Scripture referenced 7 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Jeremiah 32:17 opening verse spoken before worship: 'Our sovereign Lord, you've made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.'
17 “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you,
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Keep this verse
Romans 5:20
quoted to show that the law came in so that transgression would increase, but grace abounded all the more
20 The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
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Romans 6:14
quoted to establish that sin shall not be master over the believer, who is under grace not law
14 For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
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Romans 7:4-6
main passage: death to the law through Christ, released to serve in newness of spirit
4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring out fruit to death.
6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
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Romans 7:7-13
Paul's transitional experience: the law revealed sin, coveting as the example, sin using the good command to bring death
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
8 But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
9 I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
10 The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death;
11 for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
12 Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
13 Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.
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Romans 7:14-25
previewed as the controversial passage about the inner war with sin, ending with thanks to God through Jesus Christ
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
15 For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.
16 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
20 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.
22 For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
23 but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.
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Acts 15:6-11
Peter's speech at Jerusalem council on whether Gentile believers must follow the Old Testament law, arguing all are saved by grace through faith
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter.
7 When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News, and believe.
8 God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us.
9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark opened on Father's Day by working through Romans 7:4-13 and previewing the difficult passage that follows, asking the congregation to sit with a hard question: do you recognize your own experience in Paul's wrestling with sin?
What was said
C.S. Lewis opens his book "Mere Christianity" by pointing out that human beings argue by appealing to a shared standard of right and wrong, even when they have no formal agreement to do so. Pastor Mark used that observation as a doorway into Paul's argument: every person, regardless of background, already knows that a standard exists, and every person falls short of it.
The grammar lesson that followed was not a detour. Pastor Mark walked through the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods to show what Paul is actually claiming in Romans 7:4-6. The indicatives are declarations of certainty: you died with Christ, you are united with the risen Christ. The subjunctive, "we can produce a harvest of good deeds," introduces a genuine possibility, but one that depends on more than one will. God has acted. Whether a person walks in that is still a matter of their own choice.
Paul's example of coveting is where things get personal. He could account for his outward obedience to most of the commandments. The command against coveting, though, is entirely internal, and he could not get around it. Sin, Paul says, used that very command to stir up desire. The forbidden thing became more compelling because it was forbidden. The law, which was meant to point toward life, wound up pointing him toward death instead. The law itself is not the problem. Sin used something good for its own purposes.
The closing verses of Romans 7, which Pastor Mark read aloud rather than preaching through fully, have produced real disagreement among careful readers. Is Paul describing someone before faith in Christ, someone early in faith, or a mature believer still at war with indwelling sin? Tom Schreiner and John Piper have written opposing pieces on exactly that question, and Martin Lloyd Jones spent considerable space on it across his thirteen years preaching through Romans.
Pastor Mark's own position, following Lloyd Jones, is that the point is not to settle who the man is but to ask whether you recognize the experience. If you read verses 14 through 25 and find yourself there, the passage is doing its work. Significantly, those verses mention neither Christ nor the Holy Spirit. Paul is describing the battle fought without them, and verse 25 brings Christ into the picture precisely because that battle cannot be won alone.
The congregation was sent into the week with that question still open, and with Romans 8 waiting. Pastor Mark noted that chapter 8, which he called "the great eight," is where the Spirit enters the argument in full, and that the congregation would be spending the next few weeks there.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- C.S. Lewis argues that when people quarrel, they appeal to a shared standard of right and wrong that everyone already knows. Do you agree that people behave this way? What does that suggest to you about human nature?
- Pastor Mark walked through the grammatical idea that Paul uses a subjunctive mood when he says we 'can' produce a harvest of good deeds, meaning it is possible but contingent on our will. What does it mean to you practically that God has made something possible but has left your will involved in whether it happens?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,700 words
0:00
Good morning to everyone of you. Glad glad to see you. How about a verse from Jeremiah? Our sovereign lord, you've made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
0:11
Nothing is too hard for our God, and we're here to worship him. What do you say we stand up and give him praise?
0:26
Lord of all creation.
0:29
Lord of all creation.
0:35
Water, earth, and sky.
0:52
Wonders on our galaxy.
0:57
And you are holy. Holy universe
3:35
The thing is, the thing's off. You want to turn this on? The welcome time here. And I don't have a clicker. We're all ready.
3:43
I've been here since 07:30 this morning. Can you believe that? Still don't have anything that I need but anyway, Philboats Park. We're having Monday nights instead of Monday nights at First B. We're going to have Monday nights at Phil Box Park which is two blocks that way right there at the foot of Snow King.
3:58
No, that's no, not Phil Box. Mike Yockel.
4:01
Oh, we reserve Mike Yockel.
4:02
Sorry. Mike Yockel.
4:03
Forget that stuff.
4:04
That way. Not that way. Way. Several. Just food and fellowship.
4:10
So I'll bring the food. You just come. We'll gather. Eat. Okay?
4:14
Don't listen to that guy.
4:17
Okay,
4:19
the connect hour is still happening between services and if you haven't noticed, there's a different theme going on here this week. We've got Vacation Bible School that is happening all week long from nine to twelve, 9AM to twelve noon each day this week, Monday to Friday. So, we're looking forward to that and the theme of it is Surf Shack. So, Surf Shack VBS and thank you for taking those little slips of supplies. I think most of those are back in.
4:45
Krista, is there anything you'd like to stand up and announce? Very good. Thank you. Thank you very much. Alright.
5:03
And I think that's all the other announcements. Actually, VBS, if y'all haven't noticed this, it eclipses everything else that's going on and we love it. It's a great time. So, we'll have 80 something for sure. It sounds like and probably a lot more.
5:17
We hope for a lot more. So, if you want to come be a part of it, come on in. Would you stand up and greet one? Wait a second.
5:23
We got a little.
5:24
We got a skit because it's Father's Day. Happy Father's Day by the way. Everybody, we're going to get out of your way here at Nancy.
5:34
Dad, I just wanted to tell you that I love you.
5:44
Okay. Which window did it go through? Which
5:49
window did what go through? The basketball. Oh, oh, the basketball didn't go through any window. I just wanted to tell you that I think you're the greatest father in the world.
6:01
Alright. Go get it. Get what? The report card that you're hiding.
6:08
I'm not hiding any report card. Well,
6:13
then you're not. How much is it gonna cost me?
6:18
How much is what gonna cost you?
6:20
The advance on your allowance. What are you needing? A one week, two weeks, three weeks?
6:25
I don't need any advance on my allowance. I just wanted to tell you that I think you're terrific.
6:33
Don't worry. I can fix it.
6:36
Fits fits what?
6:38
The appliance that you broke.
6:40
Really? I didn't break any appliance.
6:47
Okay. What time do I need to be there then?
6:50
Be be where, Deathly?
6:54
At the meeting with the principal.
6:56
There's no meeting with the principal. It's summer.
6:59
Oh. Oh, no. It's worse than I thought. The doctor called with my test results. I only got two weeks left.
7:11
Well well, that's true. What? Don't jump to conclusions. Okay. The doctor calls.
7:23
You're perfectly healthy. You have two weeks to pay your bill.
7:25
Okay. Okay. I know what it is then. You've lost my favorite screwdriver. You've worn my last clean T shirt.
7:38
And Friday night, you're gonna have a party here for 300 of your closest friends.
7:44
I wish. Yeah. None of the above. There's nothing wrong? No.
7:52
I just wanted to tell you that you're the best father I could have.
7:57
Really?
7:58
Really. Wanna go shoot some hoops?
8:01
If you think they if
8:02
you think you can take on their dad
8:05
We'll see about that.
8:09
We'll bring it back together with a song after we get set up here. So, greet one another and give a high how do you do?
8:51
How about we sing that together?
9:34
In the good times and bad, you were on your throne. You were God alone.
9:45
You're the only God who inspire
10:19
you were God alone. And right now in the good times and bad, you were on your throne, God alone from before time began. You were on your throne, and you were God alone. And right now
11:35
and a song about God's faithfulness. Amen. Can we pray together? God, you are faithful. We sing of these incredible qualities of you, everlasting, not changing, unstoppable.
14:13
You are faithful, and you are. And we wanna say that, and you really are the best father that we could have. And I'm an earthly father, and I mess up all the time. And I'm thankful for you, our perfect heavenly father, and just your consistency, when we're not, and your love, your faithfulness, and so much more. And so that is why we're here.
14:36
That's why we're singing praise to you right now, because you are so good. Amen. You all can have a seat. God, we are we stand in in awe of you, a great and mighty and awesome God and our father. And, I thank you for that that relationship that we have with you like a father to a son and that you care for us, and you love us deeply, and you let us you let us make mistakes.
18:32
But you're always there for us and I am just I'm very grateful. I'm very very grateful for that. I'm grateful for all that you give and as we're as we're participating here in a worship through giving. Would you accept these gifts and offerings from us and may they be just an expression of our love back to you in Christ's name. Amen.
21:42
Thank you, Florine. So, we are up to Romans seven and we're and I'm I'm gonna go through it today. Romans seven four through 13 at least. I think we're actually gonna preview 14 through 25 and I wanna ask you some questions about that as you consider it for this next week. I asked you last week if you'd read it and get ahead of me a little bit because some of the stuff you need to wrestle with.
22:06
You need to go through it and wrestle with it for yourself. So, I was wrestling a whole extra week on this one and we'll see where it goes from here. I wanna start today with something and I and I brought this book up on stage and before I got here and it was during the sound checks, there are only like six people in the building, you know? But before I got here, two people verified. Oh, oh, I love that book.
22:27
That book changed my life. That's awesome. So, CS Lewis wrote a book called Mere Christianity and the very first chapter, the very first book, it was actually radio addresses after World War two but right and wrong as a clue to the meaning of the universe. That's the name of the chapter and I'm gonna read the first paragraph if you'll indulge me. Everyone has heard people quarreling.
22:50
Sometimes it sounds funny, and sometimes it sounds merely unpleasant, but however it sounds, I believe we can learn something very important from listening to the kind of things that they say. They say things like this, how'd you like it if someone did the same to you? Or that's my seat. I was there first or leave him alone. He isn't doing you any harm.
23:09
Why should you shove in first? Give me your bit of orange. Give me a bit of your orange because I gave you a bit of my orange. Come on. You promised.
23:18
People say things like that every day. Educated people as well as uneducated people and children as well as grown ups. Now, what interests me about all these remarks is that the man who makes them is not merely saying that the other man's behavior does not happen to please him. He is appealing to some kind of a standard of behavior which he expects the other man to know about. Doesn't matter who they are, where they're from, He expects that other guy to know about it.
23:44
And the other man very seldom replies to that, what the heck with your standard? Nearly always, he tries to make out that what he was doing was not really go against the standard or that it does, if it does, there's some special excuse or reason why. He pretends there's some special reason in this particular case why the person who took the seat first should not keep it and goes on from there but he's talking about, we all know that right and wrong exist and it's sophistry to act like it doesn't. There is actual right with a capital R and actual wrong and he goes on to call that the law of nature that everybody really knows this. I think Romans one to begin with says that we have intrinsically born into us a knowledge, a sort of knowledge of God and I think the law of nature is part of that and CS Lewis makes his argument starting from there and I think it's a pretty good place to start.
24:34
In this section of Romans, Paul's gonna talk about the law or the standard. Now, you could use the 10 commandments as that law. You could use the greater six thirteen Jewish law if you wanted to but I think that it applies to the law of nature as well. So, I want you to think of it in that framework. All of us know that there is a standard and all of us fall short of that standard and it doesn't matter what the standard is.
24:58
Do you get that? Okay. Alright. Here we go. So then, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point.
25:05
I love it when he's direct like this. He's not beating around the bush. He has just given us an example that was very narrow analogy. The analogy was that in the case of marriage, there's no doubt about it when the husband dies, that ends the law for that wife. It ends her binding her relationship with him.
25:30
Death obviously ends that extending the law. So, dear brothers and sisters, this is the point. You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. That's my point.
25:46
And now, you are united with the one who who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds. Now, over the last couple of weeks, I've been talking about different moods, grammatical moods. I've mentioned the indicative and the imperative. I mentioned these for the last two weeks running, not to mention I do it a lot anyway.
26:12
Indicative, the speaker is sure that something is the case. It expresses certainty. That's what we speak in most of the time. In the imperative, the speaker desires that something would happen so he expresses a command. Now, we talked about that.
26:26
Paul says in the indicative, these things, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point, certainty. He knows this is the point he's trying to make. You died, past tense, indicative to the power of the law when you died with Christ and now, you are united, indicative, expressing his certainty. He knows this. With the one who was raised from the dead, he knows that And as a result, he says, we can produce a harvest of good deeds.
26:55
The can there is to express the possibility. It is now possible. Now, that's neither indicative nor imperative for you grammar nerds. It is subjunctive. The hardest thing about learning another language a lot of times is learning the subjunctive.
27:09
Because in English, it's disappearing. We don't use it properly as we should. Would that it were so. No. Anyway, the subjunctive.
27:17
The speaker is presenting something that's possible based on a contingency. It expresses the possibility. This is now possible. Now, Paul will go on in chapter eight to say that there is no good within me in my flesh. There's no good within me.
27:30
He says that but he says that we can please God. So, we've got these three moods. These are the ones that we speak in in English most all the time, expressing certainty or giving a command and Paul does both of those a lot. In fact, he often says, be what you already are. Indicative is what you already are and he says, be that.
27:51
If you are a Christian, then act like it. That's what he says. Express certainty, expresses command, those are normal, subjective, expresses the possibility, introduces something new. Usually, in the shortest way that I can say this when I was helping people to learn Spanish is it's usually used when there are two wills involved. When there are two different wills involved, whether it's my will or God's will, those are the two or mine and somebody else's.
28:16
Now, quick grammar lesson and then we'll go on, okay? Indicative imperative is subjective. Indicative. Carl is paying attention to the sermon. Look at him.
28:24
He's right over there. He's paying attention to the sermon. Exactly. Ryan was enjoying a tasty breakfast sandwich. That is true.
28:33
If you know Ryan, He has almost certainly just finished one. But it's expressing certainty. Is Eugene playing with the band this Tuesday? I wanna know, so I'm asking him, and that's indicative. It is a question, but I'm asking him.
28:49
Yes, he is, by the way. That's indicative. Imperative. The imperative, play guitar, play guitar, play guitar. That's an imperative from John Cougar Mellencamp.
29:01
Okay? Play guitar. It's a command. Actually, please, Florine, would you play us a song? That is expressing my wish that he would.
29:09
It's a request that he would play. Please, Florine, play us a song. It's a command in a way. It's a little softer. Subjunctive.
29:19
I propose that Rich Stig would preach in my absence, okay? When I'm not here, I propose not Now, that's not up to me, that's my proposition, so my will is involved. Rich's will is also involved. He may not wanna preach in my absence. Or it's also up to the elders.
29:35
So, there's more than one will involved. There's a possibility and I'm expressing my wish or my desire but I propose that. I pray lord that you would heal my aunt's illness. When I pray, I'm praying but I'm basing it on the will of God. I'm leaving some room there for him to make the decision whether or not he will do that.
29:56
That's contingency. The one you'll remember. If I were built like her, I would wear a bikini to my Bible study, okay? That's one of em I've heard. It's also something that expresses something that's contrary to reality.
30:12
We're not getting to that one this Sunday but it's also another use of this adjunctive. So, there we go. Look back over this and look at all the indicatives there. You died. Paul's reminded him.
30:24
You died. Remember? You died. You were buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life, walk in newness of life. You die to the power of the law.
30:33
When you died with Christ and you are united with him. Who was raised? Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God, by the spirit of God. Christ was raised from the dead and you're bound to him now and as a result and I think that's really good doing the translation there. As a result, this is a new living translation by the way.
30:55
It's a little simpler version but it's a very good translation of this passage. As a result, we can. It is possible to produce a harvest of good deeds for God. In fact, it might go this way. You could say, so that we might because it's contingent upon your will.
31:15
Now, God did something. God raised Jesus from the dead and God let you free from the power of the law by the death of Jesus. But he did that and it's based on your will as to whether you would walk in that or not. So, the possibility is there. We can.
31:32
It is possible. Produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us. And the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds resulting only in death. Actually, resulting was an addition of the word there in the New Living.
31:55
It just says, a harvest of sinful deeds and death. That's heavy but that's when we were controlled by our old nature and he's reminding them, you've been united to Christ. This is the way you were but you don't have to act like it anymore. You can actually do the right thing. Now, now, we've been released from the law.
32:16
For we died to it and we're no longer captive to its power. Now, we can serve God. We actually can. Not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law but in the new way of living in the spirit. Now, that we can there in the original text it says, which but now, we have been released from the law.
32:39
This is a straightforward, just a plain old wooden translation straight up. But now, we have been released from the law having died to that which we were bound, the law. In order to serve, That's the purpose clause there. Why? He set you free in order to serve him.
32:54
Unrestrained. Free in order to serve a newness of spirit and not an oldness of letter. If I were going to translate that, but now we have been released from the law, having died to that which we ourselves were formally bound. We were hung up in it. In order that we might serve.
33:12
There's a purpose in there. In order that we might. Now, it is God's will that we would serve. It is God's will that we would do good and he empowers us, Christians, by his spirit but we do still have our free choice to whether or not we'll do it and that's the contingency here that we might serve in the new way of the spirit not in the old way of the letter. Can't see that screen over there today.
33:39
The can. We can produce a harvest of good deeds Paul is making a transition in just a minute but this point seven one through six, John Murray calls in his outline of Romans, death to the law. Death to the law. And he's not saying, death to the law. He's saying, there is an actual death to our binding to the law and it is when we died with Christ.
34:06
Now, he's been talking about this for two chapters now. He's connecting it very strongly. Romans six fourteen, sin shall not be master over you. For you're not under law but under grace, Christian. It's under grace.
34:20
So, as we go through this, I want you to think about this. Peter, when they were having the question in the early church, whether the new Gentile believers were going to have to follow the old Jewish law and they all met together in Jerusalem and Peter, this is from Acts 15. So, the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. Whether or not, they would require Gentile believers to be circumcised and to follow the Old Testament law. At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows.
34:49
Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the good news and believe. There's a purpose clause right there too so that they could hear the good news and believe. God knows people's hearts and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them for he cleansed their hearts through faith. Through faith.
35:18
So, why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear. He admits that the Old Testament law, the Old Covenant was an impossible standard. We believe that we are all saved the same way by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus and this was the turning point in that argument and this is where the gospel was unbound to go forward. Grace and faith matter. Okay.
35:47
Just reminding you. That happened probably at the time of Paul's writing that had happened at least twelve years before. Some people think as many as 17 or 18. So, he gets to Romans seven seven. Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful?
36:03
And he has said in Romans five twenty, just couple chapters ago, the law came in so that transgression would increase but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So, that as sin reigned in death, even so, grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our lord. Now, that text right there is the beginning of the place where he goes into six, seven, and eight. Six, seven, and eight all need to be taken as a unit and as a preacher up here, I would rather read you all three chapters and one day I might. Just read all three of em.
36:34
We don't have the attention span for that anymore. So, I get stuck with the passage that's very difficult and it's this long and it leaves off the hope over there or the foundation over here. So, I'm trying to give this to you. Well, then, I'm I'm suggesting that the law of God itself is sinful. Of course not.
36:51
Mega Noito. May it never be. In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would not have even known. Because it's within me.
37:02
It's bound up. It's within me. The sin indwelling from the beginning. In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. So, in John Murray's outline of Romans, he calls this section a transitional experience and he means it like Paul's transitional experience, not yours necessarily.
37:19
You could, it could be for you a different sin but I wanna mention Paul's because he mentions it. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had set, had not said, you must not covet. You know what coveting It's warning what someone else has. He doesn't get specific in the commandment. It does get specific warning someone else's, you know, donkey or wanting someone else's wife, wanting something that someone else has is coveting but Paul, having known all of these since his early early days the one that bothered him that he said that he couldn't get pass was this one.
37:57
Now, I think that if you can't get pass the covenant, if you really think about that, you're probably guilty of some of the others too but externally, he's born into a family that remembered the Sabbath day and kept it holy. He would not have even thought of making a god of anything else. Oh my goodness. Not in Paul's house. You would not hear him use the Lord's name in vain.
38:19
Never. Making a graven image. I always think it's funny that they're almost always graven. These tablets of the, never mind. Engraved tablets of not making a graven image but yeah, honor that father and mother.
38:36
I'm sure Paul would do that. He's never, he's not killed anybody. Didn't didn't need it. He was going to kill Christians when he's converted, right? Or at least persecute him and turn him over to somebody else to let him kill him.
38:51
Adultery? Oh no. Absolutely not. Not Paul. Not steal, not lie, but the shout, thou shalt not covet is kind of an internal thing and when Paul hit up against this one, he had to admit that I want something that I don't have but somebody else has.
39:09
That's coveting. Paul goes on in verse eight to say, but sin used this command, you must not covet. This command, sin, the sin, the indwelling sin within me, use this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me. If there were no law, sin would not have that kind of power. Y'all know about forbidden fruit.
39:32
Forbidden fruit. My goodness. It's the sweetest, right? It's what everybody desires, what they cannot have. That's what Paul is pointing to right here.
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The covenant, he could not get around and I think that's what made a big difference for him. At one time, I lived without understanding the law. I'm sure that when he was living without understanding it, he says, I lived. I was happy and joyous because I didn't understand that there's no mercy in the law. There's no mercy in the 10 commandments.
40:06
It's just do or don't do. At one time, I lived without understanding the law but when I learned the command not to covet for instance, he uses it as an example. The power of sin within me came to life and I died. So, in this this instance, he's not saying death, death, death like he's been saying for two chapters. He's saying, I lived and was not bound by anything when I didn't understand it but when I understood that it applied to me and I couldn't live up to it.
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Paul's kind of a perfectionist. Have y'all picked that up? It applied to me and I couldn't live up to it. The power of sin came to life and I died. It killed me.
40:49
That's the power of sin. The wages of sin is death. So, I discovered that the law's commands which were supposed to bring life. I mean, that's what the Old Testament said. Do these things and you will live.
41:03
So, I discovered that the law's commands which were supposed to bring life brought spiritual death instead. He had a burden and a weight hanging with him. Sin, the indwelling sin within me took advantage of those commands and it deceived me and it used those commands to kill me. Do you remember this slide? I used it in Galatians.
41:27
It's actually a slide, a woodcut from an old copy of John Bunyan's allegory. This is Moses and he is swinging the 10 commandments. He's already smacked Christian there a couple times and knocked him down. Because there's no mercy in the 10 commandments. It's just do and don't do.
41:47
But Jesus offers grace. Even though you have transgressed the law, even though you have, I can forgive you and he can forgive you because he died for those sins. But still, the law itself is holy. Paul, the Pharisee, wants to make sure that everybody understand him, understands him. I mean, everybody hearing him understands him but still, the law itself is holy and its commands are holy and right and good.
42:13
They are. But how can that be? Did the law which is good cause my death? The law points you to Jesus. The law points you to the only one who can help.
42:27
Nobody can live up to the standard of the law. But how can that be? Did the law which is good cause my death? Now, that he ends answers with mega noito again. Of course not.
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Absolutely not. May it never be. No. Sin, the indwelling sin that was in me, used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So, we can see how terrible sin really is.
42:52
It's awful. Paul's transitional experience was going from a time when he thought that he was good enough, thought that he was walking a perfect life to a place where he recognized that he was not. His transitional experience was recognizing that sin dwelt within him and it was very powerful and he couldn't get away from it. On his own. So, could see how terrible sin is.
43:19
It uses God's good commands for its own evil purposes. Now, that probably is enough for today but ain't it depressing to just end right there? So, I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna make it even worse, okay? We're gonna go into this next section and what's funny is this chapter is one of the most controversy on the Bible.
43:36
A guy who preached on this, I've mentioned him several times. Martin Lloyd Jones. He preached for thirteen years from 1955 to 1968 on this book of Romans and he says, this chapter is one of the most controversial in the Bible and this section is the main thing that he means. Most people understand that in the first six verses, Paul was saying, there's a death to the law. It happened at the death of Christ for all of those who will accept that death on their behalf.
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The next thing was his transitional experience and everybody agrees their past tense verb that that was in the past. This section, nobody agrees on. And it's like 11 verses of just it just goes and goes. I want you to listen to it, and I want you to think about if you identify with it. Okay?
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Do you personally identify with it? This is the whole reason I asked you to read ahead of me last week. So, the trouble is not with the law. For it is spiritual and good. I'm not gonna fault the law.
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It's spiritual and good. The trouble, Paul says, is in the present tense with me. For I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself. For I want to do what is right but I don't do it.
44:49
Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I'm doing is wrong, this then shows that I agree that the law is good. Do you agree with that? He says, I know what I'm doing wrong but I'm doing wrong. So, I'm affirming what the law says.
45:04
You know, the the 10 commandments, if you just took it down to that, the first four about your relationship with God and the last six are about your relationship with man and almost nobody would disagree with those. The might covet though, That one might be one that say, well, it's not that bad to want something that somebody else has, western capitalist living in Jackson. It's not that bad. Right? It's in there.
45:26
And that's the one that hung Paul up. But if I know that what I'm doing is wrong, then this shows that I agree that the law is good. So, I'm not the one doing the wrong. It's the sin, indwelling sin, living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me.
45:45
That is in my sinful nature. I know nothing look good lives in there. I wanna do what is right but I can't. I want to do what is good but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong but I do it anyway.
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Is anybody? Anybody? But if I do what I don't want to do, I'm not really the one doing the wrong. It's sin living in me that does it. I can, it's like I can see it going on and I've discovered this principle of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
46:21
I love God's law with all my heart present tense. Right back here he said, the trouble is with me. I'm all too human. A slave to sin. I don't really understand myself.
46:35
Right here he says, I love God's law with all my heart but there's another power within me that is at war with my mind and this power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person. I am. Actually, I like the King James. A wretched man that I am.
46:56
Oh, what a miserable person I am. Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? And then he closes out the chapter with this little quick verse. Thank God, the answer is in Jesus Christ, our lord. So, you see how it is.
47:13
In my mind, I really want to obey God's law but because of my sinful nature, I am a slave to sin. Now, there are varying degrees. Who the man? Who the man in this situation, okay? Who is this person?
47:26
Is Paul talking about himself but before he was a Christian? Is Paul talking about himself as a young Christian? Is he talking about himself now, today? So, is it an unregenerate person? Big fancy word for someone who does not believe in Jesus.
47:41
Is it a man under conviction but not yet persuasive? Is it a carnal Christian? And some people would argue that that doesn't even exist. If you're a carnal, you are not a Christian, okay? But this this is one of the passages that people point to often about a carnal Christian because Paul had this experience they would say.
48:02
Or is it a bonafide believer in Jesus that is still at war with his own sin? Or is it one who has achieved absolute moral perfection? I think we can cross that one off the list, okay? I don't think he's saying it somebody who's arrived. I don't think that he's saying it as someone who has arrived.
48:21
Romans seven, I read three articles this week. I actually have read a lot this week and last week and the week before about this. So, this guy is named Tom Shriner and he wrote a quick article on the Gospel Coalition website if you wanna look it up and it's called Romans seven does not describe your Christian experience. Okay? Now, John Piper wrote an article on the same website in the same series and it says, Romans seven does describe your Christian experience.
48:49
I respect both of these guys and love em and actually, Shriners position is not as far that way as it sounds. Martin Lloyd Jones says, believer, unbeliever is not the point of Romans seven. The point is, what? I want for you to decide what the point is, okay? I want for you to think about it.
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Do you still wrestle with your own sin? I want you to pay attention to the indicatives. You died with Christ. You're united with the one who rose again. I read this earlier in the week and I liked it.
49:30
I'm not a perfectionist. Obviously, if you listen to the announcements at any point, I'm not a perfectionist. I'm a very motivated type B personality. I'm not a type A. I'm not a CEO.
49:41
I love Jesus and I love people and I'd rather be with them than doing tasks. But when it comes to my own morality, I really do wanna be perfect. I really do and I fail. I like this quote. The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy.
49:58
The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time. Instead of just Huda Man, I want you to think about this. Which one of these are you? When you read this, I think the passage applies to every single one of these people. I think that's why it doesn't.
50:17
Martin Lloyd Jones says, it's not the point. The point is to read it and see if it's your experience and if it drives you towards Jesus as your answer, praise God. Are you at heart unregenerate? You don't believe in Jesus? You are still at the point where you're just living life.
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You don't even know what sin is. Don't care. Doesn't matter. Living life for you. Completely unregenerate or are you under some sort of conviction?
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You agree that there is a right and wrong and that though you think think something is right, you often do what is wrong. Are you under conviction but you're not yet persuaded Jesus is the answer that you're seeking? Are you actually a Christian? You absolutely believe in Jesus? No doubt about it but for some reason, you have not surrendered your will or he hasn't cleaned you up in the way that you had hoped that he would by now.
51:09
Are you a fleshly Christian, somebody who goes after the pursuits of the flesh? Are you a bonafide believer that is still at war with your own sin? Or have you achieved moral absolute perfection? Because next week, y'all could preach, okay? No.
51:28
None of us have gotten that one. I think that's it. Carl, you wanna bring the band back up? And this week, as we're all here and trying to serve kids, I pray that what comes across is Christ, Christ. Christ.
51:52
Christ. That his perfection and his humility is what motivates us onwards and forwards. It's what drives us. So, I'm going to ask you to stand up. We're going to sing Take My Life and Let It Be.
52:08
Subjunctive right there. It is contingent upon the will of God but it's also contingent upon your will. This is a prayer, a plan of prayer. Lord, take my life and let it be. Don't let me get in my own way.
52:21
Would you get me over the indwelling sin by your grace? Amen. Can you flip back to the purple slides back up there for just a second? If you look at these two purple slides at 14 through 25, I want you to see that it doesn't mention Christ and it doesn't mention the Holy Spirit. In either of these two slides.
54:42
So, this is Paul in a pursuit of moral goodness but consider that Christ and the Holy Spirit are not there. This is the battle within him. If he's trying to do it on his own, this is what Martin Lloyd Jones says was the point. Christ is not there. Holy Spirit is not there.
55:00
If you're trying to do it on your own, you're going to end up very frustrated and your life is going to be a contradiction. What James would call a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Thank God. Verse 25 brings Christ into the mix and verse eight is the great eight. It's absolutely wonderful and we'll be floating on that for the next couple of weeks.
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You can get me back to the benediction there. Actually, I'll get myself there. There we go. So, here's the benediction. Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice and aim for restoration.
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Comfort one another and agree with one another and live in peace and the God of love and of peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. In Jesus name, amen.
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