If you've just joined us, we are working our way through the New Testament book of Romans.
Romans, as I said right at the beginning, is one of the most powerful and influential
pieces of literature ever written.
It has been the force behind some of the most significant transformations in society, in
all of history, in fact.
And it's my hope as we journey through this book that we would experience something of
that deep and radical change in our own lives as we journey through it.
The story of Romans so far, as we have been going through over these number of weeks, is
that though we deserve God's judgment, we can in fact be right with our creator God because
Jesus Christ himself, God the Son, bore God's right anger for our sin in our place.
True faith is trusting in God's promises in Jesus Christ and all that Jesus has achieved
on our behalf.
Being made right with God, just justified by Jesus Christ means that therefore that we enjoy
peace with God, peace with God, access to God and even in the midst of hardship and suffering
in this world, a real sense of contentment and joy.
This is all because of Jesus Christ, our representative, that he himself has obeyed God's requirements
on our behalf.
He's done and achieved what we could not achieve.
And crucially, we don't obey God to be made right with God.
That's not how we get right with God.
Religion does not help you.
But because of who we are, it's because of who we are in Jesus and what he's achieved for
us.
That's really the first five chapters of Romans in a very short summary.
Chapters six and seven are a hinge in the book of Romans.
We started in chapter six last week.
There are hinge.
Paul zooms in here in these chapters to show us how God's grace to us in Jesus not only
justifies us, makes us right with God, but also transforms us.
It changes us.
If you like, they answer the question, in view of Romans one to five, what happens now?
What's next?
That's what chapters six and seven do.
That is, these chapters are a theology of change.
God's grace is not just powerful enough to save us from sin, but also to save us to obedience.
In chapter six, last week, Paul says that we are united with Jesus in the most intimate
relationship possible.
And we are now set free to serve God for our joy and his glory.
Why would we not want to obey God after all that he's achieved for us in Jesus?
Why would we not want to treasure him in all of life?
Well, that brings us to chapter seven.
That's where we're in now.
Now, this is a chapter that you can spend five minutes on and give you a brief overview,
or you can spend weeks on it.
For your joy, I will be closer to the five minutes than the weeks this morning, but it
is a deep, deep chapter.
What this chapter tells us, in summary, is that all of life is a battle between two selves.
All of life.
We all have a war going on inside of us between the good and the bad in our hearts.
All of us.
What it's telling us is that before Jesus, we think we're winning that war.
With Jesus, it feels like we're losing the war.
And this is Paul bringing perspective to us here.
When you become a Christian, the point is, when you become a Christian, you don't move
from warfare to peace.
With God you do, but not with the battle within.
You don't move from warfare to peace.
We move from one battle to a new battle.
That's what happens.
We move from a war that we cannot win to a war that we cannot lose.
That's what Romans 7 is laying out for us.
So the three points today, if you've got St. Paul's app, the battle before Christ, the battle
in Christ, and the battle with Christ.
That's how we're going to move through this text.
So verses 7 to 13 is the battle that every human being has got going on inside of them.
It's the battle that we have before Christ.
Verse 7, Paul introduces another question on the back of his argument of the previous six
verses, and in particular, verse 6 of chapter 7.
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve
in the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
And so the question in verse 7 is, what shall we say then?
Is the law sinful?
It is the Old Testament law.
God's word, is it sinful?
If we need to be released from the law, which is now referred to here as the old way, doesn't
it mean that the law is sinful?
It's evil.
And of course, the short answer is, certainly not.
And then the long answer comes from verses 7 to 13.
The summary version is, is it sin in us that makes the law ineffective?
It's not that the law is evil, but it's the sin in us that makes the law ineffective.
So the question is, well, what therefore is the law for?
And that's what Paul does here in these verses.
What therefore does the law do?
The main purpose of the law is it shows us the character of sin.
Verse 7.
Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.
The law does that by, firstly, it defines sin for us.
Verse 7 again.
For I would not have known what covening really was if the law had said, you shall not covet.
That is, this means the very concept of covening is outlined by the law.
That is, without that standard of the law, you shall not covet, Paul would not have known
that covening was a sin.
That's what he's saying.
So it defines what sin is.
Secondly, the law reveals sin.
Verse 8.
But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covening.
For apart from the law, sin was dead.
That is, when a commandment of God comes to us, this is what Paul's saying here.
When it comes to us, it aggravates and stirs up sin in our hearts.
It doesn't just show us what sin is in general, but how sin resides in us.
The same idea is stated in verse 13.
In order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good, that's the law, to bring
about my death.
So that through the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful.
What Paul's saying here is the more I tried to avoid coveting, the more coveting grew in me.
The law made sin in my life utterly sinful.
That is, I didn't realize how sinful I was before the law.
The law made sin in his life utterly sinful.
That is, much worse.
Totally inexcusable.
So for the religious person sitting in this room or online, the Old Testament law, or let's
summarize that, the Ten Commandments were never meant as a means to salvation.
Never.
As if you could obey them and somehow be right with God.
Because, and this is Paul's point, it's because it was given to sinners.
Instead, what the law does is exposes our need for salvation.
It helps us to see how sinful we are.
Without the law, we will consistently be in denial about the depth and the nature of our sin.
So the law defines sin for us.
It reveals sin in us.
But thirdly, it provokes sin in us.
Sin is aroused by the exposure to the law.
This points us back to the early chapters of Romans and the bleak condition of every human heart.
That is, what Romans 1 to 3 tells us is that there is a perversity about every human heart.
Perversity being a desire to do something for no other reason than because it's wrong.
That's what perversity means.
It's a joy in wrongdoing for its own sake.
And I had a heap of illustrations, personal illustrations, that I could bring to bear here.
But because of my own children in the building, I decided not to go back into history,
but instead to go way back into history and use St. Augustine instead.
I think we'll throw him on the dock here rather than me.
And the ones that immediately came to mind about my joy in sin.
St. Augustine writes about this in his Confessions.
He describes a time when he stole some pears as a boy.
And then he draws some amazing insights from that experience.
This is, I'll quote him.
Near our vineyard was a pear tree loaded with fruit,
though the fruit was not particularly attractive either in colour or taste.
I and some other youths conceived the idea of shaking the pears off this tree and carrying them away.
We set out late at night, stole all the fruit that we could carry,
and this was not to feed ourselves.
We may have tasted a few.
Then we threw the rest to the pigs.
Our real pleasure was simply in doing something that was not allowed.
I had plenty of better pears of my own.
I only took these ones in order that I might be a thief.
Once I had taken them, I threw them away,
and all I tasted in them was my own iniquity,
which I enjoyed very much.
That's every human heart.
His point is,
there is always a much deeper motive
for the surface sins,
and for every surface sin.
When we lie or steal or impure or cruel,
there is a superficial motive,
and it might be greed,
it might be anger,
it might be loneliness,
but there is a much deeper motive driving the superficial one.
An Augustine study of the Bible,
and experience with the pear tree,
showed him that the ultimate underlying motive
for all sin
is a desire to be God,
to play God.
We have a deep desire
to be in charge of our lives,
and our world,
in fact,
to the degree
that every person exists
for my glory,
for your glory.
And when they block my glory,
anger
is the result.
Point out a problem with anger
is what you get.
We want to be sovereign.
That goes right back to Genesis chapter 3.
Every law God lays down in His word,
Ten Commandments,
everything else,
every single law that He lays down
is an infringement
upon my perceived absolute sovereignty in life.
Every one of them.
Every one of them
is a reminder
that I am not God
and prevents me
from living life
the way that I think
life should be lived.
The essence of the very first sin
of the Garden of Eden
was to be like God,
and it's the essence of all sin
from that moment.
So the more
God's word,
His law,
is exposed
exposed
in me,
the more
that that sinful force,
that deep desire
in me
will be aggravated
into reaction
against it.
And this leads
to the fourth thing
that sin does.
It leads to an overwhelming
conviction of sin.
That's Paul's point
in verses 9 to 11.
This is what he says
in verse 9.
Once I was alive
apart from the law,
but when the commandment came,
sin sprang to life
and I died.
Now Paul here
is not referring
to a previous time
in his life
when the law of God
had no bearing
on his life.
That is just not possible
to interpret that verse
in that way.
That's because
the Apostle Paul
was a devout,
he was a Jewish boy
from a devout family.
There was not
a single time
in his pre-Christian
days
when he did not
know the law
or try to obey
the law.
Right from birth,
that was his life.
So I think
he's meaning
that before
he was a Christian,
he did not
know the demands
of the law,
the true,
the deep demands
of the law.
He did not know
what the law
truly required.
He saw a bunch
of rules
but did not
understand
the deep thrust
of them all.
He did not know
what it truly
meant to love
God supremely.
And so when
he says
I was alive,
he's writing
about his own
self-deception,
his own
self-perception.
I'm basically
a good guy.
Look at the rules
that I keep.
He thought
that he was
morally good,
pleasing God.
God was in fact
satisfied with him.
And when he writes
the commandment
came,
he died,
he realised
he was
in fact
spiritually dead
at that moment.
He thought
I'm going along
really well spiritually
compared to everyone else
I'm doing really well.
Felt
better than most.
And then
the law came
and he had
an overwhelming
sense
of his failure
and his condemnation.
That is,
if you like,
the commandment
came home
to him.
The reality
of it
struck me.
I came
under the conviction
of sin.
And verse
eight tells us
that the commandment
that came
home to him
that exposed
his sin
and his failure
was the
tenth commandment.
you shall
not
covet.
Why that
one?
Why that
one?
What's
special about
it?
You see,
as a Pharisee,
Paul would have
thought of sin
only in terms
of external
actions.
As
I go to say,
most people do
think of sin
only in terms
of external
actions.
He would have
thought that if I
didn't commit
an evil act,
I was therefore
not guilty of sin.
You know,
there's no time
I've committed
adultery,
so tick the box.
I've done that one.
You know,
tick the box.
I haven't
murdered anyone.
Tick the box,
tick the box,
tick the box.
Woohoo!
Gone through the
first nine,
tick the box,
tick the box.
I'm a good guy.
But in the
Sermon on the
Mount,
Jesus showed
us that all
the Ten
Commandments
refer not only
to behaviour,
but to much
deeper level
of inward
attitudes and
motives as
well.
And yet,
you can
interpret the
Ten Commandments
superficially as
behavioural rules
relatively easy
to keep.
as did
the rich
young ruler
when he
came to
Jesus and
asked Jesus,
what must I
do to
inherit eternal
life?
What did
Jesus do?
What was
Jesus'
response?
He listed
off the
commandments,
except
Jesus didn't
mention
Commandment
One,
love the
Lord your
God with
all your
heart,
soul and
mind,
and he
didn't
mention
number
Ten,
do not
covet.
Jesus
said go
away and
do that
and you
live,
and he
walked
away sad.
You see,
coveting has
everything to
do with
inner motives.
It has
everything to
do with
heart issues.
It's the
one of
these Ten
Commandments
that you
cannot tick
the box and
say,
I've done
it practically.
coveting
includes
envy,
self-pitying,
grumbling,
murmuring.
Coveting is
not just
wanting,
it's an
idolatrous
longing for
more beauty,
for more
wealth,
for more
approval,
for more
popularity than
you have.
And Paul
had never
understood
sin as a
matter of
inward
longings and
idolatrous
drives and
desires.
He had
never seen
sin as
essentially
coveting
against
God,
failing to
love God
enough to
be content
with God.
He thought
of sin only
in terms of
violating rules.
And so when
the commandment
came home
to him,
he first in
his life saw
the depth
of his sin
right to
the core
of his
being.
He saw
how utterly
evil and
wicked he
was.
And so
the flaw
was not
in the
law.
Verse 12
indicates
it's in fact
quite the
reverse.
The flaw
was in
Paul
and us
not the
law.
Externally
we may be
very good.
Internally
we cannot
be anything
other than
a sinful.
The law
is good
but I
am evil.
That's
his point
in the
first bit
of chapter
seven.
He's
talking about
his pre-Christian
days.
When you
move to
verse 14
there's now
a shift
and he's
now referring
to his
battle
in Christ
as a
Christian.
The first
half is
Paul looking
back before
he's a
Christian
now and
how the
law calls
him to
look beyond
himself to
Jesus for
rescue.
And this
is now
Paul writing
about his
current
experience
battling
sin as
a
Christian.
This
is his
battle
and that
of every
Christian
in Jesus
in Christ.
Now I
need to
disclose here
that this
section
has been
debated
for
centuries.
These
verses here
the second
half of
chapter seven
have been
debated
for centuries.
The issue
is whether
Paul is
still writing
here about
his
pre-Christian
experience
of battling
sin or
his
current
Christian
experience
of battling
sin.
And let me
just say
that there
have been
plenty,
plenty of
thoughtful,
wise,
godly people
on both
sides of
that debate.
Still are
on both
sides of
that debate.
For instance,
some find it
hard to
reconcile
that a
Christian
could
write
as
Paul
does
in
verse
14,
I am
unspiritual
sold as
a slave
to sin.
He also
confesses
that he
sins
regularly
in
verse 15,
I do
not
understand
what I
do.
For
what I
want
to do
I do,
but what
I hate
I do.
And again
in verse
18,
I have
the desire
to do
what is
good,
but I
cannot
carry it
out.
Now,
the reason
I think
he's
writing
about
his
current
Christian
experience
of
battle
with
sin
is
really
four
reasons.
Firstly,
the change
of verb
tenses.
He moves
from the
past in
the tense
of the
verbs
to the
present
tense
in
all
verbs
in.
That
is,
in 7
to 13,
the verbs
are past
tense,
14
onwards,
present
tense,
he's
talking
about
now.
Secondly,
there's
also a
change
of
situation.
Verses
7
to 13
is sin
killing
him,
but from
verses
14
onwards,
it's
him
wrestling
with
sin.
It's
a battle
that he
refuses
to
surrender
to,
but he
is not
dead or
dying or
losing.
Thirdly,
Paul delights
in God's
law in
verse 22,
for in
my inner
being I
delight in
God's
law,
even though
sin is
at work
in him.
Romans 8,
the very next
chapter,
Romans 8
verse 7
tells us
that a sinful
mind that is
hostile to
God cannot
delight in
God's law,
cannot submit
to God's
law.
A non-believer
cannot delight
in God's
law.
God's
law.
Fourthly,
Paul admits
he's a
sinner in
verse 18,
and an
unbeliever
is unaware
that they
are so
sinful that
they cannot
save
themselves.
They
cannot
acknowledge
the depth
of their
sin.
That is
why I
think Paul
is here
in these
verses
laying out
his inner
struggle
as a
Christian.
It's the
experience of
every believer
in Jesus.
That experience
is that on
the one
hand,
we now see
God's law
as spiritual,
verse 14,
good,
verse 16,
and have a
desire to keep
it in
verses 15
and 18.
Paul says
that in his
inner being,
he rejoices
in the law.
in his
heart of
hearts,
in the
depths of
himself,
he loves
the law
of God.
But on
the other
hand,
his actions
are against
the law.
Sort of
like
Robert Louis
Stevenson's
Dr.
Jekyll and
Mr.
Hyde.
If you've
never read
it, it's a
really helpful
little read.
It's only
really short,
like 80
pages or
something in
the original
form.
Don't
watch a
movie or
just read
the book.
Really,
really helpful.
The premise
of the book
is that
every single
being has
a sense
of two
cells
battling.
Two
sense of
cells,
a sense
of two
cells
battling.
The principle
of the book
is which
one am I
truly?
Which one
is truly
me?
And you
don't want
to end
up at
the, in
case you
never read
it, he
kills
himself.
Because the
evil one
became more
him.
That became
his true
sense.
But that's
what we
wrestle with.
Which one
is truly
me?
And
particularly
as a
Christian?
Am I
a sinner
or am I
a saint?
Before he
was a
Christian,
Paul thought
he was
a saint.
Now that
he's a
Christian,
a saint,
right before
Jesus Christ,
he now
wrestles
with am I
actually a
sinner?
His sense
of his
sinfulness
is much
stronger and
more disturbing
to him
now.
So which
one is he?
Which one
is he?
The deepest
desire is
hard.
Am I a
sinner or
am I a
saint?
And the
point of
these verses
is that for
the Christian
that
question is
settled.
It's
settled.
Even
though the
battle continues
to rage,
the question,
the issue
is settled.
Verse 23,
the law
of God
is our
utmost
delight.
There is
still a
powerful
force of
sin and
rebellion
within me,
but those
desires are
not the
deepest
sense of
who I
am.
As
verse 20
says,
if I do
what I do
not want
to do,
it is no
longer I,
my deepest
sense who
does it,
but it
is sin
living in
me that
does it.
As we
saw last
week, a
Christian has
had a
identity
transformation.
A
Christian
really seeks
God and
loves his
law and
holiness.
Even
while sin
remains in
us with a
whole lot of
strength,
whole lot of
strength,
it no longer
controls our
personality and
our life.
That is our
weakness, our
inner conflict.
The strength
of the
remaining
corruption of
our lives
will still
lead us to
disobey God.
Even in
this, and
if this is
you right
now, and
very conscious
of your
sin, the
strength of
the remaining
corruption in
your life, the
sin in your
life, will
still lead
you to
disobey God
even in
the same
ways you
did prior
to you being
a Christian.
But now,
that
behaviour,
that sin,
goes against
your deepest
identity in
Christ.
Many are
puzzled, that
I think the
Paul seems
to write
here as
if he's
defeated.
He writes
in verse
14, I
am unspiritual,
sold as a
slave to
sin.
I think he
is saying
that in
ourselves,
even as a
Christian, we
are still
incapable of
keeping the
law in
ourselves.
Notice that
he uses the
word I
numerous times
in these
verses.
He seems
to be saying
that in
himself,
left to
his own
devices,
he is
unable to
live as
he should.
Even
though there
is a new
identity in
Jesus,
a new
love,
a new
delight in
God's law,
a Christian
is still
incapable in
and of
themselves
of keeping
the law
in its
entirety,
keeping the
law and
all the
expectations
of the
law.
That's the
battle of the
Christian life.
life.
And it's
the battle
of the
Christian
life that
if you
are looking
just to
yourself and
your own
actions and
not to
Christ at
the same
time,
you will
feel
defeated.
You will
feel defeated.
And this
leads the
apostle Paul
and I
believe the
Christian to
the last
point, the
battle cry
that comes
with Christ.
verses 24
and 25.
These verses
here are both a
warning and a
comfort.
The first
warning is
that no one
ever gets so
advanced in
the Christian
life that
they no longer
have sin in
their life.
Get rid of
all notions
of perfectionism.
No, this
is the, I
mean, it's
easy to see
that in me,
but this is
the apostle
Paul speaking
here.
Right?
This is
Saint Paul
saying, I'm
battling with
sin in my
life.
Saint Paul,
right?
Not me,
Saint Paul.
Even he
has not
advanced in
the Christian
life that he
no longer has
to battle with
sin.
If we ever
think that we've
conquered our
sin and are
pretty good
Christians, it's
the first
indication of
self-deception.
if you ever
think that you
are a pretty
good Christian,
then that is
the indication
of self-deception.
The more we
grow as a
Christian, the
more we see
our sin.
The more we
become holy,
the less holy
we will feel.
That's the
battle of the
Christian life.
Even as we
make progress
against many
bad habits
and attitudes,
we will grow
more aware
of the
rebellious,
sinful,
deep roots
in our
hearts.
The second
warning, which
is linked to
that, is
that no one
grows to a
point where
they no longer
battle in.
It is
quite
important
that the
Christian
expects
life to
be an
internal
battle
against
two
selves.
That's
why this
talk is
called
Warfare
Within.
In fact, if
I may draw
upon my
past
experience
and past
profession,
a wounded
feral pig
is more
dangerous
than a
healthy and
a happy
one.
More
dangerous
than a
healthy and
happy one.
And so
it is
with sin.
Our new
identity
in Jesus
Christ
has
mortally
wounded
the sinful
nature
in us.
Killed
it completely
but mortally
wounded it
within us
and it
is stirred
up
to fight
back.
The great
comfort of
this passage
is that the
struggle
itself,
oh and if
you're a
Christian,
you're hanging
on to Christ
and you're
struggling with
your sin,
you hear
this,
the struggle
itself
is testimony
to our
new identity
in Jesus.
Jesus.
When we
struggle
with sin,
it is
typical to
think that
we are
such
terrible
Christians
and how
often people
are quick
to remind
you that
you're such
a terrible
Christian.
It's one
thing I think
to struggle
with it
internally,
it's very,
it's much
harder when
other people
join with
you and
affirm your
internal
struggle.
This
chapter
encourages us
that temptation
and conflict
with sin,
even relapses
into sin,
are not
inconsistent
with a
growing
Christian.
The
acknowledgement
and the
awareness of
the internal
battle
is
consistent
with a
growing
Christian.
You see,
the Christian
heart cries
two things
at the
same time.
There is
the desperate
cry of
discouragement
as we look
at our
own efforts
and our
own failing
and our
own sin.
It's the
cry of the
apostle Paul
in verse
24,
what a
wretched
man I
am.
Who will
rescue me
from this
body that
is subject
to death?
You see,
when we
read God's
law properly
and look
at our
own hearts
honestly,
we can
only conclude
that we are
truly wretched.
God's
and when we
judge ourselves
by God's
standard
rather than
our own,
what a
wretched man
I am
is the
only
conclusion.
When we
stop comparing
ourselves with
other people
and look
instead to
a holy
God,
that's the
only
conclusion.
Without
accepting God's
devastating
critique of
human nature,
our own
hearts,
we will
never,
ever grasp
the glory
of the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
justification by
faith alone.
We will
never grasp
that.
We will
never understand
it as
beautiful and
glorious.
We will
never appreciate
the gospel of
a received
right standing
with God
only through
Jesus Christ,
only through
him.
It is only
when our
hearts truly
cry out
about our
wretchedness,
that we
can know
and experience
the hope,
the liberation
of looking
away from
ourselves to
what God
has done
for us in
Jesus Christ.
And so as
Paul cries
out,
not just
what a
wretched man
I am,
but who's
going to
rescue me
from this
body of
death?
Verse 25,
thanks be to
God.
Thanks be to
God who
delivers me
through Jesus
Christ,
our Lord.
God's
love for
us.
He said,
St. Paul
has got no
hope in
himself.
There is no
hope in
ourselves for
salvation.
No hope even
in our present
obedience.
No hope in
pursuit of
the well-being
of others.
No hope in
giving more
money.
No hope in
any form of
activity.
Everything
that we
have done,
everything that
you have
done,
good and
bad,
everything that
you are,
only merits
judgment.
Only
merits judgment.
That's what
Romans is
telling us.
Don't look at
your good
things and think
they're good.
There's a
deeper motive
that's going
on.
There's a
heart issue
going on
here.
Our only
hope is to
look to
Jesus dying
on the
cross for
us.
Our only
hope is to
rest in
his righteousness,
his right
standing before
God.
You see,
Jesus on
the cross
became
wretched.
He took
my sin,
your sin,
the sin of
this world
in the
depths of
his heart
and became
wretched
so that
you and
I might
receive his
righteousness.
We are
wretched,
but God is
not.
God is
and he
gives us
his right
standing
through
Jesus
Christ.
Jesus is
the one
who has
rescued us
and through
the Holy
Spirit he
is in the
process of
changing
us,
but that's
a battle
that we
will always
wrestle with
and he's
changing us
so that we
can enjoy
him
forever.
And that's
chapter 8
and that's
the next
couple of
weeks.
Thank you.