Hope for the Sinning Saint

Welcome, everyone. Let me add my welcome. My name's Stephen. I've met you before. I'm the lead pastor here at St. Paul's.

And if you just joined us, you have joined us at the time just as we're finishing up our Easter series for this year and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the hope that it produces and the life that it produces for us and as being the central message of Christianity.

And so what I really want to land on today is what the death and resurrection does for us is it produces hope for the sinning saint.

So Romans 7. We're grateful for that passage in front of you as you go through today.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a gothic horror novel written in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson.

You may be familiar with it, hopefully.

Dr. Jekyll is a well-to-do, moral, respectable citizen who sometimes, and in fact often, feels that he's battling between this good persona, this good person, moral, upright, rising person that he is, who does good in society, and this inner evil within himself.

And this internal battles, which is a real struggle for him, is between Dr. Jekyll, who he is, and this other persona, Mr. Edward Hyde.

And Jekyll has spent the great part of his life trying to suppress the evil urges that are there, that are not fitting for someone who's such a respectable member of community.

And so he makes this potion, and whenever he drinks the potion, Jekyll transforms into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseful, and evil Edward Hyde.

And the idea that what he's trying to do is Jekyll's trying to rid himself of this hide, so I can separate this personality, which is me, of both good and evil.

But what he finds, as the story unfolds, what happens is, that as he drinks the potion, over time, the evil Hyde grows more and more and more in power, to a point where Jekyll can no longer control Hyde and this inner evil.

And so what forms for him is this identity crisis.

Who am I?

Am I really Dr. Jekyll, or am I Edward Hyde?

Who am I?

It's one of the most famous pieces of English literature ever written.

It's had a substantial impact on popular culture with the phrase, the Jekyll and Hyde, being used in the vernacular to refer to people with this outward, good performance in life, if you like, presenting well,

and yet, at times, performing shockingly, terribly, and you see it on the news, where, you know, something happens, someone's been caught out doing something wrong, and they say,

I'm so embarrassed, I can't believe that this happened, this is not who I am.

And, well, actually, yes, it is.

It is who you are.

And so it's used in this Jekyll and Hyde trying to work out, which one am I?

And it is often used as an allegory in the Christian life, that there is a war in our hearts, a constant conflict between the old and the new, between vice and virtue, between sin and obedience.

And in actual fact, Robbie Lewis Stevenson grew up in a devout Christian home, and it is said that Romans 7 was the inspiration for him writing, or at least one of the inspirations for him writing this novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

And it's a description of, in fact, Stevenson's own life, where he found that he could not live out the Christian faith and its parameters,

and instead preferred a life of evil and wickedness and sin.

So Romans 7 reveals to us that life is a battle between two selves.

And when we become a Christian, we don't move from a state of battle to a state of peace.

We move from one battle to an entirely new battle, a new struggle.

And so that's the three points we're going to go through as we look at Romans 7 this morning and hope for the sinning saint.

So first of all, the struggle before Jesus.

Verses 7 to 13 is a description of the struggle that goes on in every human being that they've got going on inside of them.

And this is before Jesus.

And the question is, which is, you know, the big question that's been kind of, Paul's been dealing with,

if God gave people his law and his law is not able to be obeyed and doesn't lead to a life of righteousness,

well, is therefore the law sinful?

And Paul's short answer to that is absolutely not, certainly not.

And then his long answer is what we have here in verses 7 to 13.

And he's referring here to the Old Testament law.

You see, the whole thrust of Romans 1 to 5 is that people are justified,

they're made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ,

not by obedience to the Old Testament law,

not by obedience to, you know, Ten Commandments,

you know, live by the Ten Commandments and God will be,

you'll be right with God, he'll find you approved.

And so the question here is, if the law is not a means for salvation,

then doesn't that mean the law's bad?

And so here's the long answer.

The main thrust of the law, the summary of it, is in verse 7.

Therefore, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.

Thanks, Nick.

That's the summary.

And here's the four explanations, if you like, of that summary.

Firstly, what the law does for us is it defines sin.

Verse 7 again.

For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said,

you shall not covet.

That means, what that means is the very concept of coveting is outlined by the law.

And without that standard, Paul would not actually have understood what coveting actually was.

And he would not have known that it was a sin.

Secondly, what the law does is it reveals sin in us.

Verse 8.

But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,

produced in me every kind of coveting.

For apart from the law, sin was dead.

When a commandment of God comes to us, is what he's saying here.

Verse 7.

It aggravates.

It stirs up in sin in our hearts.

It doesn't show us what sin is in a general category kind of way.

It shows that sin resides in us.

It's not out there, but it's in here.

However, the law made sin in Paul's life, as it does for everyone, much worse.

And it makes it, therefore, totally inexcusable.

Because what the law does is it exposes our need to be saved from it.

And without the law, we will deny the depths of the nature of our sin.

We will consistently deny the depths of it.

The third thing is, the sin is stirred by its exposure to the law.

What it means is it's provoked.

Romans reveals the bleak condition of every human heart.

And what it says in the early chapter of Romans is that the human heart,

there's a perversity about every human heart.

And the description of perversity of the human heart is that it actually enjoys sin for its own sake.

That's the perversity.

The great Saint Augustine writes about this in his Confessions, the Confessions of Saint Augustine.

And he describes in there a time when, as a boy, he stole some pears.

He writes this,

And this was not to feed ourselves.

We may have tasted a few, but then we threw the rest of them to the pigs.

Our real pleasure was simply in doing something that we were not allowed.

I had plenty of better pairs of my own.

I only took these ones in order that I might be a thief.

Once I had taken them, I threw them away,

and all I tasted in them was my own iniquity,

which I enjoyed very much.

That is Saint Augustine's, his own illustration

of a description of the perversity of every human heart.

He's saying there,

there is a deeper motive in every act of sin.

That underlying motive, that underlying motive is to play God.

We have a deep desire to be in charge of our world and of our lives.

Every law God lays down,

every single commandment,

is an infringement on our perceived absolute sovereignty of our lives.

It's the very essence of the first sin in the Garden of Eden,

and it was to be like God.

And from there, it's the essence of all sin.

The more we are exposed to the law of God,

the more that sinful force will be aggravated into reaction.

That's what sin does.

Whenever I see a law,

I had no intention of breaking it until I see it.

Put a sign up, don't touch, wet paint.

I have to find out if it's still wet.

Don't sit on the grass.

Why not?

I wasn't going to, but why not?

There's a sin that stirs up in there.

Even if I might not sit on the grass,

I'm still asking the question, why not?

Don't park in the car park.

It's private property.

There's a vacant spot.

Why not?

And this leads to the fourth thing that sin does,

an overwhelming conviction of guilt.

Verse nine,

Once I was alive,

apart from the law,

but when the commandment came,

sin sprang to life,

and I died.

Before he was a Christian,

Paul,

what he's saying here is,

Paul did not know what the law actually really required of him.

That's what he's saying.

And this is a Jewish lad.

This is a Jewish lad who was fluent in the law.

And what he says here is,

you know,

summary version is,

I saw a bunch of rules,

but I didn't see the thrust of what the rules were getting to.

He didn't know what it meant to love God supremely.

He actually thought that he was morally good,

that he was in fact pleasing God by obeying the law,

and that God must therefore be satisfied with him.

And then he says,

the commandment came,

and I died.

What he says there is,

the commandment came home to me.

It's like the chickens came home to roost.

The commandment came home to me,

and I realised when the commandment came,

I was spiritually dead in that moment.

He came under the conviction of sin in that moment.

That is,

the Lord did for him what it was meant to do in that moment.

But which commandment came home to him?

You shall not covet.

Why that one?

Why that one?

Those familiar with the New Testament will see that this is the commandment

that Jesus used with the rich young ruler,

another upright moral citizen,

the Jewish citizen.

You see,

as a morally upright,

law-abiding Jewish Pharisee,

Paul thought of sin only in terms of external actions,

obedience to rules.

He would have thought of it,

that if I didn't commit that act,

if I don't commit murder,

I'm not a murderer.

Tick the box,

that commandment completed,

fulfilled,

obeyed.

Don't break the law,

and therefore I'm morally good.

That's the default position.

And then along comes Jesus,

in the Sermon on the Mount,

and he teaches all of the Ten Commandments,

and the entire law refer not only to external behaviour,

but to an inward attitude and motives of the heart.

And Paul had never understood sin as a matter of inward longings and idolatrous drives and desires.

And of all the commandments,

coveting

is entirely about inner motive of the heart.

It's about heart issues.

Coveting is to be discontent with what God has given you.

Coveting,

it includes things like envy,

selfish pity,

grumbling,

murmuring.

Coveting is not just wanting,

it is an idolatrous longing

for more beauty,

for more wealth,

for more approval,

and for more popularity

and everything else than you currently have.

That's what coveting is.

And Paul had never seen sin

as essentially coveting against God,

as failing to love God enough to be content with God.

And when the command came home to him,

he saw the depths of his sin.

And he saw that the flaw

was not in the law of God.

The flaw was in Paul,

the sinner.

It was in the sin.

Externally,

he was compliant.

He looked good.

He was a,

you know,

more upright than Dr. Jekyll.

But internally,

he saw Edward Hyde

bigger and bigger and bigger

than he'd ever seen him before.

He realised the law is good,

but he is not.

And that is the human condition

according to Christianity.

All of us dead

in our transgressions and sins,

more sinful than we'd ever hoped to imagine.

And so that's the first half of this chapter.

He's looking back at how God's commands

caused him to look to Jesus

for rescue,

look to Jesus' righteousness for his rescue,

rather than him

rescuing himself

through his own righteous acts.

And so from verse 14,

Paul's now writing

about his current experience

struggling with sin

as a Christian.

Now let me just say,

this section has been debated

by theologians

and Bible scholars

for many, many, many years.

And this section,

and the real debate is,

is Paul still talking now

about his pre-Christian experience

or is he talking about

him as a Christian?

That's really the primary issue

of the debate.

And let me say,

there have been plenty of thoughtful,

wise, godly people

on both sides of the debate.

For instance,

some find it very hard

to reconcile

that any Christian

could write,

as Paul does

in verse 14,

I am unspiritual,

I am sold

as a slave to sin.

Especially when in chapter 6,

he refers himself

as a slave

to Christ

and righteousness

in Christ.

He also confesses

that he sins regularly

in verses 15

and 18.

So here's four reasons,

and I want to do this

as quickly as I can,

why I think

he's writing about

his current Christian experience

of battling with sin,

and this is the very,

this is the experience

that every Christian has

in battling with sin.

And I would say

that the reason,

you know,

the summary reason,

which I've not,

this is not one

of the four reasons,

but the summary reason is

the primary issue here

is not the law.

It's not the word of God.

The primary problem

for the Christian

is indwelling sin.

That's the primary problem.

That's what this passage

is addressing.

But here's the four reasons.

Firstly,

there's a change of verbs

in the text.

In verses 7 to 13,

every single verb

is in the past tense.

From verses 14 onwards,

every single verb

is in the present tense.

That's the first one.

Secondly,

there is a change

in situation.

Verses 7 to 13

is Paul referring to sin

as killing him,

putting him to death.

From verses 14 onwards,

it's he's referring to

his wrestling with sin,

his struggle with sin.

It's a battle

that he refuses

to surrender to,

but he's not dead,

he's not dying,

and it's not a battle

that he is losing.

Thirdly,

he delights in God's law

in verse 12,

sorry,

verse 22.

For in my inner being,

I delight in God's law,

even though sin

is at work in him.

And in the very next chapter

in Romans,

in Romans 8,

Romans 8:7

verse 7,

Paul writes

that the non-Christian mind

cannot delight

in God's law.

It is impossible

to do so

because they see

God's word

as bad,

as evil,

as wrong.

Fourthly,

Paul admits

that he is a sinner

in verse 18.

Now,

I know plenty of people

who acknowledge

that they are not perfect.

They acknowledge

that they are imperfect,

that they're flawed.

You know,

you find someone,

you know,

someone gets discovered

by doing a wrong thing.

Well,

none of us are perfect.

That's a standard line.

Plenty of people,

most people can do that.

But,

in every instance,

they would mostly

put to the point,

they would mostly conclude

that they are basically good.

Basically good.

This is not really

who I am,

you know,

even though I did

this bad thing.

I don't know

but here,

Paul admits

that he is a sinner.

Before Jesus,

none of us

are aware

that we are so sinful

that we

not only cannot

save ourselves

through obedience

to us

any form of moral code,

but that even

our attempts

to do so

only add

to our condemnation.

and the depths

of our sin.

And that is why

I think Paul

is laying out here

his inner struggle

in these verses.

He admits

that he is

a sinner.

Not that he's imperfect,

you know,

like everyone,

but that he is

a sinner.

Only a Christian

could do that.

And that's why

I think he's referring

here

to the struggle

that is the struggle

and the experience

of every single Christian.

The experience

is that on the one hand

we now see

God's law

as spiritual,

verse 14,

as good,

verse 16,

and we have

a deep desire

to keep it

and to obey it

and to please God

in verses 15

and 18.

You see,

what Paul

is saying here is

before he met

Jesus,

he thought

he was a saint.

He was obedient.

He thought

he was right

with God.

And then

in Jesus,

he actually

becomes a saint

and now

he wrestles

for the first time

in his life

with being

a genuine sinner.

his sense

of sinfulness

is so much

stronger,

so much more

profound for him,

so much more

disturbing for him.

You see,

the person

who trusts

in Jesus

rejoices

in God's word.

In our deepest

self,

we love

the word

of God.

God.

But on the other

hand,

so many of our

actions are against

the God we love

and his word.

And it's only

when we come

to Jesus

for our rescue

does this struggle

become so

real for us,

so real

in such a way

that we start

to doubt

the,

we can doubt

the effectiveness

of our salvation

and question it

all together.

Who is me?

Am I,

am I really

Dr. Jekyll

or am I

Mr. Hyde?

Which self

do I want

the most?

Am I a sinner

or am I a saint?

Well,

for the Christian,

the question

is settled

even though

the struggle

continues to rage.

In verse 23,

the God,

Paul says

that God

and his law

is his

utmost delight

and it is

our

utmost delight.

And yet,

despite that

for the Christian,

there is still

a powerful force

of sin

and rebellion

within us.

For those

desires,

but those

desires,

whatever they

are,

are not

the deepest

sense

of your

identity.

They are

no longer

who you

are.

Verse 20,

if I do

what I do

not want

to do,

it is no

longer I

who do

it,

but it's

sin

living

in me

that does

it.

As a

Christian,

we have

an identity

transformation.

Even while

sin remains

in us

with a whole

lot of

strength,

it no longer

controls

our personality

and our

life.

You see,

Christianity,

the Christian

faith,

is about

being someone

before it

is doing

something.

It is

becoming a

whole new

self,

as I said

recently in

our Ephesians

series.

It is a

comprehensive,

when you come

to Jesus,

what happens

to you is a

comprehensive

revolution

to change

who you

are

before

it is

a revolution

in how you

live.

a revolution

in changing

your identity

and your

status.

You are

perfect in

Christ.

And I

think this is

possibly the

biggest and

most common

mistake people

make about

Christianity.

I remember

sitting at a

table with

some extended

family one

day and I

made a

comment that

revealed very

much the

old man,

Steve,

and very

quickly was

shut down

by a

non-Christian

on the

table.

Wow,

Steve,

that's

surprising.

I didn't

think Christians

said things

like that.

No,

Jesus doesn't,

but I do.

But that's

the mistake

we make,

is it?

So many

of you,

well,

Christians are

just good

people.

Morality

is not

Christianity.

Christianity

is not

about

becoming

more

moral.

A

Christian

is

becoming

a new

person,

an entirely

new

person,

before it

is living

with a new

set of

behaviours

and attitudes.

And the

change is

gradual,

and it

will never

be completed

this side

of the

presence of

God.

The

strength of

the remaining

corruption

in our

lives

will still

lead us

to disobey

God,

even in

the same

ways we

did prior

to becoming

a Christian.

And this

behaviour

goes against

our new

and our

deepest

identity,

and that

struggle

will grow.

growth in

the Christian

life is a

growth going

deeper,

deeper in

knowing who

you are in

Jesus,

and deeper

in awareness

of your

need for

Jesus,

because you

see your

sin deeper

and deeper

and deeper.

And that

is the

struggle.

And we

will often

feel discouraged,

we will often

feel defeated,

but it

doesn't

change who

you are

in Jesus.

and Paul

seems to

write as if

he is defeated

in verse 14,

I am

unspiritual,

sold as a

slave to

sin.

But he's

not,

he's not

defeated

in those

words.

He's saying

that even

though there

is this new

identity in

Jesus,

a new love

and delight

in God's

law,

he's saying

a Christian

will still

completely

be incapable

of obedience

and of

that law.

A Christian

is still

totally

incapable

of sinlessness.

You,

the Christian,

do not have

the power

to defeat

sin.

Jesus

does.

And so

the battle

will rage.

Friday

was a very

busy day

for me.

and I

tried to

finish off

this message

at the

end of

Friday,

but I

didn't get

it done.

I was

entirely

frustrated

by that.

My plan

was to

go home,

have some

dinner and

then,

you know,

finish off

the message.

On Friday

night,

our household

was all in

different

directions

for all

sorts of

different

reasons.

And so

there was

an opportunity

for me

and a

couple of

my girls

to head

out for

a quick

dinner.

It

didn't go

well,

that dinner.

What would

normally be

a delight

for me,

personally,

turned

into a

total

disaster.

Dinner

did not

happen

and by

the time

we got

home,

we went

in three

different

directions,

in silence,

in tears

and in

anger.

And it

was entirely

my fault,

my sin.

the thing

that I

wanted to

do,

that I

would

normally

delight in

doing,

that I

knew that

I should

do,

I didn't

do,

even though

I knew

in the

moment that

I should

be doing

it.

And it

went badly.

And frankly,

if you had

seen me

in that

moment,

or seen

me driving

home during

the course

of that

moment,

a drive

home,

which was

scary by

all accounts,

partly

enjoyable for

me,

but not

enjoyable for

anyone else

sitting in

the car,

you would

have been

appalled by

that lunatic

on the

road.

You would

have been

absolutely

disgusted

that that

was in

fact our

lead

pastor.

As I

was disgusted

two days

earlier by

someone driving

in a similar

manner,

I think I

referred to

them as

an idiot.

When I

got home,

I was

still

seething,

but at the

same time

disgusted

in my

behaviour.

Unable to

take it

back,

all I

could do

was to

go to

one of

my

girls

and say,

it's not

your

problem,

it's my

problem,

I'm sorry,

but I want

you to know

I'm working

on it and

it'll be

okay.

And from

that,

to

apologise

to both

of my

kids and

acknowledge

my

failure.

There's

two reasons

I'm telling

you this

now.

First of

all,

you need

to know

that I,

that like

Paul,

like

Saint Paul,

as he's

known in

history,

that I,

your lead

pastor,

am

imperfect.

Now,

I don't

need to

convince you

of that

if you've

been under

my

leadership

for 17

years,

but I

am more

imperfect

than you

realise,

or that

you've

ever seen

in 17

years.

I am

fallible,

and Sunday

by Sunday,

as I

come up

here,

I'm an

emotionally

embattled

sinner who

needs a

saviour,

and I

need it,

not just

Sunday by

Sunday,

but every

single day

of my

life.

So

therefore,

beware of

thinking too

highly of

any person,

including me.

That's the

first thing.

Secondly,

the second

reason I

say this,

is the

death and

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ,

which we

have

celebrated

just recently

at Easter,

are precious

to me,

not because

they turn

my life

into a

string of

sinless

successes,

but because

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

keeps me

from collapsing

under the

string of

my constant

failures.

things like

that.

That's

why the

gospel is

so precious

to me.

And that's

why point

three is

so important.

these verses

are both

a warning

and a

comfort.

The first

warning

is that no

one ever

gets so

advanced in

the Christian

life that

they no

longer have

sin.

If we

ever think

that we've

conquered sin

and are

pretty good

Christians,

then you're

deceived

and you're

actually

losing the

war.

The more

we grow

as a

Christian,

the more

we see

our sin.

The more

we become

aware of

our own

unrighteousness

than other

people's

unrighteousness.

The more

holy we

become,

the less

holy we

will feel.

The more

at peace

we are

with Christ,

the more

struggle we

will have

within.

Even as

we make

progress

against many

bad habits

and attitudes,

we will

grow more

and more

aware of

the rebellious,

selfish roots

that are deep

inside of our

hearts.

And the

second warning

is linked to

that,

is that no

one grows

to a point

where they

no longer

battle with

sin.

It is

absolutely

important that

we expect

the Christian

life to

be this

constant

internal

battle between

our two

selves.

In fact,

if I may

draw upon

my past

experiences

and my

past

profession

as a

feral animal

control

officer,

a wounded

feral pig

is much

more dangerous

than a

healthy one.

Much more

dangerous.

And so it

is with

sin.

The great

comfort

of this

passage

is that

the struggle

itself

is testimony

to our

new identity

in Jesus.

And so

if you

are not

currently

struggling

with your

sin,

beware.

That's the

warning.

Beware

of where

you stand

with Christ.

God

will

beware

to

sin.

This chapter

here encourages

us that

temptation

and conflict

with sin

even relapses

into sin

are not

inconsistent

with the

growing

Christian.

The

Christian

heart

cries two

things at

the same

time.

There is

the desperate

cry

of

discouragement

and despair.

Verse

24,

Paul's

cry,

what a

wretched

man I

am.

Who

will

rescue

me

from

this

body

that

is

subject

to

death?

You see,

when we

judge

ourselves

by God's

standard

rather than

our own,

that is

our only

conclusion.

When we

compare our

imperfection

against Christ's

perfection,

that is our

only conclusion.

And it's

only when our

hearts cry

out about

our

wretchedness

can we

actually know

and experience

the hope

and the

liberation

of

looking

away

from

ourselves

to what

God

has

done

for

us

in

Jesus.

That's

Paul's

desperate

cry

in

verse

24,

who

will

rescue

him

and

here

is

his

salvation

and

his

hope.

Verse

25,

thanks be

the

God

who

delivers

me

through

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord.

There

is no

hope

in

ourselves

for

our

salvation.

Our

hope

only

is

to

look

to

Jesus

dying

on the

cross

for

us.

Our

only

hope

is

to

rest

in

his

righteousness

because

it

is

Jesus

who

became

wretched

for

the

wretched

man

so

that

we

might

receive

his

righteousness.

And

so

I

assume

some

of you

in

this

room

are

frustrated

and

discouraged

and

disappointed

and

confused

with

that

daily

struggle.

embarrassed

even

when

someone

points

out

a

failing

we

automatically

go

no

I'm

not

and

we

justify

rather

than

doing

I

think

what

the

great

Charles

Spurgeon

encouraged

people to

do

was

and

he

himself

did

was

when

someone

pointed

out

his

many

failings

he

would

go

I'm

just

so

glad

I

haven't

seen

the

rest.

Christ

has

you

need

to

know

that

this

struggle

is

normal

it

will

continue

this

struggle

will

continue

to

your

final

healing

and

that

final

healing

is

as

far

away

as

your

own

resurrection

of

the

dead

in

Jesus

when

you

were

made

whole

and

complete

and

perfect

and

alive

as

he

is

now

that's

when

the

struggle

will

be

over

that's

when

every

tear

will

be

wiped

away

that

is

when

joy

will

be

complete

but

you

also

need

to

know

that

there

is

an

invincible

joy

of

hope

for

you

right

now

and

that

hope

is

as

close

to

you

as

the

risen

Christ

Jesus

is

to

you

through

his

word

by

his

spirit

pointing

you

to

the

gospel

of

hope

so

for

the

struggling

sinner

sorry

the

sorry

for

the

sinning

saint

amongst

us

don't

pull

back

from

the

struggle

as

your

sin

becomes

more

aware

know

that

while

others

may

be

ashamed

of

you

and

you

may

be

frustrated

and

ashamed

of

yourself

he

is

not

he

is

not

he

you

are

his

sinning

saint

and

my

vision

for

us

as a

church

is

that

we

would

be

a

church

that

would

grow

in

such

humility

that

we

would

be

we

would

acknowledge

our

flaws

and

our

mistakes

and

our

failures

and

our

sin

rather

than

covering

them

up

and

that

we

would

grow

more

and

more

in

his

grace

embracing

his

grace

and

therefore

display

to

our

world

the

beauty

of

the

Christian

faith

and

its

goodness

who