Romans 7: Three Laws and Overcoming Sin

Okay, so I'm going to move right into our sermon, and I'm going to start by background, letting you know I'm heading for Romans. We haven't been in the Book of Romans in a little while, and so I'm going to go back there. If we want to do some brief review, because it's been a few months since we were there, Romans 5 addresses the importance of righteousness. There's the theme that I spoke of in terms of Romans. We know what righteousness is, Psalm 119, 172, that being the keeping of God's commandments.

And that's a commitment we make once we come to an understanding of the truth. Matthew 6, 33, our family, our kids will oftentimes talk about areas of importance, what's the main goal in life. And Matthew 6, 33 directs us there to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. There are primary goals in this life. And then as well, there's additional details there in Romans, Chapter 5, that talks about the promise of eternal life, the gift that God wants to give us. Now, I'm going to ask you to go over to the Book of Ezekiel. This was a memory section that we oftentimes dealt with when I was back at Ambassador College over 25 years ago. Ezekiel 18 is where I'm going to ask you to go, because there's a reminder here that well encapsulates what's covered in Romans 5.

The Book of Ezekiel in general, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, major prophets talk about what takes place and what would take place with Isaiah, physical Israel in the Old Testament, but it also has in being dual, having dual application. It also talks about Israel, spiritual Israel in the future, well, the lineage of Israel, but also spiritual Israel at a point yet in the future. This section in Ezekiel 18 deals with the theme of personal accountability, and that is in part what Romans 5 is about. And I'll just ask you to read a few verses here with me. Ezekiel 18, verse 1, The Word of the Lord came to me saying, What do you mean when you say this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. Now, we can go back through the Pentateuch. We can go through the first five books of the Bible.

And we're well reminded of the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience, blessings and cursings chapters. And that in part is what is addressed here in that verse 2 of chapter 18. And if you drop down to verses 4 and 5, the prophet Ezekiel continues to write, Behold, all sins are mine, showing our relationship with God. The soul of the Father, as well as the soul of the Son, is mine.

The soul who sins, here's our important note that comes and is addressed in Romans 5, The soul who sins shall die. But if a man is just, we get this counter perspective, and does what is lawful and right, and then it lists all these things up through verse 9. I'm going to ask you to jump to verse 9. If he has walked in my statutes and has kept my judgments faithfully, he is just, and he shall surely live.

So we see this huge contrast between the inevitability of death and the promise of life. Promise of life eternal, says the Lord. And so we see that here. Now we know, as I've already noted, that this applies to physical Israel. That was what Ezekiel was responsible for providing in terms of a message. We also know that it applies collectively to spiritual Israel, because we see this reference in Galatians 6, verse 16, where the church, the New Testament church, is spiritual Israel.

And we know, in addition to those two collective bodies, that we individually have accountability. And that's really what Paul is addressing there in Romans 5. As we move forward to Romans 6, just in terms of review, Paul continues to address the consequences of sin. And he talks about the significance of baptism here. And he makes several points. He notes that baptism is a covenant that we make with God. He notes that it symbolically, it symbolically buries our old man or woman, who we are previously.

And he also notes that grace is integral to the eternal life that God provides us. And he addresses all of these things. It really boils down to in 6 the contrast between who are we going to serve. You know, I'm reminded of a message by Mr. Ken Martin, not too many years ago, at the feast.

And he was quoting an old lyric that used to say, who are you going to serve? Are you going to serve somebody? And he talked at length about that song, who are we going to serve? And that's really what Paul is talking about here. He says, either we are slaves to God, bondservants to God, or we are slaves to sin.

There is no in-between. There is either one or the other. Now, God doesn't desire that any should die, 2 Peter 3 verse 9, but he desires that all have eternal life. But he gives us the choice. He gives his people, those who are called, he gives all people. Because at some point everyone will have this calling at their availability. But for the timing, he gives us all the opportunity to choose whether we will be obedient or not. And then, after the death of Christ and resurrection, we know that shortly thereafter God's Spirit was poured out on the New Testament Church.

So we see all of this as background, leading us all the way up to Romans 7. I've entitled this message, Romans 7, 3 Laws and Overcoming Sin. 3 Laws and Overcoming Sin. Now, it goes without saying, because I've already referenced this. We know by background that Paul is writing here in Romans 7. We know that he's writing to the Jews and Gentiles of that day, but he's also writing to first, second, and third generation Christians today.

This chapter is specifically dealing with this covenant relationship. And this covenant relationship really is a reference to law. It talks about law. In fact, the term law is mentioned 23 times in this one chapter. So we see it hit upon over and over. And it really helps to note as well, there's a section that I'm reminded of whenever I went through this at Ambassador College, and this would be 1987 for me, about the discussion we had addressing what appears in Hebrews 5, about the difference between milk and meat.

And if you remember what Paul is inspired to write in Hebrews 5, he talks about that too often, I have to come back and teach you the very basic principles to address the basic oracles of God, because you're missing this and you haven't gotten it. In doing so, he says that we should not only be familiar with that which is milk, but also that which is meat. He says, by this time you should be teachers, and you're not teaching yet, and you should be doing the meat stuff.

One of the points that was raised whenever I was going through the epistles class was that this is meat. Romans, the book of Romans, is meat. And it is which, in verse 14 of Hebrews 5, involves the exercising of our senses so that we know right from wrong. So when we deal with the book of Romans, sometimes the language itself can put us off, sometimes the ideas can seem a little bit foreign, but if we walk through it progressively and we walk through what is offered here, and Paul is inspired to write, it really is graduate-level work, and it's helpful that we go through this, in particular, so that we develop as Christians the way along the lines of the commitment we've made to God.

Because God doesn't desire us to die. He certainly wants us to have life, and he expects out of us, 2 Peter 3, 18, to grow on a regular basis, to grow in grace and knowledge. So if we're dealing with this section of Scripture, let's go, if you will, with me through Romans 7.

We're going to deal with those 25 verses, and by background, I'll just start in the preceding verse, one that's a memory verse, Romans 6, verse 23, For the wages of sin is death. He caps that chapter, but the gift of God is eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Certainly a memory verse for many of us, as it should be. Romans 7, verse 1 then. We're going to find out who he's speaking to here, because he's speaking to a specific audience. Romans 7, verse 1, Or do you know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.

Now again, it's helpful for us to address that Paul is not necessarily speaking to this whole world. Now that may seem a bit odd. He tells you that there are two preconditions to the message that he's addressing here. He says, those of you who are brothers and sisters, that would be in the church.

This message is specifically for you. And secondly, those who know the law, this message is also for you. Now there are a whole lot of people, because you and I both know people, that would tell you the law has been done away with. That the law is antiquated, that it does not apply today, that it was nailed to the cross, it has no application that we are to love. But all you have to do is go back to the book of 1 John, and see through 1 John all the different ways that it is required. That law has not gone away.

Indeed, that law has been amplified by Christ. So we see here that he's addressing those who have a knowledge of the truth. Not necessarily those new, but those who have a knowledge of the truth. Verse 2, for the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband. Now I'll stop only momentarily, because the first six verses we could create a sublabel here, as the law and marriage.

The law and marriage. The law and marriage. He uses in verse 2 the opportunity, a teaching device, in terms of marriage, to teach us about the law. To teach those in the church at Rome about the law. For a woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband, as long as he lives.

But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. There are a number of things that show up here that at least we should give a little bit of attention. The term law here shows that it offers the conditions for binding. If we're looking here in terms of this bound, the term being used here, bound by the law. The term bound means fastened, or chained to, or tied to. We long associate this with marriage, because whenever we're married, what do we do? We go through counseling and we come in a public place and we offer the terms of that agreement, I think back even to the beams of their marriage.

And if I recall right, they not only had some vows that were read by both dads, got to get both dads in here, but as well, then they also offered particular verbiage as well. And they made a public commitment, as we all do whenever we're married, to appear and adhere to, to follow the agreement of that marriage, the I-do's. And that's what he's referencing here. So that bounding involves fastening to, chaining to, and that's from Strong's Concordance from the Greek.

At the latter end of this, verse 2, it says, but if the husband dies, she is released. She is unbound. She is unleashed. She is brought to an end from the law of her husband. She no longer has to hold to that husband. Verse 3, So then if while her husband lives, she marries another, she will be called an adulteress. Now, one of the things that Paul is doing here, and he was so adept at using the law, is he was dealing with counter-arguments in all of this.

He had those in the church and those outside of the church who were oftentimes questioning. So he raises the issue here about, well, what if she goes off, still being married, and she marries another man, and he says she couldn't, she can't do that. The law makes clear this. She will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free. That commitment made to the husband is terminated. She is free from the law so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

So he's using, again, no surprise here, marriage as a means of understanding how the law works. This teaching device for us. Verse 4, Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to one another, even to him who has raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. Well, the only one he's raised to the dead is Christ.

One of the things he's talking about here is that we are dead to the law. We no longer have the penalty of the law because Christ has come and died. He's taken as a sacrifice for all the penalty for all of us. And he's using, again, this whole idea of marriage to teach us this. Verse 5, For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

You know, I'm reminded here, and forgive me from time to time, I find myself back thinking of something from television, a snippet here or there. And for whatever reason, I'm reminded of the George Costanza line from Seinfeld years ago when he and Jerry are talking. And Jerry is talking about how this relationship is so bad, and George says, you got to get out of this relationship. This relationship is killing you. You know, really, that's exactly what Paul is talking about here. He's not using George Costanza's words.

He's using God's words. But he's saying that the relationship you've long had with the world inevitably only ends in death. There is one direction here. The law is providing the path for understanding. The law is not the thing that's causing death. It's giving you guidance so that you can have life, physical life that's more abundant, but spiritual life that's eternal. And that's what he's addressing, and he's using this device of marriage to teach that.

Verse 6, but now we have delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Now, there are a number of commentaries that talk about, well, this obviously is about old covenant, new covenant. And the reality is, as much as that might be applicable, it's not. This section of Scripture is really about us prior to baptism, succumbing to the flesh, and not resisting those poles, versus what happens after baptism. For those who are baptized in the room, we're well aware that the commitment we make, the I do we make at baptism, is that we will no longer walk that path.

We will no longer be in that bad relationship. And this world is the worst relationship possible. Now, the world doesn't know that. The world is convinced that what's out there, that everything that's offered by Satan and this society, that that's all good stuff, that that's the real stuff, that that's the enjoyable stuff. And by you not participating, you're missing out on too much. I mean, that's really what Satan's message was in the Garden of Eden, and it doesn't stop until the time he has eradicated in Revelation. He's been pushing the same thing the whole time. One of the things that's challenging for us whenever we're young people, whether in or out of the church, is we live with this, and we see this. As a young person growing up in the church, oftentimes in social groups, whether it be in high school, man, you missed the party this century. How many times did I hear that? Man, you missed the party. How many times did I hear that when growing up? You have no idea the fun we had. You have no idea what we did. I can tell you story after story. We would take this any direction. I found myself, maybe like some of the people in the room, continually combating this as a young high school guy.

Continually feeling like an outsider, and oftentimes thinking to myself, well, it couldn't be that good, because there's no way it's that good, because I know what God says. But I had young people, young friends growing up, who would do whatever, and we could go any number of directions here. I had friends who had tried. I had one friend who I think I've offered before, who was like, man, you gotta try these. For a while, this is early 80s, and I'm really dating myself here. He would try these goofy little stickers that you would buy, these LSD hits. We had been good friends for my junior year in high school, and he said, man, I'm a senior, and I'm blowing it all out this year. You gotta come with me to the parties. Well, I'm not doing the parties. You gotta do these parties, because there are girls, and there's other stuff going, and you gotta try these things.

And I heard that message all year long. And I thought to myself, you can't be that good, because you look like a wreck. Let's be honest. Since you started this, since you started the marijuana stuff and the gals and everything else, you look like your life's frankly a mess. And he was...no surprise here, by the time my senior year ended, we had grown apart. Really, that's what is talked about here. So, as any of us do, whether we're in the church growing up or not, we have to make a decision. Paul is here talking about the old us versus the new us. And the new us only occurs based upon the commitment we make of baptism. By not following the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes, the pride of life that's talked about in 1 John 2, verse 16. By recognizing the only way this works is by committing ourselves to God. 100%! By entering a covenant relationship with Him, do we have the opportunity to have a life that's incomparable to what it was we go through? And it's only because of Christ's sacrifice, removing those sins from us and God giving us His Spirit, that we have a drastically different destiny. So what Paul is talking about here is the old us versus the new us. He's talking about freed from the penalty of the law because that penalty leads only to death. What God provides us is His Spirit to help to combat sin. That Spirit helps us build a closer relationship with God so that we have the ability to resist those poles that are around us.

So this first section I've offered as a sub-header here, the law and marriage. The marriage being the teaching device. So let's, if you will, go with me to the second section, verses 7 through 12. We might term this the law and sin. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? He's getting into this discussion about what the law is, and he answers himself. Again, countering those arguments, certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. What the law does is it actually, as we've already noted here, it provides us a guideline. Now, if maybe for some of our younger people, by comparison, it is helpful at least to draw some example today, I think, that would give us a guideline for how the law works, as Paul was talking about. You know, I was watching American Ninja Warriors recently, and I can't believe I'm telling you I watched this show, but I watched this show. And they happened to have had a young black guy who was on there that was, frankly, amazing. He had lost, I believe it was part of his right leg in a motorcycle accident. And if you've ever seen American Ninja Warriors, they navigate what I think is the impossible, a rain, you know, number of items in a course, so that they can come to the other end and beat everyone else by time. So they had interviewed this young guy, and he had lost part of his leg in a motorcycle accident. He talked about this, and he interviewed him for a while. And the longer they talked about this, he disclosed that he also had lost his brother to a motorcycle accident. And he said the reason why he had decided to try the show was because he wanted to, out of respect for his brother, he wanted to offer a tribute that you can do anything you want. So we're clear here. I'm not up against motorcycles here. If you have one, that's you. It's not me. But there's a reason why our laws require that we wear helmets.

We oftentimes, and wherever it might be, by state, those helmet laws actually prevent, what? Fatal injuries. And any other kind of danger here. The reason why I would know this is because that law that's provided in terms of wearing a helmet, and for whatever reason I'm stuck on helmets here, is a guideline to prevent further injury.

So too is God's law, if not more importantly, than helmets. We can, for whatever reason, we can make sense of the helmet laws. Sometimes people have difficulty with God's laws. God's laws provide conditions so that we avoid injury and death. Much more so than something like any of our laws in our states.

What he's really talking about here is that the law is not death, but it reveals what is death and also reveals what is the path to eternal life. The latter end of 7 then reads that he didn't understand covetousness unless there was a law established that you shall not covet.

Verse 8, but sin taking opportunity by commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire for apart from the law, sin was dead. What he's talking about here in this section is the idea that I didn't understand what I was doing was bad. I didn't get it. Now, think about who we're talking about here. Paul was well-learned in the law.

Paul had learned at chameleons feet. Paul was quite adept at understanding the letter of the law, wasn't he? He was very mindful of this. But in a case like this, he offers that I didn't understand all that went with the law until that law was there. I didn't understand what the benefits or the dangers might be of living a life until the law revealed this to me. The law is not the thing that killed me. It only clarified what does kill me or what does shorten my life. We see that here in verse 8. Verse 8 reads, but sin taking opportunity. I read that manner of desire apart from the law. Sin was dead. Verse 9, I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Again, he's dealing with the fact that I became well aware of if I keep this path, that I'm inevitably going to die. I died permanently. Verse 10, in the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it killed me. The discussion that he's again offering here is that the law gives me an understanding of what I am to keep. And the reality, though, that he's also including here is the fact that despite the fact he is headed for death, that Christ is involved and Christ took that penalty to him. It gives us an indication of where life is and where death is, but also it makes clear that the law is actually perfect. And we see that in verse 12. Therefore, the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. Sin really makes me aware, or the law makes me aware of what obedience and disobedience is. Now, I'll back up just to here because I did have a note here. This language that appears here about for sin taking an occasion by commandment deceived me and it killed me is really a poor translation. It should read something more like, sin deceives me and by breaking it I risk death, or I will die. That's what 11 should read closely like. So what we find here is the effect in verse 12. That the law is not the dangerous part, that the law is actually the good part. The law is actually the character of God and is just and good. Which then moves us to a last section, verses 13 through 24, 25, excuse me. Verse 13 reads, and we can term this, the war with sin. Now, I'll stop only momentarily because there are several places in Scripture that allow us a personal insight to what someone deals with in terms of sin.

You and I would probably be hard-pressed to identify a place that's more personal than what Paul offers here. And we're well aware of it. We're probably aware of it because from time to time when we struggle with sin, we go here and we realize we're not alone. And that's part of the reason why God offered it here. But Paul is going to get real personal with us and he's going to tell us about the warring that he has, the war he has with sin that's in him.

Verse 13, has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not. The good that's in me has not died. But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. Now, that really kind of gets into, he's dealing with a whole range of different terminology here that's complicated.

What he's really saying here, and I'll offer this as a more modern translation, the more I look into God's law, the more I understand it. The more I understand it, the more I'm able to do what is right. The more I'm able to do what is right, the better life I have.

So there are those separate parts of verse 13. Verse 14.

So what will happen here in verses 14 through 25? And I've already noted that the term law appears 23 times. It's going to be teased out in three different ways in these upcoming verses. And I'll clarify how it's dealt with. It's dealt with, first of all, if we go look closely here. The law is the Mosaic law, and we'll see in certain instances, he'll refer to it as the Mosaic law.

In separate instances, he'll term the law as a downward pull, as that which shackles us, that holds us prisoner. And then he's going to reference it a third way. And this third way is something that Paul would know well about, because Paul, being adept and well-acquainted with the law, also knows what happened after God's Spirit.

He was given God's Spirit. What we find, and he'll reference this, is that at one time, I tended to follow the letter of the law. Now I understand spiritually, much more fully, what the law actually involves. And so we're going to see this play out here. That said, in verse 14 again, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

I'm going to ask you, if you will, to go with me over to Galatians 5.

Now we know Paul wrote multiple epistles, and in Galatians 5, we're well aware about the struggle that Paul speaks of here. And he provides us, categorically, a list of sins that pull on us as human beings. And if you will, in Galatians 5 verse 17, he's talking here, like Romans 7, about the contrasting between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh. Verse 17, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit. These are at odds. These are warring factions. These are two different enemies fighting against one another. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish.

So I would love to tell you, and one of the things that I had discussion with whenever I was going through baptismal counseling with Mr. Norman Smith years ago, was, does it get easier once you're baptized? Does your human nature go away? You know that answer. It never goes away.

That one really bothered me. In fact, through the, we had three counseling there, through those three counseling, that really troubled me, the fact that despite the fact I had God's Spirit in me, and would have God's Spirit given to me in baptism, that my human tendencies would not go away. They never go away.

They get less overtime, but they never go away. Until the moment we kick the bucket, we fight those human tendencies.

And they are a challenge for each one of us on a daily basis. Now, you probably are more converted than I am. You probably have a lot less to deal with than I do.

But the reality is, we all deal with them. And over time, what God desires out of us, which is one of the reasons why He used marriage as a teaching device up front, is He desires that we make progress, that our character becomes more like Him and His Son Jesus Christ over time. So continuing to read here, verse 18, So when we're back in Romans 7, verse 14, He's talking about this being sold to sin as acting out these things. He recognizes the human tendency is to want to do these things. Verse 15, for what I am doing, I don't understand. I don't like this. I don't get this. I don't even understand why I do this.

For what I will to do, that I do not practice, but I hate that I do. I have to stop only momentarily. We are not talking about someone who's newly converted here. We are not talking about an individual who maybe is a year in or two years in after baptism. How long, I'll ask rhetorically, how long had Paul been alive? How long he'd been baptized when he wrote this? 25 years. 25 years. Here's a man who, as an apostle, was schooled in the law growing up. Certainly was an adversary of Christians up until the time on the road to Damascus. God turns them around. But talk about someone well versed in the law, well in advance. Someone who writes regularly with the law all the time. Someone who knew God's truth and God worked with directly on a regular basis. If we're talking about someone, if we want to do this by degree, who would have a PhD in spirituality, this guy is the guy. And he says, for what I'm doing, I don't understand. For what I want to do, what I will to do, that I do not practice, but what I hate, that I do. You think there's hope for you and me? I would think so. Verse 16, if then I do what I will not do, I agree with the law that is good. You know, what he's talking about here is, I do these things and I don't like them, and I am, for a time being, acting in this sinful manner, as though going back to my old selfish carnal self.

Verse 17, but now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So again, here, at a more deep level, he's talking about this fight, this fight that he deals with on a daily basis, that he goes back and forth with. Almost like a fighter. I heard, for whatever reason, Donald Trump said the other day, I'm a good counter puncher.

I don't tend to do things well up front. I'm a good counter puncher. Now, I'm not going to go the political route and talk politics here. But that's really what we're getting. We're getting kind of a fist fight here that's going on with you and me, internally. Verse 18, for I know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me to do that which is right, but how to perform what is right, I can't do that. I don't find it.

For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not do, that I practice. And he's taking time to, again, explain very personally what he goes through. Now, if I do what I will not do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin. There's this other part of us that is selfish. My dad used to say, carnal is a doorknob. We all have it. And over time, the aim is that God's spirit and character grow in us, and that carnal nature goes down. Ever go away? Doesn't go away. Pops its ugly head up from time to time, and maybe like one of those games at the arcade with the hammer, you punch it down again.

But we will always have it, and that's what he's recognizing here. That I practice. Now, if I will not do verse 20, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I then find a law that evil is present with me and the one who wills to do good. So he's talking about here, again, if we're dealing with different types of law, I didn't find a law. This is a reference here in the Greek to this compelling influence, this compelling force that I have to fight with on an ongoing basis. That physical selfishness that desires wrong. I find in a law that is evil present with me, the one who wills to do good, but I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. Our selfish desires oftentimes come in conflict with what? What we know to be right.

Because that's what we come to in terms of an understanding. That's what God provides us. He gives us, not just a physical, a sense of the physical way to fulfill the law, the letter of the law, but he gives us a spiritual understanding. And he's talking here about that war we have, that compulsion to do wrong versus knowing what's right. Now, the beauty is he gives us his spirit so that when we see it pop up, we remove ourselves, or we take a different path. We don't succumb to all those pulls we just read about in Galatians 5. We think through our environment, we think through the stimuli coming in, so that we don't allow ourselves to repeat whatever that wrong pattern is.

For I delight in the law according to the inward man, but I see another, verse 23, law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing it me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. And you can almost sense here a moan coming out of Paul as he writes 24. And maybe it's a moan that we experience from time to time. O wretched man that I am, I am one miserable person, because I am giving everything I have, and I am still succumbing to this.

Who will deliver me from this body of death? Now, without Christ's sacrifice, there is one destination.

But with Christ's sacrifice, everything is changed.

Verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then... Now, there should be almost a subtle, in parentheses here, because Christ's sacrifice paid that penalty.

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

So he talks about this very personal struggle that we can all go to. Now, I'm going to do something, maybe it's a little uncharacteristic. I'm going to read the next several verses, because there's not a natural break here. And human beings come along and they gave us a natural break. I'm going to ask us to read a few more verses, because they tell a little bit more of the story. Verse 1 of 8, There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

God is as patient, so far beyond anything we can comprehend in terms of patience. There's nothing in comparison here.

If you have a family member or a parent growing up who is patient with you, who is understanding, for whatever reason, I'm reminded from time to time how my dad will tell me stories about his upbringing. And one of the stories he often times tells is one of his sisters was learning how to drive. And they had one vehicle in the family. This is out in northwest Kansas. There's not a whole lot out there. Just a whole lot of posts. And he was in, as the story goes, he was grandpa, who I never met, died before I was alive, by eight years. But he was in there and he had one of the girls driving. And he told the girl, you're coming up on a post, be careful to miss the post. That post is way off to the side. You're coming up on a post, be careful to miss the post. You're already with me. She hit that post clean off. Went right through the post. And my question to dad was, well, how did grandpa act? He said, you're never going to believe this. He didn't do anything. And he laughed about it later on. And he said, the wonderful thing about my dad is he showed patience when I never thought he would show patience.

He said, and I said, why would grandpa do that? And he said, because he knew that Dolores had already learned the lessons she needed to learn from hitting that post. He said, I guarantee you, she would never hit a post again. Because she's been through that part. She could walk around the front of the vehicle and see that. Now, I think of, by background, I think of someone like that as being as patient as possible. God is so far beyond that. That's what verse 1 says. There is now, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but walk according to the Spirit. Verse 2, for the law of the Spirit. Remember I talked about there's three laws here. There's that Mosaic law, the letter of the law.

Paul was well aware of that. The Jews in Rome were well aware of that. We know that there's a law he references here that's our downward pull of human nature. He talks about here, though, that with God's Spirit, there is a spiritual way that the law can be looked at. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

So that last section, I'll stop at 4 in chapter 8, is a reminder that God's Spirit changes us. Are we weak? You bet we're weak. We are weak until the day we die. We will never stop being weak. But what God provides is that as long as we make this commitment, as long as we, on a daily basis, come back to Him, we are repentant and we acknowledge the law, and we come to Him and we devote ourselves to turning 180 degrees to the wrongness we've done, God promises to forgive. And He hits a reset on a daily basis, the same reset that was hit whenever we were baptized. Whenever you came up out of a watery grave and all of your sins were completely removed. David talks at length about this. Make me as white as his son. Clean me up, because I'm filthy. As a human being, we do this every day. We come to God and we say, please clean me up. Please go again with me, because I have failed again. I'm not going to keep doing this. I'm asking for help to not do this again.

So we know that God provides His Spirit so that we can change, so that we can grow more like Him every day. So let's then talk about some lessons we can take from this. Well, the first one I've already hit upon here, I think a lesson we can take from Romans 7, verses 1-6, is there's really no accident. God uses the teaching device of marriage to explain the law.

And the reason why I say this is because as we go through this, we're well aware of what appears in Ephesians 5. I'll ask you to go with me over to Ephesians 5. You know, as human beings, we look forward to getting married. We all desire to get married. It's in all of us. Sometimes it comes a little bit earlier. Sometimes it comes later. And in doing so, we want a mate. We want a good mate, a sound mate.

What we find in those first several verses of chapter 7 are played out, talked about here, again by Paul, over in Ephesians 5. In verses 22-25, it talks about this relationship and the terms of that covenant relationship at a physical level. Verse 22 reads, This is the church's subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands and everything. Recently, my wife and I had a discussion, and I use the term selective attention.

I think sometimes we read this and we have selective attention here. Particularly as young people desire us of getting married, we say, okay, what's the husband-wife relationship here? And we read this and we go, okay, what am I supposed to do as a husband? What is she supposed to do as a wife? And we read all that here. And that's valid and important.

And in 25 he caps, I'll only stop there, husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. And we think about by background how wonderful it'll be to be married. And we go through the wedding planning ceremony. We think through what are the colors, what are the flowers, what flowers are we going to have here? It's going to be so nice. We're going to have the best meal. We're going to have music. There will be dancing. All of that planning has already been made for us because Christ is waiting at His return for us as His pride to be ready. That's what verses 31 and 32, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

There's the aim. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Maybe I should pose the following question. Do you have the exact same emotional push to be ready for Christ that you had in being ready for your mate at marriage? Do you have that same push? I can remember in vivid detail all that we went through, and I went through in anticipation for our marriage. I can tell you the dresses we talked about, I can tell you the flowers, I can tell you the money, because I'm a guy.

That's how I think. We went through all of that. All of those details. What would everything look like? What would she look like whenever she came down the aisle? Would I be tough, or am I going to show tears? Okay, let me cut to the chase. I showed tears there. And the guy beside me said, Pull it together, man. You're going to say I do in a minute. I can process all of that in my head.

Do we have that same mindset for Christ's return? There are a couple of parables in the Gospels I'll only make reference of. Matthew 25. Jordan and I got into a discussion about this recently that talks about the parable of ten virgins. Do we have the character? Do we have God's Spirit stirred up in us? So we are ready when Christ comes back. Matthew 22, that section talks about having the right garments.

Are we putting on the right clothing? Are our actions reflective of the bride that Christ wants to marry? Or are we showing up with filthy garments? Unrepentant garments. We're right back to the importance of our own accountability. Paul's use of marriage is no accident here. Paul does something beautiful in providing a teaching device with multiple levels of meaning so that we gain a clearer understanding of inevitably the return of Jesus Christ and us being ready for that.

So that's what I would contend lesson one is. Lesson two is one I've hit on prior, and it's one that we've talked about at length up through Romans 7, and it's this. Paul has addressed for us the role of law and obedience and righteousness, and he's also talked about the importance of justification.

And I'll only hit on this a moment and read Galatians 2.20 along these lines. We know that Paul deals with the topic of justification in terms of a close relationship with God. There is initial justification. We've seen this in the prior chapters. We also know that after initial justification, us being made righteous and pure before him, that we then become participants in our own conversion by going to him and praying, Psalm 51 verse 7, make me wider than snow, clean me up.

That requires our ongoing commitment, devotion to being repentant. That ongoing justification, that closeness we have to God, is what Paul has dealt with in prior chapters here. Galatians 2 verse 20, again a memory verse, but so helpful to be reminded of.

Galatians 2 verse 20, I'll read verbatim. Again, we're well aware of what's written here. Here's a reminder of what Paul is inspired to write along these lines. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith and the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

That which is good that you and I do, that's God in us. That's God working out his purpose in us. The good that other people see, that's God in us. That's his purpose. That's his spirit working in us. That's his character being reflected through us. And that's what we need to give consideration here. Because this ongoing battle that he deals with, Paul deals with all the way through this, is the reality that we want to maintain a close relationship with God, so that our character is ready again when Christ returns.

So when God gives you and me a spiritual body that's perfect, and spiritual character that's eternal, that he knows that you and I will never deviate from that law. Third lesson I'm asking us to consider is, and this may be a bit of a downer, is that we will never, ever leave this battle with sin alive. We will always have to deal with sin. But the beauty is that Christ's sacrifice will always cover it.

I'll ask you, if you will, to go with me to 1 John. We'll go to one more place before we're done. 1 John 1. Here's the part, whenever someone says that, you're thinking, I'm going to make it. We're right at the end. 1 John 1. 1 John 1, verse 7.

2 John 1. 1. Brother, and I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. 2 John 1. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment, I write to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 3 John 1. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now, but he who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

I just read the wrong section, didn't I? You people were so nice, you didn't complain or anything. Let me go back and read chapter 1. You know, at some point here, if I mess up big time, you can go, could you take a look at this? Let's go back and read verse 7. Verse 7 of chapter 1. But if we walk in the light, this reads better. As he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ, that's where I was after, his son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess, and this is what Paul is talking about here. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So what we find here in 1 John 1, verses 7 through 10, is that we will mess up. But our responsibility along this line is to confess our sins and he promises then to forgive them.

We must be a repentant people. I'll only remind you what's listed, and I won't turn there, in Lamentations 3, verses 22 and 23. So many years ago, this was stressed to me in one of Dr. Ward's classes. And he talked about how God's word to take from Lamentations, that God's mercies are renewed every day. God hits reset every day and he extends that mercy we spoke of earlier. Sadly, this cycle does not change as long as we're human, but we must show growth.

That's the commitment we make at baptism. Because in a case like this, sin will diminish over time, but in anticipation to be the bride of Christ, we must be actively vigilant in resisting sin and committing ourselves to overcoming it. We must recognize that the struggle will never go away, but God will be there to help us to grow in grace and knowledge. I will quote 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. It says, It says, So our responsibility, as we see here from Romans 7, is to recognize that we will always have this downward pull. God provides His Spirit, He provides us His law, He provides us the sacrifice of Christ to wipe us clean and to renew us.

And He deeply desires that we do this, and He allows us on an ongoing basis to become more reliant on Him so that we can be that bride of Christ when Christ returns. We've been through Romans 6 today. We started in 5 and through 6. We saw that God is desirous of making us instruments of righteousness. In Romans 7, we witnessed the personal struggle we all have with sin. Paul recognizes that He is under the penalty of the law.

He's under the law in terms of keeping it responsible, but He is no longer, will He have to endure that penalty, as long as He cries out for God's help, is repentant and recognizes that God offers the sacrifice of His perfect Son for our sins. We are then raised in newness of life whenever we do this. God is deeply desirous that we have abundant lives. He deeply desirous that we have eternal lives. Paul makes clear here at the latter end of Romans 7, verse 25, that He has these laws working within Him, but He knows that spiritually we can overcome the law of sin that's spoken of in Romans 7.

So please continue reading the book of Romans and studying on it. It won't be too long until we're back in the book of Romans. Romans 8 is next.