantage point that Paul is speaking from.

We have to know what it is that he means.

There's varying opinions.

Commentators say different things about who Paul is, what he's referring to as he says this.

I do what I want, I don't do what I want.

Here's what's going on in me, this battle that's waging within me.

There are those who think that Paul is giving us an account of him prior to conversion,

before he places faith in Christ.

There are those, the majority, church history would agree, I agree,

that this is Paul as he sat down to write this letter.

This is Paul, this is his present day experience that he's penning for us.

I want to show you why I believe that to be true before we continue our study together.

Number one reason I believe this to be true,

Paul's use of first person, present pronouns.

Not just first person, but first person, present pronouns.

He uses I or me or my in the present tense 39 times in these verses.

I hope I counted them right.

I did it this morning at 530, so I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure I counted that right.

It's a lot.

A lot of times he uses these personal, present pronouns to speak of himself.

Second reason, Paul speaks of the law as only a Christian can.

Verse 22, he says,

For I delight in the law of God.

I find great joy in the holiness of God.

That's what he's saying.

And not just that he has a mental assent to it,

not just that he says,

Yeah, that seems good to me.

But he delights in it in his inner being.

He has an abiding delight in the law of God.

An internal joy that only a Christian can have.

Third reason I believe he's speaking of his present condition

is that Paul speaks of himself as only a Christian can.

Look at verse 18.

He says,

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.

That is a man that has been broken over who he is.

That is a man that understands his fallen state,

who knows that he was created in the image of God,

but that it was completely destroyed by sin.

He gets that weight.

He's broken of spirit.

But lest we misunderstand who he is,

he clarifies,

that is in my flesh.

My body has fallen.

My spirit has been renewed.

Paul gives us another example of a matured Christian

also living in this way,

having this present day struggle with sin.

in Galatians chapter 2,

Galatians 2:11–13

verse 11 through 13.

I ask you to turn there with me.

Galatians 2,

Galatians 2:11

verse 11.

This event happens at the Council of Jerusalem.

And Paul starts verse 11 by saying,

but when Cephas,

now Cephas is the Greek word for rock,

so it would have been the equivalent,

the Greek equivalent of Peter's Hebrew name.

And you'll understand why in a second,

why he calls him Cephas.

But when Cephas came to Antioch,

I opposed him to his face

because he stood condemned.

For before certain men came from James,

he was eating with the Gentiles.

But when they came,

he drew back and separated himself,

fearing the circumcision party.

And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically,

hypocritically,

excuse me,

hypocritically,

okay, reset,

hypocritically, thank you,

along with him,

so that even Barnabas was led astray

by their hypocrisy.

You remember the life of Peter?

Some of the first real account

of his sinfulness

was his denial of Jesus Christ.

What was the sin that motivated that?

A man who believed,

who had professed

that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

Fear,

which was hypocrisy.

He feared who?

He feared the Jews.

He feared those who were

putting to death Jesus Christ.

So here we see then

the same sin cycling back up

in the life of Peter.

This is present day experience.

This is the life of every Christian.

Paul now,

at this point of writing Romans,

has been a Christian for 20 years.

And yet still he wages war

against sin.

We all experience that.

You've placed your faith in Christ.

You experience this.

You battle with your old self.

It still exists.

And that's why we must understand

this text properly

to wring the value out of it

for our living.

The opposite view,

the opposition that says

this was pre-regeneration for Paul,

primarily pulls that from verse 14

where he says,

but I am of the flesh

sold under sin.

The idea of bond servanthood

to sin.

But he clarifies that

in verse 23.

He says,

the sin that dwells

in his members,

in that old self.

So I think it's a very simple

understanding of that

that we can get around that with.

J.I. Packer,

in an article

defending the view

that I'm presenting to you

on this text,

wrote this,

Paul is not telling us

that the life

of the wretched man

is as bad as it could be,

only that it is not as good

as it should be.

And that because the man

delights the law

and longs to keep it

perfectly,

his continued inability

to do so

troubles him acutely.

The wretched man

is Paul himself,

spontaneously voicing

his distress

at not being a better Christian

than he is.

So you see that?

Part of the fear

that comes from

the opposing view

that this is Paul

pre-regeneration,

pre-conversion,

is that this gives us

some sort of license.

Gives us an air

of defeatism.

Well,

I can't have victory

over sin.

Look at Paul.

This is Paul.

He's been a Christian

for 20 years.

Amazing man of faith.

And yet,

he still struggles.

How can I possibly

have victory

in all of this?

He gives us

the answer

so clearly

at the end

of this text

about how we will

have victory

in this.

And we'll certainly

get there together.

So what is it

that Paul desires

us to learn?

We have a proper

perspective of it.

What is it that Paul

desires to teach us,

at least in part,

today?

Firstly,

he's arguing

for the goodness

and spirituality

of the law of God.

Verse 13,

he says,

Did that which is good

then bring death

to me?

By no means.

Verse 12,

So the law is holy

and the commandment

is holy and righteous

and good.

He's continuing

that argument.

So, firstly,

he's arguing

for the goodness

and spirituality

of the law of God.

Secondly,

he's arguing

for the reality

of what he calls

indwelling sin.

Indwelling sin.

To explain

why Christians

are not perfect

and don't measure up

to our own

high standards.

is presenting

this idea

of indwelling sin.

And I want to show

you these two things.

The affirmation

of the law,

his esteem

for the law,

and his acknowledgement

of indwelling sin

in four pairs

of statements

here in our text.

Okay?

So,

pair number one,

Romans 7,

14a,

the first part of it,

his esteem

for the law,

for we know

that the law

is spiritual.

The law is from God.

The second part

of 14,

acknowledgement

of indwelling sin.

But I,

am of flesh,

sold under sin.

Second pair,

Romans 7,

16,

his esteem

for the law.

Now,

if I do

what I do not want,

I agree with the law

that it is good.

His acknowledgement

of indwelling sin,

Romans 7, 17.

So,

now it is no longer

I who do it,

but sin

that dwells

within me.

And this is where

we get that phrase.

Here's that

indwelling sin

term.

You can see it again

in verse 20.

And if I do

what I do not want,

it is no longer

I who do it,

but sin

that dwells

within me.

Same phrasing there.

Pair number three

is the theme

for the law.

Verse 22,

For I delight

in the law of God

and my inner being.

Verse 23,

his acknowledgement

of indwelling sin,

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.

Pair number four,

the middle part

of verse 25,

his esteem

for the law,

so that I myself

serve the law

of God

with my mind

and in his

acknowledgement

of indwelling sin,

the last part

of verse 25,

but with my flesh

I serve the law

of sin.

So you can see

this battle

going on

within him.

Now I'm just going

to take a quick

aside here

just in case

your mind

is going this way.

I am not

a dualist.

No one who is

a member of

Christ's family

church here

is a dualist

and dualism

is the idea

of the little devil

and the little angel

on your shoulder

debating it out

with you

and you don't know

who's going to win.

We know

who's going to win.

I am not

a dualist

but yet

there's still

a war

going on

within us.

You see that

in verse 22,

the law

of sin

versus the law

of the mind

or our new being

is this war

that I'm referring to.

So there's

two practical points

for this morning.

We see that

this is the experience

of all of us.

Those of us

who are in Christ

still deal

with the burden

of our flesh.

Paul says,

Wretched man

that I am,

who will deliver me

from this

body

of death?

Where Paul was from

there was an ancient

tribe that used

to strap

dead people

onto people's backs

if they committed

murder.

The person they murdered

would be strapped

onto their back

and the punishment

would be that

this person

rotted

and their rot

spread to the

living person

and killed them.

This could be

what Paul had in mind.

He used this

phrasing.

Wretched man

that I am,

who will deliver me

from this body

of death?

It's killing me.

Praise be

to Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

Point one is,

we must fight.

There is a war.

We must fight.

If you are a Christian,

you must wage war

against your sin.

Clay shared with me

a great analogy,

which I am making my own,

but I want to give him

credit for it.

I had a friend

in high school

named Josh

that I used to

slap box with.

Most of the guys

in here will probably

get this, ladies.

I will try to explain

how this goes down.

We would slap box

and the idea

is that you don't

hurt each other.

It's not quite like

close-fisted boxing,

but it still hurts.

And I'm not

saying that I'm

a good slap boxer,

but I usually won.

So probably that means

that Josh was

a poor slap boxer,

but occasionally

I'd get a really

good shot in on him

and it would make

him very mad at me.

And guys,

you've all experienced

this,

that moment where

you took it

just a little too far,

my handprint

would be left

on his cheek

and he'd get mad.

And he would come

after me.

He was ready

to kill me.

He was mad.

What was my response?

We were playing a game,

so I continued

to have fun with him.

I continued to

bob and weave

and slap him

and knock him down

and do those things

until he would

calm down.

That's how we are

with our sin

as Christians often.

We're very

goofy with it.

We have fun.

We're cavalier

even with it.

Your sin

is trying

to kill you.

It should be

taken seriously.

If I actually

thought Joshua

was trying to

kill me,

I would have

acted much

differently.

We must

make war

against our sin.

A lot of us

complain about it.

A lot of us

are unhappy.

We lament

the sin in our life.

But we do

nothing

about it.

We must

make war.

I started

reading a book

this week

by J.C.

Ryle

called

Holiness.

It's

Nature,

Hindrances,

Difficulties,

and Roots.

It's been a

fantastic read

so far.

He said this

in that book.

The true

Christian is

called to be

a soldier

and must

behave as such

from the day

of his conversion

to the day

of his death.

He is not

meant to live

a life of

religious ease,

indolence,

and security.

He must

never imagine

for a moment

that he can

sleep and

doze along

away to

heaven,

like one

traveling in

an easy

carriage.

If he takes

his standard

of Christianity

from the

children of

this world,

he may be

content with

such notions,

but he will

find no

countenance for

them in the

word of God.

If the Bible

is the rule

of his faith

and practice,

he will find

his course

laid down

very plainly

in this

matter.

He must

fight.

Number two,

our victory

is sure.

I love

that we

serve the

sovereign God.

I love

that I have

come to

understand him

in that way.

I know

that our

God is

totally in

control.

Our victory

is sure.

We have

been bought.

That is

finished.

What a

motivation to

fight.

I don't

have to be

put down

by these

temporary

setbacks

and my

failures.

I can

continue to

wage war

even when I

lose a

battle.

Paul wrote

to Timothy

in 1 Timothy

6.12,

Fight the

good fight

of the

faith.

The article

in front of

faith that's

in the ESV

doesn't actually

exist in the

original text.

The fight

of faith

is what

Paul is

saying.

It's a

fight that we

fight in

light of

this victory.

It's a

fight that we

fight out of

dependency on

Christ.

Our

salvation, our

justification was

bought by

faith.

So is our

sanctification.

In believing in

the promises of

God, he will

get us

through.

But isn't it

interesting in

that verse

that we're

told Paul's

commanding

Timothy, it's

the imperative

form, fight.

Be active.

Right?

Nobody who's

ever fought in a

war just sat

in the trenches

and it was

said of them

that they

fought.

You've got to

be active.

You've got to

be advancing

to fight.

So we see

that we play

a part.

There's a

responsibility

on our

part to

fight.

Isn't it

interesting?

All throughout

scripture that

happens.

You see those

two truths

taught.

That we are

to work

ourselves, but

yet it's God

who provides

the ability to

do so.

What does that

mean for us?

If you're a

Christian who

doesn't wage war

against sin,

what do you

do?

Do you sit

around and

wait for the

motivation for

it to happen?

You suddenly

find that you

get up off

the couch

and you

walk to

your desk

and you

open your

Bible and

you say,

what is

happening to

me?

I don't

know.

God must

be providing

you with

power to

do so.

You'll find

in the very

recognition the

things that you

should be doing

to wage war

against sin,

the hand of

God moving

in your life.

Be obedient.

Do what

you're told

to do.

And when you

do, you

will see the

hand of God

in your life.

God pushing

you on to

where you

must go.

I love

having a

toddler now.

I am

continually

understanding

God's grace

to me with

a one and a

half year

old.

Because when

I want

Cade to go

someplace,

Cade is

utterly sinful

right now.

And however

he feels,

he acts

out on it.

We tend

to mask

the way we

feel.

We logic it

away.

We come up

with excuses.

Cade does

exactly what

he's thinking.

So I want

him to

come.

He doesn't

want to.

He just

doesn't

come.

He ignores

me.

He'll lay

down on

the ground,

throw temper

tantrums.

What I do

is his

father.

I go and

I get him

and I pick

him up and

I hold him

by the hand

and I walk

him to where

I want him

to go.

So is

Cade

walking?

Yes.

Is there

an external

force taking

him to where

he should be?

Yes.

Absolutely.

The very

end of the

text,

verse 25,

Paul says,

Thanks be to

God through

Jesus Christ

our Lord,

who will

deliver me

from this

body of

flesh.

Thanks be

to God

through Jesus

Christ our

Lord.

And here's

the model he

gives us

of repentance

and belief

our salvation

began that

way,

turning from

our sin

and turning

toward God.

But the

Christian life

is a life

of repentance

and belief,

turning from

sin and

turning toward

God,

turning from

sin and

turning toward

moment by

moment,

day by

day,

turning from

our sin

and turning

toward God.

This is the

model of

repentance

that Paul

gives us

here.

Number one,

I love the

law of God.

Verse 22,

I love

the law

of God.

Verse 2,

I hate

what I just

did.

Sorry,

not verse 2,

number 2.

Verse 15,

I hate

what I just

did.

Number 3,

verse 24,

wretched man

that I am

who will set

me free

from this

body of

death.

Number 4,

thanks be

to God,

the victory

will come

through Jesus

Christ my

Lord.

That is this

model set

for us

of repentance

and faith

in Jesus

Christ.

We just

sang a

wonderful song

that I love

and it's

such an

encouragement

to me.

I know

you guys

weren't

singing for

me,

but it

served me

this morning.

Oh,

that day

when freed

from sinning,

I shall

see his

lovely face

clothed

then in

blood

washed

of linen,

how I'll

sing his

sovereign

grace.

That is

what we

look forward

to as

Christians

when we

can be

unfettered

by our

flesh.

When it's

no longer

an object

of obstacle

in our

lives to

praising

Christ

our

Lord.

Our

victory

in that

is sure

and therefore

we must

fight.

Let's pray

together.