Jesus Is the Answer for Our Struggles with Sin!
The Book of Romans
Romans 7:1-25 (Read vs. 1-6)
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - July 3, 2016
(Revised December 23, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to Romans 7. In the first 6 chapters, Paul made the rock-solid case that all of us are guilty of sin, and we all deserve the righteous wrath of God. Thank God, Paul also explained the forgiveness, eternal life and freedom we can have through faith in Jesus Christ.
*Paul summed it up for Christians in Romans 5:6-10, and said:
6. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
*The Lord Jesus Christ has given Christians everlasting victory over sin and death. But it is also true that Christians still have struggles with sin. And here in Romans 7, we will see Paul's struggle. Thank God, we also get to see that Jesus is the answer for our struggles with sin! Let's begin by reading vs. 1-6.
MESSAGE:
*Christians: Do you ever struggle with sin in life? -- Yes, we surely do. None of us is perfect, so every Christian struggles with sin on some level. We are in good company, because even the greatest Christians who ever lived struggled with sin.
*Everyday Christians do too. English Pastor Geoff Thomas gave the example of wonderful deacon named Rex Pocock. At the age of 90, Bro. Pocock went home to Heaven in October 2002.
*Rex had kept a little diary, and after walking with the Lord for almost 70 years, he wrote these humble words about himself, "More like a devil than a saint." And Pastor Geoff wondered, "How often did Paul feel like that?" (1)
*We know that here in vs. 19 Paul said, "The good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." And in vs. 21-24, Paul wrote:
21. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
*Some Bible scholars think Paul was talking about the days before he got saved. Others assume Paul was talking about his early days as a believer. But Romans 15:25-28 shows us that this letter was written near the end of Paul's third missionary journey. That was many years after Paul had been saved. And if Paul had been talking about the past, common sense says he would have written, 'O wretched man that I was.' But instead, he said, 'O wretched man that I am.'"
*Speaking to Christians in 1 John 1:8-10, the Apostle John also used the present tense and wrote, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
*The Apostle John never claimed to be perfect, and neither did Paul. Yes, in Matthew 5:48 Jesus told His followers to be perfect, just as our Father in heaven is perfect. And real salvation will always change the way we live. But we are all a work in progress, and Paul never claimed to be perfect.
*About 4 years after he wrote this letter, Paul was a prisoner in Rome. There he wrote a letter to the Christians in Philippi. And in Philippians 3:10 Paul indicated that he still wanted to get to know Jesus better. Then in vs. 12, Paul said that he wasn't already perfect.
*Real salvation always changes the way we live, but we will never be perfect in this world. That must be why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write about his personal struggle with sin. Thank God, we also get to see that Jesus is the answer for our struggles!
1. AND FIRST TONIGHT, GOD WANTS US TO SEE THE CRUCIAL DEATH OF OUR LORD.
*The death of our Savior Jesus Christ is our only hope for living free and fruitful lives. In vs. 1-6 Paul talked about the necessity of Christ's death, and the Apostle began by stressing the dominion that God's law had over us.
*Verses 1-3 say:
1. Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
2. For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.
3. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
*The original word for "dominion" in vs. 1 comes from the same word translated as "Lord." And without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are under the authority, power or lordship of the law. Verse 5 shows us one of the reasons why this is a huge problem for us: "For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death."
*The New Living Translation says: "When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death."
*What happens is that God's law has an unfortunate effect on our lost, sinful nature. The law actually stirs up our selfish, sinful passions, and all kinds of evil desire.
*It's kind of like seeing a sign that says: "Don't think about elephants." Well, what's the first thing you are going to think about? That's right: Elephants!
*Brett Blair gave another example about a museum. They had a big problem because people with dirty hands were touching priceless furniture and pieces of art. They put up "Do Not Touch" signs, but as you can guess, that only seemed to make the problem worse.
*Then one day, a museum employee came up with an idea that took care of the problem over night. They simply replaced all the "Do Not Touch" signs with new signs that said "Caution! Wash Hands After Touching!" (2)
*Sadly, a simple change like that could have never solved our problem with the law. There was only one possible solution: SOMEBODY HAD TO DIE. That's what God's Word is telling us in vs. 1-3:
1. Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
2. For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.
3. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
*Somebody had to die to liberate us from the law, and the only person who could ever do this is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus took the penalty and punishment for all of our sins when He died on the cross for us. Now our risen Savior shares His death and resurrection with everyone who will put their trust in Him.
*This is God's message for us in vs. 4-6 where Paul said:
4. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5. For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
*The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ sets us free! When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are born again and free to serve God with a new heart, as we are led by the Holy Spirit. And as vs. 4 says, we are freed to bear fruit for our God.
*Here is the wonderful truth: God can take any life full of sin, regret, and failure, and God can transform that mess into a life full of fruit for His glory. But this wonderful transformation could only come through the death of our Savior Jesus Christ. That's why God wants us to see the crucial death of our Lord.
2. HE ALSO WANTS US TO SEE PAUL'S DEFENSE OF GOD'S LAW.
*Paul made this defense in vs. 7-13. And Paul defended God's law, because he wanted to us to understand that the problem is never with God's Law. It's always with our sin. God's Law is always good. In fact, God's law is perfect!
*On top of that, vs. 7 reminds us that the law is our teacher. God's law teaches us how desperately we need the cross of Jesus Christ. That's why Paul defended God's law. And in vs. 7 Paul asked: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.'''
*God's law is perfect! Even so, God's law could never save us, because we could never keep it in our own strength. The good news is that God's perfect law can teach us that we need Jesus. And oh, how we need Jesus Christ!
*In vs. 8, we need Jesus because our sin brings on all kinds of evil desires. Here Paul said, "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead."
*Next, in vs. 9-10 we need Jesus because our sin is deadly. Here, Paul said:
9. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
10. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
*Then in vs. 11, we need Jesus, because our sin deceives us: "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me."
*And in vs. 12-13, we need Jesus, because sin takes advantage of God's good law to kill me:
12. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
13. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
*Church: Sometimes we are tempted to blame God for our sin problems. But here we see that the problem is not with God, and it's not with God's law. The problem is with our sin, so God wants us to see Paul's defense of God's law.
3. HE ALSO WANTS US TO SEE THE DIFFICULTIES WE FACE WITH SIN.
*All Christians will face some difficulties in doing the right thing.
*Think back to the night before the cross. There in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus agonized over the weight of our sins. But as always, the Lord's heart was also on the well-being of His followers. And in Matthew 26:41, Jesus said this to them: "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.''
*All Christians will face difficulties in doing the right thing. That's why in 1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul gave this warning to us: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
*Now here in vs. 14-23, Paul tells us about his own struggle with sin:
14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
*Wouldn't it be fantastic if after we received Jesus, we never sinned again? Wouldn't it be fantastic if we never had to struggle with sin again? But our own experience and the Word of God both affirm that we will have to struggle with temptation as long as we are in this world.
*Now this doesn't mean we have to give in to sin, or that we will never get victory over our temptations. We can be like John Newton who said, "I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world. But thank God! I am not what I used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am." (3)
*Thank God, Christians, we are not what we used to be! But we will still have to struggle against sin, and our failures will be painful. Known sin will always be painful for true Christians, and we can see Paul's pain in this Scripture.
*Please listen to vs. 15 again from the New Living Translation. There, Paul said: "I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate."
*Next in vs. 18: "I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't."
*And in vs. 22-24: "I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?"
*Heartache and pain always come when Christians give in to sin. That's because God's Word and His Holy Spirit will bring us under conviction. It's also because our loving Heavenly Father is faithful to discipline His disobedient children.
*Hebrews 12:1-11 explains this most clearly and says:
1. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2. looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
4. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6. For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.''
7. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8. But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
10. For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
*Heartache and pain always come when Christians give in to sin. And yes, Jesus can make us strong, but as long as we are in this world, there will be struggles against sin. This is one reason why church must be a priority for us. We all need the strength, help, accountability, and support we receive from gathering together. God wants us to see the difficulties we face with sin.
4. BUT PRAISE THE LORD, GOD ALSO WANTS US TO SEE THE DELIVERANCE WE HAVE FROM OUR SAVIOR!
*Paul will tell us much more in the next chapter, and it centers on God's Holy Spirit in our lives. But tonight, we can begin to see our deliverance in vs. 24-25. Here Paul cried out in agony over his sin, but he also found Heaven-sent comfort from our Savior Jesus Christ.
*Paul said:
24. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
*"Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" The answer is our crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is the only one who can deliver us! Jesus is the one who died to deliver me! And all Christians can echo these words from Psalm 18:1-2: "I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer!"
CONCLUSION:
*Paul miraculously went from "O wretched man that I am!" to "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" He went from the deepest despair to the greatest gratitude. And all the deliverance, all the blessings, all the help came from Jesus Christ!
*Sometimes Christians, we will have to struggle against sin, but we will always have the answer to Paul's question in vs. 24: "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" The eternal answer in vs. 25 is: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
*That's why we can close with great gratitude tonight, because if we have Jesus, we have everything we need!
(1) Online sermon "Stepping Heavenward" by Rev. Geoff Thomas - Philippians 3:12 - Alfred Place Baptist Church Aberystwyth - February 2, 2003
(2) "Today in the Word" March 1990 - Source: Sermonillustrations.com 06/29/2003
(3) John Newton quotation adapted from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/17247-i-am-not-what-i-ought-to-be-i-am
