THE GREAT PARADOX AND THE ULTIMATE VICTORY
Text: Rom. 7:14-25
INTRODUCTION
1. Illustration: I love the story of Charles Spurgeon when he was a speaker at a conference along with another man, who publicly proclaimed that Christians could reach a place of sinless perfection where they no longer struggled with sin because they were perfected in the love of God. The speaker went on to suggest modestly that he had realized this in his own life. Spurgeon said nothing, but the next morning, at breakfast time, he crept up behind the man and poured a jug of milk on his head. He quickly discovered that the man still had his sinful nature!” (Gary Inrig. Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay, 158)
2. If I were to ask you today to raise your hand if you no longer struggle with sin in your life, most likely no one would raise their hand. But what if someone did? If someone did, one of two things would take place; 1) they should come up here and I should sit down, or, 2) they are a habitual liar and we need to lay hands on them and pray for their soul.
3. You see, in our text this morning the Apostle Paul admits that he struggles with sin, and if Paul struggles with it then we all do!
4. In this text, Paul talks about the great paradox and the ultimate victory. He talks about…
a. The Feeling Of Uselessness
b. The Feeling Within
c. The Feeling Of Victory
5. Let’s stand together this morning as we read Rom. 7:14-25.
Proposition: The only way to win the war with sin is to allow Jesus to be the Lord of our lives.
Transition: First, Paul talks about…
I. FEELING OF USELESSNESS (14-17).
A. I Don’t Understand Myself
1. In the first four verses of this section, Paul talks about the uselessness of trying to do good when fighting against the power of sin.
2. In v. 14 Paul says, "So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin."
a. Paul here is referring back to the idea that the law is not the problem.
b. In fact, the law itself is holy, righteous, good and spiritual! What this means is that it comes from God and not humans.
c. Moreover, Paul says, the problem is with me! The is the first of six times in this section that Paul uses I or me, and in doing so he is making a reference to his own humanity.
d. What he is doing here is drawing a contrast between the law, which is spiritual, and his own unspiritual nature which leads him, and us, to choose sin.
e. It shows us how we belong to this world and are under the power of sin and death.
f. Paul makes reference to this by saying that he is too human and a slave to sin.
g. You can almost see the picture with Paul in chains on the selling block and being handed over to his new master.
h. Furthermore, it describes our continuing sinfulness, that our very best acts are not good enough because we are enslaved to the power within us.
i. We have been set free from sin, but sin uses our own sinful tendencies against us to make a counterattack and gain a stronghold once more in our lives.
j. The slavery metaphor that Paul is using is designed to emphasize the control of sin in our lives.
k. He is demonstrating what happens when we try to live for Christ in our own strength.
l. He is demonstrating how powerful this vicious force is that is at war against us.
3. Paul takes this idea a step further in v. 15 where he says, "I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate."
a. Paul neither understands nor approves of what he is doing. There is a single concept that is running through theses verses - conflict and self-guilt.
b. He wants to do what is right but can't. This is the heart of the paradox of the struggle between living for God and living for self; what I want to do I don't do, but what I hate that's what I do.
c. There are actually three different Greek words that are translated "do" in this verse. They refer to the human actions of the individual who wants to do good but can't.
d. It all comes down to the will which is a part of the human mind.
e. Here Paul distinguishes his actual desire from the actions he carries out.
f. He willingly planned to do good, but instead chose to do what he hated.
g. This moral failure is caused by the power of sin within him and his own sin nature, that tendency within us to surrender to sin.
h. It's neither sin nor the sin nature that causes us to do what we hate, but rather both of them working together.
i. Sin provides the temptation, and our sinful nature surrenders to it.
j. We can all identify with his struggle. It is at the heart of the Christian life, this war against evil and human desire to give in to what we know is wrong.
4. Paul's desire to do good, even though he is not able to follow through with it, proves that the law is good. That's what he means in v. 16, where he says, "But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good."
a. The point is the desire to do what is good and not the failure to do it.
b. Even when he does what he does not want to do, the fact that he doesn't want to do it show that he agrees that the law is good.
c. The law is not an instrument of evil, it's not sinful but good.
5. So, if the law is good, and my intentions are good, what's the problem? Well, in v. 17 Paul says, "So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it."
a. The law is good, but I am not. However, it is not the real "I" but a separate force that is at fault.
b. Sin is an external force that is at war within us. Using the law and our sinful nature as tools against us, it establishes a stronghold, gains control over us, enslaves us, and finally kills us.
c. Since it has created a stronghold in us, it has made itself at home in our lives. Therefore, it is no longer an external force but an inner reality.
d. British scholar Leon Morris puts it this way, "This is not the honored guest, nor the paying tenant, but the 'squatter,' not legitimately there, but very difficult to eject." It is an evading army trying to destroy us!
B. The Human Heart
1. Illustration: Before a battle can be won, there must be the recognition of an enemy: The most continual aggressive enemy the Christian has is the "sinful nature" or rather the "flesh." The "flesh" (sarx) or that sinful nature has been compared to cancer. It is not like a rotten branch on a tree that can be broken off and gotten out of the way, thus protecting the rest of the tree. No, it lies deep always looking for its opportunity to grow and cause more damage. Matthew Henry wrote, "Sin is a brat which nobody is willing to own up to, a sign that it is a scandalous thing." It is that part in you that always wants to put the blame on someone else.
2. Our struggle with sin begins and ends with the rebelliousness of the human heart.
a. Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT2)
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
b. The problem is not the law, the Bible, or the church.
c. No, the problem is within us, our rebellious sinful nature.
d. Just like Paul, even when we want to do good, we do what we hate.
e. The problem is you; the problem is me.
f. We all have this thing within us, that the Bible refers to as the heart, which is not the physical, blood pumping organ, but rather the center of our being that loves sin.
g. Pastor Mark, are you trying to tell me I love sin? Yes, I am, because if you didn’t love it you wouldn’t do it!
h. Even after we come to faith in Christ, we have this inner struggle that Paul is talking about that is constantly fighting against us and against the Holy Spirit.
i. No matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we pray, or how much we read our Bibles this inner war, this inner fight, won’t go away. And it leaves us feeling useless, like total failures.
Transition: Now, if you’re feeling really discouraged at this moment, you’re not alone. But hang in there because good news is coming. However, we must first talk about…
II. THE FEELING WITHIN (18-20).
A. Nothing Good Lives In Me
1. This next section further details the bondage we have to sin. Paul again stresses that the problem lies with us.
2. In vv. 18-20, Paul writes, "And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it."
a. The law is good, but that is an external power, and the internal controlling power is anything but good.
b. That's because the internal system making the decisions is the sinful nature.
c. It is this sinful nature that has allowed sin to take control of us.
d. Which leads to the second thing Paul talks about in this verse, "I want to do what is right but I can't."
e. We give in to the tendency in us to choose sin which makes us do what we hate.
f. This is an ongoing battle within us that goes on constantly.
g. Like Paul we all want to do good but end up doing evil instead.
3. This sense of hopelessness can be overwhelming. In every decision that we make, our sinful nature is involved which introduces self-seeking tendencies into the process.
a. So, like Paul, we keep doing the things we don't want to do when ever our sinful nature gets in the way.
b. When we make decisions based on the promptings of the Holy Spirit this produces victory in our lives.
c. But when our sinful nature controls our decision, defeat is the result.
d. The fact that we do what we don't want to do is a sign that it is sin dwelling in us that is the culprit.
B. Filthy Rags
1. Illustration: Your family and one of your best friends’ families has decided to go camping, but you forgot to bring a container for water. On your way to the campsite your friend sees a container in the ditch he stops and picks it up. It has skull and crossbones on the outside of the container, and it says poison on it, and has a little bit of poison left at the bottom of the container. So, he turns it upside down and dumps the poisonous liquid out, then when you get to the campsite, he goes over to an area that has pure filtered water and he fills the container up with water. Would you and your family be willing to drink out of that container? Of course, you wouldn't! Because if the container is contaminated so is the water. God can never accept the righteousness that comes out of the human heart, no matter how good it looks outwardly. God sees that the container it came out of is defiled. No matter how many good works we try to offer to God it can never offset the aggravation of sin, the only thing that can offset the aggravation of sin is the death of Christ. At the cross justice was answered fully and God's holy and righteous demands satisfied. The third day Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death. God offers salvation to anyone that will come to him in repentance and faith.
2. Even when we want to do good, our sinful nature fights against us.
a. Isaiah 64:6 (NLT2)
6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
b. There’s something that we all need to come to grips with; we are all sinners at heart.
c. So far, we have seen Paul say there’s nothing good inside of us, Jeremiah says our hearts are desperately sick, and here Isaiah says our righteous deeds are like filthy rags.
d. No wonder we struggle with sin.
e. Even when we desire to do good, that sinful nature is right there dragging us down to ground.
f. It takes our good intentions and pushes us back in the mud.
g. No wonder we get discourages, frustrated and feel hopeless.
h. There is no way that we can overcome this on our own.
Transition: Now I know what you’re thinking right now, “Well, Pastor Mark, you’re just a breath of stale air today! Well, beloved, get ready to get excited, because have I got good news for you!
III. THE FEELING OF VICTORY (21-25).
A. The Answer Is In Christ Jesus
1. Paul begins to bring this paradox to a conclusion in vv. 21-23 where he says, "I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me."
a. The fact of life at work here is the reality that evil is within us, even when we want to do what is right.
b. In fact, it is when we most want to do good that we become most acutely aware of our propensity not to do so.
c. A swimmer has no idea how strong the current is until she tries to swim upstream. When she faces the current, she finds this law at work: the current is against her (Barton, 605).
d. We love God’s law because they long to know it and do it and in doing so please God. This is one of the marks of wisdom (Psalm 1:2).
e. The problem is that there is another power at work within us. That other power is the law of sin.
f. Sin is constantly at war because it will not give up the control over us that it lost when we came to faith in Christ.
g. Sin fights against our mind because our mind is where we make our decisions and our moral decisions.
h. Romans 12:2 (NLT2)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
i. We cannot resist our sin nature in our own power. When we try, we will be defeated.
j. Paul does not say that these powers are equal, but he knows they are both there. We must realize the same. One power must be resisted while relying on the other.
k. When we fail to rely on Christ’s strength for our daily strength, we in essence provide sin with more power over us.
l. Sin’s power will not have grown, but our relative weakness will make it seem that way. Sin’s power is not an excuse for us to drift spiritually, or openly give in to temptation.
m. We must not forget that they have already won because the Spirit within is greater than the spirit in the world.
2. In v. 24, Paul echoes the same frustration we all feel when he says, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?"
a. Now, we are probably used to hearing this as "what a wretched man I am!" The word wretched means to be in complete anguish and distress but not total helplessness and despair.
b. This cry of Paul's has a sense of hope, especially in light of the verse that follows, because Paul tells us exactly who will rescue us.
c. Again, this is one of Paul's famous rhetorical questions, which points to the answer in v. 25.
d. So, the sense is not one of total defeat but only a temporary one which we be flipped around in the next verse.
3. So here comes the moment we've all been waiting for. In the last verse, Paul gives us the answer we've longed to hear, "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."
a. The only solution to this sense of spiritual defeat is to acknowledge and depend completely on the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
b. Until Christ is made Lord of our lives defeat will always be our reality. But in Jesus there is both the strength to resist and the power to be victorious.
c. Oh, come on now beloved, there is victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!
d. Numerous polls have shown the secularization of the church in America.
e. You can no longer distinguish the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is terms of lifestyle, morals or priorities.
f. This means that more Christians than ever are only partially committed to Christ.
g. One of the most important tasks that we have today is not just reaching the lost but waking up the saved!
h. We must help them change their priorities and put Jesus back on the throne of their lives where he belongs.
B. But Thank God!
1. Illustration: The words “It is finished” are also a cry of victory in the sense that Jesus completed, he accomplished what God had sent him in this world to do. In this sense, it is like the athlete who enters a marathon race with the single-minded intention of both reaching the finishing line and coming in first. It is like the student finally reaching the goal after years of study comes graduation and a degree. It is like the author or artist, who after years of research and struggle finally complete their masterpiece, their most significant and enduring work. It is like undergoing major surgery and recuperating completely. For John the words of Jesus, “It is finished,” are the epitome of Christ’s life and ministry; the words are spoken by the King of kings on his throne, which was the cross. Jesus won the victory over sin, evil and death by willingly, and lovingly allowing himself to submit to these powers. In so doing, he defeated them.
2. Our victory over this struggle with sin was cemented when Jesus said, “IT IS FINISHED!”
a. John 19:30 (NLT2)
30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
b. The reason that we have this struggle, the reason we have this inherent sin nature, is because Adam and Eve blew it in the garden.
c. Ever since then life has been a struggle, because when Adam rebelled, so did we.
d. But God had a plan. And that plan was to send Jesus to set us free by dying on the cross.
e. When Jesus hung on that cross, and his mission was completed, he said, “IT IS FINISHED!”
f. As a result, our victory over this struggle was sealed.
g. But wait a minute, Pastor, if my victory is sealed, how’s come I’m still struggling?
h. The answer to that question is that you have not totally surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus.
i. There are still areas of your life, areas of your heart, that you still need to yield over to him.
j. Have you ever noticed that some sins are easier to fight than others? That’s because we have already surrendered those areas to Jesus.
k. The ones you’re still fighting are the ones you’re still holding onto. It’s like saying, “Jesus you can have this part of my heart, but I’m going to hang on to this one.”
l. We have to say to Jesus, “I surrender all!”
CONCLUSION
1. In this text, Paul talks about the great paradox and the ultimate victory. He talks about…
a. The Feeling Of Uselessness
b. The Feeling Within
c. The Feeling Of Victory
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER…
a. IF YOU ARE FEELING THAT SENSE OF USELESSNESS, REALIZE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
b. IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE LOSING THAT BATTLE WITHIN, KEEP FIGHTING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
c. IF YOU FEEL LIKE THINGS ARE NEVER GOING TO CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE, DON’T GIVE IN, GIVE UP TO JESUS!
