The Law and the Christian, 3

The Christian And The Law, 3
Reading: Romans 7:8-25

Introductory Thoughts

Ø There are four possible positions normally taken in looking at this passage.
o The man (Paul) being talked about is a saved man with a sin problem.
o The man being talked about is a lost man.
o This is a man under conviction
o This is Paul describing his own experience in being convicted by the Law
Ø The problem most people have had in dealing with this passage is that they try to make it a universal. The want to find a way to make it apply to all believers or to all non-believers
o What they miss is this: this is Paul’s individual testimony of the Law and its work in convicting Paul of sin and revealing his need for salvation.
o Look at how many times “I” or such words are used! This is Paul talking about his own experience!
o This is God using the Law to convict this religious man of his sin.
Ø The second thing you need to understand is that there are no normative types of salvation experiences, that is, everyone’s experience is not exactly the same.
o All must know and confess that they are sinners
o All must repent and believe in Christ
o But from there on out, there is a lot of variety in the way that people come to faith.
o Paul and the Phillipian jailer had “violent,” wrenching experiences.
o The Ethiopian Eunuch had a polite discussion with Phillip in his chariot.
o Lydia’s heart was opened as she listened to Paul speak.

Ø You must know you are a sinner, you must put your faith in Christ, there has to be a changed life as a result, but the details are as varied as there are Christians.

1. But what purpose is the Law?
a. I had not known sin, but by the law The Law helps define what sin is. One of the categories of sin is any violation of the Law. Is that an Old Testament teaching? NO! It is a New Testament Teaching. 1 John 3:4
b. I had not known sin, but by the law—The Law helps us know that WE are sinners.
c. More about this later, but Paul also gives us HIS personal sin problem— for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

2. The Law Convicting Sinners—

a. The Commandment actually excited sin. 7:8
(1) He thought he was covetous before, but now, it is greater.
(2) This is a recognizable human phenomenon —tell me I can’t do it, and I am going to want to do it, in many cases.
(3) The first stage of conviction by Paul was more sin!

b. …without the law sin was dead. That is, it was under cover, under the veneer of human religion, out of sight, out of mind.

c. The Law Kills—7:9.
(1) He wasn’t really spiritually alive, he just thought he was.
(2) But the Law awakened sin in his members, and it flamed to full life—Paul realized he was dead. Remember, Paul had been under conviction: Acts 9:1-5
d. Sin Kills 7:10-11
(1) The Law, which tells us how to live, only tells the lost sinner that he is a dead man—guilty, condemned, and hopeless.
(2) The Law excited the rebellion in his heart, and actually made his situation more desperate.
e. The Mechanics of what was going on—7:13
(1) When the Law began to really work on him, it revealed to him the depth of his own depravity and sinfulness;
(2) As he looked at the Holy Law, and really understood it experientially, his own sin became more and more apparent.
f. Applied to the Whole Race—Rom 3:19-20
(1) What then is the purpose of the Law? To show us our need of salvation!
(2) To be our schoolmaster—Gal 3:24
(3) To Convict the Lost—1 Tim 1:8-11
(4) The Law Is Good—7:12

g. The Law is holy—it is set apart, it is God’s Word, and the Law is good. The Law is God’s expression of His will for the conduct of human beings.
(1) The Commandment—the particular law that had convicted Paul, “thou shalt not covet,” Paul says that commandment is holy just and good.
(2) Holy—set apart for a special purpose
(3) Just—it is right, it is not unfair, it is not wrong, it is not unreasonable, it is just.
(4) Good—The commandment is Good. It is not a bad thing. It is not the fault of the commandment that I sin, the commandment is good.

2. Why This is not a Saved Man—
a. An open contradiction between 7:14 and 6:14—Rom 7:14 "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Rom 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

b. Other contradictions:
(1) True Believers have the ability to fight against sin. Rom 6:12—but 7:18 says this man has no power
(2) True believers are not the slaves of sin, but this man is. Compare 6:14 with 7:23
c. The similarities that confuse—
(1) The man under conviction wants to obey the Law because of his attachment to it, but he finds he cannot—7:15
(2) “I consent”—to speak with the Law, to go along with it.
(3) His actions don’t show it, but he knows that the Law is right and he is wrong.
(4) The power of sin in the life of a lost religious person is so great that in spite of his knowledge of right and wrong, he will do the wrong more often than not.
(5) Virtue training, morality education, sexual abstinence campaigns, great, motivational speakers, anti-drug campaigns, none of these will work, because the Law can only show us our need, not meet that need.
(6) As a religious man, his mind is telling him that he is wrong, but he finds that he has no power to oppose sin in his life. 7:17
(7) The Law shows him his utter depravity—Rom 7:18
d. The Difference: the True Believer has a struggle, but through the Spirit he can have victory. (more about that in the next chapter)—Gal 5:16-18
e. This is a man with head religion. He knows the Law, he assents to the Law, but he finds that the Law just shows him his sin more and more—18 …..to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not…. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members… 25 …. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

3. Paul the Pharisee—The Religious Man
a. Acts 22:3
b. Paul’s analysis to the Phillipians of his upbringing under the Law—Phil 3:4-6
c. Before His Conversion, he had been under conviction—Acts 9:1-5
d. The Law Cleaning Paul’s Plow—Context—Rom 7:12-13
e. The Law Convicting the Religious man
(1) The Law shows him his slavery to sin—7:14
(2) The evidence of his slavery in his life—7:15
(3) His inability to do right—7:16-17
(a) Like the man who says, “I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn’t help it.”
(b) His mind is overcome by his sin.
(c) His will is of no power at all—because he does not have the power—7:18-20
f. Paul’s own analysis about this state—
(1) 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. In his mind, he wants to do good, but he is under an influence which his mind cannot defeat.
(2) “…For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,…” His delight in the Law is intellectual only. He sees its consistency, it makes sense, he can see that it is true, it is beautiful to him, but it has no power over his conduct. He knows the Truth in the same sense that the demons believe (James 2:19), but this head knowledge gives him no power over sin.
(3) and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Captivity—in the original, a man taken captive at the point of a spear (Lloyd-Jones), totally helpless, with no ability to fight.

g. The Moment of Truth –He realized his need of salvation
(1) The reality sinks in—24 O wretched man that I am!
(a) He is no righteous man, he is a lost man with religion.
(b) He realizes that all of his works, all of his efforts, all of his pious pretension, these are all meaningless!

(2) He realizes his need of a Savior—who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
(3) His Joy at being found by Christ—25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(4) He ascribes nothing to his own work
(5) He sees in Christ the answer to every need
(6) He Thanks God for his salvation.

4. Paul’s other summaries of how God worked in his life.
a. Gal 1:13-16
b. His attitude change—Ph 3:7-10