Romans, Part 21
Romans 7:7-25
Introduction
- Romans 7:4 – key point of bearing fruit …
- Paul reminds us that we are to die to what used to control us
- That is, to put off the things of this world and focus only on Kingdom issues
- All that separates us from living a life for God and today is our current choices
- Will we take the time to repent, and focus on Him; or live the way we are
- The sinful natures are gone; and a new life has been given to all of us
- Today, we are going to talk honestly about sin’s struggles; lots of scripture
- I’ll also share some insight regarding our future tasks in this battle
- Read Romans 7:7-25 / Pray
Point 1 – How are we to live? (7-12)
- Paul’s declaration is clear: We are NO LONGER under the bondage of sin
- The Law clarified for us what is sin, and it is what we are freed from today
- APP: If we live a life bound to sin – to who is it that we blame?
- If Christ has already died, and given us freedom, why do we continue to sin?
- However, because of sin’s power and appeal to the flesh, we often battle it
- What sin does is rise up in us and seize opportunity of weaknesses (daily)
-- It is not because God is mad at us, not because God rejects us
-- But because of who we are and how we are made that sin causes struggle in us
Point 2 – Sin is always to blame; God’s Law isn’t (13-20)
- (13) Sin is always going to be the guilty party; it is never going to be the Law
- When the Law shows us who we are, it is then that we have a choice
-- It’s the same choice we have right now – to obey or not to obey
- Sin not only works through evil, but something good as the Law can be twisted
- Think for a moment of the Crusades our faith went through; brought death!
- There was no glory in it; no honor for God; no lifting up Jesus; no salvation
- It was just war after war and death after death using Jesus as the reason!
- IMP: Christ has come to give us life; He never came to bring us death
- Yet, we have this perfect example of sin being used to warp what God says
- APP: This is why we MUST read, study, know the Word of God!
- (19) Paul says that he wants to do good, but even knowing he still sins
- KEY: There is good news coming so hang tight with me through this part
- A slave cannot act upon his own will; he is bound to the Master’s control
- No matter what he “wants” to do, it is of no good because the Master rules
-- CHALLENGE: When your master pulls the chain, what is your response?
You see, no matter how much Paul delights in what God says; he still sins
- No matter how much he desires to follow; he admits his flesh is weak
- But, this is NOT permission for you and me to signal defeat – not at all!
- TRANS: When we understand ourselves, we are then prepared for the fight
Point 3 – We are in a fight (21-25)
- No matter what Paul wanted to do, he understood that evil was with him always
- APP: This is what you and I must grasp right now, today … and not be defeated
-- It is challenging, it is not always easy, but how worth it is to you?
-- How worth it would it be to live a life for Jesus and proclaim Him to all?
- Sometimes we have to just confess who we are (see verses 24-25)
- It is not about us, no matter what we go through; life is about God’s glory
- Who will rescue me? Who will protect me? Who lives in me? It’s only Jesus!
-- What can wash away your sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
- We must control our minds and be slaves to Christ; but identify what sin is
- It is powerful; it is the weapon of our enemy; however it is defeated by Christ!
- TRANS: So, where do we go from here?
Point 4 – What’s Next?
- This past week was an incredibly eye opening experience for me
- Hearing from other Pastors really showed me something about our church today
- This related directly to what we are talking about this morning – battling sin!
- Did you know … right now … we are in a battle!
- We can read about it, we can preach about it, we can study about it …
DON’T MISS THIS:
- If we NEVER pick up a weapon we will NEVER be a part of defeating it
Many in our culture today are hurting, they are feeling dismembered by life
Lives are torn apart and souls have been deceived for far too long
Jesus came into this world to RE – MEMBER (put back together) those lives
He came to this Earth to RE – MEMBER you and I; and everyone we meet
2 key things God spoke to me during this week:
1) Our mission is to connect people to Jesus Christ (repeat, say with me)
-- That is all we are called to do; nothing more and certainly nothing less
-- In everything we do, we must ask, “How will this reach others for Jesus?”
2) Great Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40)
-- Loving God
-- Loving our Neighbor (this is the primary focus of the church)
- Perhaps we’ve forgotten about this very important mission of our church
- Or, maybe we’ve just been waiting for green light to GO … the light is GREEN
- Bulletin NOTE about Evangelism Meeting in the next few weeks
- More about this in the coming weeks – are you willing to commit to fight?
Conclusion
- Paul taught very clearly about identifying and battling sin; it was his mission
- He understood that we must know our enemy, and be able to stand against him
- He also understood that you and I were once bound by sin; but are no more
- Before we can enter the battle, we have to be prepared (war isn’t pretty)
- Before we can attack the enemy, we have to be ready (the nonsense is coming)
- Before we can win, we have to be saved (sanctified by & identified with Jesus)
- This morning, will we commit to fighting a battle that we must win?
- Pray
-- Time of Commitment and Service to Christ
