Okay, we're reading Romans chapter
7, verse 24 and verse 25. This is just the beginning. We'll be looking at some other
passages as well. Paul writes, O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so then with a mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of skin." Look please at verse 24
again, the first part of it, "'O wretched man that I am.'"
I think you might agree that in all of our reading of the
Scripture, This is one of the most moving and passionate passages
of scripture that we might delight upon. Calvin called it, quote,
a passionate exclamation, unquote, from the apostle. Where is there
another of it equal to be found anywhere in the sacred volume? However, to read it and consider
it raises, does it not, a couple of very important questions in
our minds. Questions such as these. Number one, what manner of person
is this that has said these words? What sort of a person is it that
makes this mournful lamentation that we have read from this evening? Who could this person be? And
what is the state of the heart of such a person as would make
this exclamation? And, of course, to sum it up,
what is their spiritual status or standing? Secondly, another
question comes to our mind. What is the occasion of this
pitiful outburst that we have read from Paul? What could cause
a soul any soul to view itself in such a way and in such a distress? How does one come to such a conclusion
as Paul has written in this place? What would put one in the mind
of the author of these statements in our scripture. Now, as to
the first question, what manner of person is this? What kind
of person is here? What kind of person would make
this wail out of the depths of their soul? Who is there that
could send forth such a low and mournful sound? We wonder, could
it be a reprobate? Could it be one like Cain who
said in Genesis 4 and verse 13, my sin is greater than can be
forgiven? Or could this be a drunkard who
is consumed under the power of his wine? Could this be a leper
with rotting flesh and no hope for a cure? Could this be a dope
addict that we sometimes run into. Could it be an adulterer
driven and carried away by the fires of lust? Is this a lost
man that has made this veil that we have read? Is it a sinner
under the conviction of his sin? If it is not a reprobate, is
it a sinner then under the conviction of his sin? or even the question,
is this person a sinner or is this person a saint? Is this
a weak Christian or is this a strong Christian that has made this
cry? Is it a saint that has fallen
into some great sin? And then, looking at the passage
and reading it, we realize, good heavens, these are the words
of the Apostle Paul himself, the great servant of the Lord,
that great devotee and committed Christian. Notice again that
he speaks not of others beside himself, but of himself. Wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from this body of death? Then we consider Paul's
words in the light of the second question raised a little bit
earlier. What is the occasion of this
sad lament? What has moved everybody's favorite
apostle and everybody's favorite New Testament Christian, to utter
such a thing as, O wretched man that I am. To many this seems
unworthy of Paul, and counted a stain upon the Christian character
of this good man. Some expositors have taught that
Paul is either here depicting others or, if referring to himself,
he is referring to himself at the time that he was yet unregenerate,
describing himself prior to knowing Christ, when he was a practicing
Pharisee and practicing that religion. I think that such a
notion as that is easily refuted, for when Paul a.k.a. also known as Saul, was a practicing
Pharisee, he did not have this opinion of himself. He thought
that he was blameless. before the law, Philippians 3
and verse 6, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless,"
he writes there, literally being blameless, and the NIV has it,
as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. That's how he saw
himself as a Pharisee. He then had no wretchedness. when he was a Pharisee, from
which he needed deliverance. Nothing at that time caused him
to cry out, who shall deliver me? He thought that he gave all
and everything that the Lord desired or required of him. He did not see himself as a Pharisee,
as sinful, as wretched, as undone. Those who cannot reconcile Paul's
words with a state of regeneration and of grace are nearly always
found to be weak on the doctrine of indwelling sin. They think
Paul's sentiment is inconsistent with a state of grace or of salvation. When the truth of the matter
actually is this, a Christian, a child of grace is the only
one that can utter such a cry, O wretched man that I am." You'll
never hear such words as these coming out of the mouth of the
so-called moralist, nor will you ever hear the self-righteous
Pharisee or the committed religionist unless and until a work of grace
has begun in their life. Let's go back to the question.
What is the occasion here of Paul speaking of himself in this
way? Has he fallen under some grievous
sin like David did? Has he denied the Lord in some
way like the Apostle Peter? And, of course, the companion
question What then was the state, the spiritual condition of Paul
at the time that these words were written? We answer the last
question first by the words of the expositor John Brown, that
Paul is speaking not only of himself, but of himself as a
regenerate and a converted man. It is after years of being in
Christ. after years of being a practicing
Christian, that he hears speech of himself as a wretched man,
not as a lost soul, nor as still a natural man under conviction,
but as a regenerate man who knew the Lord and was a Christian. Now the question, what brought
all of this on from Paul? Why does Paul bring it up? And how does this square with
the overall context that goes before it and after it? John
Murray, in his commentary, wrote, Paul's wail of anguish will stumble
us only if we fail to make the connection with the preceding
context, and we fail to rightly understand it, and that beginning
with verse 5 of this chapter. But especially are we interested
in the passage from verse 7 down to the end of the chapter. It culminates with Paul's exclamation
of wretchedness. And this passage I see as having
two sections or divisions. The first is in verse 7 through
verse 13, in which Paul recalls his earlier experience with the
law, when he was unregenerate, when he was ignorant of the true
nature of the law. when he was ignorant of the function
of the law and its intent and essence. How sin aroused in him
by the coming of the law. Sin was dead, he said, until
the law came and then it revived. And Paul does something personal.
He uses his very own experience to explain what he had said in
verse 5 of chapter 7. about the effect of the law upon
the regenerate, when we were in the flesh." Notice the motion,
the margin has passion. The passions, and some rendered
sinful passions, verse 5, which were by the law. These were aroused by the law. These that slept soundly were
then aroused by the law. They were stirred by the law,
and then did work in our members to produce the fruit of death. Paul denies that the law is sin,
in verse 7. and uses his experience that
the law found sin in him that he was not aware of before that
experience, caused sin to revive in him, to come alive, to roar
like a lion, and to slay him. He denies that the law is sinful
even though it was the instrument that sin used to put him to death. He even calls it the strength
of sin in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 56. The law, the strength of sin
is the law. We reserve the right to recall
this passage at a later time. Now the second section of the
chapter runs, I believe, from verse 14 down to verse 25, in
which the apostle sets forth in a very personal way the conflict
that he found within himself between good and evil, between
right and wrong, and the working of sin in his members. That awful warfare that went
on in and for his mind, and at times Contrary wills did the
apostle find and feel in himself, and the presence of sin when
he would do good and serve God. Verse 14, I believe, is the transitional
verse for us in this chapter, and let me read it. For we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Notice here that Paul changes
tenses as he is writing of his experience. He changes tenses
from the past to the present. In verse 7-13, it's past. In verse 14 forward, it is the
present tense. He makes statements that some
have identified as marking him an unregenerate man, such as
that one in verse 14. As for me, I am carnal soul to
understand. Some will claim. If we consider
Paul as being a Christian, then he's full of contradiction in
his doctrine, saying in chapter 6 and verse 2, you are dead to
sin, saying in chapter 6 and verse 14, sin shall not have
dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but under
grace. In chapter 7 and verse 4, you
are dead to the law by the body of Christ. How then does he say
of himself that he is carnal and that he is sold under sin? I agree with Robert Haldane in
his commentary that there is no contradiction, and here is
why. In verse 14, he compares himself
or contrast himself with the law. And he said the law is good,
holy, just, spiritual. I am carnal. He has already said
in verse 12 that the law is holy, it is just, and it is good. Now in verse 14 he calls it spiritual. Not sinful, but spiritual is
the law. For we know that to be so. We know, Paul said, that the
law is spiritual. It is conceited by all. There
is no mixture of anything carnal in the law. It is pure. Not so with Paul. The law was
spiritual. good and holy, but he was carnal
and even sold under sin. However, I want to make the point,
not sold under sin in the same sense of old wicked Ahab way
back yonder in 1 Kings 21 and verse 20. And note the far, f-o-r,
in the beginning of verse 15, as Paul explains in great detail
what he meant by saying that he was carnal and sold under
sin. He does that down through verse
23. It was not that sin reigned in
his life. It was not that he was under
the absolute dominion and total control and possession of sin. He only did at sometimes those
things that were contrary to the law of his mind. Sometimes
he did those things that were sinful, but his mind generally
was set upon the law of God. His every act or thought, he
is not saying, was a sinful one, for, in verse 18, to will is
present with me. Yes, to will, to do right, is
present in me. Verse 22, I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. Then look at verse 25, with my
mind I therefore serve the law of God. Now no unregenerate man
can ever claim to delight in the law of God just as we are
bound to consider the unregenerate person a liar who says that he
loves God. Many have. Paul tells us the
way that he was sold under sin, and we must understand it. Verse
21, I find then a law, evil is present. But look at verse 23,
I see another law in my member, warring against the law of my
mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members." He found contrary notions within himself. When he would do good, evil was
present. He found a law warring against
the law of his mind, and at times even resulting in sin. It is in this context that the
apostle explains, oh, what a wretched man I am. Woe is me, I am wretched,
in spite of my willing to do good, in spite of my delighting
in the law of God after the inward man, in spite of my hating sin
and the evil that I do, in spite of my serving the law of God
with my mind, yet sin is in me, O wretched man that I am." Please
note, if you would, that the apostle does not say, O wicked
man that I am. That would have been a different
thing. O wretched man that I am. The word wretched in this form
is twice found in our New Testament, once here and again in Revelation
chapter 3 and verse 17, where the church at Laodicea is called
wretched, miserable, and such like. Shed Zed, it is a strong
term, expressive of one's enduring trial or misery in their life,
carrying a great weight, some testing or trying experience. has come upon them, that in the
middle of the boy, she had said it is, to bear or to undergo
that which is miserable." And at the same time, Paul knows
this situation was not without remedy. This was not a hopeless
condition to last forever. He knew that deliverance would
come, and he knew that deliverance would come through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And for that, he thanked God. I thank God through Jesus Christ. Before we consider that, let's
make a point from this text and Paul's experience, which is,
there will be no sinless perfection for any Christian in this life. No, not at all. Not so long as
we dwell within the flesh. There will be no full or perfect
sanctification accomplished as taught by Phoenix and some of
the so-called deeper life folks in history past. Sinless perfection,
perfect sanctification will come, but not in this life and while
we abide in this tabernacle, just as we will always have the
poor with us, Matthew 26, 11, Mark So in spite of all the efforts
that are made to eradicate poverty, we will always have the poor
with us. By the same token, as long as
we dwell in this body of flesh, we will have to contend with
sin in some degree. In spite of all of our efforts,
in spite of all of our prayers, the vows that we make, Our fastings
are preaching, are counseling, are resisting. And what some
call means, using means, M-E-A-N-S, Thomas Manton said in his sermon
preached on Titus 2, verse 11 through verse 14, these things
are good. They may restrain sin and even
the violence of it, but they are not to be rested in. for
they are too weak to master sin." These things, these prayers and
these vows and these contentions that we make. And one put it,
God has reserved this honor for His grace in His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Mortification of sin in this
life is only by and through the Spirit. Romans 8, 13, full deliverance
is through Jesus Christ in the life that is to come. Let's make
a point of emphasis, and that is if perfection eluded Paul. If Paul had not yet attained
or were perfect, were already perfect, as he said in Philippians
3 and 12, that he was not, after all of his knowledge, After all
the revelation that this man had received, after having seen
the Lord, after having been a Christian all of those years, how do lesser
children of God suppose that they might attain sinless perfection? If it came not to Paul, his confession
was to the other way. How in the world does any think
that they will obtain perfection when Paul did not? You know,
the point has been made, and I think that it's worth repeating
quickly here in this study, how absurd and ridiculous and blasphemous
is the teaching of some presumptuous people, that while they believe
and teach that it was possible that Jesus could have sinned
at the same time it is possible that they might reach perfection?
My, what an absurd idea is that, and so contrary to the word of
the Lord. And then perhaps it is wise here
to broaden our view and show how other saints were of a like
sentiment with Paul, wrestling and fighting with the law of
sin against the law of their mind. experiencing in their personal
life the indwelling power of sin. Or take the prophet Isaiah. Remember the godly prophet Isaiah? That wonderful statesman prophet
that is admired by so many? Yet this man said in Isaiah 6
and verse 5, Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips. I am undone. Now we should point out, Isaiah
does not mean that he was a man given to the use of vulgarity
or profanity, or that his speech was laced with filthy stories
and with lies. But having seen the glory of
the Lord, he sensed his own uncleanness all the more. Just as when Paul
considered the righteousness of the law, he saw himself as
carnal. When he saw what the law was,
as to its nature and essence, he stood carnal before that law. Every child of God must consider
what is written in 1 Kings 8 and verse 38. Solomon was about to
dedicate the temple, and he calls it the plague of his own heart. Every man must know the plague
of his own heart. When one makes supplication toward
the house of God, when one lifts up his hands, Solomon said, he
must then know the plague of his own heart. And Paul wrote,
we groan within ourselves waiting for adoption, Romans 8 and verse
23. As Peter, when he saw the miraculous
catch of fishes that our Lord had caused, said in Luke chapter
5 and the 8th verse, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. And Peter, the apostle, fell
down at the knees of Jesus. Because such a manifestation
of the glory and of the power of Jesus made the apostle feel
unworthy of dwelling in the presence of one so great that he was unfit
company for the Holy Christ. Let the glory of the Lord increase
the apostle's sense of his unworthiness. It will ever be that way, my
brother and sister. And a point about a modern teaching. Now here I want to get on the
stump. or chase a rabbit, but we will
catch him, skin him, and put him in the pot very quickly.
But here's a point I want to make in view of all of this. And that is a modern teaching
concerning self-esteem. A new doctrine in many churches
that they picked up from psychology, and they brought it right into
the pulpit and set it right in the sanctuary. Highly endorsed. by one of the leading proponents
of the need of high self-esteem, none other than James Dobson,
focus on the family. Did you know that? He is a male
feminist. Did you know that? Psychology
tells us low self-esteem is the reason why people become drunk,
dope addicts, whores, why women endure abuse, why kids do poorly
in school, why people become promiscuous, and why they eat
until they weigh 400 pounds. This is attributed to low self-esteem. High self-esteem is usually nothing
but sinful pride on the part of the sinner, and in saving
a sinner you can bet. God will bring that sinner low. God will humble that proud sinner
as he brings him into saving grace. He will strip them of
their pride, of their self-righteousness. I would like to give you just
two examples of that this evening. Number one, the returning prodigal. Number two, the publican who
went up into the temple to pray. The prodigal said this upon his
return. Luke 15 verse 21, Father, I've
sinned. I'm not worthy to be called thy
son. Make me a hired servant. The publican went up into the
temple and he prayed. God be merciful to me, the great
sinner. Luke 18 and verse 13. Was this
the result of low self-worth in these two men to say, I'm
not worthy, I'm a sinner, I'm not worth anything? Or was it
the coming of the grace of God that taught them that? Well,
let's go back to Paul and our opening text and his question,
who shall deliver me? Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? It has long been a question.
Does Paul here refer to the fleshly mortal body in which he dwells,
or to something else using a metaphor in this place? I come down on
the side of something else for at least two reasons. Number
one, the context in which it appears. Number two, the expressions
used in other places by this same apostle in context as in
verse 23, where he speaks of the law of sin, which is in my
members. Verse 5, the motions or the passions
of sin, and in chapter 8 and verse 2 he speaks of the law
of sin and of death. In other places, like Romans
6 and verse 6, the body of sin might be destroyed, Paul said. Colossians 2.11, he equates spiritual
circumcision with the putting off of the body of the sins of
the flesh. Paul is not swallowed up in hopeless
despair. He answers his own question.
Who shall deliver me? I thank God that deliverance
will come through Jesus Christ our Lord. Will the Christian
have full victory over sin? Will deliverance come? Yes, but
only in Christ and by Christ and through Christ. Will that
be the victory? This touches the doctrine of
mortification, which Paul mentions in Romans 8, 13 and Colossians
3 and 5, where sin is dying. It is being put to death. Let
me illustrate with a real illustration, if you might. A few years ago,
My beloved and blessed wife was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma
tumor in one of her ears, and it left untreated. It continues
to grow. It'll attach to the brain. It'll
cause the loss of balance and hearing and so forth. In God's
divine providence, He guided us to two doctors, one who found
it, diagnosed it, and another who had a special treatment for
those things, and he zapped it with radiation. And we see the
doctor regularly. We go back, and he has an MRI
done, and he comes in the room for about two and a half minutes.
He says, looky here, all this pencil. Oh, you're doing great.
So I stopped him. I said, hey, wait a minute. What's
the status of this thing? He said, it's dying as we speak. It's dying as we speak. Doing
fine. I said, well, how long is it
going to take for this thing to die? He said, oh, six or seven
years it probably ought to die. All the time it's been dying
from that zap that they gave unto it. Now the application
of this is, Sin reigned unto death, would have eternally destroyed
us, but Jesus Christ gave sin a deadly blow at the cross where
he died. He took away its condemning power,
carries on the work of mortification. Yes, we're still sinful, we still
sin, we are not completely free of sin, but victory is coming. Victory is ours through Jesus
Christ. In conclusion, some applications,
and then we're done. Number one, only the grace of
God in Christ can save from sin. There is no other antidote for
sin. You need not look anywhere else.
It will not be cured by any means but by and through Christ. Number
two, the unregenerate man will never have a full sense of sin
or realize how sinful they are. They do not see themselves as
sinful as God says that they are. Number three, the more one
loves God, the more one studies the Scripture, the more they
will share the feeling of the Apostle Paul, woe is me, I am
a wretched man. John Newton said this, of Paul's
words, and I quote in closing. John Newton, of amazing grace
fame, quote, I believe the picture to be applicable to the most
holy Christian on earth, and that the more advanced he is,
the more readily he will recognize the likeness, unquote, between
him and what Paul has said. The more advanced, the more he
grows in grace, the more he loves Christ, the more he learns, the
more the Christian becomes aware of his sinfulness and of his
wretchedness. Thank God there is victory. Through
Jesus Christ it will come. Now we cry, wretched people that
we are, who shall deliver us? Then Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
our Lord.