Sin and the Christian! - Romans 7:14-25
by Pastor Lee Hemen
December 31, 2006
When I was younger there were times when I was caught doing things I really did not want to do, but I went a head and did them anyway. Oh I could have blamed others, the dog, or circumstances for my proclivity to do these things, but I knew better. A good example was when I knew without a doubt my brother loved peanut butter. In fact, he loved it so much that if he saw me with a peanut butter sandwich, he would often just take it from me. Well, one afternoon I purposefully made a couple of slices of peanut butter on bread. I spread it real thick, slowly waiting for Ed to come into the kitchen. And sure enough, there he was. “Whatcha doin’, Scrawny?” (This was his endearing term he often used for me.) “What’s-it-look-like?” I replied. “Hey!” he declared, “Give me those slices of peanut butter and bread!” “You want em,?” I retorted. “Let me have them!” (Notice the intellectual conversation?) That was all I needed to hear. It was like fate had handed me the perfect moment in time. So I did what any red-blooded American boy, who could run real fast, would do, I let him “have” them. There was peanut butter in his eyes, in his nose, in his ears, and in his hair. It was a thing of beauty.
I knew better than to do what I did. Believe it or not, I even struggled with the fact that if I did it I would deliberately be involved in doing something mean. Paul would understand what I went through during this precise moment of time. In fact, he describes it quite well in the verses we will study this morning concerning “Sin and the Christian.” However, while Paul describes the battle that goes on within the human heart concerning sin, he also gives us the answer and the cure of it as well. So let’s discover for ourselves what Paul teaches us.
READ: Romans 7:14-25
My Dad used to tell us that “Knowing and doing are to different things.” I never understood that until I read this passage in Romans. You can know something is wrong, but not do it, or, you can know something is wrong and then do it anyway. In fact, you can know something is wrong and fight the urge not to do it but it seems as if you are in a heated battle not to do the very thing you know is WRONG! Right? We have all been there and done that. Paul is no exception and in fact in teaching us about “Sin and the Christian”…
I. Paul Relates Two Concrete Spiritual Truths (vv. 14-20)!
1. The law is spiritual. The law teaches us about sin and just how bad it truly is. In fact, understanding how sin affects us is the first step in being the holy man of God He desires us to be. We know that the Law comes from God who is Spirit (John 4:24) and expresses God’s will for human living. There is nothing wrong with the law. It teaches us what sin is and we become aware of sin because of the law. In fact, just trying to be good without realizing why you should be “good” is not logical. Why do the right thing, even when doing the evil thing would perhaps get you ahead faster, easier, and without so much hassle? We only know that something is evil in of itself because we know what real “goodness” is. Goodness is always measured by holiness. And holiness is spiritual. Therefore the law is spiritual. It comes from the One who is completely holy – God. The law is therefore spiritual.
2. Paul is not spiritual. In fact, none of us are! This is the dichotomy of the human condition. Paul would say, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul may want to do right, but he does the sin instead. Why? Because we are all unspiritual, sold as slaves to sin! Sin lives (cohabitates) within our human hearts. In who we are. The law proves it is good by making us aware of our sin. This is why Paul and all Christians have the similar conflict: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it!” Paul was not very spiritual and neither are any of us!
EXAMPLE: It takes very little self-examination for the Christian to see that our life and conduct fall short of God’s divine expectation. Even though we have acquired a new nature by spiritual rebirth, the old nature continues to exert its evil influence. Paul was not trying to escape the responsibility of his actions, but rather he was trying to explain just how deeply lodged within the human being is our corrupt nature. Every parent has heard their child respond to the question, “Why did you do that?” with, “I don’t know.” When we fail to live for the Lord, we are slaves again to sin! David would sing, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2) This is the way of a godly man who controls his life. Paul is not making an excuse for his sin and neither should we ever do so. For sin and the Christian we learned two spiritual truths: God’s law is spiritual, and we are not.
However, there is hope on the horizon! We have been rescued from the storm-tossed seas of human self-effort and spiritual insecurities! We know that “sin shall not be (our) master!” (Romans 6:14) Why? Because Paul earlier taught us that the Christian is “under grace.” The Christian has a victory over death and sin! We live under the cover of grace not the letter of the law! We dare not, however, use our propensity to sin as an excuse. To do so would make God out a liar. Either we are changed or we are not. So it is with excitement we discover within this text that for “Sin and the Christian”…
II. Paul Understands Two Surprising Spiritual Facts (vv. 21-25)!
1. Sin is always waging war against us! Paul was a person who tried to learn from his experiences, so now he concluded, “I find this law at work.” Paul desires to do good, but evil is right there with him. Why? We live in a sin-fallen universe! We might, like Paul, “delight in God’s law,” but we “see another law at work in the members of (our) body, waging war against the law of (our) mind and making (us) a prisoner of the law of sin at work within (our) members.” Paul is showing the contrast of who he was and who we are as well. He is not saying that God cannot save us completely in Christ. He is saying that while outwardly he delights in the law of God, inwardly he still fights the battle. If he were not saved, he would not care. So to you, dear fellow Christian! While you may think, as Paul declared, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And while sin will always wage its war in a sin-stricken sickened world, there is glorious good news, hope, and strength!
2. Jesus is always right there with us! Paul knew that we do not need to lose heart. “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day!” (2 Corinthians 4:16) How? “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul recognized that as long as he was in this mortal body he would face the continual conflict with sin and would definitely have defeat if he depended upon his own human strength! However, the Christian does not have to! Christians can have an inner triumph now as they look forward to the final victory when sin will not have any influence whatsoever! We will one day be free from the presence and persistence of sin forever! Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has provided for the power to live in the freedom of the Spirit of God! It has set us free from the power of sin and death. Jesus is always right there with us!
EXAMPLE: I am surprised when people are upset with the War in Iraq lasting so long. The President reminded us over and over that this would be the case, but we must stay the course. His reasoning is because he knows that this is not a war against political ideals, but it is a spiritual one as well. At its core it is a war against an infectious evil. Some call it Islamofacism. It will not be won by merely winning a battle or by occupying a nation. It will only be won when we are willing to go the distance and are willing to eradicate this evil wherever it exists -- spiritually. Sadly, I do not think it will ever be won until either the Lord returns or the people, who justify the murdering and slaughter of millions of people to Jihad, change inwardly. Paul would understand what I mean. He understood two surprising spiritual facts: Sin is always waging war against the believer, and Jesus is always right there with us! While we may have the influence of sin all around us, we also have a victory in Christ.
Conclusion:
Today we learned several important lessons from Paul concerning sin and the Christian. We learned about two spiritual truths: The law is spiritual and we are not. We also learned two surprising spiritual facts: Sin always wages war against the believer, and Jesus is always right there with us! Now, what will you do with what you have learned?
by Pastor Lee Hemen
December 31, 2006
When I was younger there were times when I was caught doing things I really did not want to do, but I went a head and did them anyway. Oh I could have blamed others, the dog, or circumstances for my proclivity to do these things, but I knew better. A good example was when I knew without a doubt my brother loved peanut butter. In fact, he loved it so much that if he saw me with a peanut butter sandwich, he would often just take it from me. Well, one afternoon I purposefully made a couple of slices of peanut butter on bread. I spread it real thick, slowly waiting for Ed to come into the kitchen. And sure enough, there he was. “Whatcha doin’, Scrawny?” (This was his endearing term he often used for me.) “What’s-it-look-like?” I replied. “Hey!” he declared, “Give me those slices of peanut butter and bread!” “You want em,?” I retorted. “Let me have them!” (Notice the intellectual conversation?) That was all I needed to hear. It was like fate had handed me the perfect moment in time. So I did what any red-blooded American boy, who could run real fast, would do, I let him “have” them. There was peanut butter in his eyes, in his nose, in his ears, and in his hair. It was a thing of beauty.
I knew better than to do what I did. Believe it or not, I even struggled with the fact that if I did it I would deliberately be involved in doing something mean. Paul would understand what I went through during this precise moment of time. In fact, he describes it quite well in the verses we will study this morning concerning “Sin and the Christian.” However, while Paul describes the battle that goes on within the human heart concerning sin, he also gives us the answer and the cure of it as well. So let’s discover for ourselves what Paul teaches us.
READ: Romans 7:14-25
My Dad used to tell us that “Knowing and doing are to different things.” I never understood that until I read this passage in Romans. You can know something is wrong, but not do it, or, you can know something is wrong and then do it anyway. In fact, you can know something is wrong and fight the urge not to do it but it seems as if you are in a heated battle not to do the very thing you know is WRONG! Right? We have all been there and done that. Paul is no exception and in fact in teaching us about “Sin and the Christian”…
I. Paul Relates Two Concrete Spiritual Truths (vv. 14-20)!
1. The law is spiritual. The law teaches us about sin and just how bad it truly is. In fact, understanding how sin affects us is the first step in being the holy man of God He desires us to be. We know that the Law comes from God who is Spirit (John 4:24) and expresses God’s will for human living. There is nothing wrong with the law. It teaches us what sin is and we become aware of sin because of the law. In fact, just trying to be good without realizing why you should be “good” is not logical. Why do the right thing, even when doing the evil thing would perhaps get you ahead faster, easier, and without so much hassle? We only know that something is evil in of itself because we know what real “goodness” is. Goodness is always measured by holiness. And holiness is spiritual. Therefore the law is spiritual. It comes from the One who is completely holy – God. The law is therefore spiritual.
2. Paul is not spiritual. In fact, none of us are! This is the dichotomy of the human condition. Paul would say, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul may want to do right, but he does the sin instead. Why? Because we are all unspiritual, sold as slaves to sin! Sin lives (cohabitates) within our human hearts. In who we are. The law proves it is good by making us aware of our sin. This is why Paul and all Christians have the similar conflict: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it!” Paul was not very spiritual and neither are any of us!
EXAMPLE: It takes very little self-examination for the Christian to see that our life and conduct fall short of God’s divine expectation. Even though we have acquired a new nature by spiritual rebirth, the old nature continues to exert its evil influence. Paul was not trying to escape the responsibility of his actions, but rather he was trying to explain just how deeply lodged within the human being is our corrupt nature. Every parent has heard their child respond to the question, “Why did you do that?” with, “I don’t know.” When we fail to live for the Lord, we are slaves again to sin! David would sing, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2) This is the way of a godly man who controls his life. Paul is not making an excuse for his sin and neither should we ever do so. For sin and the Christian we learned two spiritual truths: God’s law is spiritual, and we are not.
However, there is hope on the horizon! We have been rescued from the storm-tossed seas of human self-effort and spiritual insecurities! We know that “sin shall not be (our) master!” (Romans 6:14) Why? Because Paul earlier taught us that the Christian is “under grace.” The Christian has a victory over death and sin! We live under the cover of grace not the letter of the law! We dare not, however, use our propensity to sin as an excuse. To do so would make God out a liar. Either we are changed or we are not. So it is with excitement we discover within this text that for “Sin and the Christian”…
II. Paul Understands Two Surprising Spiritual Facts (vv. 21-25)!
1. Sin is always waging war against us! Paul was a person who tried to learn from his experiences, so now he concluded, “I find this law at work.” Paul desires to do good, but evil is right there with him. Why? We live in a sin-fallen universe! We might, like Paul, “delight in God’s law,” but we “see another law at work in the members of (our) body, waging war against the law of (our) mind and making (us) a prisoner of the law of sin at work within (our) members.” Paul is showing the contrast of who he was and who we are as well. He is not saying that God cannot save us completely in Christ. He is saying that while outwardly he delights in the law of God, inwardly he still fights the battle. If he were not saved, he would not care. So to you, dear fellow Christian! While you may think, as Paul declared, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And while sin will always wage its war in a sin-stricken sickened world, there is glorious good news, hope, and strength!
2. Jesus is always right there with us! Paul knew that we do not need to lose heart. “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day!” (2 Corinthians 4:16) How? “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul recognized that as long as he was in this mortal body he would face the continual conflict with sin and would definitely have defeat if he depended upon his own human strength! However, the Christian does not have to! Christians can have an inner triumph now as they look forward to the final victory when sin will not have any influence whatsoever! We will one day be free from the presence and persistence of sin forever! Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has provided for the power to live in the freedom of the Spirit of God! It has set us free from the power of sin and death. Jesus is always right there with us!
EXAMPLE: I am surprised when people are upset with the War in Iraq lasting so long. The President reminded us over and over that this would be the case, but we must stay the course. His reasoning is because he knows that this is not a war against political ideals, but it is a spiritual one as well. At its core it is a war against an infectious evil. Some call it Islamofacism. It will not be won by merely winning a battle or by occupying a nation. It will only be won when we are willing to go the distance and are willing to eradicate this evil wherever it exists -- spiritually. Sadly, I do not think it will ever be won until either the Lord returns or the people, who justify the murdering and slaughter of millions of people to Jihad, change inwardly. Paul would understand what I mean. He understood two surprising spiritual facts: Sin is always waging war against the believer, and Jesus is always right there with us! While we may have the influence of sin all around us, we also have a victory in Christ.
Conclusion:
Today we learned several important lessons from Paul concerning sin and the Christian. We learned about two spiritual truths: The law is spiritual and we are not. We also learned two surprising spiritual facts: Sin always wages war against the believer, and Jesus is always right there with us! Now, what will you do with what you have learned?
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