WHY DO WE STILL STRUGGLE WITH SIN?
Romans 7: 14-25 (p786) March 10, 2013
INTRODUCTION:
I think I’ve been fairly clear on the point that when you give your life to Christ and ask for Salvation…it’s a commitment to follow him…you’re not getting your ticket punched to heaven; you’re not getting your get out of Hell free card…You are surrendering “ownership” You are dying, being buried, you are rising to walk in “newness” of life…why.
Because you are a “Born-Again, Spirit-filled, and Spirit-led, adopted child, a co-heir with Jesus of an eternal inheritance…but that doesn’t mean the struggle with sin is over!!! I’ll assure you at least for the apostle Paul and Rick Burdette it isn’t.
Listen….Read text (Romans 7:14-25) (p786)
WOW!!! This is the apostle Paul talking…It is an intimate glimpse into his deepest heart. The man who wrote half the New Testament under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit…The man who planted the foundational churches in the gentile world through His three missionary journeys...says…
“There is a war being waged inside me…In the depth of my heart I love God love Jesus, Love His word, but right alongside that deep love is a selfish nature that wants to be gratified..”
Paul is saying, “When the Holy spirit moved in…He made His home in a very dirty place…And there is a constant battle with the old me you know “The one who likes to set in the Lazy boy eating cheetos!” (Loose paraphrase)
You see “Holy” isn’t God’s Spirits first name…it’s His Job Description…what does God’s Spirit do after he moves into a born again believer’s life? He begins to clean the house…He starts prioritizing the structure so it can be a Temple worthy of God’s presence.
And it’s kinda like the 38 year old guy who gets married for the first time…And his wife tells him to get rid of the “Budweiser lamp” and the “refrigerator held together with duct tape, and the “brown worn out couch”. There’s gonna be a WAR…I promise…(or maybe he’s really smart and jut does it!!)
Even if you have not surrendered to Christ yet…The Holy Spirit may be fulfilling His job description as a way of drawing you to salvation…You see if you are still separated from God, still dead in your sin, still unredeemed and lost…The Spirits job is to show you how lost you are…reveal how separated from God you are, and the Spirit also convicts you of the consequences of staying in that place…
On the night before Jesus was crucified…24 hours before his death for our sins..Jesus looked at His disciples…His closest followers and said, “It is for your good that I am going away…unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)
The Advocate…both Paul the apostle and John the beloved reveal…the Holy Spirit is
I A NEW TYPE OF LAWYER
As Jesus finishes up that statement about the Holy spirit…calling Him “The Advocate” he says…”When He comes He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin, and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8)
In our text in Romans 7 the subject is clearly about Sin, righteousness, and judgment...and the apostle Paul’s struggle with it…Let me share with you an important difference between the two passages, both of which deal with Sin…
First of all If you are not a surrendered, Spirit filled and led follower of Christ…and God’s Spirit is working on you…convicting you….cutting your heart…revealing your separation form a Holy God…He’s doing just what Jesus said God’s gift would do!...something He could not do in everyone’s heart while in a body of flesh….this Spirit can go and do this in thousands of people at the same time…This Advocate, Lawyer of God, Comforter, helper, paraclete, Counselor…stands at the courtroom of your heart… and says…Look, see the reality of your sin…you are guilty and worthy of punishment…He’s a prosecutor…The one who does this as an advocate between God and Man…It’s the reason Jesus left His Spirit and filled His people with that power and message…those who are separated and convicted by the Spirit and the truth…listen…Here’s what Peter the Apostle said in the first gospel message for the church are the day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:32 -42 (p75)
The promised Holy Spirit…He’s the one working in what you now see and hear...Jesus is Lord! He is the Promised one…You crucified Him (Sin being dealt with) but God raised Him…
When the people heard this they were “cut to the heart”….The Advocate has laid open and bare their sinful hearts…the response “what do we do?”
You turn from your old ways to God (that’s repentance) you are baptized into Christ…for the forgiveness of all that sin and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”
Who is this for...who will the Advocate prosecute for their sin?...”You, your children, those who are far off…All whom the Lord our God will call.”
Sin is dealt with at our conversion…Our death burial and resurrection begins a new direction in following Christ…Now He doesn’t convict from the outside…Now He lives in you…He’s no longer knocking on your hearts’ door…He now lives inside…it’s His home…
That’s what Paul is dealing with in our test.
The Holy Spirit isn’t just a Prosecutor…He’s also a defense attorney in the best sense of the Word…and that’s what’s different in Romans 7 and John 16:7…In our text Paul is telling us why we will struggle with sin after our conversion …and It seems Paul’s struggle isn’t laziness…it’s with the “Law”
Before we get too deep into this it’s important to distinguish between 2 kinds of “Laws”…There are rules, precepts, commitments of God…This is one kind of law…and then there are clear and universally understood “Laws” like…”The law of gravity”…..That’s not a rule…it’s a true principle everyone understands…”drop an apple…it hits the ground.”
The apostle Paul uses both these terms for “law” when he writes Romans chapter 7. When he talks about the law being spiritual…He’s talking about the 10 commands and other laws of God…Paul agree that “God’s law is good!”…”It’s Spiritual” “He delights in this law in His inner self.” The problem isn’t with God’s law…it’s perfect, Holy, righteous, it’s to protect us….”like a guard rail on the highway.” “Or a flashing light at a railroad crossing.”
The problem isn’t with God’s law…the problem is with Paul…it’s with Rick…it’s with every one of us; even after our conversion in Christ…it’s the other kind of law….
Verse 21 says, “So I find this law at work; although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” This isn’t a “Thou shall not…Law”…it’s a law of gravity law” (I hope that makes sense)…It’s never right nor wrong…it’s just a principle that’s UNIVERSALLY TRUE”, “You drop an apple…It hits the ground, I want to do good…but evil is right there with me.”
So how long does this War last? How long do I loathe with doing what I don’t want and not doing what I should? How long does sin live in me? Fighting for control of my thoughts and actions?
The Answer: As long as I live in this temporary body!
In fact Paul does what we all feel like doing at times…He cries out…gets right to the point…WHAT A WRETCHED MAN I AM! WHO WILL RESCUE ME FROM THIS BODY THAT IS SUBJECT TO DEATH?
It’s here that God’s spirit becomes our greatest Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Comforter, and Helper… [Paracleted (in the Greek]
Remember? “His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16)…not only children but heirs…heirs of God…co-heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17)
Paul answers his own question in verse 25…Who will rescue us from this body subject to death…
“Thank you God…you have delivered us through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I love the “US” and “OUR” these too don’t you… Let me end with this important scriptural truth…
II THE LETTER OF THE LAW KILLS BUT THE SPIRIT LIVES LIFE
This section of scripture in Romans 7 introduces chapter 8….chapter 8 begins “therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…because through Christ Jesus “The Law” (like the law of gravity) of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of Sin and death…for what the law (10 commandments, rules) was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His only Son….(Romans 8: 1-3)
Paul had been a Pharisee…He describes himself as a Pharisee of Pharisees…Like a layer’s lawyer, only He study God’s rules…not mans…He was an expert Law Keeper…describes himself as “Faultless” When it came to law keeping…but there was no love…No compassion…No grace He was violent, aggressive, …ready to convict and kill, or put in jail at the drop of a “rock”. It was like He had legalistic blinders on…He knew that kind of heart…He knew what that law keeping reality brought [I’ve had condemners in my presence before…you know, ready to convict even before talking…they’ve talked to others…presented their cases…before they even bring the charges to you…and you know that they’ve already gone through the 7 or 8 things you’ve done wrong before you come together.] It’s like the veil that Moses wore when he came down from the mountain after being with god…He wore that veil so people couldn’t see his real face…People who lived legalistic, predictable lives are like that…but like Moses that glory is temporary….Eventually that veil has to come off…listen..
2 Cor. 3:6-18 (P804)
“When anyone turns to the Lord the veil is taken away! “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
[O….MAN…!!!! Satan is the God of the mask…they won’t love you if they really see you!!! And Satan has human helpers….ready to judge, condemn, criticize, fault find…there are denominations that are dying because they are founded on these attitudes…Veil wearers…and death dealers, sons and daughters of the Pharisees…
Have I ever showed you the Pharisees handshake…? (Wag finger in condemnation!!!)
But then there are people who have taken off the MASK…With open faces and hearts they contemplate the Lord’s glory…they help others take off the MASK…
And freedom, thankfulness, grace, joy, hope, love, and all the fruit of God’s Spirit shows the transformation happening in their lives…
IF YOU WEAR THE VEIL….The Mask your always trying to pretend to be better than you think you are…you can never to yourself…you can never really become that which Jesus wants you to be…Your trapped behind a façade…[Some die in places of ministry or leadership where Pride will not allow that mask to drop) and the people that love you, or say they do…don’t really love the real you…Maybe you don’t believe they can…it feels like you’re in jail…
But I think Paul got it…Eugene Peterson in A Long Obedience in the same Direction wrote…
“When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn’t’ go off and leave us—He enters into our troubles and saves us.”
Paul wrote “Who will rescue me…the one that struggles…sins…fail…acts like the priest and Levite instead of the Good Samaritan. The one that hates myself at times because of my weaknesses…the one that wants to pretend…Oh…Yeah…I know…
Thanks Be to God…who delivers me through Christ Jesus our Lord…
Today the Holy Spirit might be the prosecuting attorney pressing home the conviction of your sin…your guilty, but Jesus is your sacrifice…He has already paid your bail in His blood….
Or maybe you are wearing the mask…working hard…trying to keep all the rules…but your still enslaved, pretending…the Spirit cries “Freedom”….take off your mask and let Christ transform you in the His glory….
Let’s Pray.
