Paul affirms in the previous section that the Law is not useless. It is not sinful or bad.
• No doubt the Law can only point out our weakness and makes us conscious of our sin; it is powerless to save us but it is not useless.
• It shows us the will of God, the righteous standards of God for our lives. It points us to holiness and hence the goal of our sanctification.
• The sanctified life is God’s blessing for us. Therefore the Law is holy and righteous and good, Paul concludes in verse 12.
Now that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified and made alive to God. We can now live in obedience to the Law.
• We are not obeying the Law to be saved. We are obeying the Law because we are saved. The one who knows God loves the Law and obeys it.
• We are not transformed like the Wonder Woman in the old TV show (those who are older will know this show)- just spin around and you are changed instantly.
• We grow in this new life to be like Christ. We will ultimately be like Him but it takes a process. We call this journey SANCTIFICATION (6:19) or “leading to holiness” (NIV).
It is not instant because we are still living in this flesh in a fallen world on this side of heaven. Sin is very much present and we are tempted in every way.
• Inwardly we have our fleshly desires and outwardly we are confronted by the sinful ways of the world and the snares of the devil.
• This battle is real for Christians because they have a new life in Christ.
• If we face no tension, then we might be moving in the same direction as the world.
• The conflict is there because we know what is holy and righteous and good.
Paul shares the reality of this struggle in his own life - Romans 7:14-25
14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
7:14 “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” ESV
• NIV puts it “but I am unspiritual”. KJV says “I am carnal.”
• Paul stresses again that the Law is good; it’s spiritual but he is not. His failure to keep it is no fault of the Law.
• Don’t blame the Law for being bad or exposing your sin or judging it. We sin because of our sinful desires.
Paul is not talking about salvation – that is our deliverance from the penalty of sin – which Christ has achieved for us at the cross.
• He is talking about sanctification – our deliverance from the power of sin, from its influence in our lives. We are constantly at war against sin.
• This fight is ongoing because we are still living in the flesh with its desires and in a world that has rebelled against God.
• The battle has already been won by Christ but the fight continues while we live on earth. The war will end when we see Christ again. This is the life of sanctification.
Paul shares with us very honestly his struggles, which all of us can identify with. If you are a Christian seeking to do God’s will, you will feel this.
• It’s good that you feel it because it means that you are alive in Christ. If we are not saved, we will be sinning naturally and happily. No conflict.
• But now we struggle because we know God and His will.
We are torn by two forces, like what Paul says here. 7:15 “…For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
• He knows what he WANTS but fails to do it. Instead, he ends up doing what he DOES NOT WANT, what he HATES. And he repeats this a few times.
• It’s clear. Paul the Christian is not against the Law. He is FOR it. He agrees with it.
• The Law is good and he wants to obey it. He is a serious Christian who feels the weight of not being able to do what pleases God.
There is a clash of desire and actual action. The will is there but the ability is not.
• 7:18b “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
• The Law cannot give us the power to change or the ability to do what it says.
• Paul says in 7:8-11 that sin seizes the opportunity provided by the Law and uses it to condemn us. The Law can only reveal our true state but is helpless to correct it.
Paul explains why this struggle – the sinful nature in us.
• 7:14 “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”
• 7:17 “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
• 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…”
• 7:20 “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
• There is a war going on. The flesh, the old self, is fighting against what God wants. The tendency to sin is always with us.
Paul illustrates this battle further in verses 21-25:
• 7:21 “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”
• Battle of TWO DESIRES – one to do right, but evil (sinful flesh) wants to go against it.
• 7:22-23 “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”
• Battle of TWO DELIGHTS – one delight in God’s law but the flesh wages war against our mind and lures us into sin.
7:24-25a sounds like TWO WAR CRIES - “24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
• The first one is a cry of despair, who can save me from this sinful flesh? It’s a question.
• The second is a cry of victory, thank God we can “through Jesus Christ our Lord!”, exclamation point.
Paul sums up at the end: 7:25b “So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
• This is the reality – his new self tells him to serve God and obey His commandments, and his old self of the flesh luring him to serve its desires.
• It’s the conflict between a renewed mind and the unrenewed flesh.
• This is true of every Christian for now, while we are on earth before the war ends. It ends when we see Christ again.
Paul shared this experience as a precursor to what he is about to say in Romans 8.
• We thank God because in Christ we experience another force at play in our lives - the power of His indwelling Spirit.
• Notice Paul did not say, “Wretched man that I am! WHAT will deliver me from this body of death?” (7:24). He says, WHO will deliver me?
• It’s not going to be some methods or strategies but a PERSON. Someone frees us and enables us to overcome sin.
• Through Christ we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord introduced as the Comforter (KJV), Helper (ESV), Counsellor (NIV84) and Advocate (NIV) (John 14:16).
The Law cannot provide us with the power to do that but the Spirit of God can and He dwells within us today because of our faith in Jesus Christ.
• Paul set the stage here in Romans 7 for what is to come in Romans 8, which explains the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
• The indwelling Spirit in us fights this war with us. He enables us to overcome sin, not our own abilities or willpower.
In Romans 7 in sharing his testimony, Paul conveys the reality of this struggle in the Christian life, not to discourage us but to warn us to take heed.
• There is this constant conflict that is going on within us, the fight between our flesh and the ways of God.
• It is real whether you are a 10-week old or a 10-year old Christian, whether you are a church worker or a senior pastor. No one is immune.
• Sin is no respecter of persons. Therefore:
(1) Keep our guards up. Stay vigilant. Be watchful.
• No one is exempted from temptations. We can all be tempted.
• The battle is not over until it is over. We stay alert while trusting Christ to give us the victory.
(2) Stay close and connected to Christ.
• Our focus is on Him and not on ourselves or our ability to be good.
• Jesus is our only security and our trust in Him will be our only assurance of victory.
• Acknowledge honestly our frailty and weakness, like Paul and we will do well.
(3) Persevere until the end.
• Sanctification is a lifelong endeavour that ends only when we see Christ.
• John Newton wrote in Amazing Grace (stanza 3):
Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come,
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
• God’s grace will see us through. He is in it with us.
Every single act of obedience to God matters, even if it is a very small matter.
• C.S. Lewis says this in Mere Christianity:
“The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.” (Mere Christianity, 132).
• Eph 4:27 “Do not give the devil a foothold.”
Do not let yesterday’s defeat demoralise us. And do not make light of today’s and tomorrow’s obedience. Every act of obedience matters, small or big.
• Prov 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (ESV: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”)
Do you know what the Lord is doing with your life?
C. S. Lewis illustrates it this way:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.
But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to?
The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
? C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Leave it to the Potter, He knows what He is doing.
• He has a plan in mind and He is moulding us accordingly.
• We trust Him and let Him have His way. He is not finished with us yet.
PRAYER:
Continue to do your good work in us, Lord and transform us into the likeness of your Son Jesus.
May we grow to reflect the character of Christ in our lives, in every way.
Search our hearts and purify our thoughts. Convict us of our sinful desires and lead us in your holy and righteous way. Help us stay obedient to you.
In Jesus’ Name, we pray, AMEN.
[You can view the sermon with slides at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService.]
