(If you feel this sermon is helpful, you are welcome to visit https://danachau.thinkific.com/ for a free online course.)
Sanctification: Limitations of the Law
Romans 7:1-12
For those who have been with us on Sundays in January, you know our church's theme for 2013 is Peace-making. Making peace with God, with others and with yourself. These are needed for what I call "total peace."
So far we've been studying Paul's letter to the Romans to learn about peace with God. Let me give us an overview of Romans from chapters 1 through 8. Chapters 1 and 2 begins with bad news: All of us at one point lived as enemies of God. We disregarded God and His ways. And we knowingly or unknowingly opposed what God commands.
Next, Romans 3 to 5 follows with good news: All of us can have peace with God, friendship with God. We do not need to justify ourselves to God by what we do, because we can't. The Bible tells us we are justified by trusting in what God has done through Jesus Christ on the cross. Romans 5:9, "... we have now been justified by [Christ's] blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through [Christ]!"
And then we arrive at chapters 6 to 8, which moves us from having peace with God to living life for God. God justifies us so we can have peace with Him. God sanctifies us so we can live for Him. To be sanctified is to be set apart for godly living.
Chapters 6 and 7 shows us what we must stop doing in order to live for God. Chapter 8 shows us what we must start doing to live for God. Knowing both what to stop and what to start are important to living for God.
Pastor John taught through chapter 6, which calls us to stop living as a slave to sin. This morning, we'll be studying chapter 7, which calls us to stop relying on God's law. That doesn't sound right, but let's decide after we read chapter 7:1-12. (READ)
Paul is talking about God's law, the 10 Commandments. He refers to the seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery, and to the tenth commandment: You shall not covet. And he identifies our relationship to God's law and God's law's relationship to us. Let's look together.
First, let's look at our relationship with God's law: Vs. 1-6
God's law in the Old Testament was given to the Jews. And obedience to the law identified the Jews as God's people. It also led to blessings from God. These blessings included friendship with God and fruitfulness to God, which was godly living.
Here was the problem: The Jews couldn't obey God's law consistently. And neither can we. And violating any of God's law makes us law-breakers: Enemies of God and empty of godly living. That's the bad news.
Here's the good news. Paul says that Jesus Christ on the cross paid the price for our friendship with God. We are no longer identified as God's people based on obedience to God's law. We are identified as God's people based on our trust relationship with Jesus Christ.
That's why Christians are not legalists, law-followers, but Christ-followers. That's why Christianity is not about rules but about relationship with Christ. And that's why friendship with God and godly living are based on God's goodness; not our goodness.
Last Sunday we had our February T2 young adult mentoring group session. Every mentor I talked to said they loved learning from other mentors. I love it also.
For instance, one of the mentors gave a response to "how do you deal with temptations?" And he replied something like, "Develop a love for God that exceeds your love for the pleasures of sin." Paul might put it this way: Godly living has less to do with following the law and more to do with falling in love, and that with God.
So what is our relationship with God's law? Verses 4 to 6 can be summarized in one sentence: We are dead to God's law and alive to Christ's Spirit. In other words, our identity as God's people is no longer law-followers but Christ-followers. And godly living is powered not by God's law but by God's love.
Second, let's now look at God's law's relationship with us. Vs. 5, 7-12
Paul is not saying that God's law is purposeless or powerless. God has a purpose for His law. And we can feel the power of God's law at work in us.
Two Sundays ago, on the ride to church, one of my daughters asked some questions about sin. Here were the questions:
1. Why couldn't God not allow us to sin? I answered, "God made us to have freedom; and freedom means we can choose to do right or wrong, good or evil."
2. Why couldn't God not say what sin is; then we wouldn't be guilty of sin.
3. Why doesn't God just hide the ways for us to sin, so we can't do it?
I'm going to answer the second and third question in the remainder of this message. Not because they are my daughter's questions. But because the answers to these questions are found in this morning's text in Romans 7.
Yet before I do, I want to share one more incident about the same daughter. Sometime ago, she took her sister's orange Gatorade and held it together with her bottle of orange Gatorade. Then she said, "Guess which one is yours. You get five guesses."
I share this incident to alleviate your envy. My daughters are just like any other kid. Their IQs fluctuates. They behave well sometimes and other times not. They bring happiness to our lives and also headaches. But I wouldn't trade them for any other kids.
Let's continue by looking at the purpose of God's law, that is to articulate sin, to define what sin is. We see this in verse 7 and 12. This answers my daughter's second question: Why couldn't God not say what sin is; then we wouldn't be guilty of sin.
Like a good parent, God tells us what are destructive, because He loves us. Sins destroy our relationship with God and with others. Sins are harmful to ourselves. God defines sins to tell us where the dangers are in life.
Now my daughter did get it right. If we didn't know what was sin, we wouldn't be guilty of sin. Romans 5:13 reads, "To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law."
But we should remember, Jesus took care of the penalty for sin on the cross. Romans 8:1 reads, " Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." So we get the best of both worlds, guidance without guilt.
My other daughter understands guidance without guilt, sometimes. When I correct her, she will sometimes ask, "Dad, are you teaching me or mad at me? If you're teaching me, put on a smile." It's easier to accept correction without the feeling of condemnation. Or put it another way, it's easier to accept guidance without guilt.
When Paul says we are dead to God's law and alive to Christ, he's not saying God's law serves no purpose in our lives. It's just that the purpose of God's law isn't to bring us friendship with God or godly living. Not because the law is not good; but because we cannot be good enough, long enough.
Paul wrote in verse 12, "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." That's God's law for the Christian, guidance without guilt.
Let me close with the power of God's law. Paul describes the purpose of God's law in the positive, but the power of God's law in the negative. He says God's law has the power to arouse sins within us. Verses 5, 8-11
Because of our sinful nature, God's law, which is good, stirs up sinful desires. Our sinful nature can turn good into bad. Here's an example. Sex is good and designed by God. But our sinful nature can turn sex into a selfish act.
Here's another example. Money is important and useful. Money supplies our basic needs, helps feed the poor, supports worthy causes. But our sinful nature can turn the beneficial use of money into a greedy love for money.
This answers my daughter's third question: Why doesn't God just hide the ways for us to sin, so we can't do it? There is no hiding from us the opportunities to sin, because it's our sinful nature within that turns even the good things into sin.
The late Paul J. Meyer dedicated his life to motivating people to their full potential, to becoming what God intended. He was considered to be the father of the personal development industry. The combined sales of his printed and recorded materials are more than two billion dollars worldwide.
Here's what he wrote in his book, Unlocking Your Legacy: "Only in trusting Jesus Christ and being born of God, can we live the life God intended now and for eternity."
Here's the conclusion: The law of God is limited by our sinfulness, but the love of God covers a multitude of sins. The love of God through Jesus Christ has the power to restore friendship with God and godly living.
(If you feel this sermon is helpful, you are welcome to visit https://danachau.thinkific.com/ for a free online course.)
