back to index2016-10-09 Law and Sin - Part 2
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All right, we're gonna jump into the text in Romans chapter 7 verse 13 through 25 00:00:10.620 |
Elder Joe read that passage for us, but I'm gonna read it again 00:00:15.080 |
And I'm let me set this up before we get in okay 00:00:20.960 |
If you came in this morning just kind of casually, I don't want to be engaged 00:00:31.500 |
Because the text that we're looking at as I was wrestling with this tax and how to present it 00:00:36.200 |
Because there's so much going on here and so much to discuss 00:00:39.480 |
that if I just jump to the conclusion it may cause more confusion because again because of 00:00:49.580 |
I one of the key questions that I asked if you again if you're not in the habit of going on Facebook to check 00:00:54.160 |
Either on Friday or Saturday to see what the message is gonna be and I usually put up about two or three questions 00:01:01.840 |
It'll help you to be better listeners and you'll get more out of the sermons if you do do that 00:01:06.300 |
But today in particular the main question that I asked is is this a Christian or non-christian? 00:01:16.880 |
Frustration with with wrestling with sin as a Christian or is he talking about a non-christian experience? 00:01:22.600 |
Connected to what he's been saying previously 00:01:24.600 |
Okay. Now, let me just tell you right off the bat in 00:01:28.920 |
Church history in the last 2,000 years, you know, there's been kind of shifts in opinions back and forth 00:01:39.480 |
universally the early church father universally believed that this was a 00:01:46.240 |
it wasn't until the time of Augustine and then the full-blown acceptance of this as a Christian view came at the Reformation and 00:01:53.360 |
we can we can understand why because their battle was against the Catholic Church where it was justification by faith and 00:02:00.560 |
It is not by works. And so in that context the Reformers not 100% but for the majority 00:02:11.720 |
And then it's been kind of going back and forth and depending on which era you're talking about today our environment 00:02:17.280 |
The young restless and reformed theology has become popular in the last 15 years 00:02:22.800 |
So the reformed theology has been embraced and so much of the readings that takes place much of the influence in today's 00:02:28.840 |
Theologians come from during that period of Reformation, which was predominantly Christian view. Okay now I set up all of this 00:02:39.720 |
That that my view is probably gonna be different than most of yours. So I'm telling you ahead of time 00:02:49.080 |
the first service had about a hundred people and I preached this and I had 00:02:52.840 |
About ten people come up to me and I couldn't get to everybody 00:02:57.760 |
So if that's true, then I'm gonna have about 40 or 50 people here 00:03:01.760 |
That's gonna demand my attention after the service, but you're just gonna have to email me afterwards. Okay, so I'm just giving you a head 00:03:09.000 |
Heads up on this. Okay, I'm gonna read the verse versus 00:03:12.600 |
So if you haven't read it before before you came and wrestled with it, I want you to as we're reading it 00:03:17.040 |
Okay, is this a Christian or is this a non-christian? Okay, first 13 00:03:23.160 |
Did that which is good then bring death to me by no means it was sin producing death in me 00:03:30.120 |
Through what is good in order that sin might be shown to be sin and through the content 00:03:35.520 |
Commandment might become sinful beyond measure for we know that the law is spiritual 00:03:40.320 |
But I am of the flesh sold under sin for I do not understand my own actions for I do not do what I want 00:03:46.080 |
To do but I do the very thing I hate now if I do what I do not want 00:03:52.560 |
So now it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me for I know that nothing good dwells in me 00:03:59.220 |
That is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is right 00:04:02.300 |
But not the ability to carry it out for I do not do the good that I want 00:04:06.400 |
But the evil that I do do not want to do what I keep on is what I keep on doing 00:04:10.880 |
Now if I do what I do not want it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me 00:04:15.900 |
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right evil lies close at hand for I did light in the 00:04:23.060 |
law of God in my inner being but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me 00:04:28.820 |
Captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members 00:04:32.260 |
Wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord 00:04:37.240 |
So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin 00:04:43.080 |
All right before I jump into this. Okay. Let me explain what I'm doing. I 00:04:49.240 |
Was wrestling should I have got just gone and talked about the application of this text? 00:04:54.980 |
Like what is what does Paul mean here and talk about that? 00:04:56.860 |
which we will get at the end I'm going to go into the text and 00:05:01.500 |
Go into and really wrestle with what's happening in this technique and probably more detail than you probably may normally 00:05:08.700 |
experience and may have ever experienced to be honest because it's gonna sound a little bit more like Bible study than 00:05:14.860 |
Our Sunday sermon we may do this during weekdays, but on Sunday, it's difficult to get this deep 00:05:22.780 |
We have a lot of newcomers that visit during October and some of you guys have 00:05:26.220 |
Maybe have never been at a church where Bible is taught in this way 00:05:30.020 |
So you're gonna have a shock this morning that saying is this normal? 00:05:34.300 |
It's normal, but it's not normal. Okay, but the reason why I'm doing this is because I want you guys to be brilliant. I 00:05:42.700 |
Don't want you guys to come to the conclusion of what this text means 00:05:47.060 |
Because of what you were taught before or simply by your personal experience because you read this and say oh that sounds a lot like 00:05:54.300 |
What I experienced so therefore that's what Paul must be doing. We call that iso GD not exegeting, right? 00:06:00.740 |
I so GD basically is from your experience from your culture for whatever paradigm you have 00:06:05.600 |
You look at the scripture and make it fit to what you think, right? 00:06:09.380 |
Now that happens a lot of times very subtly without you really recognizing that you're doing that that you end up 00:06:15.740 |
Adhering to certain doctrines based upon what speakers you like to hear 00:06:19.720 |
Like I like Piper so I kind of adhere to his doctrines 00:06:23.420 |
I like MacArthur or I like whoever and then you have a doctrinal paradigm 00:06:27.420 |
Boundaries that were created for you by the culture and by whoever you're listening to instead of really wrestling with the text 00:06:34.540 |
And so this morning, even though I already know some of you are gonna are gonna have a difficult time 00:06:41.100 |
I already know this some of you gotta give me more engaged than normal and some of you guys are not gonna be 00:06:46.060 |
the reason why I'm doing this is this is one of those texts that if you really don't pay attention and you don't wrestle and 00:06:52.100 |
Think through what's happening again. Your end conclusion is like, okay, you know, I trust him or okay 00:06:59.460 |
I don't trust him. You know what I mean? Whatever it may be and you may just reject this or whatever discussion we have 00:07:05.360 |
We want to make sure that it's coming from scripture. What does it say? Why does it say that what view do you have? 00:07:11.940 |
How did you come to that conclusion so that's what I'm doing. So all of this is just a setup to pay attention, please, okay 00:07:29.980 |
We asked for your grace. We asked Lord God for your guidance and we know that no matter how much we study and dig 00:07:36.340 |
that ultimately that is your Holy Spirit that illumines our thoughts and 00:07:40.980 |
And judge the thoughts and intentions of our own hearts. I pray father that your intent of 00:07:46.940 |
Whatever response Lord God that you've desired of the readers original readers that you give us understanding 00:07:54.620 |
even with our limitations our own prejudice that you would help us to sift through all of that and 00:08:02.380 |
That we would not turn from it to the left or to your right that we know that your word is sufficient 00:08:07.860 |
No matter how it is presented. I pray father God that at the end our confidence in your word would not shift 00:08:14.300 |
So we pray for your blessing and your grace this morning Jesus name we pray. Amen 00:08:19.100 |
Let me say right off the bat whether you believe that this is a Christian or non-christian 00:08:24.060 |
Let me let me say a wrong application of this if you say you're you believe that this is a Christian 00:08:30.060 |
To think that you would read this passage and say well Paul is struggling with sin and he seems like he can't conquer his sin 00:08:36.180 |
so therefore this is a normal Christian experience and 00:08:45.260 |
How can you possibly think that when I'll pass upon himself? 00:08:47.940 |
This is an apostle a wrong application of that is to think that this is somehow 00:08:54.940 |
That will contradict everything else that we know in Scripture 00:08:58.100 |
In fact, Paul has been arguing the very opposite of that in chapter 6 if you remember right by no means does it 00:09:05.060 |
Shall we sin that grace may abound by no means? 00:09:07.500 |
So a wrong application if you do think it's a Christian is to think that that is normal 00:09:14.140 |
That's even if you do believe it's a Christian he kind of sets that up for chapter 8 who will get to next week 00:09:19.500 |
the other wrong application if you think that this is a non-christian that Paul is basically saying that 00:09:24.940 |
Because you're a Christian you've been delivered from this conflict with your flesh 00:09:28.780 |
So therefore if you're a Christian, you should be you should no longer have any kind of conflict with sin 00:09:34.580 |
That living righteously should come easy for you, right? 00:09:38.020 |
That's not Paul is saying it's Paul not saying that either all over Scripture Paul tells us to wrestle 00:09:42.780 |
Right Paul himself says I buff on my body and make it my slave in the previous chapter 00:09:47.860 |
He talks about walking in the spirit. So, you know to live righteously, so 00:09:53.340 |
Application or however you turn out one does not 00:09:56.260 |
It's not a license to listen just as another one is not a condemnation for anybody anybody who's wrestling with sin 00:10:02.500 |
Let's just get that clear and we'll revisit that later 00:10:08.180 |
Why do people believe that this is a Christian view which my guess is I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand 00:10:13.860 |
My guess is majority of you sitting in here will believe that this is the case and the number one reason why? 00:10:18.900 |
It seems to be talking about a Christian view is because he's using the present tense 00:10:24.980 |
He did not say this is what I am struggling with what I want to do 00:10:28.740 |
I do not do and he's not using the present tense and if he said what I did and I struggled in the past 00:10:34.860 |
Then we wouldn't even having be having this issue clearly. He's talking about a non-christian, but because he's using the present tense 00:10:43.940 |
That's the number that's probably the number one reason the other 00:10:48.260 |
Clear reason is that keeps coming up in this argument is how can a non-christian desire to do? 00:10:54.700 |
What is good and to desire to obey the law where he says in Romans 7 18 for I have the desire to do what is? 00:11:01.420 |
Right 722 for I delight in the law of God in my inner being 00:11:04.860 |
How can that be a non-christian in specifically Romans chapter 3 10 through 12 Paul describes? 00:11:12.500 |
The fallen nation of man like this none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands God 00:11:17.900 |
No one seeks for God all have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good 00:11:27.460 |
It seems to contradict what Paul says in chapters 3 that no one seeks after God, right? 00:11:33.940 |
So this must be a Christian again. That's the second argument and then the third argument is in Romans chapter 7 25 00:11:41.180 |
At the end conclusion in verse 24. Oh, what a wretched man that I who will deliver me from this from this 00:11:47.980 |
Bondage of this flesh verse 25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord 00:11:51.880 |
And it seems like Jesus is introduced as a solution 00:11:55.180 |
But then he says so then I myself serve the law of God with my mind 00:11:58.380 |
But with my flesh I serve the law of sin and it seems like he gives a conclusion 00:12:03.240 |
but yet he he still gives the same conflict between the flesh and 00:12:10.720 |
Now there's about seven or eight different things that we can point out, but I'm not gonna go through all of that 00:12:15.760 |
Those are the three main things that are brought up an argument by this. They believe that this must be Christian 00:12:21.900 |
Now I've already hinted to you that I believe that this is a non-christian view 00:12:26.600 |
Okay, and I'm gonna give you my reasons and then you can rebuke me storm me later 00:12:30.860 |
But I'm gonna explain to you why and whether you agree or disagree. I want you to know where this came from 00:12:37.020 |
I want you to know how we got to this point so that whatever disagreement we have there is an intelligent discussion 00:12:43.520 |
Not like that sounds dumb, you know, I mean like because that sounds dumb, right? 00:12:47.880 |
If we want to come to the conclusion based upon how we came to this point, right? 00:12:53.720 |
And what specific things that we have a hard time agreeing with? Okay 00:12:56.520 |
The first and I I think the greatest argument to me like I when I first read this passage as a young pastor 00:13:04.100 |
I mean just immediately I didn't really know there was an issue 00:13:06.600 |
I thought it was a Christian cup Paul says now I I am struggling with this, right? 00:13:16.020 |
There's no passage. There's no book that I studied more carefully than the book of Romans 00:13:20.360 |
And there's no passage in the book of Romans that I spent them the most amount of time wrestling with than this passage 00:13:25.920 |
Because of this controversy, right? I probably have taught and 00:13:29.960 |
Studied this passage or this text as a whole probably about four or five times 00:13:36.720 |
I taught it as a pastor and then wrestled with this text and read probably everything I can get my hands on every person's view 00:13:54.600 |
Reason why I believe this is a this is a non-christian view and Douglas move John Stott 00:13:59.280 |
And I got to throw some names out there so I can balance the equilibrium 00:14:02.260 |
Right because some of you guys are gonna say well, I read my you know commentary and they say no 00:14:09.120 |
But again, I want you I want you to get to the text 00:14:14.040 |
He describes himself in verse verse 14 of his struggle as a man who sold 00:14:23.840 |
He describes again his his context of being captive to the law of sin 00:14:29.600 |
Now that is a direct contradiction. The vocabulary itself is a direct contradiction to Romans 6 6 & 7 00:14:36.760 |
He says we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing 00:14:46.640 |
No longer be enslaved to sin and then he says for one who has died has been set free from sin 00:14:52.700 |
So he's not describing somebody who's wrestling with sin 00:14:57.420 |
He's Paul is describing somebody who is defeated and has no help 00:15:01.860 |
He is enslaved to sin and he has he can do nothing but to sin even though he desires it 00:15:08.700 |
so he uses that language of being enslaved to sin and 00:15:12.500 |
And being captive to the law of sin yet in the very previous passage 00:15:18.400 |
Says that we have been delivered from the bondage of sin and we have been set free from the law of sin 00:15:24.340 |
Right. So the language itself and we're not talking about way in chapter 3 00:15:28.740 |
We're talking about chapter 6 right before he gets to chapter 7. So if he's talking about a Christian 00:15:34.460 |
He's described a Christian in a non-christian the exact same terms 00:15:42.460 |
If you remember what was the whole point of chapter 6 00:15:48.380 |
The whole point of chapter 6 begins with Paul arguing what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound 00:15:55.900 |
By no means how can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:16:00.500 |
so whole argument that Paul's been making starting from chapter 6 is if 00:16:04.340 |
Justification is by faith alone and law condemns and that does not bring life. What is the point of the law? 00:16:09.860 |
Isn't isn't that going to lead to licentiousness? 00:16:15.260 |
If you don't obey the law, you're gonna be condemnation. Isn't that going to lead to licentiousness? 00:16:22.140 |
It doesn't lead to licentiousness not at all. In fact, it leads to greater holiness because one 00:16:27.740 |
When we died with Christ, we were united with him in his death and his resurrection in his new life 00:16:36.420 |
Secondly, we were once enslaved to sin, but now we are enslaved to righteousness number two 00:16:43.500 |
third argument is before you were married to you know one person and by 00:16:49.220 |
By that person dying you are now released to be married to Christ 00:16:53.580 |
So all of those illustrations were given to make a point that justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness 00:17:00.740 |
So if all of a sudden Paul is now coming into this passage and saying look at this life that he can't conquer 00:17:08.460 |
He's still living in sin. He's not just struggling with sin. He is bound to sin. He's enslaved to sin 00:17:14.660 |
Then we have to say that Paul has changed direction 00:17:19.100 |
In fact, not only is he changing his direction? He's contradicting himself in the argument that he was making in chapter 6 00:17:25.780 |
So at best we have to understand this as a parenthetical statement 00:17:30.460 |
That he all of a sudden kind of shifts direction talks about something else 00:17:35.300 |
Which is an odd place to put it since he was arguing against this and all of a sudden comes back to this in chapter 8 00:17:41.340 |
So when you look at the larger context and the argument that Paul is making it is a change of direction 00:17:47.620 |
It is a change and I know it's technical I can already tell some of you guys are glazed has a glazed look in your 00:17:55.380 |
But again, these are all reasons why I think it would be more difficult again neither 00:18:08.280 |
Translating in one way or the other I believe that the evidence points to that. This is talking about a non-christian 00:18:15.400 |
He is speaking again. Let's look at the larger context 00:18:19.460 |
Okay, he is speaking to Jews in Romans chapter 7 1 is a farm speaking to those who know the law 00:18:25.280 |
And to answer the question, well, how can a non-christian delight in the law of the Lord? 00:18:29.860 |
Right, especially in light of Romans chapter 3 00:18:33.560 |
Well, you look at all throughout the Old Testament the scripture clearly says 00:18:37.460 |
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 00:18:42.380 |
Of mockers, but is the light is in the law of the Lord and on the law he meditates day and night 00:18:50.480 |
Had delighted in the law the laws. So Paul seems to be 00:18:58.040 |
Who in his inner being delighted in the law of God? 00:19:02.840 |
But at the end of the day it didn't lead to salvation 00:19:05.320 |
Right now here's a here's the thing that again may be a little more technical for you to understand. There's another issue 00:19:12.720 |
In chapter 7 verse 6 he describes a Christian and a non-christian 00:19:18.520 |
And I want you to pay attention to what he says and see if you can catch the difference 00:19:22.000 |
But now we are released from the law having died to that which held us captive so that we serve not under the old written 00:19:36.040 |
All right, if you didn't catch that let me explain 00:19:37.800 |
Okay, the distinction that he makes between a Christian and a non-christian a Christian is one who lives according to the old code 00:19:44.840 |
he's talking to Jews trying to obey the law and trying to get righteousness and and ultimately bringing condemnation for him a 00:19:52.560 |
Christian is one who's a new code who lives according to what the life of the spirit? 00:19:59.880 |
So he introduces a Christian and non-christian is one who has a spirit and the other one does not have the spirit 00:20:05.640 |
When he talks about this wrestling with sin and the law in this section between chapter chapter 7 verses 13 through 25 00:20:14.840 |
There's no mention of any help from the Holy Spirit 00:20:18.240 |
He's wrestling with sin and it's not that there's no mention of the Holy Spirit coming in and helping until we get to chapter 8 verse 3 00:20:26.840 |
Where he says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus 00:20:30.040 |
That what the law could not do we can buy the sinful flesh God did by sending his own Son through the spirit 00:20:40.160 |
And I'm just going to read a couple of verses 00:20:42.280 |
For God has done what the law we can buy the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful 00:20:48.360 |
Flesh and for sin he condemns sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirements little law might be fulfilled in us 00:20:54.680 |
Who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit? 00:21:04.000 |
Christian in the spirit and a non-christian who's walking according to the old code and it seems like chapter 7 00:21:13.040 |
He's describing an individual who's living by the old code and then in chapters 8 he describes this deliverance 00:21:19.600 |
We're no longer on the condemnation. And so now we are walking according to the spirit 00:21:28.760 |
If he's talking about a non-christian wrestling with this, what is his main point? 00:21:35.320 |
Okay, so let's take a step back and look at what the argument that Paul's making in chapter 7. Okay? 00:21:43.720 |
He says that the law was given to do two things chapter 7 1 through 12 00:21:48.240 |
One is to reveal sin we talked about that that the law came without the law 00:21:52.200 |
I didn't even know what coveting was until the law came because the law the law 00:21:55.520 |
Identified it like a plumb line, right and he says that he at one point he thought he was alive 00:22:00.520 |
But when the law came he realized he wasn't alive at all. He was dead. So the law revealed sin 00:22:06.020 |
Second thing that it did was the law stirred up sin 00:22:09.800 |
Right it produced to me all kinds of licentiousness the coveting it stirred up and we talked about that last week 00:22:18.920 |
that the dirt kind of sinks to the bottom and then you go in there and shake your hand around and just shakes it all 00:22:23.880 |
Of all of a sudden you realize how dirty and polluted that water is and he said that's what the law did 00:22:28.880 |
Okay, so that's what he was saying in chapter 7 verses 1 through 12. So look at verse 13 with me 00:22:35.020 |
Did that which is good then bring death to me by no means it was sin producing death in me through what is good 00:22:43.420 |
The law is good, you know that sin might be shown to be sin right to reveal sin to stir up sin 00:22:49.300 |
But he goes a step further than that, right? So basically verse 13 00:22:53.600 |
He's summarizing what he said in verse 1 and 2 1 through 12 that the law came the law was not the problem 00:23:00.160 |
But the law came to show sin as sin and then he goes a step further and through the commandment might become sinful 00:23:08.680 |
So he goes even further not only did the law reveal sin not only did it stir up sin, but the law came to make sin 00:23:18.940 |
In King James, it talks about how it became exceedingly sinful 00:23:25.820 |
It was very sinful and it was exceedingly sinful 00:23:29.540 |
It seems like to me what Paul is doing is he's introducing 00:23:35.320 |
Summarizing 1 through 12 and then introducing how it became exceedingly sinful 00:23:40.820 |
So Paul is not only telling us that the law made it exceedingly sinful. He's showing us how it happened 00:23:56.520 |
I do not understand my own action for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing 00:24:09.780 |
What is the thing that he hates doing to disobey the law? 00:24:13.720 |
But yet in Romans 7 18 to 19 Paul describes his state 00:24:18.240 |
For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is right 00:24:28.020 |
Right. He's describing an absolute inability just trapped in this flesh 00:24:35.100 |
For I do not do the good that I want but the evil I do not want I is what I keep on doing 00:24:40.700 |
His failure to obey the law reveal just how sinful his flesh is 00:24:48.500 |
Some of us when we were younger, you know had dreams and you guys you guys are still young 00:24:55.780 |
You know a lot of you so you guys all these dreams, but after a while you realize like your limitation 00:25:00.840 |
You know every young boy who plays baseball thinks he's gonna be a baseball player 00:25:06.520 |
Varsity basketball you probably had some dreams of going to college. I probably got dashed right away 00:25:12.020 |
You know, I mean, you're not tall enough fast enough. You don't shoot 00:25:15.240 |
You know what? I mean? So you had all these dreams and the harder you try the more it became apparent 00:25:20.420 |
You can't do it, right? And that's what Paul is describing 00:25:25.640 |
He is describing a man who had every intention and desire to keep all the commandments, but the harder he tried 00:25:31.800 |
He said right when I was doing the good evil was always right there with me 00:25:37.640 |
To prevent him from doing this what I want to do. I do not do what I should not do 00:25:42.640 |
I keep on doing and then he says oh what a wretched man that I am 00:25:46.720 |
So he is describing how sin became utterly sinful 00:25:53.520 |
See someone who has never attempted to live a holy life 00:26:02.140 |
Now you're a Christian you've heard the messages 00:26:05.200 |
You've heard other people and you may have you may have struggled a bit, but you've always caved in 00:26:10.920 |
But an individual who's been striving and made every effort to live righteously like a Pharisee 00:26:19.160 |
Like an individual who wanted to be holy never never watch anything on pure 00:26:23.440 |
Didn't want to go on a certain websites and didn't even want to go to the gym because they wanted to stay pure 00:26:29.680 |
An individual who gave all of his efforts to try to be right with God by his own flesh 00:26:39.640 |
See Paul is describing an individual a Pharisee among Pharisees. So the law is perfect 00:26:54.800 |
Given everything that you've got to love somebody that's difficult to love 00:26:57.960 |
You have no idea how deep your corruption of vengeance is 00:27:03.120 |
You have no idea because you just give in you you know, it's not good 00:27:07.720 |
You know, it's not good, but you just kind of cave in every time temptation comes you just cave in 00:27:12.840 |
So you say it's no good, but you have no idea just how utterly corrupt our heart is 00:27:21.520 |
Really given all your energy to humble yourself 00:27:29.360 |
Just how deep the corruption of arrogance and pride that is sitting inside of you 00:27:44.240 |
Who not only in his life not only his present life for? 00:27:58.560 |
And if you look at the 15 years of Israel's history, all they have is failure after failure after failure after failure 00:28:07.880 |
Paul is describing his personal experience representing the community of Israel and Israel really ultimately representing mankind 00:28:22.840 |
Realize just how deep and just how corrupt our hearts are 00:28:32.520 |
Who all his life try to keep the law and in fact he wasn't it what we would consider an expert to the law because 00:28:37.920 |
That's what he was studying. He was getting a doctorate on this and 00:28:40.440 |
He interpreted Romans chapter 117 that just shall live by faith 00:28:44.600 |
Meaning that if you're gonna live you have to live according to your faith or you're not gonna become justified 00:28:50.440 |
That's how he understood it. And that's how the Catholic Church was teaching it and 00:29:02.480 |
Do you love God and his honest answer to that question was not only do I not love God at times? 00:29:13.760 |
That's a shocking thing to hear from a monk where his whole life was dedicated to study the Word of God 00:29:19.360 |
And he explains the reason why he hated God is no matter how good he did no matter how many times he went to confession 00:29:27.240 |
No, many how many times he did penance. He would get up from the seat just after he repented and 00:29:34.040 |
to think about all the dirty thoughts that he had 00:29:43.000 |
There was something else that he needed to repent of so he made sure he's like you wanted it 00:29:47.080 |
He lived his young life trying to be pure and he was exhausted 00:29:51.440 |
And his testimony was that there's no way to appease this vengeful God 00:30:00.520 |
It was in that context of frustration when he realized just how deep his sin was 00:30:06.640 |
Where he had an epiphany understood that when he said that just shall live by faith 00:30:17.780 |
that your salvation is not gonna come because of what you do, but because of what Christ has done and 00:30:31.020 |
Was to bring us to the point to recognize what the whole law was given for 00:30:36.700 |
Was to reveal sin to stir up sin and to recognize just how utterly sinful sin is 00:30:48.220 |
Have ever felt that and I think many of you did 00:30:59.700 |
Wake up in the morning to quiet time to read to memorize scripture 00:31:15.180 |
You thought you'd be much further along by now you thought you would have memorized all the scripture by now 00:31:19.640 |
You thought you would have had so many disciples under you by now 00:31:27.740 |
The law revealed just how utterly sinful our heart was 00:31:46.780 |
People who don't respect you how you want them hurt gossip 00:31:51.460 |
Just how deep this thing goes why does he do that? 00:31:55.940 |
He does all of this to bring us to verse 24, oh 00:32:03.860 |
Who will deliver me from the body of death you notice here the word wretched is also translated miserable 00:32:10.420 |
See again, this is another reason why I believe he's talking about a non-christian because in nowhere else in the Bible 00:32:15.500 |
Does the Bible describes a Christian as a wretched? 00:32:17.580 |
It's a miserable. Oh, what a miserable man that I am and to recognize the miserable state of mankind 00:32:26.060 |
By his own righteousness and the more I try to obey the more I realize just how far I am from God and 00:32:34.980 |
Sin becomes utterly sinful in me to bring me to the point where oh, what a wretched man that I am who will deliver me 00:32:49.020 |
To reveal to stir and to to show us just how utterly sinful it is to get us to the point 00:33:04.460 |
Who will help deliver me not from the Romans not from poverty not for my circumstance 00:33:13.580 |
My own bitterness my own self-righteousness my own pride 00:33:30.660 |
What a wretched man that I am that every time I try to do good evil is right there with me corrupting everything that I 00:33:35.900 |
Do the thing that I want to do I do not do the things that I shouldn't do I keep on doing 00:33:41.860 |
Who will deliver me from this pride and arrogance 00:33:46.420 |
It is to bring us to that point because it is at that point where we say who? 00:33:51.540 |
Obviously Paul's point is to bring us to chapter 8 00:34:01.940 |
See in Isaiah as you guys know when he confronts God so woe is me 00:34:08.700 |
Woe is me is the same thing that Paul is saying here 00:34:12.180 |
He sees he sees a glimpse of God's glory and he says woe is me. He's basically older Richard, man 00:34:18.580 |
How miserable am I am I in the presence of this Holy God 00:34:30.620 |
In approaching God he says but the tax collector standing far off 00:34:34.780 |
He couldn't even raise his head would not even lift up his eyes to heaven 00:34:39.140 |
He stood before God and he couldn't even draw near he couldn't lift up his eyes because he is so 00:34:45.460 |
Ashamed of his utter sinfulness of his heart and he stood before God beating his chest God be merciful to me as sinner 00:34:55.620 |
Jesus asked the question who was justified who's right before God the tax collector who stood in his pride say thank God 00:35:03.580 |
I'm not like these people's extortioners unjust adulterers even like this tax collector 00:35:07.780 |
I fast twice a week give to tie the everything that I have 00:35:29.300 |
From this bondage of sin he recognized his enslavement to his own sin 00:35:35.060 |
Which caused him to reach out to God and God answered? 00:35:44.500 |
That's where God brings us every single sinner 00:35:49.900 |
Every single sinner is led to the same spot as his tax collector 00:35:54.540 |
To beat our chest not to beat our chest because of our generation because of our church because of the people around us our circumstance 00:36:01.700 |
Or finance but beat our chest because you recognize just how deep your pride is 00:36:09.940 |
So that we can recognize the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ 00:36:16.700 |
You remember when Nicodemus came to Jesus in chapter 3 of John 00:36:22.900 |
So he comes late at night so that his friends other Pharisees don't see him coming and they asked Jesus and he has this encounter 00:36:30.580 |
Well, how do I receive eternal life and Jesus said you asked me born again? 00:36:33.300 |
Well, what does it mean to be born again? How can a man be born again? The question the answer is pretty clear you cannot 00:36:42.460 |
Jesus was saying whatever you think is bringing righteousness is not the right path. So he was shutting that door in his face 00:36:48.140 |
And then we look at the encounter with the Samaritan woman 00:36:53.060 |
She's not afraid of her reputation. She's afraid of Jesus's reputation 00:36:57.780 |
Why are you a Jew a rabbi in the middle of the day talking to an adulterous Samaritan? 00:37:03.540 |
She's ashamed of herself and she's she's concerned about his reputation. Why are you doing this and Jesus goes after her? 00:37:11.620 |
If you knew who's standing before you and he kind of draws her in 00:37:15.780 |
And if you remember he says well, I want this water and said well bring your husband 00:37:20.580 |
Pointing to the very sore spot the thing the very reason why she was there in the middle of the day 00:37:26.500 |
And then they have this encounter back and forth and then he clearly identifies himself 00:37:31.900 |
The man who's standing before you is the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for 00:37:36.380 |
She drops everything and she runs back to Samaria 00:37:41.180 |
She's the first evangelist that that we see in the book of Acts or in the Gospels 00:37:46.260 |
Goes back and then and then she says to them come see a man who told me everything that I have done 00:37:53.300 |
Did Jesus tell him everything I mean it was a very short encounter 00:37:57.860 |
All she said was bring your husband, but she said everything 00:38:01.100 |
But everything she didn't talk about where she was born her parents what her likes look, you know 00:38:07.380 |
What kind of bread she likes what she does on her on her, you know 00:38:11.340 |
On her downtime what time she goes that she didn't tell me anything. All he did was point out her sin 00:38:24.580 |
So when she went back and gave her testimony, he come see a man who told me everything and she was absolutely right 00:38:31.420 |
It was that thing. That was central thing. That was ruining her life 00:38:37.260 |
And he becomes the first evangelist and he actually draws her in 00:38:48.940 |
Until a man or a woman is broken over his own sin 00:38:54.300 |
All the righteousness and righteous acts that we perform just makes us better Pharisees 00:39:02.780 |
It equips us to point out other people's sins better it gives us false pride before a holy holy holy God 00:39:09.880 |
We demand recognition for the good deeds that we have done 00:39:17.940 |
But when the law comes to reveal sin to stir up sin to make sin utterly sinful 00:39:34.220 |
Not just people who do right and who do wrong 00:39:39.300 |
We worship through giving we worship through singing we worship through serving 00:39:44.980 |
We worship through pursuit of holiness. We become worshippers 00:39:53.780 |
again in application in summary and we're gonna get to 00:39:58.400 |
The conclusion of this in chapter 8 because he doesn't end with chapter 8 chapter 7 he concludes in chapter 8 00:40:05.960 |
The conclusion application of all of this is not oh, he's a it's it's not a Christian 00:40:13.900 |
So to say like, oh, you know, we don't struggle with sin as Christians. Do we struggle with it? Of course we struggle with sin 00:40:20.360 |
But there is a distinction between a person who's living in sin who's struggling with sin 00:40:26.140 |
Then I believe that he's talking about somebody who's bound in sin in here, right? 00:40:29.720 |
But the deliverance comes first and foremost. So when we're humbled 00:40:59.720 |
See a man or a woman who's just kind of given up to their sins 00:41:06.600 |
Does not recognize what they've been saved from. I 00:41:10.920 |
Pray that as we continue to wrestle with this text that we come to a point where we're beating our chest 00:41:21.880 |
right and that's that's the temptation that I have as a pastor because I've been I've been given a job to oversee the church and 00:41:32.560 |
Change these people and I come to this text and it convicts me it can mix me deeply 00:41:42.360 |
The primary problem in my life is not other people 00:41:50.280 |
It's a sin that dwells in me it's a pride it's the arrogance is the lust 00:41:55.840 |
And until I come to the point surrendered to that and recognizing what he's given me 00:42:03.480 |
All the other things that I do is for nothing 00:42:06.920 |
This is why I want I wanted to wrestle with you and I hope that as we wrestle with this that 00:42:19.960 |
Right. It's not just chapter 7. This is what he's been leading the whole six chapters seven chapters to 00:42:29.640 |
This is not new in chapter 7. He's been arguing this from chapter 1 the moment 00:42:34.820 |
He started arguing this was the argument that he's been making. Oh 00:42:46.940 |
Again as we come before the Lord, let's take some time to pray and let the Word of God 00:42:54.960 |
To think deeply about where we stand not to simply just sweep 00:42:59.600 |
Compromises and sins underneath the rug but to come before the Lord and if we haven't recognized 00:43:07.520 |
Just how far we are from God in our own flesh 00:43:15.520 |
That God would cause us to open our eyes Lord 00:43:18.440 |
See if there's any hurtful ways in me and to come before the Lord and recognize his forgiveness 00:43:24.400 |
So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us