will go to God in prayer again.
I'm so thankful. Everybody sings that, getting
ready for Christmas and things like that. They would understand that verse
as far as the curse is found. That's the joy of the world,
is that He's removed the curse of sin from His people. That's the joy that He's come. And not many people believe that
he rules the world with truth and grace. I'm thankful that God has given
us that understanding. Remember, Eric and Angela, continue
in your prayers. Pray for them. Going from treatment
to rehab. I talk with him on the phone.
doing well as far as that. We had a good talk and I enjoyed
it. Enjoyed our visit. Pray for them. Ask your prayers for the message
today. When I write these things, I
don't see that it's good enough. It's not sufficient. But I know
this. He's sufficient. He's sufficient
to take what we have and to multiply it, make it like he did the loaves
and fishes. He can do that with just so little. And I believe I always come with
so little. And God has blessed it. And I pray he will do so
today. Pray for those that are sick
that I not mentioned or anything. I've missed somebody, I'm sure. Is are they still traveling?
Okay. I pray for them. Ask God's blessing on His Word.
I know that we want it here. I know that you want it. You
hunger for it. That's why you're here. You want
to hear it. You want to feed. But I pray
that this Word does go further than this place. I do pray that
God would allow his gospel to be spread
and heard. It's a sad thing, but it's a
rare thing, the gospel. Not many people have ever heard
it. Isn't that something? With all
that we have, and yet people have never heard it. They've
heard religion, and they've heard do and works, but they've never
heard done. They've never heard the finished
work of Christ. What I'm about to tell you today,
many people don't quite understand. I had been following this guy,
fairly famous guy, but I don't mention his name, but he's professed
to be a believer and I've been listening, just kind of listening
to him struggle. And I rejoice when I hear him
struggle. You know, he seemed to think
that everything would go smooth when he believed, but he's realizing
that that's not the case. And I get excited when I hear
that, because that's exactly what's taking place in this text.
That's what takes place in the heart of every believer. How
long that this message, God's gospel, would go out, and not
just go out, but power. It needs the power of the Spirit.
It can't survive on our power. It can't survive. It can't flourish. So pray for that. Ask God for
that. And God would use us to further
His gospel. Pray for those churches without
pastors. Still many without pastors. Pray for God to be sending men
into his ministry. Pray he will. Any other requests
need to be mentioned that I've forgotten that I sure didn't. Anyone else that's missing, pray
for them. Let's go to God in prayer. Holy Father, thank you. Thank you for this opportunity
that you've given every one of us. Countless millions have no opportunity,
no desire to avail themselves to hear the
gospel. But in mercy and grace, you've
constrained our hearts and giving us a desire to hear of Christ.
And I do pray that you would bless the Gospel today, that
you would instill the things of Christ and help us to understand
what glorious things you've done, what marvelous things, things
that can only be apprehended by faith. And I pray that you would show
us these things, that we would rejoice in them and find peace. I beg you to forgive us our sins.
I plead for strength and ability to preach today that you by the
power of your spirit would give it and open the hearts of these
people that they might have by your power, understanding, and faith. We plead for those, Father, that
are sick, all those that are sick in the body that have no
ability to heal their bodies. We beg you for grace that you
would heal those who are constrained in their minds, downcast in their
souls, that you would give them liberty, that you would uplift
their spirits and minds, that they might rejoice. Truly, the only thing I know
to rejoice in is Christ. Rejoicing in His love, in His
grace, in His mercy, in His righteousness, in His sanctification, in His
redemption. Give us grace to enjoy in that
today. Even as we struggle, and we struggle,
Father, we confess we struggle with sin in our own hearts and
minds. But I'm so thankful you know
our frame that we are but dust. And you take that into account
and Christ intercedes. Forgive us our sins. I ask you
to do this in the name of our blessed Savior. For his sake. Amen. Alright, take your Bibles,
turn with me to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, we'll be looking
at verses 14 through 25 this morning. Now, by way of introduction,
I preached this last week concerning the question of the law's role
in our conversion. The law, Paul tells us, was as
a husband to us. It was a husband that could only
condemn. It was a husband that could only,
it could show no mercy, it could show no forgiveness. We were
as a wife married to this husband. And yet Paul describes this,
that the law is not to blame. He said that in Verse 7, is the
law sin? Is the law to blame? And constantly
he's reminding us of this, that it is not the law's fault, it
is us. We were an unfaithful wife. Everything
the law said about us was true. It is my sin that is to blame,
Paul says. And so he reveals then the role
of the law is not to help us to God, but rather to expose
us before God. It is to expose our guilt and
our sin. I had not known sin except the
law said, Thou shalt not covet. The law had a purpose to expose
sin. But now the apostle will speak
from verse 14 concerning the experience of the believer. He will speak concerning our
present condition of those that are born of God,
and that is this, every believer is in daily, constant warfare
within himself. After our conversion, Paul's
gonna say, look, before I was doing okay. I was alive, sin
was dead, everything was going well until when? Until the law
came and commandment came, sin revived, I died, and then everything
changed. And so the question is this,
if I am indeed dead, to sin, as Paul said. How can we who
are dead to sin live any longer therein? And he said you're dead
to sin. He says in chapter 7 verse 4, yeah verse 4, he said I'm
dead to the law. Then the question is this, why
do I still struggle with sin? If I'm free from sin, it's dominion,
free from its guilt, its condemnation, free from the law and its demands,
then why in the world do I still struggle with sin? Two commandments given to every
believer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love your brother.
Is that not simple commandments? And yet we struggle even in this,
to maintain our faith and our love. Why is this? I'm going to give you the short
of it. Because in every believer now
dwells two distinct men. Two distinct natures in every
believer and these two are completely in opposition constantly with
one another. They will never Reconciled they'll
never be a half if there's a happy medium the flesh is one There's no happy medium here
It is a constant struggle. I like Rebecca remember. She's
a good illustration of this she had a promise of God that in
her womb was going to be The one I succeed that was always
the thing I succeed And yet she was tormented. She didn't know
what in the world was going on inside of her. There were two
kids, not one. And they were warring with each
other in the womb. Beautiful picture. Beautiful
picture. Two natures warring within ourselves. Solomon says this, we are as
a company of two armies. Two armies. constantly at war
with one another. And this, the apostle will show
us, not by the experience of somebody else.
He's going to show us by his own experience what he knows. By the experience of grace is
something that every believer knows. Look at verse 14. This
is after our conversion. Now he says this, For we know
that the law is spiritual, But I am carnal, sold under sin. Here the apostle makes plain
the nature of the law. This is something we know. You
that believe, you know this now. Because the commandment came,
sin revived, I died. You know this about the law.
It's spiritual. And because it's spiritual, it
is far beyond my ability to obey it. This is what is taught. Now, before this, before
the law came, Paul says that he was alright. He said, I was
alive without the law once, and sin was dead. Guilt was dead. This is always the mind of the
natural man, the carnal man. is to believe that the law is
nothing more than a list of moral duties. That's all men think
about the law. It's a list of moral duties by
which men can become righteous before God or justified. So when the law is declared,
there's no real guilt. It's not sin, it's a mistake. This is the natural mind and
it cannot understand the true nature of the law is not just
carnal obedience. When I say carnal, I mean outward.
Natural. Natural. But rather the law is
spiritual and it doesn't just condemn outward acts, but rather
reaches to the very souls of men. Our Lord made this very
plain in Matthew chapter 5. when he said, I came not to destroy
the law, but to fulfill it. Now, he came to fulfill the righteousness
of the law for all of his elect. And he said this, except your
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
Now, they're the most outwardly holy people that ever lived,
the scribes and Pharisees. And he said, Jesus said, even
their righteousness is not enough. You have to exceed that righteousness
if you want to enter heaven. And then he begins to describe
the law. The law is if you're angry with your brother, you
murdered him. If you've looked upon a woman to lust after, you've
committed adultery. The law is spiritual. That's
what we learn. We know this. The law is spiritual. We only know this when the commandment
comes, isn't it? When the commandment came, sin
revived and I died. What I thought I was alive before,
now I know something. I'm dead. The law in the hands
of the Holy Spirit is intended for this. It is a knife. It is to kill. That's its purpose. It is to slay. When the law comes in the hands
of the spirit, it exposes my guilt. All my seeming righteousness
is nothing but iniquity. Has that happened to you? Has
the law really come to you? If the law has come to you, you
know this. It's spiritual. It demands more
than I can ever give it. The revelation of the Spirit
by the law, the law is spiritual. It demands more than my carnal
can provide. It requires holiness within the
man's soul, not just his actions. But by this revelation we see
the second thing is this, the law is spiritual but I am carnal. Our nature is revealed. Our nature
that we are born with is carnal. And therefore, listen, it can
only function in the carnal realm. Now listen, you can feel spiritual. That doesn't make you spiritual.
Really, all this spirituality is nothing but carnalness. It's
just carnal. You see, the love that the law
requires is spiritual, but the only love I can give is carnal. The obedience the law requires
is spiritual, but the only obedience I can give is carnal. All I can do is change outward
morals. I can change those. I can change my habits. I can
change my actions. That doesn't make it spiritual. It's just carnal. Anybody could
do that. Anybody can do that. Paul later testifies that the
carnal mind, listen to me, the carnal mind is enmity against
God. And here's proof. You want to
know what's proof? It is not subject to the law
of God. Name one person that's ever been subject to the law
of God, spiritually. You could try this all day, carnally,
but that doesn't mean you're subject. It's spiritual. You're
not. It is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. You got that? The carnal cannot
be spiritual. It cannot be subject to the law
of God. Behold then the reason why that we cannot be saved by
the law. We're carnal. We're carnal. And the law is spiritual. Listen
to this, sold under sin. What does that mean? It means
the carnal nature is sold under sin. It is sold out to sin. Completely sold out. A slave
to it. That can by no means of obedience
obtain its freedom. Never. It's sold. This is the
revelation of the law in the power of the Spirit. But notice
this revelation only comes to those who are quickened by the
Spirit. Notice he said this, and we know. Only we know. Had not the Spirit of God given
us life, we surely wouldn't have known this. Something changed. How did we come to know this?
How do I know the law is spiritual and I am carnal, sold under sin?
How is that possible? Before, I thought everything
was well. Now, I know it's not. What happened? Because God gave
us life. We would have never been able
to discern this had he not given us life. And so now, by this
new nature, this new man, we see that the law is spiritual. We see we are carnal, sold under
sin. But all who believe on Christ,
we know and confess this to be true. Because of this, because
of this truth, that's a truth, it's a fact, it's something we
know. It's not debatable here. If somebody wants to debate it,
just go on. I don't have time for you to sit and debate this. Because we know this, we know
this, the law is no help to me. The law cannot help me to God. It is only the ministration of
death It is holy and good, but what is the problem is this.
I'm carnal. That's the problem, isn't it?
This is what we know. I am carnal, and the law is spiritual,
and I can never achieve its demands. That's what the law reveals when
it comes in power. But see, Paul, and I want you
to know this. Paul is not speaking in the past
tense. Now, before he was, in the previous verses, Paul was
talking about his conversion. He said, I was alive without
the law once. He's talking past tense. But when the commandment
came, sin revived, I died. That's his conversion. But listen,
this text is in the present tense. The law is spiritual. Now it's always been spiritual.
Before I knew it and after I knew it. But this is something I know
right now. I am, right now, in this present
condition, carnal." Carnal. Sold under sin. This revelation is surely confessed
at our conversion, isn't it? We confess this at our conversion. When we died to all hopes of
saving ourselves, We saw the glory in the nature of the law.
We saw we were carnal. It was by the Spirit that made
us to see and feel our need. Isn't this what this revelation
is for? If the law is spiritual and I'm
carnal, so to understand, what does that tell you? I need. I
have a need. A need that I cannot provide,
a need the law cannot help me with. So what does this do to
the person at our conversion? It drives us to Christ, doesn't
it? That's what it does. We then
flee to Christ. We hear that gospel message in
Isaiah. Oh, everyone that thirsts. Come to the waters. Who's that? That's Christ. Christ is the
water. Are you thirsty for righteousness?
The law can't help you? Come to Christ. He's the water
of life. Come buy wine and milk without
money, without price. Why do you spend your money for
that which is not bread? Why do you labor for that which
doesn't satisfy? Hearken unto me diligently. Incline your ear. Eat. Eat! Christ said, I'm the bread
of life. Come and eat Christ. By faith
we receive Him. Seek the Lord while He may be
found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake
His way. Isn't that what I just learned
under the law? I'm carnal. I'm the wicked. My way is not going to bring
me to God. So what does God tell me to do?
Seek me. Seek me. The wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous men his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and
he will, listen to this, abundantly pardoned. Isn't that wonderful?
The only one who needs that is someone who is a sinner. If you
don't have sin, there's no need for abundant pardon. Well, I
may need a little pardon. No, that's not who he's talking
to. He's talking to somebody who needs abundant pardon. That's
just me. Faith in Christ is the very breath,
then, of this new nature, this new man. Look what Paul calls
it in verse 22. We know we are the law spiritual,
we know we are carnal soul under sin only because of this, the
inner man. Look at that in verse 22, for
I delight after the law, after the inward man. The inward man. This inward man that understands
the carnality of our nature and the spirituality of the law.
is one that is created of God in every believer. And it is
by this nature then we discern. We are carnal and the law is
spiritual. By this nature we discern our
need of Christ and by this nature we find in Him all we need. You believed on Christ. Now why
in the world did you believe on Christ? because God has given
you a nature by which you are able to believe. He gave that
to you. And it is by this nature that
we can declare what Paul had said before. We are free from
the guilt of sin. We are free from the law, dead to the law
by the body of Christ. By Christ we are made righteous
before God and by Christ we are justified, sanctified and redeemed. All of which could never be done
by the flesh. Why? I am carnal. I know that. I could have never done any of
those things had God not given me a nature by which I can. But now Paul will begin to testify
that everyone who is born of God is not free from the presence
of sin. I know this is the thought of
every believer. Every young believer has this
thought that once we are converted that we will get better. I mean,
it's just, because that's the desire, isn't it? The desire
of the new man is to put off the old. The desire is to put
away sin. And we think, yes, I've got it
now. It's all going to get, the way
is going to clear out and I'm not going to want those things
I wanted anymore and I'm not going to do those things I did
anymore and it's going to be great. But it's very soon that reality
hits us. The reality hits us that we are
not yet free from the presence of sin. Even because we are not
yet free of this carnal nature. Not free from it. The nature
we were born with, we still have it. That's what Paul's gonna
tell us. He's gonna tell us we still got
this. When Jesus preached to Nicodemus, he said, you must
be born again. That was a necessity. You must
be born from above. God must come down and give you
life. Otherwise, you'll never see the
kingdom of God. But he mentioned something there.
When Nicodemus started talking about being born of his mom,
Jesus said this, that which is born of flesh, what is it? It's
flesh. Now Paul is going to confess
this, in my flesh. He still has it. So that which
is born of flesh is still what? Flesh. And that which is born
of spirit is what? It is spirit. And never the two
shall mix. One will never change the other.
One will never change the other. In the new birth, we have a new
creation. I want you to see the miracle
of grace in this. The new birth is not a mere decision of will
or change of mind. That's carnal, isn't it? We need
something spiritual to happen, and that's what this new birth
is. It is a very spiritual thing. It's a divine thing. Paul calls
it a quickening, a resurrection. He says in Ephesians 2 that you
hath he quickened who were dead. That spiritual nature in us was
dead, lifeless, non-existent. Until when? Until God raised
it from the dead. I think a beautiful picture of
that is those bones in the desert, remember? in Ezekiel, where he
had those dry bones out there, and God said, Speak to these
bones, tell them they're going to live. And then all of a sudden
they began to rattle and get together, and He put flesh on
them, and He put breath in them. That's exactly what He did to
us inside. He gave us life, a new nature. In Ephesians 4.24 it says, Put
on the new man. Which is created. You don't have
to be a genius to understand that word, do you? You know when
something is created and it wasn't there before? And poof, it's
there. It's created. Only God can do
something like that. Only God can create. And what
God did is He created in us a new heart, a new man, a new mind. So when I say nature, don't get
hung up on that. You might as well just say a
new man, because a new man has a mind, a will, and a heart.
And that's what I mean by nature. He's given us a new mind, a new
will, a new heart. A new man. A new nature. And Jesus tells us that which
is born of flesh, it's going to be flesh, it's always flesh,
and it'll die flesh. But that which is spirit is spirit,
it'll live spirit, and it will continue to live spiritual. But Paul said this, I am carnal,
sold under sin. He was speaking of the old man.
The old nature. Look at verse 15 now. Here's
the evidence of what he said. He said, here's the proof. I
told you what I am. Now here's the proof. For that
which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that I do not. For what I hate, that I do. What is it that we would allow
not? Sin. Believers hate sin. And I loathe sin more in myself
than anywhere else. and yet I use every available
tool to keep me from it. Believers do. We should use every
available tool to keep us from sin. There's no doubt about it.
Don't put yourself in situations where, I mean, I think Augustine,
he put himself, he used to be a wild person, he put himself
in He said, well, I have enough strength now to go back to these
places. And when he got there, he had to actually put his hand
over his head and run, because he wasn't strong enough. And so what Paul says, look,
I don't want sin, but that's what I do. And the good that
I want to do, I don't do. I don't do. That's the proof
of this. I am carnal. And I pray the Holy Spirit would
make us be as honest as this. Is this not true of you? You that believe, is this not
true of you? We hate sin, we despise sin,
we loathe it in ourselves. And what is it that we find?
I find this, I have no ability to keep myself from it. I can tie my hands behind my
back. I can tie my feet, I can chain
myself to the bed. I still can't stop my mind from
sinning. You control your dreams. Can
you control your dreams? And yet they're vile things,
aren't they? Always about self, always about
me. what I want, what I think, what
I really feel, they come up in my mind, and I have no control.
Luther said we can't stop the birds from flocking, we can stop
them from nesting, but we can't stop them from flocking. They're
going to keep going, keep coming, but you can't stop it. You have
no power. If we were literally to do what
Christ said, pluck out our eyes and cut off our hands, Would
you stop sinning then? No. Why? Because the old man still
abides in us. Because the evil that I seek
to stop is what I do. That's proof. And what is this
when that happens? Look at verse 16. If then I do
that which I would not, I consent to something. I consent, the
law is good. I consent, I confess, the law
is good. There's nothing wrong with the
law. When I seek to do these things, I still do not blame
the law. The law is good. I consent, the law is good, but
it's no help. The law can't stop me from sinning. It can only condemn me for it. By this constant struggle with
sin in us, we are constantly then made aware that the law
is no means of help. See why the Lord left it there?
Why didn't the Lord take this old sin nature from us? He left
it there for a reason. Why? That we should never return
to the law. We should never turn back to
the law. that Christ should receive all the glory for salvation.
That's why he did it. This is why the believer may
never return to the law, because if I do, Christ will profit me
nothing. But here's the good news, look
at verse 17. Now then, that's true of me. Because I'm carrying on soul
to understand the law is spiritual. I can't obey it. I can't earn
my way. Look, that's what I know. This
is my experience. I want to do good, and I can't.
I can do sin, and I don't even want to allow it. Law is good,
but it can't help me now then. Listen, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I know this is something where
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing
for to will is present with me but how to perform that which
is good I find not the eye here that does not sin the eye that
wills to do good and finds no way to perform it this is the
new man He's going to have two different I's. He's going to
be bouncing back and forth. He said in the first part, in
verse 15, He said, For that which I do, I allow not. What is that? There are two different I's here.
The old man is what I do. The sin that I do is from the
old man. The new man is the one that says,
I allow it not. The new creation which God has
created inside of the believer is the I that wills only and
always to do good. Why? That's its nature. Its nature
is only to do the will of God, to serve God. Why? Because it
was created in the image of Christ. The new man is justified, sanctified,
redeemed, created by which the Holy Spirit indwells and he cannot
sin. The new nature cannot sin. That's
a bold statement, isn't it? Paul just said, I'm carnal. How can I say such a thing? Because
the Word of God is very clear concerning this. I don't have
to be careful about this because the Word of God is not. Go to
1 John. Go to 1 John. See what John says
about everyone that is born of God. 1 John chapter 3. This is the eye that Paul is
talking about, that wills to do good. Look at verse 9. We can go look
at verse 8. He that comitteth sins of the
devil. You got that? Is that clear? He that comitteth sins of the
devil. For the devil sinneth from the
beginning, for this is the purpose of the Son of God, was manifest
that he might destroy the works of the devil. He might destroy
sin. Sin is the work of the devil. And what is he going to do with
it? He's going to destroy it. That's why the Son of God came.
Whosoever is born of God, are you born of God? Doth not commit sin. How in the world can you reconcile
that with your experience? When you just confessed, I am
carnal, sold under sin. How can these two things be true? These two things are true. For,
look at this, here's why, his seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because he
is born of God. That's why. The new man that
is created of God cannot sin because he is born of God. He
is born in the image of Christ. That's why I'm telling you, we
have Christ's righteousness. Maybe that was a fluke, right?
Maybe John misspoke and you just really don't understand, preacher,
what that means. Go to chapter 5. Verse 18, We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. What did he do? He doubled down
on that, didn't he? He sinneth not. But he that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him
not. So when we sin, Paul says, it
is no more I that do it. What is he talking about? He's
talking about that new man, that new nature that cannot see. It's
not me. It's me, but it's not me. The old man is just as part of
me as the new man is part of me. But he's making a distinction. It's not me. It's my flesh. But notice the flesh is totally
opposite of this nature. He said, in my flesh, go back
to your text, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. My sinful nature is devoid of
holiness. And listen, there is nothing
the new nature can do to change the old. Surely, I know it is true, every
believer, every believer seeks to put away sin, outwardly, inwardly,
in every way. We do. Why? Because that's the
nature that God has given us now. Anybody been successful? Paul's just telling you, I'm
not successful at this. For to will is present with me. But how to perform that which
is good I find not. Do you feel the struggle? Do you know it's real? The longing to be free from sin
and not be able? The longing to love Christ and
not be able? The longing to trust Christ and
not be able? This is the condition of every
soul born of God. No power within ourselves to
keep ourselves. Isn't that true? If salvation
were left up to you, could you do it? Could you keep yourself? Paul says, I find no way to keep
myself. Why is this so? Verse 19, For
the good that I would, I don't do, and the evil which I would
not, that I do. Paul says it's not the work or
the heart of the new man to do evil, it is the work of the old.
Verse 20, Now if I do that I would not, It is no more I that do
it, but sin that dwelleth in me. If the old man, if I sin,
it's the old man. It is not the I, the new man.
But believer, consider by faith your struggle with sin, this
old man of sin, This is important. Because you have this struggle,
you have to constantly be looking to Christ. This is why it's there. Because God intends for His people
to look only to Christ for all their salvation. Constantly. There's never going to be a point
where you're going to be able to say, OK, now I can make it. This is the
point! You can't! And therefore our
eye is constantly looking to Christ for salvation. Consider this, that that old
man that can do nothing but sin has already been crucified. This
is what faith tells us. This is what faith trusts. That
the old man is crucified with Christ. That all of his sins,
all of his corruption, all of his nature has been nailed to
the cross. And because of the cross, God's
justice is forever paid, ever satisfied. And because of that, God will
never charge me with it. I love the justice of God. Now,
the justice of God is something that brings fear in people. But
in the believer, it should be very peaceful because of this. If God has already punished my
sins in Christ, If He's just, He will never punish me. God has already taken into account
all the sins of this old man. Isn't that astounding? I haven't
taken into account all of my sins. I cannot count them, and
yet He has. And He's already taken into account
and nailed them to the cross by the body of Christ, freeing
me from its guilt and condemnation. payment has been made. And so
we do sin. Now listen to this, if we say
we have no sin, we make him a liar. Now that's not, that's also true.
I know this, the new man cannot sin. But I know this also, the
old man cannot be righteous. He can never do anything righteous. So what does the believer do
in such a struggle? Well, we do what John tells us
to do in the very first chapter of John. First John, he tells
us this, if we confess our sins, what do we confess? I am carnal,
soul under sin. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. Look at verse 21. He says, I
find then a law, a principle, a maxim Something true, something
steadfast, something immovable. That's what he's going to find.
I find something immutable, that when I would do good, evil is
present with me. You see how he's trying to drive
that wedge even further from the law? Because even if you
try to obey that law, listen, evil is present with you when
you do it. I find a law when I would do
good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. But I see another law warring
against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin in my members." Again, we are free, we are freed with
this, we're forced to see this reality, that we're at war. We're at war. The believer is
at war. Our life is not static. We're
not going to float to heaven on flowery beds of ease. We're at war. Now listen, we
have a warfare without. There are temptations, there
are troubles, there are afflictions that war against our souls. We
have real enemies. Satan is a real enemy, a real
despiser of the righteous. He hates God's people. He hates
his church. He'll do anything he can to destroy
it. The world is set against us. They're real enemies. Temptation is all around us.
But you know the worst enemy? Yourself. If I didn't have this enemy,
those enemies wouldn't appear so great. Think about it. If you didn't have the old nature,
what would temptation? There would be no temptation,
would there? So who's the problem? The tempter or yourself? Me.
I'm the problem. I'm the problem. We are struggling within. Though we were chosen of God,
we are loved of God, we were put into Christ, we were justified,
all of these wonderful things. We were justified by Christ,
we were sanctified by Christ in our union with Him. The Spirit
of God has given us life and given us a new nature. Yet, this
law still stands when I would do good, evil is present with
me." Is this not an honest confession?
You that believe, is it not honest? My heart beholds the law and
delights in its commands. There's nothing about the law
that's not glorious. When I'm saying we are not under the law,
I am by no means putting the law down or condemning it. It
is glorious. And if salvation could have come
by law, it should have. But it can't. We are carnal. The new man delights in the law
because that's just his nature. But because the old man there
is a constant warfare, Galatians 5, 17, the flesh lusteth against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary
one to the other. So that what? You cannot do what
you would. Isn't that something? You would
be holy and you would be a sinner and yet you cannot do what you
would. Neither one wins. The constant state of the believer
and the constant, this leads to the believer to fall to his
knees, verse 24. This is the conclusion. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Paul wrote Romans toward the
end of his life, not the beginning. And he said, O wretched man that
I am. Now I know there are people,
now you, I don't know if you know any, but I do, I know some
who would try to make this past tense. O wretched man that I
was. Why would anybody do that? Why
would anybody try to change the tense of this scripture to be
past tense when it is clearly present? Why? The only reason
I know is that some men desire to go back under the law. They
say, yeah, I've been justified by Christ, but now I'm a new
creation and I can whoop this thing. Paul says you can't. Paul said he could. I am carnal. Oh, wretched man
that I am. I know people that think they
can rise above sin. Isn't this astounding? This is
astounding. That they believe that, well,
I'm past that sin. I know some men who used to go
out all the time, go to the bars and carousing and all this sort
of stuff, and now they're older and they say, well, man, I've
licked that. No, you just got old. You just got old. That's all. You didn't become more moral
because you don't do that anymore. No. Men want to do this. They put
that past tense. And if you want to go back under
the law, you're a fool. That's all I can say. You are a fool. If you profess to believe Christ
and return to the law, Paul is clear. Christ will profit you
nothing. And I like this, whosoever you are. It didn't matter. It
don't matter if you've been in the church 40 years. It don't
matter if you profess the doctrines of grace or not. If you return
to the law in any measure, Christ will profit you nothing. This
is not past tense. It is very present. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Now get the picture because this
is exactly what he means by that. There was a punishment, of a
Roman punishment, where they would take a dead corpse and
tie it around the neck of a man and he had to carry that corpse
until it rotted off. This is exactly the picture of
the believer. I am carrying around in my body
a rotting corpse. And it just drags me to the earth. A new man would flee to the presence
of Christ, would bathe in the glory of Christ, would love to
be embraced by His hands. And an old man pulling me down
to the earth How then shall I be delivered
from this? Is there any relief? Verse 25, I thank God. Why would he thank God in such
a place and condition? Because of this, God promised
to deliver me. Not only promised, He swore by
His own name He would deliver me from this. How do I know He'll deliver me?
Because I don't deserve it. One thing I know about myself
is I don't deserve any of this. Nothing I can do to make up for
what he's done or to show my appreciation, nothing I can do
to be accepted. How in the world am I sure he's
going to continue? I don't know if you've noticed
this, but as you grow, sin does not decrease in the believer. Surely I know this. We're not
what we were. I know that. There are things
that we don't do anymore because we love Him, not because we've
become more holy by it. And I know this. He swears He'll deliver me. How do I know? Sin only seems
to get worse in our hearts. I like what Paul said. In the
beginning of Paul's ministry, he said this, I am the least
of the apostles. Pretty humble, right? In the
middle of his life, he said this, I am the least of all the saints. At the end of his life, he said,
I am the chief of sinners. Does that sound like progressive sanctification
to you. And so as I feel more of my sin,
how do I know He's going to deliver me? Look at that. Through Jesus
Christ. He's only going to deliver me
because of Christ. That's it. That's all my hope.
That's all my hope. In the end, this struggle has
nothing to do with my salvation. It's evidence of it. But really,
it has no bearing on it. Christ is all. This struggle
is intended of God to point me to Christ. That's all. It never
intends for me to go back on the law. It intends for me to
distance myself from that and come more to Christ. Depend more
on Christ. That's what it does. this struggle,
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, in conclusion,
with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh
the law of sin." Well, he's talking about the two natures. Isn't it true, the new nature,
since he cannot sin, what else he does but serve the law of
God? He can't do anything else. What does the old nature do?
The law of sin. Verse 1, chapter 8. This is the
joy. There is therefore now. In the midst of the struggle, in the conflict, whether you
feel like you succeeded or you feel like you failed, regardless,
there is therefore now. No condemnation. You will condemn. You will. You should. But that condemnation that you
feel always does one thing, points me to Christ where there is no
condemnation. To those who are in Christ Jesus. This is the experience of every
believer. not to drive us to law, but to
Christ. That's the purpose of God in
it. And we say, keep us from sin. Little children sin not. Isn't that desire? But when you
sin, not if, when you sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous. I pray this is a help. I do beg the Spirit to please
make this effectual to us. Real. Because it is real. I'm so thankful for the work
that He's given us. In us. Done in us. He waited for me to do it. He did it! He has did it! It's all grace. It's all grace. Thank God. Let's stand and be
dismissed in prayer. Glenn, dismiss in prayer, please. Thank you Lord for such a spiritual presence. All kinds of things. All kinds of things. All kinds of things. All kinds of things. He must work according to his
will in this case.