Life Group - Romans 7-8:4

Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join

us in this verse -by -verse study through the

Word of God. In this lesson, we will be looking

at Romans 7 1 -8 4. In the previous chapter,

Romans 6 14, Paul let us know that we no longer

live under the requirements of the law, because

we now live under the freedom of God's grace.

Beginning with chapter 7, he continues to give

more detail and discusses this concept more completely,

how we no longer live under the law. So, in verse

1, You see here, law has dominion over people.

And Paul is not only talking about Mosaic law,

the original language suggests he is talking

about law in general. The Mosaic law and the

natural laws of creation, human laws, and even

the law of conscious. Verse 2. For example, when

a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband

as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws

of marriage no longer apply to her. So while

her husband is alive, she would be committing

adultery if she married another man. But if her

husband dies, she is free from that law and does

not commit adultery when she remarries. Here

Paul gives us an example and an illustration

to demonstrate his point. Law has dominion over

people as long as they are alive. are no longer

binding to that person. Verse 4, So, my dear

brothers and sisters, this is the point. You

died to the power of the law when you died with

Christ, and now you are united with the one who

was raised from the dead. As a result, we can

produce a harvest of good deeds for God. In Romans

6, 3 -8, Paul carefully explained that we died

with Jesus and we rose with him. Paul spoke of

our death to sin, but here now he's explaining

that we also died to the law. Some people think,

yes, we are saved by grace, but we must live

by the law in order to please God. But here Paul

makes it plain that believers are dead to the

law, for we no longer live by a list of rules.

and our actions do not make us right with God.

We are not free from the law so we can live selfish

and carnal lives. We are free so we can be united

with Jesus and bear spiritual fruit. Picking

up in verse 5, that produced a harvest of sinful

deeds resulting in death. So, when we try to

live under the law, we cannot bear spiritual

fruit. And instead, we reap sin that leads to

death. Because the law arouses the passions of

sin that are within us. So, living under the

law keeps us constantly focused on ourself. We're

self -focused. And we can only bear spiritual

fruit when we live under grace, and that's when

we are free from the law. Verse 6, But now we

have been released from the law, for we died

to it and are no longer captive to its power.

Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying

the letter of the law, but in the new way of

living in the Spirit. So we see here that because

we died with Jesus at Calvary, we are dead to

the law and delivered from its dominion over

us as a principle of justification and sanctification.

So let me explain. The law does not justify us,

meaning that it does not make us right with God.

The law also does not sanctify us, meaning that

it does not take us deeper with God. or make

us more holy before Him. Our freedom is not given

so we can stop serving God, but so that we can

serve Him better under the newness of the Spirit

and not under the letter of the law. It is a

shame that many serve sin or legalism with more

devotion than those who serve God in newness

of the Spirit. And it's really unfortunate when

people choose the motivation of fear Verse 7.

When Paul insists that we die to the law, It

could cause some people to think that something

was wrong with the law. There's nothing wrong

with the law. Think of the law as an x -ray machine.

It reveals what is there, but is hidden. You

can't blame an x -ray for what it exposes on

the inside. The law sets the speed limit, so

we know exactly when we are going too fast. We

would never know that we are sinning in many

areas such as covetousness if the law did not

show us specifically. Verse 8. But sin used this

command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires

within me. If there were no law, sin would not

have that power. Paul describes that the warning,

don't do that, may become a call to action. because

of our sinful, rebellious hearts. It isn't the

fault of the commandment, but it is our fault.

All we have to do is tell a child not to do something

for them to want to do it. Verse 9. At one time,

I lived without understanding the law. But when

I learned the command not to covet, for instance,

the power of sin came to life and I died. Once

God draws a boundary for us, we are immediately

enticed to cross that boundary, which is no fault

of God or His boundary, but the fault of our

sinful hearts. Here's an illustration for you

to consider. There was a waterfront hotel in

Florida, and they were concerned that people

might try to fish from the balconies of the hotel.

So they put up signs saying, No fishing from

the balcony. After that, they had constant problems

with people fishing from the balconies, with

lines and sinker weights breaking windows and

bothering people in rooms below. They finally

solved the problem by simply taking down the

signs. And then no one thought to fish from the

balconies anymore. Sin can take something good

and holy like the law. and twist it to promote

evil. Sin distorts love into lust. An honest

desire to provide for one's family turns into

greed, and the law turns into a promoter of sin.

Children are innocent before they know or understand

what the law requires. Without ever knowing the

law, People can sit secure in their house of

ignorance like a person living on a volcano thinking

all is well. Ignorance may be bliss, but ignorance

of the law is not an excuse or an acceptable

defense. Verse 10. So I discovered that the law's

commands which were supposed to bring life brought

spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of

those commands and deceived me. It used the commands

to kill me. Sin, when followed, leads to death,

the Bible tells us. It doesn't lead to life,

it leads to death. And one of Satan's greatest

deceptions is to get us to think that sin is

something good, that an unpleasant God wants

to deprive us of. just like in the garden. When

God warns us away from sin, he is actually warning

us to stay away from something that will kill

us. Verse 12. But still, the law itself is holy,

and its commands are holy and right and good.

You see, Paul understands how someone might take

him as saying that he is against the law. But,

He isn't at all. It's true that we must die to

sin, as it says in Romans 6 -2, and we must die

to the law, as it said in Romans 7 -4, but that

should not be taken to mean that Paul believes

that sin and law are in the same basket. The

problem is in us, not in the law. Nevertheless,

sin corrupts the effect of the law, so we must

die to both. Verse 13. But how can we do that?

Did the law which is good cause my death? Of

course not. Sin used what was good to bring about

my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible

sin really is. It uses God's good commands for

its own evil purposes. So Paul is saying here

that the law exposes and magnifies sin. And this

magnification dramatically reveals our deep sinfulness.

Instead of giving us power to overcome, the law

actually draws out sin and corruption. He's saying

here that the Ten Commandments are good. If everyone

followed them, there would be no evil. It would

be like the Garden of Eden before the fall. So

God's rules are actually for our good. Some people

think God is just trying to be a killjoy, but

that's not what Paul is saying here. Verse 14,

the trouble is with me, for I am all too human,

a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself.

For I want to do what is right, but I don't do

it. Instead, I do what I hate. So Paul is saying

that the law, though it is spiritual, has no

answer for the carnal nature. A person in bondage

to sin and living under the law is like a man

arrested for a crime and thrown in jail. The

law will only help him if he's innocent. But

if he is guilty, the law argues against him,

not for him. Verse 16. But if I know that what

I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree

that the law is good. So I'm not the one doing

wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. And

I know that nothing good lives in me that is

in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right,

but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I

don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but

I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want

to do, I am not really the one doing wrong. It

is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered

this principle of life, that when I want to do

what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.

I love God's law with all my heart, but there's

another power within me that is at war with my

mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin

that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable

person I am. Who will free me from this life

that is dominated by sin and... death in these

verses paul is giving a picture of someone who

is completely worn out and miserable a person

overwhelmed with shame and condemnation they

just can't keep the list of rules found in the

law in the pit of our unsuccessful struggle against

sin we become entirely self -focused and self

-obsessed. This is living under the law. A person

who looks to self and personal performance rather

than looking to Jesus. Verse 25. Thank God. The

answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see

how it is? In my mind, I really want to obey

God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I

am a slave to sin. Here Paul tells us the answer

is in Jesus. He's the one who has freed us from

a life dominated by sin and death. In him, we

have learned already in Romans, we are dead to

sin. Sin is no longer our master. And we've learned

that in him, in Christ, we live under grace instead

of law. See, Jesus didn't come and die just to

give us more or better rules, but to live out

his victory in us. The message of the gospel

is that there is victory over sin, hate, death,

and all evil as we surrender our lives to Jesus.

See, you might have thought that the problem

was not being motivated. But the law came in

like a coach to encourage you on, to do what

you need to do, and you still didn't do it. You

don't need a coach or a motivational speaker.

You need a Savior, and His name is Jesus. So

now there is no condemnation for those who belong

to Christ Jesus. The verdict is not less condemnation.

That's where many believe they are, thinking

our standing has improved in Jesus. It has not

been improved. It has been completely transformed,

changed to a status of no condemnation. The declaration

of no condemnation comes to those who are in

Christ Jesus. Since God the Father does not condemn

Jesus, he does not condemn those who are in Jesus.

See, because we are in Christ, we are not condemned.

We cannot be condemned, and we will never be

condemned. This brings confidence and peace.

That confidence and peace comes to replace the

guilt, shame, and condemnation. that we find

in the end of Romans chapter 7. Paul now declares

Romans 7 · chapter mention

our standing in Jesus. We are no longer slaves

to sin, and we are no longer living under the

law. Verse 2, And because you belong to him,

the power of the life -giving Spirit has freed

you from the power of sin that leads to death.

We see that Romans 8 .1 tells us we are free

from the guilt of sin, and verse 2 tells us we

are free from the power of sin. So sin and death

have no lasting power over us. Verse 3. The law

of Moses was unable to save us because of the

weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what

the law could not do. He sent His own Son. in

a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in

that body, God declared an end to sin's control

over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for

our sins. You see, in order to defeat sin, Jesus

had to identify with those bound by it. So by

adding humanity to his deity, this is what we

refer to as the incarnation where God is becoming

a man. The law could not defeat sin. It could

only detect sin. Only Jesus could defeat sin,

which he did that on the cross. Only Jesus could

defeat death, and he did that at his resurrection.

And it's important to personalize this and remember

that he did both for us. Sin was condemned in

the flesh of Jesus as he bore the condemnation

we all deserved. Since we are in Christ, the

condemnation we deserve was placed on Christ.

Verse 4. He did this so that the just requirement

of the law would be fully satisfied for us who

no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead

follow the Spirit. So, because Jesus fulfilled

the righteous requirement of the law, and because

we are in Christ, we fulfill the law. The righteous

requirement of the law was not fulfilled by us.

It is fulfilled in us. Jesus became our substitute.

Jesus was treated as a sinner so we can be treated

as righteous. Walking in the Spirit means that

the course, the direction, the progress of your

life is directed by the Holy Spirit. We no longer

live under the law or yield to sin as our master.

We yield to God, the Holy Spirit, and are led

by Him. Thank you for joining us for Life Group.

Allow God's Word to build your faith and transform

your life.