The Believer and Indwelling Sin
Romans 7: 14-25
This is a picture of a soul in conflict...in conflict with his desires, in conflict with his true self, in conflict with the Law of God, and in conflict with Satan.
The conflict is real, intense and strong.
It is summed up in verse 24, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? HE IS MISERABLE OVER THE SITUATION, THE STRUGGLE.
And he ends with the sad realization, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
There is a great debate in some theological circles as to whether these words describe a Christian or a lost person.
Some say there is too much bondage to sin for a Christian
Others say there is too much desire for good for a lost person.
Those who take the “non Christian” side point to verse 14, I am carnal, sold under sin.
And verse 18, for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
They say these show that it has to be non-Christian because the true Christian is no longer under sin and he has the power to do, not just want to do, God’s will (Phillipians 2:13)
How can it be a Christian who says he is “carnal, sold under sin” when 6:14 says “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”
If a person has died to sin (6:11), why does the writer warn them not to let sin reign in their mortal body (6:12)?
It is because SIN IS STILL AN OPTION... It can still move in and begin to rule your physical body.
So, I am convinced that these verses speak of a Christian... in fact, as you will see, I believe they speak of a very mature and spiritual Christian.
!st Proof: v. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Can an unbeliever delight in the Law of God? Not in scripture
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
2nd Proof: v. 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God.
Two proofs - The unregenerate do not say “Jesus Christ OUR Lord
nor do the serve the Law of God with their mind.(8:7)
3rd Proof: For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
This says there is a battle between a part of him that wants to do God’s will and a part that does not want to.
It is only the Christians that have that part that wants to do right... Phil 2:13
Jeremiah gives the best picture of the heart of the unredeemed. Not a heart that wants to do right, but (17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
4th Proof: verse 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Where does the desire to do right come from? FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT!
The heart, the soul, and the mind yearn to do what is good. The bent is toward good
THAT IS CHRISTIAN
Romans 3 says the heart , soul and mind of the un-Christian is different...As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 17And the way of peace have they not known: 18There is no fear of God before their eyes.
There is none of this tension, this battle, between doing right and doing wrong, DOES NOT EXIST IN THE UNSAVED!
OK, LET”S SAY IT IS A CHRISTIAN. WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN IS IT???
Let me say there are two kinds of Christian
carnal Christian... Flesh on the throne
Spiritual Christian.. God on the throne
Some say it is a Christian but it is a CARNAL CHRISTIAN... a Christian on a very low spiritual plane.
One person remarked “This is the abject failure and misery of a Christian who attempts to please god under the Mosaic System. In other words.. A super legalistic Christian trying to crank out his own righteousness in his own flesh.”
If you have ever known a legalist, one thing you know is that they are ALWAYS under the illusion that they are very spiritual.
I believe that this is a very spiritual Christian. This is one who has spent great amounts of time at the foot of the cross and in self examination.
He knows what he is and how far he falls short.
PRINCIPLE: THE GREATER THE SPIRITUALITY AND MATURITY OF A CHRISTIAN, THE GRATER WILL BE HIS OWN SENSE OF SHORTCOMING AND UNWORTHINESS.
Immature, infantile, carnal, fleshly Christians, when confronted with their own shortcomings do not fall broken like this.... they become very defensive and say “Well, I’m doing better than so-and-so.”
“You show me a person agonizing in the depths of his own soul because he can not do everything written in the word of God and I’ll show you a spiritual person.” John MacArthur
Don’t get me wrong. I believe those infantile, carnal Christians also get convicted about their sin. I believe there are times when they are truly broken.
What sets those infantile Christians apart from the truly spiritual Christians is that for the infantile, the broken-ness is short-lived.
They are described in James 1:23, For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
But the truly spiritual man is described in verse 24, But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
5th Proof: Remember: THIS IS PAUL!!!!!!!! A very spiritual man.
Paul constantly felt this way.
1 Cor 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints.
The more a man spends time in the Holy Word of God, and in the Presence of the Almighty, and at the foot of the cross.... THE MORE HE IS AWARE OF HIS UNWORTHINESS.
1 Timothy 1:12 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
This is a Christian that has matured so much that
SIGNS OF A MATURE CHRISTIAN
1. HE HATES SIN!
V 15: but what I hate, that do I.
2. HE LOVES RIGHTEOUSNESS vv 19, 21 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
3. HE DELIGHTS IN THE LAW OF GOD FROM THE BOTTOM OF HIS HEART
v. 22 22For I delight in the law of God
4. HE DEEPLY REGRETS HIS SIN v. 24 Wretched man that I am
5. HE THANKS GOD FOR THE DELIVERANCE THAT IS HIS IN JESUS CHRIST.v.25
He recognizes the source of his problem... I AM CARNAL... FLESH
How do you BEST know when you are really close to God???
Not when you have great prayer times.
Not when you feel the spirit moving in a worship service.
Not when the Holy Spirit reveals things to you.
When you are most aware of your sin, when you are most broken by your sin, when you are more acutely aware of the wall between you and God
THEN YOU ARE TRULY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY!!!!!
The greatest saints of all time were those who lived with the greatest awareness of their own sinfulness and unworthiness.
Where did they get that awareness?
AT THE CROSS.... by spending hours and hours at the foot of the cross...
Praying and thanking God for the cross
Reading the gospel stories of the cross
Meditating on the meaning or the cross
They saw all of life from the cross
This morning I want to ask you five questions
1. DO YOU HATE SIN!
2. DO YOU LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS
3. DO YOU DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF GOD FROM THE BOTTOM OF YOUR HEART
4. DO YOU DEEPLY REGRET YOUR SIN
5. DO YOU THANK GOD FOR THE DELIVERANCE THAT IS YOUR’S IN JESUS CHRIST.
Only two answers.... Yes or No
I invite both to God’s altar today
For the Yes’s- to cry out to God and ask Him never to let you get over it.
For the No’s- to ask Him to break you
We will sing “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross
