WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.200 We took a break from Romans last week, and we're back into it again, and we're going 00:00:10.200 --> 00:00:12.060 to be looking at all of Romans 7. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:19.059 It's something that's hard to break up, so we're going to be mad and try and gobble it 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:20.140 all down in one go. 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:23.140 So Romans 7, we have two readers. 00:00:24.060 --> 00:00:30.519 Kirsty is going to read from verses 1 to 13, and then Ross is going to read from verses 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:32.820 14 through to 25. 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:34.899 I haven't got a page number. 00:00:35.780 --> 00:00:36.359 Somebody does? 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:38.299 1133. 00:00:38.299 --> 00:00:40.939 If you've got a church Bible. 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:55.719 So in Romans 7, chapter 7, verses 1 to 13. 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:01.759 Do you not know, brothers, for I am speaking to men who know the law, that the law has 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.879 authority over a man only as long as he lives? 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:10.939 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. 00:01:11.299 --> 00:01:15.019 But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 00:01:15.539 --> 00:01:21.739 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:27.799 But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:28.939 she marries another man. 00:01:29.699 --> 00:01:35.539 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to 00:01:35.539 --> 00:01:41.340 another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:47.919 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.159 at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 00:01:51.939 --> 00:01:57.680 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:02.040 serve in the new way of the spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:04.120 What shall we say, then? 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:05.439 Is the law sin? 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:07.200 Certainly not. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.780 Indeed, I would not have known what sin was, except through the law. 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:17.419 For I would not have known what coveting really was, if the law had not said, do not covet. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:24.180 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:25.259 of covetous desire. 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:28.020 For apart from law, sin is dead. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:34.840 Once I was alive apart from law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life, and 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:35.439 I died. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.840 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:46.680 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:48.340 the commandment put me to death. 00:02:48.920 --> 00:02:53.780 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 00:02:54.480 --> 00:02:57.159 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? 00:02:57.500 --> 00:02:58.319 By no means. 00:02:58.980 --> 00:03:04.319 But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me, through what 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:08.640 was good, so that through the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful. 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:22.000 We know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:24.439 I do not understand what I do. 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:27.400 For what I want to do, I do not do. 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:29.219 For what I hate, I do. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:33.640 But if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:39.399 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:43.939 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. 00:03:44.559 --> 00:03:48.159 For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:51.439 For what I do is not the good I want to do. 00:03:51.799 --> 00:03:55.779 No, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. 00:03:55.780 --> 00:04:02.479 Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:03.800 in me that does it. 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:06.479 So I find this law at work. 00:04:07.099 --> 00:04:10.240 When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:15.879 For in my inner being, I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in the members 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:21.180 of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.240 of sin at work within my members. 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.220 What a wretched man I am! 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.100 Who will rescue me from this body of death? 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:32.000 Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:38.120 So then, I myself, in my mind, am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature, a slave 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:38.920 to the law of sin. 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:44.920 Thanks very much for reading. 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:56.460 I'm sure by listening to that, it's a fairly jam-packed passage, difficult to work through. 00:04:56.620 --> 00:05:04.340 Some people read this chapter and say it describes the person before they become a Christian. 00:05:04.520 --> 00:05:06.660 So this is the kind of struggles they go through. 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:13.120 Some people say this is describing somebody who is a Christian, and they're struggling 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:16.500 with the battles that they have inside. 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:22.800 Well, we're going to take a different route through all of this, and you can have a chat 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.939 to me afterwards whether you think this is what the Bible is actually saying. 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:30.560 Let's talk to God and ask for his help as we pray. 00:05:32.780 --> 00:05:34.860 Father, thank you for your word. 00:05:35.460 --> 00:05:41.680 We pray that you would bring clarity to it, to our minds, that we would have understanding, 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:50.620 that you would give us your Holy Spirit to interpret what is being said, but not just that it would 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:55.620 give us better understanding in our minds, but that it would change our life. 00:05:56.500 --> 00:06:02.680 It would transform us and help us to see that we are people who desperately need Jesus, not 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:09.920 just to bring us to life, but as we walk through life, we need him every day. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.540 So please help us in Jesus' name. 00:06:13.900 --> 00:06:14.340 Amen. 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:22.259 But when you go home, I want you to all try out an experiment. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:27.300 I want you to climb up on a wall, a high wall. 00:06:28.200 --> 00:06:33.259 If you haven't got a high wall near your house, you can climb up onto the top of your car or 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:34.960 even onto the top of your house. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:43.060 And I want you to put your hands out in Superman or Superwoman style, like this, okay? 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:48.620 And I want you to repeat the words, I'm going to fly. 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:55.219 And then slowly and carefully push yourself off. 00:06:55.220 --> 00:07:01.560 Well, I don't think any of you are going to try it, are you? 00:07:03.280 --> 00:07:05.740 One word why we're not going to try it? 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:07.440 Gravity. 00:07:08.700 --> 00:07:14.720 We mightn't understand the maths and the physics behind it, but we've all got enough stuff up 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:19.980 here in our heads to know that we are somehow stuck on this earth. 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:28.900 There's a force all around us that pulls us and keeps us from floating off into space. 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:34.980 And there's nobody, to my knowledge, that can defy the laws of gravity. 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:44.040 Strangely, however, there were a bunch of religious people in this church in Rome that thought they 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:46.259 could defy the laws of sin. 00:07:46.259 --> 00:07:54.939 They thought that if you added on lots of rules, they would never struggle or battle with sin again. 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:01.319 They would be able to fly through the Christian life. 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:06.420 But Paul's response to this is, that's absolute nonsense. 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:08.519 Look at verse 21. 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:38.500 He says, 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:44.399 Just as we can't shake off the laws of gravity and go flying whenever we want to, 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:50.179 so we can't shake off the law of sin and be perfect whenever we want. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:52.980 As it says there in verse 21, 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:58.899 Whenever I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:02.679 And I think we can all identify with that. 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:04.139 There's a force. 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:07.719 There's a pull that's going on in our lives. 00:09:08.459 --> 00:09:14.059 In fact, the reality of this sin is like an ongoing battle, as he says in verse 23. 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:18.259 It's a war waging against our minds. 00:09:19.219 --> 00:09:22.659 We can't break it and we can't shake it. 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:25.759 It's as real as gravity. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:30.519 Yes, the penalty of sin has been paid for and dealt with. 00:09:30.579 --> 00:09:32.339 We saw that back in chapter 6. 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:41.040 But the presence of sin is going to be a daily reality in our lives until the day that we die. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:47.899 Now, if that is true, if sin is going to be a daily reality no matter who we are, 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:49.759 how are we going to deal with it? 00:09:49.819 --> 00:09:52.259 How do we actually battle against it? 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:58.840 Well, as we've said, there are those in the church who think that by slapping on more rules, 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:00.700 it's going to make us better people. 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:08.100 If you can better perform in your life and do things better to please God, 00:10:08.439 --> 00:10:10.340 then you're going to get rid of sin. 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:16.279 Well, that seems to be the big issue that's confronted us, confronted here in chapter 7. 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:24.179 But as we will see, rules or the law are powerless to change us or to save us. 00:10:24.319 --> 00:10:30.319 By putting more rules in place, we only find that we have more rules to break. 00:10:31.199 --> 00:10:37.459 In fact, if we use the law in the wrong way, it's only going to destroy us and it's going to break us. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:44.319 So, we are to stay away from trying to get better through the law. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:49.900 So, how then do we deal with the ongoing reality of sin in our lives? 00:10:50.620 --> 00:10:56.720 Well, the first thing that we must do is remember that we have a new relationship. 00:10:56.920 --> 00:10:59.040 A new relationship has begun. 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:05.440 To put it in terms like this, we've broken up with the law, we've ended that relationship, 00:11:06.060 --> 00:11:08.900 and we are now married to Christ. 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:11.120 Look at verse 4 of chapter 7. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:19.940 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:27.320 that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.879 in order that we might bear fruit to God. 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:35.720 He's saying to them, I want you to know that your relationship to the law is over. 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:36.500 It's finished. 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:37.639 It's ended. 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:43.820 And you now have a new relationship with Christ, and I want you to enjoy that. 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:47.779 And that's illustrated for us in verse 2. 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:49.980 He gives an example. 00:11:51.700 --> 00:12:00.700 He says, for example, by law, a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:06.879 But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:15.259 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:22.080 But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, 00:12:22.180 --> 00:12:24.500 even though she marries another man. 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:28.820 So he's using a practical illustration from life. 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:36.899 He says, the only way you can get married again in life is, or to have another husband, is if there is a death. 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:42.659 Death ends one relationship, and it allows you to start another one. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.860 And he's saying that's exactly what has happened to you if you are a Christian. 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:48.879 A death has taken place. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:58.019 In Christ, you have died to the law, so that you can start again a new life, a new relationship with Christ. 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:01.659 So this old relationship is over, it's finished. 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:09.320 In fact, this old relationship with law was a really bad thing. 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:13.879 It was just like being involved in an abusive relationship. 00:13:15.019 --> 00:13:16.159 Look at verse 5. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:21.379 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.279 the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:29.399 so that we bore fruit for death. 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:32.939 The law was like a bad husband, 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:39.100 who constantly controlled and piled on unrealistic expectations, 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.259 demands that were impossible for us to meet. 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:46.000 And all it did was bring out the worst in us. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.360 We would react to it and fight against us. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.620 It would never make us better people. 00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:55.519 Thankfully, though, we have a new husband. 00:13:56.100 --> 00:13:58.120 A new husband in Christ, 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:02.919 who enables us and equips us to live a different kind of life, 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:04.259 a life of beauty. 00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:05.279 Look at verse 6. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:22.799 So living with the law, 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.699 a relationship with the law is going to break you. 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:31.040 Whereas living with Christ is going to renew you. 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:34.100 Now our problem is, 00:14:34.280 --> 00:14:38.700 we are always tempted to go back to our old relationships. 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:40.840 So second, 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:47.180 we need to make sure we stay clear of our old relationship. 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:52.480 Many people who've been in a very controlling or domineering relationship, 00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:54.340 it may seem strange to us, 00:14:55.020 --> 00:14:59.379 will end up going back to their old husband or their old partner. 00:14:59.379 --> 00:15:01.179 In some ways, 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.820 maybe it's a way of security. 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:06.919 And I'm not sure all the reasons for that, 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:07.659 but it happens. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:09.000 And as Christians, 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:11.340 we can do exactly the same thing. 00:15:11.939 --> 00:15:13.820 We can drift back 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.759 into our old relationship with the law. 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:19.120 And we say to ourselves, 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:21.279 it couldn't have been that bad. 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:24.480 We did have some good times together, 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:25.080 didn't we? 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:26.179 Me and the law. 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:27.879 We got unwell together. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:32.939 But we've got to remember what it was really like. 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:36.219 Look at verse 7. 00:15:38.439 --> 00:15:39.919 What shall we say then? 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:42.059 Is the law sin? 00:15:43.079 --> 00:15:44.179 Certainly not. 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:47.379 The law in itself is not bad. 00:15:47.479 --> 00:15:48.939 In fact, look at verse 12. 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:51.959 The law is holy, 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:53.659 and the commandment is holy, 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:54.519 righteous, 00:15:55.099 --> 00:15:55.819 and good. 00:15:55.820 --> 00:15:57.140 Now we're going to come back to it, 00:15:57.180 --> 00:15:59.480 because it sounds like there's a contradiction here. 00:15:59.540 --> 00:16:00.780 You're telling me it's bad, 00:16:01.060 --> 00:16:02.760 but here it's telling me that it's good. 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:04.300 We'll come back to that in a minute. 00:16:05.140 --> 00:16:07.660 Let me explain why it is bad. 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:11.060 Why being married to the law is not good for us, 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:12.879 or drifting back into that relationship, 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:14.580 is terribly unhelpful. 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:15.780 First, 00:16:16.400 --> 00:16:18.640 it shows our desperate condition. 00:16:19.260 --> 00:16:20.720 Look at the rest of verse 7. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:22.259 He says, 00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:22.540 Indeed, 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:22.779 Indeed, 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:24.939 I would not have known what sin was, 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.360 except through the law. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:30.259 For I would not have known what coveting really was, 00:16:30.699 --> 00:16:32.500 if the law had not said, 00:16:33.099 --> 00:16:34.039 Do not covet. 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:39.519 If I pick up a learner's driving manual, 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:42.879 it's going to show me how I should drive. 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:44.699 It's going to show me what the rules are, 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:45.779 and what I should be doing. 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:49.159 But in showing me how I should drive, 00:16:49.839 --> 00:16:51.699 it's also going to show up, 00:16:51.699 --> 00:16:52.480 or expose, 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:56.199 all the places where I fail to drive properly. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.900 And that's exactly the same with God's law. 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:02.780 It shows us how we are to live. 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:04.180 So, for example, 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:05.019 here in verse 7, 00:17:05.080 --> 00:17:06.259 it says we're not to covet. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.759 We're not to want what everybody else has. 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:12.460 But in showing us how we are to live, 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:15.980 it exposes all the areas in my life 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:17.400 that I actually do covet. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.660 And that's what being married to the law will do. 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:24.440 It will show you up for who you really are. 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:25.960 Every day, 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:27.360 it's in our face, 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:29.039 telling us what we should do, 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:30.759 and what we shouldn't do. 00:17:31.620 --> 00:17:32.900 But the problem is, 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:33.620 it's crushing, 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.620 because all it's doing is showing us 00:17:35.620 --> 00:17:37.600 all our failures all the time. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:39.480 And we can't live up to it. 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:44.259 So that's why being married to the law is a bad thing. 00:17:44.340 --> 00:17:46.279 It's just going to show you you're a failure. 00:17:47.340 --> 00:17:49.860 And show you what a desperate condition we're in. 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:55.559 The second reason why it's bad to be married to the law 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:56.719 or involved with the law 00:17:56.719 --> 00:17:59.559 is it shows our desire to rebel. 00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:01.879 Look at verse 9. 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:04.000 He says, 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:08.119 Once I was alive apart from the law, 00:18:08.779 --> 00:18:10.559 but when the commandment came, 00:18:10.919 --> 00:18:12.439 sin sprang to life, 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:14.240 and I died. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.099 You see, 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:17.039 in some ways, 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:19.839 a life without the law is easy. 00:18:20.259 --> 00:18:21.819 If there are no rules, 00:18:22.299 --> 00:18:24.400 you can do whatever you like. 00:18:25.339 --> 00:18:25.859 He says, 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.559 I was alive apart from the law. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.759 There's no constraints. 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:32.200 There's nobody to put me in my place. 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:34.539 But then he says, 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:36.220 it's like God showed up, 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:38.500 revealing his law, 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:40.220 his good and holy perfect law, 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:43.740 which commands loyalty and obedience. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:46.160 But he says, 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:48.180 as soon as that law was shown to me, 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:49.400 as soon as that happened, 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:50.819 in verse 9, 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:51.339 he says, 00:18:51.460 --> 00:18:53.039 sin sprang to life, 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:54.500 and I died. 00:18:56.100 --> 00:18:56.660 You see, 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:58.120 being involved with law, 00:18:58.240 --> 00:18:59.240 being married to law, 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:00.980 doesn't make you a better person. 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:03.220 All the law, 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:04.759 and all the rules will do, 00:19:04.860 --> 00:19:07.059 is awaken your desire to rebel. 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:09.359 All it will do, 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:11.059 is help you be a bad person. 00:19:12.159 --> 00:19:13.720 It makes demands on us, 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:14.559 that we don't like. 00:19:14.639 --> 00:19:15.480 So the law will say, 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:16.240 don't covet. 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:18.539 And inside I'm saying, 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:20.220 no I do want to covet. 00:19:20.379 --> 00:19:21.220 I do want that, 00:19:21.379 --> 00:19:22.639 what that person has. 00:19:22.919 --> 00:19:24.899 And it interferes with our life. 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:27.779 And rather than submit to the law, 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:29.980 we begin to fight against it. 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:31.759 And rather than obey it, 00:19:32.019 --> 00:19:33.179 we disobey it. 00:19:34.179 --> 00:19:35.139 So verse 10, 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:36.240 he says, 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.120 I found that the very commandment, 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:39.880 that was intended to bring life, 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:41.160 actually, 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:43.019 brought death. 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:44.819 You see, 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:46.480 being in a relationship with law, 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.200 is really bad news. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:50.960 It can't make you live a good life, 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:52.380 it only tells you, 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:53.819 how you should live, 00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:56.400 and it reminds you all the time, 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:58.079 of how you fail, 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:00.559 not only how you do fail, 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:02.700 but how you want to rebel against it. 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:06.580 So being involved with the law, 00:20:06.980 --> 00:20:08.819 will only crush you, 00:20:09.360 --> 00:20:10.620 and defeat you. 00:20:11.420 --> 00:20:13.160 We've got to stay clear, 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.299 of our old relationship. 00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:20.700 And in case, 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:21.579 you think, 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:21.980 well, 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.079 it can't be that bad, 00:20:23.159 --> 00:20:24.159 we must know, 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:25.639 how crushing, 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:27.379 a law relationship, 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:28.960 actually is. 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:30.680 Now, 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:31.559 Paul could speak, 00:20:31.639 --> 00:20:32.919 with great experience, 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:33.519 on this. 00:20:34.379 --> 00:20:35.240 He was a person, 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:36.720 who for many years, 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:38.639 had tried to get right, 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:39.579 with God, 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:40.500 by performance. 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:43.140 He was top of his class, 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:45.380 in all his Old Testament studies. 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:46.599 He was, 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:47.200 one of the, 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:48.619 best Pharisees, 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:50.079 in terms of keeping the law, 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.500 and keeping all the regulations. 00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:53.259 He had done it all. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:55.839 But rather than, 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:56.779 make him better, 00:20:57.619 --> 00:20:59.019 as he reflected, 00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:00.319 on that kind of life, 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:00.880 he says, 00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:02.859 he says it crushed him, 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:04.480 and defeated him. 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:07.019 And to make this very real, 00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:07.420 to us, 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:08.740 he personalizes, 00:21:08.740 --> 00:21:10.180 what a relationship, 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:10.759 to law, 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:12.220 actually does to us. 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:14.480 He says, 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:15.900 it's a battle. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:17.960 Look at verse 15. 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:20.420 And I think we can identify, 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:21.420 with these verses. 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:24.059 I do not understand, 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:25.120 what I do. 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:28.160 For what I want to do, 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:30.299 I do not do. 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:32.319 But what I hate to do. 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:34.160 Verse 19. 00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:36.460 For what I do, 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:38.160 is not the good I want to do, 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:38.840 no, 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.720 the evil I do not want to do, 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:42.620 this I keep on doing. 00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:44.360 Now can we see, 00:21:44.540 --> 00:21:45.100 the intensity, 00:21:45.100 --> 00:21:46.200 of the battle here. 00:21:47.040 --> 00:21:48.180 What he wants, 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:50.240 is the good. 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:51.740 He wants to do the good thing. 00:21:51.820 --> 00:21:52.720 He wants to obey. 00:21:52.840 --> 00:21:54.080 He wants to follow the law. 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:56.640 But what he does, 00:21:56.740 --> 00:21:57.519 in reality, 00:21:58.200 --> 00:21:59.500 is the evil, 00:21:59.620 --> 00:22:00.259 the wrong thing. 00:22:00.340 --> 00:22:01.400 He fights against it. 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:02.380 He disobeys it. 00:22:02.580 --> 00:22:03.680 And you've got these things, 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:04.840 in conflict, 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:05.660 what he wants, 00:22:05.660 --> 00:22:06.860 and what he does. 00:22:07.040 --> 00:22:08.820 They're battling against each other. 00:22:09.540 --> 00:22:11.279 He knows what the law says. 00:22:11.580 --> 00:22:12.980 It makes good sense. 00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:15.920 But he says, 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.140 I just can't do it. 00:22:18.820 --> 00:22:20.580 And why can't he do it? 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:21.820 Look at verse 17. 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:24.120 He gives us his answer. 00:22:24.800 --> 00:22:25.519 As it is, 00:22:25.620 --> 00:22:27.620 it is no longer I myself, 00:22:27.620 --> 00:22:28.440 who do it, 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:30.500 but it is sin, 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:31.299 living, 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:32.320 in me. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:35.779 Now he's not taking a cop out here, 00:22:35.840 --> 00:22:36.220 and saying, 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:36.759 ah, 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:38.059 it's nothing to do with me. 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:38.400 You see, 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:39.259 it's sin in me, 00:22:39.500 --> 00:22:40.519 and it's not my fault, 00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:41.299 it's sin's fault. 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:42.519 That's not what he's saying. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:44.400 He's owning up. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:45.080 He's admitting, 00:22:45.620 --> 00:22:46.980 to the harsh reality, 00:22:47.600 --> 00:22:48.680 that sin, 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:50.140 lives within him, 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:52.080 and controls him, 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:53.680 and consumes him. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:55.500 Verse 18. 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:57.079 He says, 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:57.839 I know, 00:22:58.339 --> 00:22:59.579 that nothing good, 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:00.839 lives in me. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:01.640 That is, 00:23:01.859 --> 00:23:03.339 within my sinful nature. 00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:07.299 Now of course, 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:08.039 the response, 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:09.279 of the religious crowd, 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.000 is to come down heavy, 00:23:11.059 --> 00:23:12.119 on somebody like this, 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:12.480 who says, 00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:14.160 I'm trying to be good, 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:14.920 but you know what, 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:16.539 I just keep doing the wrong thing. 00:23:16.859 --> 00:23:18.799 I try to be such a good person, 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:20.859 but these things, 00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:22.180 keep coming out of my mouth, 00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:23.599 and my actions, 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:25.480 well I just can't help it. 00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:27.700 And their response is, 00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:29.480 well you've got to try harder. 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:31.579 You've got to do better, 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:32.660 in your Christian life. 00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:33.759 You've got to have more, 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:34.900 you've got to be, 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:36.400 much better than this. 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:37.799 Why don't you try, 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:38.819 reading your Bible, 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:39.720 a little bit more. 00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:40.880 Or why don't you go, 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:41.859 to the prayer meeting, 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:42.440 more often, 00:23:42.579 --> 00:23:44.180 and start with prayer, 00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:44.779 in the morning, 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:46.180 pray in the afternoon, 00:23:46.380 --> 00:23:46.980 pray in the evening, 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:48.259 and go to church. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:50.099 You only go to church, 00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:51.039 once on a Sunday. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:51.880 Caroline Baptist, 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:53.200 thought to have two services, 00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:53.740 on a Sunday. 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:55.400 Go and find another church, 00:23:55.460 --> 00:23:56.380 where there's two churches, 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:57.920 that will make you better. 00:23:59.539 --> 00:23:59.859 And so, 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:01.539 pile on more and more rules. 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:04.220 But the reality is, 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.240 as Paul's experience here is, 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:07.940 no matter what rules, 00:24:07.940 --> 00:24:09.259 you put in place, 00:24:10.019 --> 00:24:12.079 no matter how hard, 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:13.059 we try, 00:24:13.059 --> 00:24:16.259 we can't defeat sin, 00:24:16.659 --> 00:24:19.139 by our own good performance. 00:24:20.460 --> 00:24:22.279 There will be a continuous, 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.059 ongoing battle, 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:27.139 and by piling on more and more rules, 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.460 it's just going to intensify the battle, 00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:32.119 more and more. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.000 In fact, 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:34.579 the battle, 00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:36.419 has only one conclusion. 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:39.800 It's going to be crushing. 00:24:41.560 --> 00:24:42.779 Living with the law, 00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:44.640 is going to defeat you, 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:46.320 every single time. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:47.560 Look at verse 22. 00:24:48.860 --> 00:24:49.360 He says, 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:50.460 in my inner being, 00:24:50.580 --> 00:24:51.580 I delight in God. 00:24:51.620 --> 00:24:51.700 So, 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:53.160 I see that it's good, 00:24:54.060 --> 00:24:55.380 but I see this other law, 00:24:55.460 --> 00:24:56.600 this other thing going on, 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:57.779 inside of my life. 00:24:59.340 --> 00:25:00.460 Waging war, 00:25:00.800 --> 00:25:02.620 against the law of my mind, 00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:04.639 and making me a prisoner, 00:25:05.239 --> 00:25:06.479 of the law of sin, 00:25:07.059 --> 00:25:07.919 that is at work, 00:25:07.979 --> 00:25:09.319 within my own life. 00:25:10.899 --> 00:25:12.099 Trying harder, 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:14.719 is not going to win the battle. 00:25:15.439 --> 00:25:17.000 Getting into a relationship, 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:17.599 with the law, 00:25:17.899 --> 00:25:19.139 going back to it, 00:25:19.479 --> 00:25:20.919 and piling on laws, 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:22.219 and trying to live it out, 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:23.079 by your performance, 00:25:23.259 --> 00:25:24.519 is not going to make you, 00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:25.379 a better person. 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:27.039 In fact, 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:28.399 it will beat you up. 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:30.819 It will condemn you, 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.519 and make you a prisoner. 00:25:32.619 --> 00:25:33.159 Or, 00:25:33.459 --> 00:25:35.639 to use the imagery, 00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:36.239 of somebody, 00:25:36.339 --> 00:25:37.259 who's moved away, 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:38.799 from an abusive relationship, 00:25:38.979 --> 00:25:39.879 to go back, 00:25:39.899 --> 00:25:40.899 into that relationship. 00:25:41.179 --> 00:25:42.359 You're only going back, 00:25:42.399 --> 00:25:43.099 into trouble. 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:48.339 Why would we ever, 00:25:48.419 --> 00:25:49.739 want to live like this? 00:25:50.719 --> 00:25:51.959 Why would we want, 00:25:52.019 --> 00:25:52.599 to go back, 00:25:52.679 --> 00:25:53.939 to this kind of life? 00:25:57.239 --> 00:25:58.359 Look what it says, 00:25:58.500 --> 00:25:59.559 in chapter 6, 00:25:59.639 --> 00:26:00.439 verse 14. 00:26:02.619 --> 00:26:05.779 He says, 00:26:05.859 --> 00:26:06.819 sin shall not be, 00:26:06.819 --> 00:26:07.479 your master, 00:26:08.479 --> 00:26:09.819 because you are not, 00:26:09.899 --> 00:26:11.619 under law, 00:26:12.339 --> 00:26:13.579 but under grace. 00:26:14.679 --> 00:26:16.079 You're not to go back, 00:26:16.159 --> 00:26:16.819 under law, 00:26:16.899 --> 00:26:18.059 and start living under it, 00:26:18.099 --> 00:26:18.699 because it's only, 00:26:18.699 --> 00:26:19.739 going to beat you up. 00:26:20.199 --> 00:26:21.779 It's going to crush you. 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.059 You are under grace. 00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:26.839 You are to live, 00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:28.779 in your new relationship. 00:26:30.639 --> 00:26:30.960 And so, 00:26:31.099 --> 00:26:31.740 if we are going, 00:26:31.879 --> 00:26:33.019 to deal with sin, 00:26:33.099 --> 00:26:33.899 and to deal, 00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:35.240 with the ongoing battle, 00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:36.159 that is a reality, 00:26:36.159 --> 00:26:37.359 for every one of us, 00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:39.139 we've got, 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:40.079 to understand, 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:40.700 what it is, 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:41.559 to enjoy, 00:26:42.259 --> 00:26:42.919 our new, 00:26:42.919 --> 00:26:44.339 marriage relationship. 00:26:44.339 --> 00:26:47.139 Someone, 00:26:47.399 --> 00:26:47.939 who lives, 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.740 in a harsh, 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:50.399 and abusive relationship, 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:51.959 will quickly, 00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:52.759 come to see, 00:26:52.859 --> 00:26:53.240 that they, 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:54.599 desperately need, 00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:55.279 help. 00:26:55.699 --> 00:26:56.439 That they need, 00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:57.299 out of it. 00:26:57.720 --> 00:26:58.500 They need, 00:26:58.679 --> 00:26:59.740 a better husband. 00:27:01.939 --> 00:27:02.879 And that's, 00:27:02.879 --> 00:27:03.699 the only good, 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:04.579 to come from, 00:27:04.619 --> 00:27:05.299 a relationship, 00:27:05.539 --> 00:27:06.039 with law. 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:06.980 That's why, 00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:07.439 it says, 00:27:07.539 --> 00:27:08.139 in verse 12, 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:09.220 that the law is holy. 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:09.899 The commandment, 00:27:09.899 --> 00:27:11.119 is righteous, 00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:12.119 and it's good. 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:14.379 It's good, 00:27:14.479 --> 00:27:16.079 because it shows us, 00:27:16.299 --> 00:27:17.159 that we need, 00:27:17.319 --> 00:27:17.759 out. 00:27:19.419 --> 00:27:20.599 That we can't, 00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:21.739 live up to its standards. 00:27:21.859 --> 00:27:22.619 That we need, 00:27:22.699 --> 00:27:23.859 some kind of help. 00:27:24.359 --> 00:27:24.839 We need, 00:27:24.859 --> 00:27:25.719 a better husband. 00:27:26.299 --> 00:27:26.779 We need, 00:27:27.099 --> 00:27:27.579 Christ. 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:29.979 Verse 24. 00:27:31.779 --> 00:27:33.019 Here is his conclusion, 00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:35.419 as he tries to live, 00:27:35.939 --> 00:27:36.599 by a life, 00:27:36.639 --> 00:27:37.319 of performance. 00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:39.839 What a wretched, 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:40.839 person, 00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:42.240 I am. 00:27:43.159 --> 00:27:44.179 Who is going, 00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:45.359 to rescue me, 00:27:45.939 --> 00:27:47.000 from this body, 00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:48.059 of death. 00:27:49.459 --> 00:27:50.879 Thanks be to God, 00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:52.819 through Jesus Christ, 00:27:53.579 --> 00:27:54.279 our Lord. 00:27:56.419 --> 00:27:57.259 You see, 00:27:57.339 --> 00:27:58.059 the solution, 00:27:58.459 --> 00:27:59.199 to dealing, 00:27:59.459 --> 00:28:00.259 with this ongoing, 00:28:00.459 --> 00:28:01.359 problem of sin, 00:28:01.659 --> 00:28:02.480 in our life, 00:28:03.699 --> 00:28:05.179 is not a system, 00:28:06.139 --> 00:28:07.659 not a set of rules, 00:28:08.500 --> 00:28:09.679 but a person. 00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:11.699 A person, 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:12.959 is the answer. 00:28:13.539 --> 00:28:14.359 Jesus Christ. 00:28:14.699 --> 00:28:15.319 We need, 00:28:15.379 --> 00:28:16.220 a relationship, 00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:18.039 with our rescuer, 00:28:18.399 --> 00:28:19.459 not a relationship, 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:21.099 with rules. 00:28:22.439 --> 00:28:22.879 You see, 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:23.859 in Christ, 00:28:23.959 --> 00:28:24.959 we come to one, 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:26.839 who kept the law, 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:27.779 perfectly, 00:28:28.299 --> 00:28:29.019 for us. 00:28:29.740 --> 00:28:30.659 When Christ, 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:31.119 came, 00:28:31.259 --> 00:28:32.319 into this world, 00:28:32.619 --> 00:28:33.059 he lived, 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:34.159 the perfect life, 00:28:34.220 --> 00:28:35.339 that we could never live. 00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:36.439 Of all the laws, 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:37.319 that God has, 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:38.379 he obeyed, 00:28:38.439 --> 00:28:39.459 every single one, 00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:40.399 he followed, 00:28:40.399 --> 00:28:41.519 every single one, 00:28:41.879 --> 00:28:43.500 where we disobeyed, 00:28:43.699 --> 00:28:44.679 he did obey. 00:28:45.459 --> 00:28:46.619 He lived the life, 00:28:46.699 --> 00:28:47.619 the perfect life, 00:28:47.699 --> 00:28:48.839 that we could never live, 00:28:49.099 --> 00:28:49.919 for us. 00:28:52.419 --> 00:28:54.099 But not only that, 00:28:54.879 --> 00:28:55.740 in Christ, 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:56.539 we find one, 00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:57.599 who took the penalty, 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:58.740 of the law for us. 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:00.199 He took the punishment, 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:01.539 that was our punishment. 00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:03.440 He died the death, 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:05.259 that we should die. 00:29:06.779 --> 00:29:07.700 The blame, 00:29:07.859 --> 00:29:09.000 that was accounted to us, 00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:09.779 for all the times, 00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:11.460 that we have done things wrong, 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:13.619 Christ took the blame. 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:15.420 He paid the penalty, 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:17.539 of the law for us. 00:29:18.899 --> 00:29:19.799 Now Christ, 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:20.519 has achieved, 00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:21.680 this perfect life, 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:22.379 for us, 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:23.759 and he says, 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:25.960 because I've lived it for you, 00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:27.339 because I've died, 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:28.440 it for you, 00:29:28.619 --> 00:29:29.839 I want you to live, 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:30.779 in that relationship, 00:29:30.779 --> 00:29:31.619 now, 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:32.440 today. 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:34.259 And I want you to enjoy, 00:29:34.259 --> 00:29:35.119 that relationship, 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:36.319 with me today. 00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:37.920 You have a new relationship, 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:39.879 you've left the law behind, 00:29:40.180 --> 00:29:41.180 you've broken off, 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:41.920 that relationship, 00:29:42.099 --> 00:29:43.480 the engagement is gone, 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:44.519 and now, 00:29:44.879 --> 00:29:45.660 you are married, 00:29:45.879 --> 00:29:46.740 to Christ. 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:48.660 And it is to be, 00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:50.119 a present experience, 00:29:50.220 --> 00:29:51.019 for you today, 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:52.440 and you are to live in it, 00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:53.740 and to enjoy it. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:56.599 Because when we come, 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:57.319 to Christ, 00:29:57.740 --> 00:29:59.099 and Christ is not, 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:00.359 someone we come to, 00:30:00.439 --> 00:30:01.219 just to get us, 00:30:01.579 --> 00:30:02.740 into salvation, 00:30:02.939 --> 00:30:03.599 just to kind of, 00:30:03.639 --> 00:30:04.679 tip us into heaven, 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:07.279 we are to live with him, 00:30:07.339 --> 00:30:08.579 every single day. 00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:10.419 We are to enjoy, 00:30:10.419 --> 00:30:11.199 the relationship, 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:12.419 that he has come to give us. 00:30:12.419 --> 00:30:14.539 One who restores us, 00:30:15.079 --> 00:30:17.059 rather than breaks us. 00:30:17.779 --> 00:30:19.279 One who heals, 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:21.679 rather than crushes. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:24.100 each day, 00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:24.960 we need to run, 00:30:25.100 --> 00:30:26.299 to our true lover, 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:28.600 and find the safety, 00:30:29.060 --> 00:30:30.120 and the security, 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:31.259 of the one, 00:30:31.360 --> 00:30:32.460 who will enable us, 00:30:32.700 --> 00:30:33.560 and equip us, 00:30:33.700 --> 00:30:34.220 to live, 00:30:34.560 --> 00:30:35.060 for him. 00:30:36.420 --> 00:30:37.000 You see, 00:30:37.080 --> 00:30:38.400 when we come to Christ, 00:30:40.080 --> 00:30:41.160 he doesn't say, 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:43.480 here's a bunch, 00:30:43.620 --> 00:30:44.840 more rules, 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:45.779 and I want you, 00:30:45.840 --> 00:30:46.660 to do this better, 00:30:46.740 --> 00:30:47.259 and I want you, 00:30:47.320 --> 00:30:48.140 to try harder, 00:30:48.259 --> 00:30:49.279 and I want you, 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:50.120 to stop doing, 00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:50.859 those things. 00:30:53.559 --> 00:30:54.039 Instead, 00:30:54.139 --> 00:30:54.799 he points us, 00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:56.399 to what he has done. 00:30:57.019 --> 00:30:57.419 He says, 00:30:57.479 --> 00:30:58.619 I have died for you, 00:30:58.819 --> 00:31:00.239 I have lived for you, 00:31:00.239 --> 00:31:02.019 I have rescued you, 00:31:02.119 --> 00:31:03.059 from trying to live, 00:31:03.099 --> 00:31:04.099 a life of performance, 00:31:04.679 --> 00:31:06.379 and I want you now, 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:07.000 to live, 00:31:07.339 --> 00:31:08.019 with me, 00:31:08.719 --> 00:31:10.019 in that relationship, 00:31:10.219 --> 00:31:10.539 today. 00:31:12.639 --> 00:31:14.479 I will not break you, 00:31:15.099 --> 00:31:16.759 but I will restore you. 00:31:17.179 --> 00:31:18.659 I will heal you, 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:20.580 I will not crush you. 00:31:21.779 --> 00:31:23.480 And he will fill us, 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:26.320 as we will see next week, 00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:27.980 with the power, 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:29.779 of his Holy Spirit, 00:31:30.820 --> 00:31:31.920 to enable us, 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:33.220 and equip us, 00:31:33.320 --> 00:31:33.880 to live, 00:31:34.300 --> 00:31:34.860 a life, 00:31:35.540 --> 00:31:36.019 for him. 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:39.379 So let's not drift back, 00:31:39.879 --> 00:31:41.180 to old relationships, 00:31:41.900 --> 00:31:43.539 let's stay, 00:31:43.639 --> 00:31:44.879 with our new relationship, 00:31:45.019 --> 00:31:45.680 with Christ, 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:47.559 and be warned, 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:49.079 how crushing it is, 00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:51.180 to pile on laws, 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:51.859 and rules, 00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:53.559 upon things, 00:31:53.619 --> 00:31:54.680 that we can never do, 00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:56.000 or achieve. 00:31:56.700 --> 00:31:58.259 Christ has set us free, 00:31:58.660 --> 00:31:59.980 to live a new way, 00:32:00.339 --> 00:32:00.900 with him. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:02.240 Let's pray, 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:02.900 together. 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:03.900 Amen. 00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:12.200 Our Father God, 00:32:12.280 --> 00:32:12.960 we thank you, 00:32:13.120 --> 00:32:14.080 that Christ, 00:32:14.220 --> 00:32:14.900 has come, 00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:18.580 he has put to death, 00:32:18.740 --> 00:32:20.019 an old relationship, 00:32:20.340 --> 00:32:20.980 so that we can, 00:32:21.340 --> 00:32:22.060 start a new one. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:24.220 Help us to live, 00:32:24.320 --> 00:32:24.960 in the joy, 00:32:25.040 --> 00:32:25.940 of that relationship, 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:27.200 each and every day. 00:32:28.100 --> 00:32:29.380 Coming to Christ, 00:32:29.380 --> 00:32:29.520 Christ, 00:32:29.760 --> 00:32:31.860 who will renew us, 00:32:31.940 --> 00:32:33.140 and restore us, 00:32:34.080 --> 00:32:35.160 coming to Christ, 00:32:35.280 --> 00:32:36.780 who pours out his grace, 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:38.300 and his mercy on us, 00:32:39.020 --> 00:32:40.100 who forgives us, 00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:41.240 of all of our sin, 00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:42.920 who equips us, 00:32:43.580 --> 00:32:44.620 and enables us, 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:45.780 to live the life, 00:32:46.300 --> 00:32:47.440 that he has called us, 00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:47.940 to live. 00:32:49.280 --> 00:32:49.980 Help us, 00:32:50.060 --> 00:32:51.060 not to go backwards, 00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:52.800 but help us, 00:32:52.840 --> 00:32:54.160 to go walking forwards, 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:55.000 with Christ, 00:32:55.780 --> 00:32:57.080 and our new marriage, 00:32:57.079 --> 00:32:58.199 with him. 00:32:58.859 --> 00:32:59.980 In Jesus' name, 00:33:00.639 --> 00:33:01.119 Amen. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:05.639 Well, 00:33:05.699 --> 00:33:06.759 we're going to sing together, 00:33:06.879 --> 00:33:08.599 What Grace Is Mine, 00:33:08.679 --> 00:33:09.079 because... 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:10.079 ... 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.079 ... 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:14.079 ... 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:16.079 ... 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:18.079 ... 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:20.079 ... 00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:22.079 ... 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:24.079 ... 00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:26.079 ...