Romans 7:7-13

We'll continue our study today of Romans, in Romans chapter 7, beginning in verse 7, and we'll study today through verse 13.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

! Please join me in reading that.

What then shall we say that the law of sin? By no means. Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin, for I would not have known what it is to covet.

If the law had not said, you shall not covet. But sin, seizing opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness.

For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died.

The very commandment that promised life proved to be death for me. For sin, seizing opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good. 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.

God measure. Let's pray together.

Father God, we praise you for your great work amongst us.

I thank you, Father, that I can look out over this group of people who have just sang,

on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground shifting sand,

and that my heart can be moved to praise you for your redemptive work in the lives of so many here this morning.

I pray, Father, now as we study your word, we will take knowledge and combine it with understanding,

so that we might have wisdom.

That that wisdom will yield in our life appropriate fruit for your glory and our good.

We pray this in the precious name of Christ. Amen.

Well, Paul, to this point, is certainly being thematic in his writing,

and his theme throughout Romans has been the theme of Scripture.

That the salvation of man from the wrath of God,

justly due him because of his sin,

that salvation only comes by grace, through faith in Christ.

By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

And he's talked about the law quite a bit up until this point.

He's told us a lot about what the law cannot do.

The law cannot save us, he tells us in chapters 3 through 5.

The law can't sanctify or perfect us, he tells us in chapter 6.

And the law can no longer condemn those who have placed their faith in Christ,

he tells us in the first six verses of chapter 7.

And Paul then, coming to verse 7 of chapter 7,

anticipates a question from his readers.

And it is this.

If we have been delivered from the law to live by the Spirit,

was the law then evil?

If we've been delivered from it in order to live righteously,

was the law itself evil?

He says it this way.

What then shall we say?

That the law is sin?

And he answers it emphatically.

By no means.

By no means.

And the remainder of our verses are the explanation of what he means by that.

By no means.

In Greek, meginoito.

It's the strongest negative phrase in the Greek language.

So I want you to think of the strongest negative phrase in the English language.

Get it in your mind.

We're going to go with, of course not.

Not really the strongest negative phrase in the English language.

But that's what he was using.

Absolutely.

No way is that what is true.

But then he goes on to explain that.

And this morning I want to show four things that the law does do.

The law is not sin.

Emphatically, no, the law is not sin.

What does the law then accomplish on our behalf?

And I want to show you four things from these next seven verses.

And they are the law exposes sin.

It arouses sin.

It ruins the sinner.

And it reveals the sinfulness of sin.

The magnitude of our sin.

Those are our four things.

And Paul tells us this from his own experience.

And in order to teach these universal truths,

he uses his own conversion experience in these next verses that are going to come.

And look at all the personal pronouns.

I'm not going to point them all out.

But look at all the I's and me's throughout these seven verses.

So he's speaking from his own personal experience,

which helps us understand a bit what he means as he's saying all this.

So number one, the law exposes sin.

We find that in the second half, second two-thirds of verse seven.

Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.

For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, you shall not covet.

Now, Paul is not saying that he was unaware of evil in his life apart from the law.

All right.

On the surface, it seems to be saying that.

But if you flip back and look at Romans chapter two, verse 12,

it says,

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.

And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

And in chapter one, we learn that the law of God is written on men's hearts.

They know right from wrong.

So what does he mean then when he says,

If it hadn't been for the law, I wouldn't have known sin.

What he means is that he wouldn't have known the magnitude of his sin.

He wouldn't have really understood just how wretched and evil he was.

By New Testament times,

Jewish rabbis had summed up scriptural law in 613 commandments,

comprised of 248 mandates,

which related things such as worship,

the temple,

sacrifices,

vows,

social issues,

etc.

And 365 prohibitions,

things like idolatry and blasphemy,

the priesthood of diets,

loans,

business arrangements,

etc.

And they had become absolutely consumed with trying to keep the law.

The point of the law, though,

the major point of it was to show us

how incapable we are

of living up to the standard of God.

That's why it existed.

God said,

I desire for you to be holy.

This is what it looks like.

Watch yourselves fail.

Be aware of your need

of a Savior.

That was the purpose that the law came to serve.

The law shows us

our inability to live

to the standard of God.

Why does Paul use that commandment?

Exodus 20, 17

is where that's found.

Thou shalt not covet.

Why of all the laws he could have chosen

to show us our frailty,

show us how incapable we are

of living to the standard of God,

why that one?

The last of the Ten Commandments.

Both the Hebrew and the Greek word for covet

is the word,

could also be rendered desire.

Desire.

That which motivates us.

That which we love.

So,

thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house

gets to the root of who you are

and what you're satisfied in.

If you desire anything other than God,

it's evidence in your life

that you are not satisfied with Him.

It's a very piercing decision

that he made here.

Is it not?

Thou shalt not covet.

Thou shalt not desire things

other than your God.

It exposes then

our motivation.

It exposes our sin nature.

Not just that we sin,

but that we are utterly

sinful

apart from Christ.

Many illnesses

carry with them

symptoms.

I've never had appendicitis,

but I hear that appendicitis

is incredibly painful.

That your appendix

hurts.

And why does it hurt?

Your body is telling you

something is wrong.

You need a surgery desperately.

Before I burst.

As your appendix is telling you.

In the same way,

the law is the exposure.

It brings to light

how really ill we are.

Last night,

I was awoken

quite drastically

when Sam

elbowed me in the eye.

and I was asleep

when it happened,

but I imagine

it was like

this kind of

an elbow.

Because

I woke up like this

and my eye flashed

like bright

white flashes of light

and the first thought

that went through my head

was,

I'm not going to be able

to see out of my left eye

tomorrow.

There's no way.

I'm going to have to

preach like this

and I don't know

that I can do that

because I don't have

great vision in my right eye

either.

But the pain,

the pain wasn't

the evil was it?

It was the symptom

of some greater evil.

Not my wife,

but that my eye

had been struck.

Right?

But that my eye

had been hit

was the greater

evil there

and it was damaged

and that pain

that woke me up

was my eye.

Sam,

I love you

even when you

sucker punch me

when I'm sleeping.

I still love you

just the same.

So the law then

serves to expose

our sin

to show us

just how

sinful

we actually

are.

You are now

aware.

None of you

get out of this

this morning.

If you desire

anything more

than God,

shame on you.

Not only does it

expose our sin,

it also

arouses our sin.

So number two,

the law arouses

our sin.

Verse eight,

Paul writes,

but sin,

seizing an opportunity

through the commandment

produced in me

all kinds

of covetousness.

For apart from the law,

sin lies dead.

Let's deal with the

last part of that

first.

Sin lies dead.

That's an interesting

question in my mind.

Sin lies dead

apart from the law.

And I've just

already touched on this,

but it exists,

but it is in a

sense dormant.

We don't really

understand.

We don't really

get that we've

betrayed God

to the degree

that we have

apart from the law.

But we see in here

kind of an interesting

turn of phrase,

but sin,

seizing opportunity

through the commandment,

produced in me

all kinds of

covetousness,

which is sin,

right?

So he seems to be

saying,

sin produced

sin.

Yeah?

It kind of looks

that way,

doesn't it?

He seems to give

sin a personality,

right?

As if what he's

referring to is

another person,

right?

So this thing

called sin

produced something

called sin,

or we could say

sins,

produced in him

covetousness.

Again,

Paul is getting

to our nature.

We move on

through chapter 7,

Paul's going to

talk a lot about

the battle that

goes on within

him,

his new desires

and his old

desires,

his new self

and his old

self.

So his sin

nature

produced

sins within

him.

And it's so

important for us

to understand

that about

ourselves,

both pre-Christ,

pre-regeneration,

that we were

utterly

spoiled.

Absolutely.

We were created

in the image of

God,

God,

but sin

destroyed that

evil

completely

before Christ.

Now that we're

found in Christ,

we still carry

around the baggage

of our old

selves.

It's important

that you get

this to its

extremity.

He says that

sin seized an

opportunity,

the Greek for

opportunity here

is a formé,

and it's

also used to

speak of a

base of

operations.

So it's as if

you say our

sin nature

uses the law

as a command

center from

which to

launch its

evil campaign

into the

world.

You see that?

So the law

then gives our

sinful nature

something to

pick at.

Your parents

say to you,

don't do

this thing.

What did you do

growing up?

The very thing

you weren't

supposed to

do.

Our house is

incredibly

childproof,

but there's

typically

something sitting

out that

Cade cannot

touch.

I'll leave my

laptop sitting

on the couch,

for example.

The one thing

in the entire

room I don't

want him to

touch, and I

tell him,

Cade, don't

touch the

computer.

What does he

go straight

to?

The computer.

The law

does the same

thing in

sinful man.

It says to

us, don't

do or do

do these

things, and

our nature

repels against

it.

He uses

it to

exacerbate

sin in

our life.

John Bunyan's

allegory,

Pilgrim's

Progress,

after the

main character

of Christian

becomes a

Christian, he

goes to a

man's house

called the

interpreter,

and one of

the rooms

the interpreter

takes him

to is a

dusty room.

It's got

furniture in

it covered

with cloths,

and there's

just this

thick layer

of dust

laid down

in the

room.

And the

interpreter

tells Christian

that this

is his

life.

And a

man comes

in with

a broom,

and it

looks like

he's coming

in to

clean up,

but he

begins to

just stir

the dust.

And soon

the room

is so

filled with

dust that

Christian can

barely breathe

any longer.

And in the

allegory,

the man with

the broom

is the law.

And he

stirs up,

he exacerbates

the level

of sin

in Christian's

life.

So Christian

is coming

to an

understanding

of what

it is

he's being

delivered

from.

I didn't

read it

in detail,

I don't

remember the

exact details,

but I

believe two

characters

come in

after that

with water

and they

sprinkle

down all

the dust

and they

clean it

all up.

And that's

the grace

of God

in our

lives.

So the

law exposes

our sin,

it arouses

our sin,

and the

law also

ruins

sinners.

Number three,

the law

ruins

sinners.

Read with

me verses

9-11.

Paul says,

I was once

alive apart

from the

law,

but when

the commandment

came,

sin came

alive and

I died.

The very

commandment

that promised

life proved

to be death

for me,

for sin

seizing an

opportunity

through the

commandment

deceived me

and through

it killed

me.

Now Paul

says,

I was once

alive apart

from the

law.

And this

is where

the fact

that this

is his

personal

story needs

to be taken

into account.

Paul was

a Pharisee,

an incredibly

zealous

Pharisee.

Paul was

trained up

in the

law.

So was

there ever

a time

in Paul's

life where

he didn't

know the

law?

No.

So what

in the

world does

he mean,

I was

alive apart

from the

law?

And then

he says,

when it

came,

sin came

alive and

I died.

It's

confusing

language,

isn't it?

What I

firmly believe

Paul is

saying is

that when

he came

to a

proper

understanding

of the

law,

when he

saw the

law for

what it

was meant

to accomplish,

not that

he could

keep the

law,

but when

he saw

that the

law was

a standard

he could

not live

to,

when the

law came

alive,

when he

understood

what it

was for,

he died.

All of

his religious

activity,

all the

things he

thought he

was doing

to earn

favor with

God,

were destroyed.

He absolutely

died.

Chris this

morning as we

were praying

downstairs,

thanked God

that there is

nothing we can

do to make

him love us

more.

There's also

nothing we can

do to make

him love us

less.

That's the

point, I

believe,

being made

here.

The very

commandment

that promised

this life

proved to

be death

for him.

All of his

activity,

all those

things he

had strained

forward for.

Some of us

are that way.

In our

Christianity,

now that we

have been

delivered from

the law,

we strive to

be found in

good favor with

God, and it

becomes our

idol.

That becomes

who we are.

Paul says in

Philippians 3,

7, and 8

that he counted

all of his

religious activity

upon encountering

Christ.

Everything,

all of his,

not thinking of

the right words,

all the credit

that was due

him for all

of his

religious activity.

He counted

it as

loss.

And he goes

so far as to

say he counted

it as

rubbish.

Another

great English

word would fit

in there,

but we're not

going to say it.

Counted it

as rubbish.

And he uses

this phrase again

in verse 11,

again,

seizing an

opportunity.

The law,

the sin in his

life,

seized an

opportunity

through the

law to

deceive him

and kill him.

And that is

the subtle

deception of

our sin

nature.

The subtle

deception of

our sin

nature is

that we

can,

in fact,

do good

on our

own.

That we

can,

in fact,

apart from

the grace

of God,

please God

at all.

Number

four.

The law

exposes sin,

it arouses sin,

it ruins

sinners.

Number

four,

the law

reveals the

sinfulness

of sin.

The magnitude

of sin.

So Paul

says,

so the law

is holy.

I'm now

establishing that

once again.

So the law

is holy,

and the

commandment

is holy,

and it's

righteous,

and it's

good.

Did that

which is

good then

bring death

to me?

By no

means.

It was

sin

producing

death in

me,

through that

which is

good,

in order

that sin

might be

shown to

be sin,

and through

the commandment

might become

sinful

beyond measure.

Turn with me

to Psalm

19.

Let's read

together what

David says

of the law

starting in

verse 7.

The law

of the Lord

is perfect,

reviving the

soul.

The testimony

of the Lord

is sure,

making wise

the simple.

The precepts

of the Lord

are right,

rejoicing the

heart.

The commandment

of the Lord

is pure,

enlightening

the eyes.

The fear

of the Lord

is clean,

enduring forever.

The rules

of the Lord

are true

and righteous

altogether.

More to be

desired are

they than

gold,

even much

fine gold,

sweeter also

than honey,

and drippings

of the honeycomb.

Moreover,

by them

is your servant

warned,

in keeping

them there

is great

reward.

The law

is good

and righteous

and holy.

It's not the

fault of the law.

It's the fault

of us.

It's the fault

of our sin,

birthing

through the law

more sin

to make sin

sinful

beyond measure.

Our sin

is infinitely

vile

in the eyes

of God.

Our sin

nature has

produced it

to that

measure.

So,

the law

exposes sin,

it arouses sin,

it ruins sinners,

and it reveals

the sinfulness

of sin.

But,

so what?

Why does this

matter?

Why did Paul

write this?

Why am I

spending this

time telling

you this

and possibly

having you

take notes

on it?

Right?

Three things.

Number one,

the law

brings us

the necessary

humility

for salvation.

salvation.

The law

brings to us

the necessary

humility

for salvation.

The law

serves as

a mirror.

Before we

know Christ,

we hold the

law up to us

as a mirror,

and we see

how ugly

our sin

is.

If you claim

to know Christ

this morning,

but you've never

been broken

over your

sinfulness,

if you've

never compared

yourself to

God's holy

perfect law

and found

yourself coming

so short

of it,

then in your

own mind,

you have no

need of God's

grace.

You don't

need Christ.

You don't

need His

sacrifice because

you're already

perfect.

perfect.

But if,

as a Christian,

you've honestly

held your

life up to

the law,

filtered it

through it,

and seen

how wretched

and miserable

you are,

then great

is your

Savior.

Which brings

us to

number two.

It causes

us to

praise our

great Savior.

If your

sin is

great,

your Savior

will also

be great.

And if we

know God's

law,

if we

study it,

we'll know

our sin

is great.

Both before

I was saved

and even

now that

I am,

my sin

is great.

Which makes

my Savior

all the

much

greater.

God's

grace to

us is

immense.

Just as

our sin

is sinful

beyond measure,

God's

grace

goes beyond

measure.

It is

infinite

toward us

in the

person and

work

of Jesus

Christ.

In

Deuteronomy

27-26,

Moses says,

Cursed be

anyone who

does not

confirm the

words of

this law

by doing

them.

And then in

the next

chapter,

he goes on

to talk about

what will

happen to

those people

who don't

keep God's

law.

Turn with

me to

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28.

We won't

read all of

this, but I

just want you

to get the

point.

Deuteronomy

28, starting

in verse 15.

But if you

will not obey

the voice of

the Lord your

God, or be

careful to do

all his

commandments and

his statutes

that I command

you today,

then all

these curses

shall come upon

you and

overtake you.

Curse shall

you be in

the city, and

curse shall

you be in

the field.

Curse shall

you be your

basket and

your kneading

bowl.

Curse shall

be the fruit

of your

womb and

the fruit

of your

ground, the

increase of

your herd and

the young of

your flock.

Curse shall

you be when

you come in,

and curse shall

you be when

you go out.

The Lord

will send

on you

curses,

confusion,

and frustration,

and all

that you

undertake to

do, until

you are

destroyed and

perish quickly

on account of

the evil of

your deeds,

because you

have forsaken

me.

The Lord

will make

the pestilence

stick to

you until

he has

consumed you

off the

land, and

you are

entering to

take possession

of it.

The Lord

will strike

you with

wasting

disease, and

with fever,

inflammation, and

fiery heat, and

with drought, and

with blight, and

with mildew.

They shall

pursue you

until you

perish.

And the

heavens over

your head

shall be

bronze, and

the earth

under you

shall be

iron.

The Lord

will make

the rain

of your

land

powder.

From

heaven, dust

shall

come down

on you,

until you

are

destroyed.

You get

the weight

of God's

wrath

towards sin,

and we've

been delivered

from that,

not because

we kept

the law.

This curse

lies with

us, because

we've

transgressed

the law.

But because

of Christ,

we're seen

as righteous

in Him.

We are

delivered

because we

have the

righteousness

of Christ.

It's as

if we

kept the

law because

of our

faith in

the one

who did.

Isn't

our Savior

great?

Certainly

He is,

if our

sin is

great.

And it

is.

Number

three,

the law

is a

tool used

to bring

others to

Christ.

The law

is a

tool used

to bring

others to

Christ.

A great

example of

this, from

the ministry

of Jesus

in Matthew

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19,

the rich

young ruler

comes to

Him and

says,

Teacher,

what must I

do to

have eternal

life?

Remember Jesus'

response to

him?

Keep the

commandments.

And the

new

ruler says,

which ones?

And he

lists off

some of

them for

him.

He

says,

all of

these I

have

kept.

I am

righteous.

I am

doing

well.

What does

Jesus then

do?

He gives

him a

command that

he knows

he cannot

keep.

He tells

the rich

young ruler

to take

all that

he has,

sell it,

and give

it to

the poor.

And what

does the

rich young

ruler do?

He goes

away sad

because his

riches,

his wealth

was great.

And what

the text

literally

means is

to him,

it was

great.

He valued

it.

He desired

it.

His

sin nature

worshipped

it over

God.

So the

law is

brought in

to humble

the sinner.

In other

cases in

scripture,

Jesus does

the same

thing,

and the

person

repents

and

believes.

The

person who

is not

humble

doesn't

need the

grace of

God.

They

need the

law to

bring to

them

humility.

So that

they can

receive the

grace of

God.

Use the

law in

your gospel

presentations.

Point out

to people

how sinful

they are

at their

very core.

And then

give them

the grace

of God.

Tell them

of what a

great Savior

we have.

Somebody

comes to

you already

humble,

don't beat

them up

with the

law.

Then it's

time for

grace.

Some people

get through

step one

on their

own and

don't need

your help.

They just

need step

two.

The law

was given

to us

as a tool

to expose

our sin.

It arouses

it.

It ruins

us when we

realize how

self-righteously

we have

tried to

live.

And it

reveals just

how sinful

we

actually

are.

Oh,

what a

Savior.