WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.520 Well, good morning everyone. 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:13.540 And Beth Jenkins, it is so lovely to have you back. 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:19.699 Will you pray with me as we come to God's Word? 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:20.100 Let's pray. 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:30.960 Lord, thank you for restoring Beth's health to bring her back into fellowship with us. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:36.240 And Lord, I pray that you would comfort us all today. 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:42.320 Increase our awareness of how safe we are in Jesus. 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:48.240 So that we can be strengthened to make war in our sin. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:52.740 And cause us to lose confidence in our own flesh. 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:57.000 And fill us with confidence in what you have done. 00:00:57.700 --> 00:00:58.920 What you are doing. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:01.500 And what you will do in Jesus. 00:01:02.400 --> 00:01:02.740 Amen. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:08.219 Well, you know you shouldn't do it. 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.980 You know it always ends in misery and shame. 00:01:13.960 --> 00:01:15.659 But you click on that website. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.439 You watch that movie. 00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:25.699 You drink that sixth, seventh, however many drink. 00:01:26.979 --> 00:01:29.019 You put money on that betting app. 00:01:31.679 --> 00:01:33.239 And afterwards you hate yourself. 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:37.599 Has anything really changed as a Christian? 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:42.819 Are you determined to be more patient? 00:01:43.059 --> 00:01:45.000 To speak only kind words? 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:48.140 You resist anger as long as you can. 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:49.719 But then you lose control again. 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:51.479 You're yelling at the kids again. 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.539 You're bringing up past failures against your spouse again. 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:59.099 You're criticising other believers as if they're the enemy again. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:03.239 You're complaining and self-pitying as if God has short-changed you. 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:05.439 And all these words just... 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:09.060 Has anything really changed as a Christian? 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:12.359 You set goals for yourself. 00:02:12.519 --> 00:02:13.439 I'm going to read the Bible. 00:02:14.019 --> 00:02:14.500 Devotion. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:16.460 I'm going to pray for X number of minutes. 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.819 I'm going to read the children's Bible with my kids more often. 00:02:20.079 --> 00:02:22.060 I'm going to get back involved in small group. 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:23.519 But then life gets busy. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:28.420 You're just battling to get the kids to sleep, let alone adding in extra things. 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:35.160 You'd rather play online games because you just escape for a bit rather than the effort of reading God's word. 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:41.060 And months go by, those goals unreached, and you're just like... 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:44.000 Has anything changed as a Christian? 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:49.439 You set out to help in church. 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:51.719 And one day something convicts you. 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:56.080 Have I been doing this all this time to make myself look good? 00:02:57.479 --> 00:02:59.979 To be needed, to be noticed, to belong. 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:03.020 Has it been for the love of Jesus and the love of people? 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:04.579 Or just myself? 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.060 Has anything changed as a Christian? 00:03:14.659 --> 00:03:16.639 I think some fall into a deeper fear. 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:17.840 Am I a real Christian? 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:23.740 Wouldn't I find it more easy to pray if I was a real Christian? 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:29.400 Shouldn't I be getting victory over sinful habits if I was a real Christian? 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:32.080 Wouldn't my motives be pure? 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.199 So some fall in deep darkness because of this. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:49.839 I think many, many just begin to silently doubt all this talk about changing to become more like Jesus. 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:53.199 I think we can just silently doubt that actually happens. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:04:04.919 Now at this point, I could imagine a, inverted commas, mature Christian who seems to have life more together saying, 00:04:05.079 --> 00:04:08.759 well, no wonder people are struggling with their sin. 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:12.839 Because all they ever talk about and sing about is grace. 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:19.000 All this talk about not being under God's law, dead to the law, released from the law. 00:04:20.379 --> 00:04:24.259 Of course that leads to more sin and not victory. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:26.079 More struggle. 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:31.399 What people need is to take all of God's words more seriously. 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:34.480 Not just the bits about grace, but the bits about law. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:38.560 Get serious about God's law. 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:42.259 Discipline themselves in trying to do what God commands us to do. 00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:44.140 Then you'll start to see progress. 00:04:45.379 --> 00:04:46.480 Grace and law. 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:48.900 Get serious about the law and you'll see progress. 00:04:52.280 --> 00:04:56.180 I don't know about you, but do you sense, do you sense how right that sounds? 00:04:58.319 --> 00:04:59.420 Maybe I'm alone in that. 00:04:59.520 --> 00:05:01.580 It sounds so right. 00:05:01.579 --> 00:05:08.279 But this, I believe, is the objection Paul is addressing in chapters 6 and 7 of Romans, 00:05:08.359 --> 00:05:09.219 what we've been going through. 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:11.399 And we come to the climax of today. 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:18.299 If all you do is tell people that God only gives you grace, 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:21.699 it's going to lead to religious and moral compromise. 00:05:23.099 --> 00:05:25.639 Even worse, you're downplaying God's law. 00:05:27.599 --> 00:05:29.159 You're making it out to be the problem. 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:31.680 Paul has to answer this. 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:35.980 For his gospel of grace has huge holes in it. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:36.640 Huge. 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:39.560 And if we don't understand Paul, 00:05:40.380 --> 00:05:44.580 we will have huge holes in our confidence 00:05:44.580 --> 00:05:48.940 that we really are saved by grace alone. 00:05:49.940 --> 00:05:51.400 Through faith alone. 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:56.219 It's so important this is answered. 00:05:59.859 --> 00:06:03.299 Surely more law leads to more righteousness. 00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:08.279 We heard last week Paul saying, 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:12.239 don't misunderstand my total superbounding grace gospel. 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.959 God's holy, righteous, good law is not the problem. 00:06:16.299 --> 00:06:17.259 Sin is the problem. 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:19.219 It is a powerful enemy. 00:06:19.359 --> 00:06:20.120 It is the culprit. 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:21.079 It's not the law. 00:06:22.699 --> 00:06:25.399 But also, the law isn't the solution. 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:28.439 God never intended it to be. 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:34.180 He intended it to show us how deep our sin really is. 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:37.459 So that we would cast ourselves on him. 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:41.680 If you think law keeping can break the power of sin, 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:43.560 you underestimate. 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:46.479 You underestimate the power of sin. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:56.900 So Paul finishes with this deeply personal picture 00:06:56.900 --> 00:07:01.680 of a divided, distressed man. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:05.660 And we're going to enter the debate. 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:06.639 Who is it? 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:10.120 Who is this divided, distressed man? 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:14.199 Now, is it Paul as a Jew? 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:18.120 So he's looking back as a Christian at his time before he came to Christ. 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:21.340 He's looking at his past through Christian eyes. 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:23.300 Or is it Paul as a Christian? 00:07:23.780 --> 00:07:25.000 And there's actually a third option. 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:26.259 I'm not going to go into it. 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:29.720 I can't do justice to the debate right now. 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:33.520 And I don't want to set up a straw man argument 00:07:33.520 --> 00:07:36.300 because I just don't have time to go through it. 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:38.220 So second page of the bulletin, 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:41.520 there's three articles, Gospel Coalition. 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:42.820 Go read. 00:07:42.820 --> 00:07:45.680 I think they summarise the three main positions. 00:07:49.020 --> 00:07:50.120 Go wrestle with this. 00:07:50.180 --> 00:07:50.940 Can I encourage you? 00:07:51.760 --> 00:07:53.700 Don't just say, oh, they're all right. 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:55.740 That's not possible. 00:07:56.900 --> 00:07:58.980 Come to a personal conviction on it. 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:00.960 It's an important question. 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:01.920 There are implications. 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:10.200 But we need to understand godly, trustworthy scholars and Christians 00:08:10.200 --> 00:08:12.320 are on all sides of this debate. 00:08:12.320 --> 00:08:15.740 I don't think any of us can go, it's settled. 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:18.420 Like, there's no debate. 00:08:18.940 --> 00:08:19.760 You can't do that. 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:27.100 But in the end, there's major agreement. 00:08:27.100 --> 00:08:31.620 All positions say the Christian is not under law as a covenant. 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:33.600 We are not under law. 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:35.300 We're under grace. 00:08:36.420 --> 00:08:40.860 All the positions say law keeping cannot break the power of sin. 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:41.600 It can't. 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:46.920 All the positions say God's law is not the problem. 00:08:47.300 --> 00:08:47.740 Sin is. 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:49.360 So there's huge agreement. 00:08:50.060 --> 00:08:50.639 Huge agreement. 00:08:55.259 --> 00:09:02.379 To demonstrate, like, it's going to become clear that I'm thinking this is Paul as a believer. 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:04.019 So there you go. 00:09:04.180 --> 00:09:05.220 My cards are out. 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:12.100 But just to demonstrate how strong the argument is for Paul as a Jew. 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:22.560 If you remember back to verses 5 and 6, chapter 7, it seems like chapter 7 is explaining verse 5. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:29.959 Where it's talking about flesh, law, bearing fruit for sin. 00:09:30.379 --> 00:09:32.339 Sounds like the rest of chapter 7 in verse 5. 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:38.559 And then talking about the Spirit in verse 6 is chapter 8. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.059 That seems really logical. 00:09:41.059 --> 00:09:53.559 Another big reason why people think it's not Christian is how can a Christian say in verse 14 that I am of the flesh sold under sin? 00:09:54.899 --> 00:09:58.819 Doesn't that contradict chapter 6 that we are dead to sin? 00:10:00.299 --> 00:10:02.079 Now, there are two very big reasons. 00:10:03.359 --> 00:10:05.519 So go away and have a think about it. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:12.960 Now, I'm going to give a very brief answer as to why I don't think those two things settle the matter. 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:23.519 I think what we find here in chapter 7, this picture, is what Paul states in Galatians 5, 17 and 18. 00:10:23.939 --> 00:10:26.939 He states it in Galatians as logic. 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:30.559 And here we get a picture laid out. 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:33.860 So Galatians is clearly talking to Christians. 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:37.820 And it says, the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:42.120 And the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:43.860 For these are opposed to each other. 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.940 To keep you from doing the things you want to do. 00:10:49.300 --> 00:10:53.759 But, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 00:10:54.600 --> 00:11:01.039 So for me, I find that verse helps me understand this passage as a Christian. 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:07.419 But if we step back, I want to step back from the question for a moment and ask, 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:12.519 why might Paul be saying almost polar opposite things? 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:19.120 Like he's saying, I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I'm sold under sin. 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:19.580 Why? 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:21.240 Which is it, Paul? 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.580 Why might he be torn in two different directions? 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:26.680 They sound completely opposite. 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:32.219 I think there's a good reason if this is Paul is the believer. 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:38.899 On the one hand, he's at pains to say, yes, we are not under law. 00:11:39.739 --> 00:11:43.479 That does not mean a Christian has a low view of the Mosaic law. 00:11:45.379 --> 00:11:48.319 Christians love the law. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:51.740 I think he's saying that on the one hand. 00:11:52.020 --> 00:11:53.440 We love the law. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:01.460 But on the other hand, I think he wants to demonstrate that setting your mind on obeying the law, 00:12:01.800 --> 00:12:05.220 as law code, rules to follow, you will lose the battle. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.660 Because sinful flesh is powerfully present. 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:11.520 I think he's trying to do both things. 00:12:12.160 --> 00:12:13.600 Christians love the law. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:19.700 But you set your mind on obeying the law, not the answer. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.399 So I think, anyway, I find that helpful, that you may not. 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:29.279 I think that explains these radical statements. 00:12:33.180 --> 00:12:39.920 So I don't think it's going to be most helpful for us this morning to step through this first five verse. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:45.339 I want to just sketch both sides of this divided personality. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.519 As we do, remember the objection. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.759 Paul's saying you're under grace, not law. 00:12:55.319 --> 00:12:57.179 Aren't you accusing the law as the problem? 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:00.360 Doesn't removing the law produce more sin? 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:04.500 Well, no, here's a Christian's battle within them. 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:07.279 Here's their attitude to the law. 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:08.699 Here's their attitude to their sin. 00:13:08.699 --> 00:13:09.860 It is a war zone. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:12.079 It's a war going on inside. 00:13:14.939 --> 00:13:19.959 So verse 14 states the two sides of this war going on. 00:13:21.459 --> 00:13:23.379 Verse 14, have a look with me. 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:26.299 For we know that the law is spiritual. 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:29.299 It is divine. 00:13:31.339 --> 00:13:34.360 I have the highest reverence for God's law. 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:36.459 It is divine. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:37.740 It is spiritual. 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:39.779 It's one side. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:42.279 But I'm of flesh. 00:13:43.079 --> 00:13:43.599 Physical. 00:13:45.339 --> 00:13:47.459 My body is inherited from Adam. 00:13:49.579 --> 00:13:51.159 I'm sold under sin. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.860 Sin is personified here as a force, as a power. 00:13:54.979 --> 00:13:55.819 It captures me. 00:13:56.079 --> 00:13:57.479 It makes me a prisoner of war. 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:02.039 So let's trace these two sides. 00:14:02.300 --> 00:14:03.519 First, the law is spiritual. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:12.159 Why don't I do the good of the law if, verse 15, I want to do it? 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:15.319 I want to do it. 00:14:15.319 --> 00:14:20.960 Verse 16, because I want to do it, I show that I agree with the law. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:23.259 I agree with the spiritual law. 00:14:23.259 --> 00:14:24.960 I want to do it. 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:26.019 I agree with it. 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:30.180 Verse 18, I desire, I strongly desire to do it. 00:14:30.400 --> 00:14:32.259 So why don't I do it? 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:33.320 What's going on? 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:38.360 Answer, there must be something else at play. 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.039 There must be something else going on. 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:45.159 Enter the flesh. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.500 Verse 15, I do the very thing I hate. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:51.000 That word hate, I detest it. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:57.039 Verse 18, nothing good is in me. 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:05.899 Now, I don't think he can mean totally because he goes on to say, 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:08.919 well, he's saying, I genuinely love the law. 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.679 So he can't be saying I'm totally nothing good because he's saying I love the good. 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:17.419 I think he clarifies here, that is in my flesh. 00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:19.879 Nothing good in my body. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:21.779 I love the good. 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:24.600 Flesh, nothing good in it. 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:27.559 I don't have the ability to carry it out. 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:28.639 I want to do it. 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:29.679 I can't carry it out. 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:35.720 Verse 19, the evil is what I repeatedly keep doing. 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:39.220 Spiritual law, I want to do. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:41.559 I desire to do it. 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:44.820 Flesh defeats me. 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:55.220 And he comes to the same conclusion in verse 17 and 20, exact same wording to emphasize the point. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:01.620 So now, that's a logical now, not a time now. 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:03.600 So it's not before and after. 00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:05.140 Here's the conclusion. 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:14.240 The sin I commit, this is radical, is no longer I who do it. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:16.960 Oh, dear. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:19.659 What are you saying, Paul? 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:23.840 Are you like, are you not taking responsibility for your actions? 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:24.360 Come on. 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:30.759 You're the one who just lost with your anger. 00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:35.519 You're the one out of fear of people didn't do the right you knew you should do. 00:16:37.180 --> 00:16:41.759 He's not absolving himself because this division is within one person. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:43.980 He did the evil. 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:52.139 Somehow he's saying, there's spiritual newness in me, so new. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:56.460 I didn't want to do it. 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:06.099 The real me, the fundamental me, would choose the good every time except for this other power that's in play here. 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:09.579 Incredible words that he can say. 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:12.639 No longer I who do it. 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:13.740 Wow. 00:17:14.659 --> 00:17:19.480 Second conclusion, sin that dwells within my body, in my flesh. 00:17:21.819 --> 00:17:23.599 Sin is indwelling. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:25.919 It's living there. 00:17:26.299 --> 00:17:28.599 It's residing in my body. 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:31.039 It's in the likeness of Adam. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.279 So there's that division. 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:39.379 There's the conclusion. 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:42.679 No longer I who do it, but sin, it's present. 00:17:44.879 --> 00:17:45.599 It's real. 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:47.240 It's powerful in my flesh. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:54.639 And he finishes off driving in the point, driving the point home. 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:55.579 And he's... 00:17:57.699 --> 00:18:00.379 Remember, the objection is to do with the law. 00:18:00.380 --> 00:18:04.380 And so I think he plays with the word law to really drive the point home. 00:18:04.840 --> 00:18:07.360 And he uses the word law in three different ways. 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:11.820 So it can get a bit confusing, but hopefully we can step through it. 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:17.740 He wants to show that he has great love for God's law. 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:20.639 But that sin is a great power. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:25.400 So verse 21 is a unique use of the word law. 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.880 So I find it to be a law. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:32.000 Not this rule, but a principle. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:36.000 When this situation occurs, this principle is in play. 00:18:36.280 --> 00:18:37.720 Here's the principle. 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:45.319 When I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:58.879 The authority, law of sin, the power, the authority of sin is present. 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:02.579 Exactly when I want to do God's law. 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:04.339 That's the principle. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:09.220 When I want to do right, evil fights. 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:12.420 Flesh fights. 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:14.819 A fierce war breaks out. 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:25.380 The moment you set out to pray, don't expect peace. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:28.460 War breaks out, doesn't it? 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:33.960 Fear that God could accept you, knowing how sinful you are. 00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:37.940 Fear that my words are half-hearted at best. 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:39.400 Does God really accept these? 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:43.299 Fear that I'm not eloquent enough to pray with my brothers and sisters. 00:19:44.900 --> 00:19:47.920 The thoughts of what I've got to do today are just rushing. 00:19:48.779 --> 00:19:50.820 The temptation to get this over with. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:52.200 The doubt. 00:19:52.299 --> 00:19:53.700 Is this really achieving anything? 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:56.039 The pride seeps in. 00:19:56.120 --> 00:19:57.480 Aren't I praying so well today? 00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:59.440 Like, wow, this is eloquent. 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:01.299 Suddenly I'm focused on myself. 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:03.000 Oh, wow, my tears. 00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:05.960 I must be so godly if I'm praying and tears come. 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:06.799 Suddenly it moves. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:08.019 Focus on yourself. 00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:10.620 Expect war when we... 00:20:10.620 --> 00:20:11.220 I don't know. 00:20:11.779 --> 00:20:13.380 Maybe that's my experience and not yours. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.900 The flesh just fights. 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:20.019 The moment we want to set out to pray, for instance. 00:20:22.100 --> 00:20:24.100 Before that moment, sin is happy. 00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:26.200 You're self-occupied, gratifying yourself. 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:27.880 You set out to do good. 00:20:28.340 --> 00:20:28.960 Expect war. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:29.460 War. 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:38.480 If you think that merely determining to keep God's law breaks the power of sin, you don't understand this principle. 00:20:39.579 --> 00:20:40.380 At play. 00:20:42.340 --> 00:20:43.960 That's when the war starts. 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:48.980 Not when you're determined to do good, but that's when the war begins. 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:57.640 So keep fresh in your mind the objections Paul is answering. 00:20:57.819 --> 00:21:01.299 Paul, your total grace gospel accuses God's law as a problem. 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:02.720 The cause of death. 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:03.500 No. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:04.700 No. 00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:06.339 Sin is the culprit. 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:08.299 I don't accuse God's law. 00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:12.720 I delight in the law of God. 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:14.460 This is echoing Psalm 1. 00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:16.559 He's claiming to be a Psalm 1 man. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:18.000 In my inner being. 00:21:19.700 --> 00:21:25.679 That's a phrase he uses in 2 Corinthians 4 and Ephesians 3, which is another reason I think it's Christian here. 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:28.980 Because I think there is spiritual renewal. 00:21:29.159 --> 00:21:30.259 I've been made new. 00:21:30.679 --> 00:21:31.720 In my inner being. 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:34.440 This new man in me. 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:38.940 I love, I delight in the law of God. 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:43.399 I think this is a spirit writing the law on our hearts. 00:21:44.339 --> 00:21:45.940 I'm not accusing God's law. 00:21:45.940 --> 00:21:47.580 I delight in the law of God. 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:50.059 My true person. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:50.580 I delight. 00:21:51.840 --> 00:21:54.299 So I serve the law of God in my mind. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:56.720 The other accusation. 00:21:56.860 --> 00:22:00.559 Paul, you need to stop telling people that they've been released from the law. 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:03.640 They need to take the law more seriously. 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:05.799 Get themselves under the law. 00:22:07.380 --> 00:22:07.820 No. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:09.460 No. 00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:13.579 Can't you see this other law at work? 00:22:14.840 --> 00:22:15.840 This power. 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:17.160 It's not a set of rules law. 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:19.380 This authority law. 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:21.120 This power law. 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:24.640 Sin waging war. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:30.480 The power of sin lives in my body, in my flesh. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.340 And this power keeps making me a prisoner of war. 00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:44.819 And I think the reason Paul locates our love of God's law in our mind is to keep us from thinking the flesh has total control. 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:46.919 I think he's getting us ready for chapter 8. 00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:50.099 Where we need to set our mind on the spirit. 00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:56.000 So being sold under slavery to sin, it's not total here. 00:22:57.699 --> 00:23:00.980 We can set our mind on the spirit. 00:23:03.539 --> 00:23:09.779 And this war in me, it makes me wretched. 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:14.079 That word is miserable. 00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:17.059 I'm distressed. 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:22.059 And notice Paul's focus on the body. 00:23:23.579 --> 00:23:26.779 Who will deliver me from this body of death? 00:23:28.639 --> 00:23:33.339 This sinful body is too strong when I try and obey God's law. 00:23:35.500 --> 00:23:36.899 I don't just need forgiveness. 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:39.780 I need rescue. 00:23:41.820 --> 00:23:44.280 I need rescue from this powerful disease. 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:45.380 This powerful enemy. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:49.460 I think a young Christian. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:51.300 Young Christians in the room. 00:23:52.300 --> 00:23:53.540 This won't be true of all. 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:57.759 But most of you are probably prime of health and fitness. 00:23:59.620 --> 00:24:03.420 You don't know the body kind of breaking down yet. 00:24:04.580 --> 00:24:05.340 Enjoy that. 00:24:05.780 --> 00:24:06.340 Go nuts. 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:17.259 But I think you can still look at your body, which is in the prime of health, and see this war going on. 00:24:17.780 --> 00:24:19.500 That I want to please God. 00:24:19.800 --> 00:24:21.660 And I keep doing the evil I hate. 00:24:21.780 --> 00:24:24.560 And you can go, I want to be rid of this body. 00:24:25.800 --> 00:24:27.560 I think that's the force here. 00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:32.980 I want to have that new resurrection body where I can please God. 00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:50.140 If you've never tasted this anguish of the man described here, or maybe if you've forgotten this anguish, 00:24:50.140 --> 00:25:00.800 I think that can only be because you're focusing on your own flesh, either just gratifying you just do what you want. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:04.220 There's no struggle if you just live doing what you want. 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:07.119 Your life's pretty okay. 00:25:07.879 --> 00:25:11.259 Like obviously there's external hard things, but we're talking internal distress. 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:20.519 Either you're just gratifying your own desires or you've got a false confidence in your own flesh to do what God says. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:27.119 As if you can keep the law based on your own determination and discipline. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:30.699 It's a false confidence. 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:36.000 I think we should be sharing this distress. 00:25:37.679 --> 00:25:40.759 Why do I keep doing the evil I hate? 00:25:42.099 --> 00:25:43.199 Who can deliver me? 00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:47.219 And this question, who can deliver me? 00:25:48.959 --> 00:25:51.659 It's worded in a way that's expecting the answer of no one. 00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:54.279 No one. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:55.759 Not me. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:57.759 Because it is me. 00:25:58.619 --> 00:25:59.319 My body. 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:00.500 It's not even God's law. 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:01.740 And deliver me. 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:04.400 Only grace. 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:08.960 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:12.700 We're going to come into chapter 8. 00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:15.400 Hope you're itching to get into chapter 8. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:20.160 For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:21.779 By sending his own son. 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:24.599 Grace gets the victory. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:33.019 So has anything changed now that I'm a Christian? 00:26:35.619 --> 00:26:46.299 With my constant mixed motives in any good I do and how often I say and do the evil I hate, has anything changed? 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:51.359 The entire war has changed. 00:26:51.779 --> 00:27:03.480 Because in the death and new life of Christ you're released from the law and you're now united to your resurrected husband. 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:05.740 You are under grace, you are under grace, not law. 00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:08.059 And that changes everything. 00:27:10.059 --> 00:27:12.559 Let me quote Tim Keller from a couple of weeks ago again. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:18.399 When you become a Christian, you don't move from warfare with sin to peace. 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:27.759 You move from a battle you could not win to a new battle which you cannot lose because you're under grace. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:30.599 It's a new battle. 00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:31.740 Totally new battle. 00:27:32.379 --> 00:27:34.980 I want to spend the rest of our time looking at this new battle. 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:44.799 Firstly, your fundamental inner being, the real you, that's united to Christ is alive to God now. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:54.039 When you click on that website, you place that bet, criticism and complaining and anger come out of your mouth. 00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:59.059 Before you were united to Christ, the love of self was fundamentally you. 00:27:59.659 --> 00:28:04.019 You might have hated those things but we probably hated them for self-centered reasons. 00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:08.400 But now you're in Christ, you hate it for God's sake. 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:10.759 It's dishonouring him. 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:13.220 It's not loving him. 00:28:13.539 --> 00:28:15.960 It places distance between me and him. 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:17.460 There's a new hatred. 00:28:18.980 --> 00:28:22.180 Because the you has been changed. 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:33.259 I think this passage gives us an incredible perspective. 00:28:33.259 --> 00:28:37.839 When you're feeling the deepest shame, you can say in prayer to God, 00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:42.900 Wow, thank you, but that's no longer me. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:46.980 It's no longer me. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:49.599 Not the me I know. 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:51.319 Not the me that loves Jesus. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.440 I hate my sin for your sake now. 00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:58.460 I want to be finally free from my sin. 00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:03.019 In that moment of deepest shame, you can say, 00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:08.400 Thank you that fundamentally you've changed me. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:09.880 I can't wait to be complete. 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:13.920 Thank you for your grace that I hate this now. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:19.880 So that's a huge change. 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:29.940 I think the other change that grace brings is your confidence in your own flesh has completely changed. 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:34.759 Christian, if you know you're not under God's law, 00:29:35.360 --> 00:29:39.779 that God's purpose for the law wasn't to give you the tools to break the power of sin, 00:29:40.539 --> 00:29:44.019 but to reveal our sin so that we cast ourselves on him. 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:51.240 To try and play into the law, to set your mind on obeying the law, 00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:56.660 is to try and not sin by your own determination, by your own discipline. 00:29:57.339 --> 00:29:59.980 You're putting your confidence in your own flesh. 00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:05.379 That is playing right into the hands of sin in our flesh. 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:08.280 So it is wonderful news. 00:30:09.560 --> 00:30:10.640 You're not under law. 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:14.200 Don't think that way. 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:18.900 About what I must do in my own strength. 00:30:19.580 --> 00:30:20.820 With my own flesh. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.800 The cross shows us what we do with flesh. 00:30:26.260 --> 00:30:27.240 It's got to die. 00:30:28.140 --> 00:30:30.680 It's been killed in Jesus. 00:30:30.800 --> 00:30:33.700 We've got to think of ourselves as having died with him on that cross. 00:30:35.380 --> 00:30:36.240 It is dead. 00:30:37.040 --> 00:30:37.920 It will die. 00:30:38.860 --> 00:30:42.720 And this mortal body will be replaced with one like his. 00:30:45.600 --> 00:30:47.600 So we've got to know we're dead to the law. 00:30:48.600 --> 00:30:51.960 Because thinking obedience to the law plays into the flesh. 00:30:56.020 --> 00:31:02.280 I would much rather we be a church full of distressed Christians 00:31:02.279 --> 00:31:08.420 crying out for grace all day, every day, 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:12.279 rather than a church full of self-confidence in the flesh. 00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:17.639 Thinking we choose the right most of the time. 00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:21.240 Because it honours his grace then. 00:31:21.619 --> 00:31:22.500 We look to his help. 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:28.700 We know we belong to a new husband. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:33.960 And so we lose confidence in our own ability, our own flesh. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:35.200 That's changed. 00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:37.440 We used to rely on our ability. 00:31:38.579 --> 00:31:39.319 Not anymore. 00:31:40.599 --> 00:31:41.740 We've got a new husband. 00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:46.019 We have the most high God dwelling in us. 00:31:46.019 --> 00:31:49.839 Everything's changed. 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:51.700 Who you are has fundamentally changed. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:54.259 Your confidence in your own flesh, 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.139 in being able to keep God's law, 00:31:56.379 --> 00:31:57.799 that's changed. 00:32:00.420 --> 00:32:04.119 And so how you fight sin has completely changed. 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:11.479 Does the everyday common struggle with sinful flesh mean a Christian just, 00:32:11.939 --> 00:32:13.759 I don't know, just makes peace with their sin? 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:15.659 Oh, well, that's my sinful flesh. 00:32:15.819 --> 00:32:16.599 I can't change it. 00:32:17.159 --> 00:32:17.919 Do we make peace? 00:32:20.299 --> 00:32:23.159 Does it mean the Christian life is characterised by defeat? 00:32:25.459 --> 00:32:26.500 Sin is too strong? 00:32:27.579 --> 00:32:28.000 No. 00:32:29.439 --> 00:32:29.839 No. 00:32:30.899 --> 00:32:31.939 We make war. 00:32:31.940 --> 00:32:36.140 But I think that's the point of Romans 7. 00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:37.580 Paul is also trying to tell us, 00:32:38.019 --> 00:32:39.820 don't set your mind on the law. 00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:42.299 When you get into that distress mode, 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:45.259 push yourself into Romans 8. 00:32:47.420 --> 00:32:48.900 His flesh keeps sinning. 00:32:50.320 --> 00:32:53.820 Reliance on self ends in defeat. 00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:56.640 I need to stop setting my mind on law 00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:58.720 and set my mind on the spirit. 00:33:01.940 --> 00:33:03.680 I think it can sound godly just to say, 00:33:03.860 --> 00:33:04.940 I'm just such a sinner. 00:33:05.180 --> 00:33:07.000 And I do believe I'm a sinner, by the way. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:09.180 But I'm just a sinner. 00:33:09.259 --> 00:33:09.840 I'm just a sinner. 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:10.840 But there's a problem with that. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:12.640 You could just go, 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:13.920 oh, change isn't possible. 00:33:15.100 --> 00:33:17.559 That is not biblical thinking. 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:18.740 It's not gospel thinking. 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:21.519 We have the spirit now. 00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:23.400 Now, 00:33:23.600 --> 00:33:25.480 but how we fight has changed. 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:29.620 Our weapons have changed. 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:31.240 We fight with hope. 00:33:33.559 --> 00:33:35.559 I think we fight with thanksgiving. 00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:39.519 And we fight knowing we're a loved child. 00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:43.120 You fight with grace. 00:33:43.440 --> 00:33:44.500 You don't fight with law. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:45.480 You fight with grace. 00:33:47.299 --> 00:33:47.980 Now, again, 00:33:48.059 --> 00:33:50.120 I hope you're itching to get into Romans 8. 00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:52.880 This is just heavy stuff. 00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:55.560 It's important we lose confidence in the law 00:33:55.560 --> 00:33:57.860 so that we understand Romans 8. 00:33:58.560 --> 00:33:58.680 So, 00:33:59.300 --> 00:34:02.380 we're going to spend five weeks in Romans 8. 00:34:03.140 --> 00:34:04.700 Martin Shatterick's going to kick us off. 00:34:06.120 --> 00:34:06.980 Can I encourage us? 00:34:07.260 --> 00:34:08.740 I'm not sure what you're reading 00:34:08.740 --> 00:34:09.700 or listening to at the moment. 00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:11.519 Why not just jump into Romans 8? 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:13.079 Find some good commentaries, 00:34:13.180 --> 00:34:13.960 good podcasts. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.220 It would be a wonderful thing 00:34:16.220 --> 00:34:18.119 if we just immerse ourselves 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:19.700 in Romans 8 for five weeks. 00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:20.820 Anyway, 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:21.559 you don't have to do that. 00:34:21.619 --> 00:34:22.140 It's not a law. 00:34:22.139 --> 00:34:22.619 Well, 00:34:22.699 --> 00:34:26.839 I think it would be a wonderful thing. 00:34:28.739 --> 00:34:30.420 But I want to pick one aspect 00:34:30.420 --> 00:34:33.599 of the hope that we have in Romans 8 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:35.379 that's really relevant to our passage today. 00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:37.859 Romans 8, 23. 00:34:40.039 --> 00:34:42.440 We who have the first fruits of the Spirit 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:46.079 groan inwardly. 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:47.460 We're groaning 00:34:47.460 --> 00:34:51.420 because we have the first fruits of the Spirit. 00:34:52.059 --> 00:34:55.599 As we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, 00:34:56.679 --> 00:34:58.559 the redemption of our bodies. 00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:05.299 I think that's more than just the lack of health. 00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:08.779 It's also the redemption from this sinful body. 00:35:08.780 --> 00:35:13.980 We're groaning and we're waiting eagerly. 00:35:14.100 --> 00:35:14.560 Come on. 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:17.480 Give me that resurrected body. 00:35:18.260 --> 00:35:19.360 Now, we are adopted. 00:35:19.600 --> 00:35:21.920 No, this is getting too far into Romans 8. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:22.820 We are adopted. 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:23.740 We are secure. 00:35:24.139 --> 00:35:26.519 But our full experience of that sonship, 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.920 when our bodies will finally be free from sin, 00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:31.720 fully able to love God, 00:35:31.980 --> 00:35:33.619 carry out our desires to love Him. 00:35:34.139 --> 00:35:34.420 Oh, 00:35:35.220 --> 00:35:36.079 it's coming. 00:35:37.059 --> 00:35:37.780 It's coming. 00:35:38.019 --> 00:35:38.760 I'll be there one day. 00:35:38.760 --> 00:35:39.780 We'll be there one day. 00:35:41.659 --> 00:35:43.519 We shared in a body like Adam. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:45.980 1 Corinthians 15 tells us, 00:35:46.059 --> 00:35:48.059 we will share in a body like Christ. 00:35:52.900 --> 00:35:55.280 When we've been there 10,000 years, 00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:58.559 bright shining as the noonday sun. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:00.079 Righteousness. 00:36:00.219 --> 00:36:01.500 That hope is coming. 00:36:01.659 --> 00:36:02.259 It's guaranteed. 00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:03.699 Christ has got it for us. 00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:06.000 And because of that hope, 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:09.119 we give thanks. 00:36:09.900 --> 00:36:10.940 Thanks be to God. 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:11.739 That's how you fight. 00:36:11.739 --> 00:36:11.859 Oh, 00:36:12.439 --> 00:36:13.919 thank you. 00:36:14.779 --> 00:36:15.500 This war, 00:36:16.779 --> 00:36:17.059 yes, 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:17.919 it's present still, 00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:18.559 but it is, 00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:19.019 it is, 00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:19.459 like, 00:36:19.539 --> 00:36:20.119 it is one. 00:36:20.279 --> 00:36:20.619 Christ, 00:36:20.819 --> 00:36:21.739 Christ finished it. 00:36:22.619 --> 00:36:24.319 I don't have to finish off this war. 00:36:24.739 --> 00:36:25.619 You'll promise it. 00:36:26.459 --> 00:36:26.939 Thank you, 00:36:26.979 --> 00:36:27.199 God. 00:36:30.019 --> 00:36:31.419 The war cannot be lost. 00:36:32.279 --> 00:36:32.899 Thank you. 00:36:36.179 --> 00:36:38.439 So we can move back to the struggle 00:36:38.439 --> 00:36:40.739 through hope and thankfulness. 00:36:41.739 --> 00:36:44.859 Because if we're united to our new husband, 00:36:45.179 --> 00:36:46.619 we're not under law, 00:36:46.739 --> 00:36:47.459 we're under grace. 00:36:47.459 --> 00:36:49.659 As a child. 00:36:52.339 --> 00:36:53.759 So has anything changed? 00:36:54.839 --> 00:36:56.239 Whole war has changed. 00:36:56.239 --> 00:36:59.779 And we're going to see more of that 00:36:59.779 --> 00:37:01.159 as we get into Romans 8. 00:37:01.799 --> 00:37:02.739 I want to finish with 00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:06.500 a poem by William Cowper, 00:37:07.459 --> 00:37:09.219 which I think just captures this. 00:37:09.619 --> 00:37:09.959 Obviously, 00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:12.179 poetry can express it in 00:37:12.179 --> 00:37:14.119 a heartfelt way. 00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:20.199 How long beneath the law I lay 00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:23.000 in bondage and distress. 00:37:24.279 --> 00:37:25.579 I toiled 00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:28.359 the precept to obey, 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:30.719 but toiled without success. 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:36.400 Then to abstain from outward sin 00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:38.039 was more than I could do. 00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:40.519 Now, 00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:42.579 if I feel its power within, 00:37:43.480 --> 00:37:45.800 I feel I hate it too. 00:37:48.759 --> 00:37:50.099 To see 00:37:50.099 --> 00:37:51.940 the law by Christ 00:37:51.940 --> 00:37:52.779 fulfilled 00:37:52.779 --> 00:37:55.320 and hear 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:56.940 his pardoning voice 00:37:56.940 --> 00:38:00.039 changes a slave 00:38:00.039 --> 00:38:01.199 into a child 00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:03.939 and duty 00:38:03.939 --> 00:38:05.219 to choice. 00:38:10.019 --> 00:38:10.819 Why don't we pray? 00:38:11.019 --> 00:38:11.359 Let's pray. 00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:20.719 Lord, 00:38:20.839 --> 00:38:21.599 thank you for doing 00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:21.980 what 00:38:21.980 --> 00:38:24.039 we could not do, 00:38:24.199 --> 00:38:25.159 what we could never do 00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:27.219 in sending your own son. 00:38:29.019 --> 00:38:29.259 Lord, 00:38:29.299 --> 00:38:29.919 I pray that you would 00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:32.940 not only help us 00:38:32.940 --> 00:38:34.420 understand in our minds 00:38:34.420 --> 00:38:36.019 this hope 00:38:36.019 --> 00:38:38.280 and the fullness of grace 00:38:38.280 --> 00:38:39.900 that we have now 00:38:39.900 --> 00:38:41.280 in Jesus. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:42.740 I pray that 00:38:42.740 --> 00:38:43.780 you would be 00:38:43.780 --> 00:38:45.740 speaking to each one of us 00:38:45.740 --> 00:38:48.039 exactly where 00:38:48.039 --> 00:38:49.180 we're doubting that 00:38:49.180 --> 00:38:51.139 so that we might actually 00:38:51.139 --> 00:38:53.079 believe it 00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:54.139 in the depths of our being 00:38:54.139 --> 00:38:55.920 that we're under grace 00:38:55.920 --> 00:38:56.740 and not law. 00:38:58.059 --> 00:38:58.800 Because we know, 00:38:58.800 --> 00:38:59.019 Lord, 00:38:59.019 --> 00:39:01.179 that will fill us 00:39:01.179 --> 00:39:02.159 with a life 00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:02.920 of thanksgiving 00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:03.800 and produce 00:39:03.800 --> 00:39:05.900 a life that's 00:39:05.900 --> 00:39:06.679 pleasing to you. 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:07.300 Even 00:39:07.300 --> 00:39:09.259 our hatred of sin 00:39:09.259 --> 00:39:10.000 will be pleasing 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:10.639 to you. 00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:12.219 So, 00:39:12.300 --> 00:39:12.420 Lord, 00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:12.840 please 00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:13.880 bring 00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:14.619 these 00:39:14.619 --> 00:39:16.059 marvellous truths 00:39:16.059 --> 00:39:17.139 home to each of our 00:39:17.139 --> 00:39:17.440 heart. 00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:18.719 In Jesus' name. 00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:19.179 Amen. 00:39:19.179 --> 00:39:19.280 Amen. 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:19.340 Amen. 00:39:19.340 --> 00:39:19.360 Amen. 00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:19.380 Amen. 00:39:19.380 --> 00:39:21.380 Amen. 00:39:21.380 --> 00:39:21.400 Amen. 00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:21.460 Amen. 00:39:21.460 --> 00:39:21.480 Amen. 00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:21.599 Amen. 00:39:21.599 --> 00:39:23.440 Amen. 00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:23.480 Amen. 00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:23.500 Amen. 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:25.420 Amen. 00:39:25.420 --> 00:39:25.460 Amen. 00:39:25.460 --> 00:39:25.480 Amen. 00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:25.519 Amen. 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:26.000 Amen. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:26.079 Amen. 00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:26.139 Amen. 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:27.179 Amen. 00:39:27.179 --> 00:39:27.239 Amen. 00:39:27.239 --> 00:39:27.280 Amen. 00:39:27.280 --> 00:39:29.000 Amen.