Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. All right, Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter seven. I will
try not to be too long, but I do not want to rush through this
this morning, but let me read a few verses which will be my
Immediate context though I will refer to other parts of this
chapter for sure But let me just read a few verses Romans chapter
7 and I went through 1 through 6 last time Let's look at 7 through
13 this morning What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Now notice, this is a different
question than what Paul's asked before. He said, shall we sin
because we're not under the law but under grace? This is a totally
different question here. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was
dead. For I was alive without the law
once. But when the commandment came,
sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. That is, by this deception slew
me. Wherefore, the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good. So the law, in other
words, I am saying that is not sin. The law is not sin. Wherefore, the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which
is good made death unto me. A different word now, death.
God forbid, but sin, that it might appear sin, working death
in me by that which is good, that sin, by the commandment,
might become exceeding sinful. Now, what I want to try to speak
about this morning, and this will be my title, but it is quite
lengthy, but I am going to try to sum up these verses, verses
seven through 13, by these words. This is my title, this is my
subject for this morning. Sin revealed and occasioned by
law is not gospel conversion. Did you hear what I just said?
Sin revealed, Paul talks about that here, and occasioned and
occasioned, but sin taking occasion by the commandment, sin revealed
and occasioned by the law is not gospel conversion. Now I struggled with that title,
I changed it four or five times the past week. And it was not
until early this morning when I arose, or just before Joe's
TV message came on at 6.30 this morning, that finally it dawned
on me, this very thing. Now I have an introduction to
give you, but I did not write it down because I want this to
come from in here, not just something preconceived. As I go through this, We're going
to look at the Apostle Paul's words and he is recounting what
he experienced when God began to show him grace. Okay? And it is divided into two sections. Now I know he doesn't go in to
explain this, but the two sections can be clearly distinguished
because the first section, that is verses seven through 13, most
things are spoken of as something that was passed. Something that
happened to him in the past. He doesn't describe, granted,
he doesn't describe exactly when it was. But then when he starts
in verse 14, almost everything he begins to talk about then
is in the present tense. Even as he is writing this very
letter to these people. But the difficulty for me this
morning is I do not want this to merely be a history lesson
about the Apostle Paul's conversion. You understand what I'm saying?
But at the same time, I want us to be aware of the fact that
not every person God saves will go through this exact experience. Though their experience will
be equal to this, it may not be this exact experience. Paul mentions one part of the
Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not covet. Paul said,
I learned lust by that. I learned what lust was by that
commandment, right? Not just I learned what covetousness
was, but I learned what lust was. So I'm here to say that,
and I'm going to mention that I do not believe in a law work,
and I will express why. Although I will not fall out
with someone that calls this a law work. But let me put it
this way, I'm gonna jump ahead. The law is not a life-giving
deity. The law doesn't have its own
agenda even under the purpose of God. God is the one that uses
the law if and when he uses the law. Do you understand what I'm
trying to get at now? Not every believer has to experience
exactly what Paul experienced, exactly as he experienced it,
but they will go through this experience. But it's not the
experience that is the salvation. Because while Paul talks about
his experience and what it was, and then begins to refer to his
experience and what it is, as he's writing these words, and
you can tell, you read it for yourself, you'll see this clear
distinction. Past things, not everything was
past, and I'll mention some of that. But then he goes into present
things, but in the end of what we call this chapter, he cries
out, O wretched man that I am. He ain't talking about just what
he used to be, but what he still is in light of God's holy law. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now when a man or a woman comes
to cry those two things, oh wretched man or oh wretched woman that
I am, I need deliverance and it's gotta be a who, it can't
be a me, it can't be a what, it's gotta be a who and that
who is one person, Jesus Christ. I can say then that person is
converted. Many think they're converted
because they fell under conviction. Now you hear what I, Paul's gonna
talk about being under conviction. But sometimes experiences fall
short of gospel conversion. Remember the woman that was caught
in the act of adultery? It says when they did leave,
when Christ said, whoever's without sin, let him cast the first stone,
it said, and they being convicted in their conscience. but not
a one of them. They were admitting that they
had sinned, but not a one sought mercy from Jesus Christ. Not
a one. So I hope that this brief intro
from my heart has given you a little idea of where I'm going. Now,
remember, believers are not only not under the law, but we are
also become dead to the law by the body of Christ. that we should
be married to another. Remember, we're not just not
under law, we are dead to the law by the body of Christ that
we should be married to another. Even to him who was raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For we
were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law.
The law's what gave it impetus, because sin loves to rebel against
law. Sin loves to rebel against law. And that's evident no matter
what kind of law it is. Tell a little kid, don't do this,
and immediately their first desire is to do exactly what you told
them not to do. It don't have to be a Sinai law,
just any old law. Because sin, humanity, fallen
Adamic humanity says in its soul, I will have nothing or no one
reign over me. For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sin which were by the law did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit, not in oldness of the letter. So
he has shown this connection between law and sin, right? So
now you see the question. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? You see it? In other words, is
God's law error? Do we equate God's law as an
offense against right? God forbid. Absolutely not, Paul says. The law's not the problem. Although he will inform us that
the law is weak because the law deals with the flesh. The law
doesn't deal with the spiritual man, because the spiritual man
or woman is motivated and led by the Spirit of God to walk
in the fruit of the Spirit of God. And against those things,
there is no law. The legalist be damned. The legalist
be damned. And I don't mean let them all
go to hell, God saves some legalists sometimes. God saves some legalists. But again, is God's law error?
Do we equate God's law as an offense against right? God forbid,
absolutely not. The law's purpose was for those
who now believe. Now do you hear what I just said? The law's purpose was, past tense,
for those who now believe. Now, I have reason to believe
everyone here this morning because several of us are gone or whatever.
I believe every one of us here are believers. So I will say
to us that, or I will say to those who may be hearing this,
if you're not a believer, the law still stands in full force
over you. It still stands in full force
over you. The law's purpose was, for those who now believe, it
was to expose error, and Paul gives us an example. What shall
we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay,
I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known, here's
the example he gives. This is what he experienced.
Yours may have been something else. It may have been two or
three things, right? But Paul zeroes in on this one
thing. You don't have to zero in on this thing. You didn't
have to experience this thing, but the law somewhere will expose
to you what you've been doing wrong. And it will begin to expose
to you the true gravity of the law's demands. Not just thou
shalt not commit adultery, but you don't even do it in your
heart and mind. Isn't that what our Lord said? Because if you
do it in your heart and mind, you're guilty already, even if
you don't engage in the physical act. Now that's what our Lord
taught. And there are other illustrations
he gave of that, not just that one. What shall we say then?
Is the law sin? God forbid, nay. I had not known
sin by the law. So he gives an example. For I,
and he's talking about his own personal experience, but all,
I have my, and I'm not gonna bring up to you what some of
mine were, because lust is a pretty general word. Some of mine were
very particular. And I don't even want those skeletons
brought out of the closet. Do you hear what I'm saying?
For I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt
not covet. So there's Paul's example of
what the law finally, in other words, I think, Mac, this was
one of the first things that really hit him. When the law,
the commandment finally came. But something took place before
this happened. before this idea of covetousness
being lustfulness, look at what else he said, but sin in us,
this is me speaking now, but sin in us, especially before
gospel conversion, it is manipulative in us. It will take the very
commandment of the law and express itself in the arousal of all
kinds of forbidden desires, the very desires that are forbidden
by the commandment itself. Our sin is so deceptive, especially
before conversion, that our sin is conscientiously dead without
law. Verse eight. But sin, taken occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.
Do you see that? When Paul first began to realize
what the law was really saying, covetous is more than just I
want what somebody else has got, it's lust. It's lust. Now we usually equate lust with
what? Sexual immorality, right? But it goes far beyond that.
It could be wanting your neighbor's cat. I just want my neighbor,
I want a cat. I want a cat like that one. Did
God give you one like that one? Then quit coveting your neighbor's
cat. Now we laugh and smile at that, but it's lust. I want what
I want, God be damned. Hmm? but see him taking occasion
by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.
So when he first began to see this, it didn't make him immediately
run to Christ, did it? So just the law work itself don't
get you where you need to be. Now do you see where I'm going?
Paul said, when I first realized this, it didn't make me start
wanting to be a better man. It aroused up all kinds of these
deceptive, forbidden desires. Other things started to expose
themselves now. Do you see what he's saying here?
Anybody relate to that? Anybody relate to that? It's
conscientiously, but he says, for without the law, you see
it? For without the law, sin was
dead. In other words, he is not saying
that sin did not exist before the law. He's not saying that
sin did not exist in him before he understood what the law really
said. He's already told us in chapter five, even before the
law was given, death reigned by sin. Did it not? So this death
here is not the lack of, death sometimes is equated with nonexistence,
correct? But sometimes death has to do
with not comprehending, I'm dead to them. Somebody offends somebody,
I'm dead to them. In other words, I have nothing
to do with them anymore. What's he saying? Now I realize
this is where some of the legalists get their juice. For without
the law, sin was dead. But let us remember, it was dead.
And I know they put that in there, but this is the context of the
first few verses. Past tense things. You see it? For without the law, sin was
dead. In other words, Paul's saying this, before I really
understood what the law said, its true import, that it went
further than just outward, overt acts, but it dealt with acts,
it dealt with thoughts. Even thoughts. Paul said, I was
a pretty good fella. Right? He felt pretty highly
about himself. For without the law, sin was
dead. Now the legalist said, see, we
need law. That's not what Paul's talking about. For without the
law, sin was dead. So first of all, our sin is so
deceptive, especially before gospel conversion, that our sin
is conscientiously dead without the law. Before we understood
what the law really said, we really didn't understand what
sin was. We may just try to justify, well, at least I'm not hurting
anybody else. Now, maybe some of you never did that, but that
was one of my greatest self-justifications. I do this because I enjoy it,
but I ain't telling anybody else they gotta do it. I was lying
to myself. I was deceived by my sin. But
I'll tell you something, when the commandment came, But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For
without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law
once. But when the commandment came,
sin revived, and I died. Do you see it? I died. So first
of all, the law, without the law, Sin is conscientiously dead. Secondly, our sin is so total
in its corruption that before God showed us the law's true
full import, we thought ourselves to be alive. We even thought,
but then all of a sudden, the commandment came home to roost.
Anybody know what that phrase means? Everybody heard somebody
talk about, boy, his chickens came home to roost. In other
words, he finally got to the end of the goal. He wasn't even
seeking it, but it finally came. For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Now, I'm not gonna call this
a law work, because this is a God work. God's got to do this for
you. He uses the law, but this is
not a law where the law's not running around doing its own
thing, and then God's got to be grateful for the law for doing
what? God purposed the law, but God's got to be the one to give
you the eyes to see what the law's really saying, ears to
hear what the law's really saying, and a heart to perceive how corrupt
you really are. But when God does that, the first
thing is you don't run to Christ, you start rebelling more and
more. and rebelling more and more, and rebelling more and
more. For I was without the law once,
but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. In other
words, again, let me say it, our sin is so total in its corruption
that before God showed us the law's true, full import, we thought
ourselves to be alive, but when the commandment came to roost,
what happens? We died. There ain't no gospel
conversion here yet, is there? Ain't no gospel conversion here
yet. There's a third thing in light of this, that is, our sin
and its deceiving corruption and the fact that finally the
commandment came so that we found ourselves dead before God, that's
when we confess these words, wherefore the law is holy and
the commandment holy and just and good. You see that? And notice he says, wherefore
the law is. Because it never ceases to be
these things. It never ceases to, I know we've
had people basically I guess accuse us of that, but they are
lying on us. We are lying on it. In light
of this, that is our sin and it's deceiving corruption, and
the fact that finally the commandment came so that we found ourselves
dead before God, it's then and then only that we can confess
to the righteousness of the law, the holiness of the law, the
goodness of the law. Before that happens, we take
the very, but sin, taken occasion by the commandment. Now it's
not the commandment caused it to happen. We'll look at this
in a minute. But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. Just
about every kind of evil you could imagine, I could say, starts
to rise up within you. Now, here's the question. Did
the law then actually make us dead? Or as he said here, made.
He uses the word made because he's talking about that which
happened before his gospel conversion. Did the law then actually make
us dead? No. Sin made us dead. And the law
came and exposed sin for what it really is. What was that? Verse 13, was then that which
is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, The law
didn't make me dead, I was already dead. I was dead before I even
understood that I was dead. I was dead when I thought I was
alive. But that was only without the
law. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. Was then that which is good made
death unto me? God for me it be it. But sin,
that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is
good. And I'm not gonna back up on
what Paul says. because the law didn't make us dead, but the
law irritated us. And I don't care whether it was
mosaic law, I don't care if it was 10 commandments, I don't
care if it was some kind of church rules, even if those church rules were
wrong, the flesh is going to rebel against rules. You know
what I'm saying? The flesh is going to rebel against
rules. It hates rules. What, again I read, was then
that which is good made death unto me? God forbid, but sin,
that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is
good, that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. So then here's the question.
Did the law, is the law, was the law itself then the impetus
to change our spiritual perceptions of our deadness? No, no. God himself must so make the
commandment come. The commandment is not a deity
in itself, for if it was the first time we ever heard it,
it would have done its job. You understand what I'm saying?
Paul lived for years thinking he was alive before God in the
law. But all of a sudden, God had
to turn the lights on. And when he first began to, and
Paul never tells us exactly when this was. And you know why? Because God works his salvation
in his way, and it's not just some cookie cutter thing. You
understand? Don't rely on your experience,
but God's people all go through this experience. God's gonna
bring his people from somewhere to somewhere. And when God first
opens your eyes, that's when the flood rush of seeing comes
in. Before then, it basically, for me, now let me just say it
this way. For me, I felt great about myself as long as I didn't
get caught. Because everybody around me was
doing the same things I was doing and we all used each other to
justify ourselves in it. Now I fully realize that there
are probably some No, there are some who, if they hear this message,
they'll say, I have no idea what in the world he's talking about.
And they read what Paul wrote here, and it's just like this.
And I understand that. Because at one time, even though
I was a preacher, I didn't say a gospel preacher, even though
I was a preacher, all of this Paul's talking about now just
went like this when somebody'd read it. When I would read it,
and I know I read through the Bible several times before God
ever even saved me, this passage just went like that. Didn't get
it all, but when God turns the lights on, things change. But
the first thing that changes is not, oh, I gotta run to Christ
now, mm-mm. You know what you'll start to
do? At its best, you'll start trying to conform the flesh to
the law. Well, I've got to read my Bible
more. You should have been doing that for years. I need to pray
more. You should have been doing that
for years. And I'm not saying don't pray more, and I'm not
saying try not to do better. Do those things, but they will
not deliver you. Because even after you are gospel
converted, you're still going to be crying out in the present,
oh, wretched man that I am. I still need deliverance. Most folks are talking about
when God saved him. God's still saving me, folks.
He's still saving me. And Paul tells us that he hath
delivered, he doth deliver, and shall yet deliver. And that word
deliver is the same word translated save in many places. I mean,
that's the problem with this once saved, always saved. No,
it's once saved, he will continue to save you. That is more doctrinally
correct. and more appropriate with the
grace of God. Once he does save you, in the sense in which most
people think of save, he gonna continue to save you. But here's
the thing, when law first comes, we don't immediately run to Christ.
Now does it? And I'm here to say this morning,
God may open a man or a woman's eyes to the law before he ever
opens their eyes to the gospel. And they may become miserable
with themselves. Folks, this is God's business.
I know some people thinks it happens, bing, bang, boom, during
a 45-minute service, or a 60-minute service, and an invitation's
given, everything's now, you come in just living for the devil,
and you go out living for Jesus. It don't work that way. That's
the problem with this aisle-walking, decision-making stuff. They're
trying to speed up God's work, and God's doing His work at His
time and in His way. So again, let me ask this question.
So then, did the law, is the law, was the law itself then
the impetus to change our spiritual perception of our deadness? No,
because at one time, without the law, sin was dead.