Sanctification: Limitations Of The Law Series

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Sanctification: Limitations of the Law

Romans 7:1-12

For those who have been with us on Sundays in January, you know our church's theme for 2013 is Peace-making. Making peace with God, with others and with yourself. These are needed for what I call "total peace."

So far we've been studying Paul's letter to the Romans to learn about peace with God. Let me give us an overview of Romans from chapters 1 through 8. Chapters 1 and 2 begins with bad news: All of us at one point lived as enemies of God. We disregarded God and His ways. And we knowingly or unknowingly opposed what God commands.

Next, Romans 3 to 5 follows with good news: All of us can have peace with God, friendship with God. We do not need to justify ourselves to God by what we do, because we can't. The Bible tells us we are justified by trusting in what God has done through Jesus Christ on the cross. Romans 5:9, "... we have now been justified by [Christ's] blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through [Christ]!"

And then we arrive at chapters 6 to 8, which moves us from having peace with God to living life for God. God justifies us so we can have peace with Him. God sanctifies us so we can live for Him. To be sanctified is to be set apart for godly living.

Chapters 6 and 7 shows us what we must stop doing in order to live for God. Chapter 8 shows us what we must start doing to live for God. Knowing both what to stop and what to start are important to living for God.

Pastor John taught through chapter 6, which calls us to stop living as a slave to sin. This morning, we'll be studying chapter 7, which calls us to stop relying on God's law. That doesn't sound right, but let's decide after we read chapter 7:1-12. (READ)

Paul is talking about God's law, the 10 Commandments. He refers to the seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery, and to the tenth commandment: You shall not covet. And he identifies our relationship to God's law and God's law's relationship to us. Let's look together.

First, let's look at our relationship with God's law: Vs. 1-6

God's law in the Old Testament was given to the Jews. And obedience to the law identified the Jews as God's people. It also led to blessings from God. These blessings included friendship with God and fruitfulness to God, which was godly living.

Here was the problem: The Jews couldn't obey God's law consistently. And neither can we. And violating any of God's law makes us law-breakers: Enemies of God and empty of godly living. That's the bad news.

Here's the good news. Paul says that Jesus Christ on the cross paid the price for our friendship with God. We are no longer identified as God's people based on obedience to God's law. We are identified as God's people based on our trust relationship with Jesus Christ.

That's why Christians are not legalists, law-followers, but Christ-followers. That's why Christianity is not about rules but about relationship with Christ. And that's why friendship with God and godly living are based on God's goodness; not our goodness.

Last Sunday we had our February T2 young adult mentoring group session. Every mentor I talked to said they loved learning from other mentors. I love it also.

For instance, one of the mentors gave a response to "how do you deal with temptations?" And he replied something like, "Develop a love for God that exceeds your love for the pleasures of sin." Paul might put it this way: Godly living has less to do with following the law and more to do with falling in love, and that with God.

So what is our relationship with God's law? Verses 4 to 6 can be summarized in one sentence: We are dead to God's law and alive to Christ's Spirit. In other words, our identity as God's people is no longer law-followers but Christ-followers. And godly living is powered not by God's law but by God's love.

Second, let's now look at God's law's relationship with us. Vs. 5, 7-12

Paul is not saying that God's law is purposeless or powerless. God has a purpose for His law. And we can feel the power of God's law at work in us.

Two Sundays ago, on the ride to church, one of my daughters asked some questions about sin. Here were the questions:

1. Why couldn't God not allow us to sin? I answered, "God made us to have freedom; and freedom means we can choose to do right or wrong, good or evil."