LAW GOOD; SIN BAD
Text: Romans 7:7-13
Introduction
1. Illustration: A hotel in Galveston, Texas, that overlooks the Gulf of Mexico, faced a potential problem. The edge of the hotel hangs over the water. Before the hotel opened, someone thought, "What if someone decides to fish out of the windows?" This person then erected signs saying not to fish from the hotel windows. Guess at the result? People fished out of the windows. Rather than preventing a problem, the signs had the opposite effect and simply exposed humankind's rebellious nature.
2. When it comes to the law, we are like those people at the hotel, if you tell us not to do something that’s exactly what we are going to do.
3. The sign at the hotel was good; people’s rebellious nature was bad.
4. So, that’s Paul message in this passage today. The law is good; sin is bad. He says…
a. The Law Introduces Sin
b. Sin Deceives Us
c. The Law Is Holy
5. Please stand with me, out of respect for the Word of God, as we read Rom. 7:7-13.
Proposition: The law can’t save us; only faith in Jesus.
Transition: First, Paul talks about how…
I. The Law Introduces Sin (7-8).
A. The Law Showed Me My Sin
1. How many here are old enough to remember Richard Nixon? If you do, you probably remember the saying is most famous for, "Let me be perfectly clear!"
a. That is what Paul wants to do in this section of his letter. He wants to be perfectly clear when it comes to his teaching on the Law and its relation to sin.
b. Some of the people in his day when under the misunderstanding that he believed that the Law was bad.
2. So, he begins here with one of his rhetorical questions, "Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”
a. He responds to this accusation in two related ways, showing that the Law is not sin, but it is still related to sin.
b. First, he says it was the law that showed what sin is.
c. The word "showed" refers to Paul's experience with sin. He not only came to the realization of what sin is, but actually participated in it because of the law.
d. Second, Paul turns to refers to a single example of sin based on one of the Ten Commandments.
e. When the law told him, "You shall not covet," Paul not only became aware of his sin but he was actually more attracted to it.
f. Some people think this refers to sexual lust, but it more appropriately refers to types of sinful desires.
g. In fact, coveting was actually considered the core of the Ten Commandments.
3. Then Paul goes on to say, "But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power."
a. First, sin establishes a stronghold. The phrase "used the command," is actually better translated "seized the opportunity," which is a military term for establishing a base of command in enemy territory.
b. Sin is an active force which takes the first step and goes to war against us by using the law as a weapon against us.
c. Coveting grabbed the opportunity used the law against us a made its camp in our own back yard.
d. As a result, it produced in Paul every kind of covetous desire.
e. It's clear that sin is the culprit here and the law was simply the tool it used to do its dirty work.
f. Two famous people gave good illustrations of this problem. Augustine in his book "The Confessions," told of when he was a boy and he and his friends would steal pears not because they liked them but simply for the joy of breaking the law.
g. Mark Twain also said, "like a mule, a person will do the opposite of what they are told, just for the sake of meanness."
h. Now certainly there was sin before the law, but it was the law that gave sin its power.
i. Without sin people don't know that sin is a transgression of God's laws.
B. The Law Gives Sin It’s Power
1. Illustration: Augustine on Depravity and Grace; “Without you what am I to myself but a guide to my own self destruction?” “... the self which willed to serve (God) was identical with the self which was unwilling. It was I. I was neither wholly willing nor wholly unwilling. So I was in conflict with myself and was disassociated from myself...how does anyone suffer an unhappy life by his will since absolutely no one wills to live unhappily?” Grace, writes James Smith, is the answer to that question. Grace is the answer to the call for help. Grace isn't just forgiveness, a covering, an acquittal; it is an infusion, a transplant, a resurrection, a revolution of the will and wants. It's the hand of a higher power that made you and loves you reaching into your soul with the gift of a new will. ("On the Road with Saint Augustine" by James K.A. Smith).
2. The law told us about our incredibly sinful nature.
a. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 (NLT2)
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
b. The law told us it was wrong to covet, but it didn’t tell us how not to do it.
c. The law told us it was wrong to worship other gods, but it didn’t tell us how to stop doing it.
d. The law told us not to, but it didn’t tell us how to keep our hands off of things that don’t belong to us.
e. The law told us there was a problem, but it didn’t tell us how to fix the problem.
f. The problem wasn’t the law; the problem was sin!
g. But God, sent Jesus to die in our place and take our penalty for us.
h. Jesus is the solution to the problem, and we should thank God for sending him to be our problem solver!
Transition: Next, Paul tells us that…
II. Sin Deceives Us (9-11).
A. Sin Took Advantage
1. In vv. 9-10 Paul writes, "At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead."
A. This is the first time in the letter that Paul uses an emphatic "I," and most likely is referring to his own experience with sin.
B. In other letters Paul refers to his behavior as a Jew as being "faultless," but here he is giving the other side of the story.
C. In essence he is saying that he was like everyone else having to dealing with struggle of sin.
D. However, when he learned the law to not covet, the power of sin came into his life and he died.
E. Sin had been dormant in his before then because there was no conscience or conviction regarding sin.
F. You know one of the greatest weapons that the devil uses against us is guilt.
G. "How can you call yourself a Christian when you are such a sinner!"
H. But you see he doesn't do that before we come to faith because he's already got a hold of us.
I. However, after faith he uses the fact that we know what sin is now.
J. That's when sin springs to life and gain a stranglehold on us. When this happens, death is a natural result.
K. Death has a double meaning here. It refers both to naive assumption that we are right with God, as well as the spiritual death which characterizes every sinner.
L. So, the great paradox is that the law was supposed to bring life in the sense that it would make people right with God and help experience life as He intended.
M. It was supposed to bring life, but in reality, it brought death. Sin twisted the purpose of the law which resulted in spiritual death.
2. Then in v. 11 Paul says, "Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me."
A. Sin here is seen as dormant without the law.
B. The true purpose of the law was to be a positive force in our lives that keeps us away from sin and produces life.
C. But as soon as it appears, sin goes on the attack and uses the law as a stronghold.
D. This attack takes the form of deception; it's not the law that is at fault, it's sin which uses the law to trick us like the serpent did in the Garden.
E. Throughout the NT this is how Satan works; he doesn't overpower them, he tricks them.
F. He is the greatest con man in the history of the world.
G. However, God knew that, because of the power of sin, we needed to be saved, which is why he sent Jesus to be the fulfillment of the law for us.
B. Trusts Something That Can’t Help Him
1. Illustration: A Pastor from Arkansas wrote, “I live in Arkansas. I LOVE when autumn comes and fall leaves drift down on autumn breezes. But in Arkansas, you have to be careful about those leaves on the ground because some of them conceal SERPENTS. There are lots of Copperhead Snakes here. Copperheads are venomous Pit Vipers that strike you as soon as they sense heat when any part of your body comes near them. And they blend PERFECTLY in with the beautiful fall leaves. And when they sense a predator is near, they will sometimes freeze in place, making them blend in even better, and making it tougher to discern the danger. And they don’t even have the good manners to rattle at you like rattlesnakes in Texas do. So be careful of those serpents that hide behind beauty, waiting for a chance to strike at you and bring destruction. It only takes one step in the wrong direction.”
2. The law is good, but Satan uses the deceitfulness of sin to trick us.
a. 2 Corinthians 11:14 (NLT2)
14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
b. Like that venomous snake, that hides in the weeds waiting for the chance to attack, Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
c. He makes things look so attractive and enticing to us.
d. He’s a liar, and the Bible calls him the “Father of Lies!”
e. Again, the law is not the problem, the deceitfulness of sin and the devil’s lies are the problem.
f. So, what’s the solution? The solution is trusting that which you know is true. It’s trusting the Word of God.
g. When Jesus was tempted by Satan he didn’t trust in his own wisdom and knowledge, he trusted in the Word of God. Every time Satan tempted him Jesus hit him with the Word.
h. But there’s still a problem. What problem Pastor? You can’t lean on the Word of God if you don’t know it, and you can’t know it if you don’t read it!!!
i. Joshua 1:8 (NLT2)
8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
Transition: Paul also tells us that not only is the law good, he tells us…
III. The Law Is Holy (12-13).
A. The Law Is Holy
1. In v. 12 Paul says, "But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good."
a. Although it gave him the death penalty, Paul could not speak against the law.
b. The law itself is holy and right and good because it reflects the character and will of God himself, who is holy.
c. The commandments define sin but are not sin (7:7). The purpose of the law is to teach us right from wrong, to give us guidelines, and to show sin for what it is.
d. The law helps us live for God, but it cannot save us.
e. If the law causes so much difficulty, what useful purpose does it serve?
f. (1) It is a revelation of the nature, character, and will of God.
g. (2) Its ethical components were incorporated in Christ’s teaching.
h. (3) It teaches us about sin.
i. (4) It demolishes self-righteousness (Barton, 604).
2. Then Paul concludes this section with, "But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So, we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes."
a. Paul asks, “Did the law, which is good, cause my death?”
b. Again, he answers his own question, Of course not!
c. The law was given by God; it tells us what God desires of us, and it is good.
d. It is sin, not the law, that brings death, and it is only through the law that we can see how terrible sin really is.
e. Sin uses God’s good commandments to continue to produce death in people because people cannot keep the law in their own strength.
f. But, by using the commandments as instruments of death, sin reveals itself in all its ugliness (Barton, 604).
B. Instructions of The Lord
1. Illustration: D. L. Moody said, “I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.”
2. In order to combat this problem, we must allow our lives to be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
a. Psalm 19:7-8 (NLT2)
7 The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living.
b. Ephesians 6:18 (NLT2)
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
c. The first thing that we must do in dealing with the problem of sin is by leaning on the Word of God.
d. The Word is perfect, it will not lead you astray.
e. It will make you wise, and therefore, help you to deal with difficulties in your life, as well as, helping you deal with temptation.
f. The Word will bring joy to your heart. If your sad, if your down, turn to the Word and not the lies of the enemy.
g. The Word is clear. It is going to tell you how it is, but you can trust what it says. You may not like what it says, but it won’t lead you astray.
h. Another thing we can do in fighting the deceitfulness of sin is to pray in tongues.
i. Our Pentecostal prayer language is the greatest weapon in the spiritual realm.
j. The devil can’t fight it because he can’t understand it.
k. Once you start praying in tongues the devil runs away screaming because he knows he’s defeated.
l. If we do these things, we too will be holy just like the law.
Conclusion
1. Paul message in this passage today is the law good; sin bad. He says…
A. The Law Introduces Sin
B. Sin Deceives Us
C. The Law Is Holy
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER…
A. SINCE THE LAW SHOWS US WHAT SIN IS, STUDY IT SO THAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT AGAINST IT.
B. THE STUFF SATAN OFFERS YOU IS JUNK, SO THROW IT IN THE TRASH WHERE IT BELONGS.
C. THE LAW IS HOLY, AND BECAUSE IT IS IT HELPS US TO BE HOLY ALSO.
