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. If you wish to follow along,
turn to Romans chapter seven again. Romans chapter seven. I wonder how many people in professed
Christianity today in most so-called churches would sit through three
preaching messages on one Sunday and not be totally bored out
of their mind. But when you love something,
you enjoy hearing it. And when, like we, we live so
far apart and we're all getting older, it's harder to travel,
especially at night, things of that sort, we only get to meet
once a week, so we try to make the best of it as we can. And
I'm not saying that's the way you ought to do it or got to
do it, it's just the way we do it. Certainly not against Sunday
nights and Wednesday or Thursday. I'm not against any of that,
but we do what works for us here. Romans chapter 7. I got several
verses, so let me just get right to it. I don't want to keep you
too long, but I don't want to rush through what I have to say. Romans 7 verse 14. For we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. Now he's speaking
in the present. to these people and of course
to us as well. For we know that the law is spiritual. It's still spiritual, never ceased
to be spiritual. But I am present tense. The amazing thing to me is he's
writing this even as he's inspired of God. It lets me know he had
to be inspired of God because it's not something we could say
apart from the spirit of God. But I am carnal, sold under sin,
even as an apostle of the Lord. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. Now this is in contrast to the
way he spoke before about himself and even God's law. At one time
he said, I was alive without the law once, though he was steeped
in law from no doubt a very young age. Circumcised the eighth day
of the tribe of Benjamin. No doubt steeped in the law and
exceeded many of his equals when he became a Pharisee of the Pharisees. For if, I'm sorry, verse 16,
if then I do that, which I would not, I consent under the law
that it is good. The law's not the problem. Now
then, I want you to notice that word, now then. We'll emphasize
this a little. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Oh, to be allowed to make
a statement like that. it could be construed as obfuscation. But it's not. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, because he's explaining now, dwelleth
no good thing. There is nothing in our flesh
that is good whatsoever. For to will is present with me. And he's talking about the law
now. He's still talking about the law. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good, I, an apostle
now, a man who wrote much of the New Testament, a man who
had great visions given to him by God, who was even caught up
into the third heaven at one time. In the body or out of the
body, he said he could not tell us. But it was in seeing things
or heard things that wasn't lawful for him to utter when he came
back to earth. but how to perform that which
is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the
evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would
not, it is no more, oh, here's another one of those statements,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that is, an
authority, I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is
present with me. So it's not we do good for a
while, and then we do evil for a while. We do good for a while,
and we do evil for a while. This is the way religion operates.
They did good for a while, then they mess up. Then they got to
come confess, come to the altar, that kind of thing. No, he says
when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight, look at it, I
delight in the law of God after the inward man. And that's about
as far as Paul will go with it. Huh? For I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am. amazing who yeah who is always
my beloved brothers and sisters my beloved brothers and sisters
out there it's always a who amen if god ever crosses your path
by his who then we he will have brought you somewhere yeah it's
never a what there'll be a lot of what's come along with the
who but the who is preeminent you hear what i'm saying The
who is preeminent. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There's the who. And it's the only who. It's the
only who. So then with my mind, I serve
the law of God. But note, he still does not say,
I keep the law of God. He was not inspired to write
such a blasphemous statement. Because the law deals with our
fallen flesh. The old man. And the old man
is corrupt according to deceitful lust and will always be until
God puts it back to the dirt where it belongs. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. And it's always true. You will
not and I will not be able to conform this flesh to God's law
in any way. And in the new man, we do not
operate under the law, but under the spirit of God. to walk in
the fruit of the Spirit. Walk, and walk is important,
to walk in the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
goodness, gentleness, meekness, faith, temperance, against such
there is no law. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Last time, a couple weeks ago,
And my title was this, sin revealed in occasion by the law is not
gospel conversion. And I think it was Joe that said
the law never converts. Not the Mosaic law, not the Levitical
law. The law of God, that is this
whole word, converts the soul. Paul said to the Galatians, do
you not know what the law says? And then he goes back to Hagar
and Sarah. But that's not mosaic law. That's
not the law from Sinai. That's not Levitical law. That's
the law of God, the word of God, the truth of God. So that was my title last week.
Here's what I want to try to deal with this morning. The law,
this is my title and my subject, the law and those who are gospel
converted. Do you hear what I said? The
law and those who are gospel converted and it is always only
by gospel conversion. Now, let me kind of not correct,
but emphasize more or explain more. Men and women may be converted
by the law, but they're not converted to God. They're converted to
self. They're converted to self. They're
converted to their own works, to their own zeal. Paul said
this of his own flesh and blood. He said, I, I bear them record.
They have a zeal of God because that zeal was under the law,
but it's not according to knowledge, knowledge, the law and those
who are gospel converted somewhere between verse 13. I'm not talking
about his writing of verse 13, but somewhere between the events
we have Paul recorded in verse 13 was that Which is good, present
tense, may death unto me, God forbid. But seeing that it might
appear sin, working death, this is now past tense. He's talking
about something that took place with him in the past. Working
death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment
might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. Now the tense changes. And I know there's been argument,
but there is no place to argue here. Paul means exactly what
he wrote. And the only reason men try to
twist this around is because they don't want to deal with
the truth of God as it is. So somewhere between the events
recorded in what's ended there in verse 13 and how Paul now
is expressing himself in verse 14, Paul's gospel conversion
took place. He was conquered by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And now he expresses his experience
of the law as a regenerate man. Yes, sir. as a man with life
from God, having been gospel converted and sold out by the
grace of God to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So now
he expresses his experience of the law as a regenerate man,
present tense. Two things, first of all. First
of all, don't think I just got two things. Hope you ate a good
breakfast this morning. First of all, he expresses the
universal confession of all who are gospel converted. For we
know that the law is spiritual. So how is a carnal man supposed
to keep a spiritual law? Good question ain't it? Gnaw
on that one for a while. He expresses the universal confession
of all who are gospel converted. If you don't know that God's
law is spiritual, it comes from him who is spirit. Therefore
it has his characteristics stamped all over it. Though it be commands
toward men. Yes, sir. You see what I'm saying?
Though it be commands toward men. All who are gospel converted,
they love God's law. Yes, sir. If you don't love God,
if you think God's law is the enemy, you've got troubles. You've
got problems. Yeah. And I know we've been accused
of probably preaching that, but we've never said anything like
that. Never, ever, ever. Never, ever, ever. But secondly,
he expresses his personal, present conviction of his Adamic state. But I am carnal, sold under sin. I am, not used to be. I still
am. I still am. In other words, the
gospel converted, they all acknowledge that the law extends far beyond
mere overt acts. And I don't want to give you
these references. You bear with me. I'll try to try to move along,
but turn to Matthew chapter five. Our Lord illustrates what I've
just said. Remember, Paul expresses his personal present conviction
of his Adamic state, and he acknowledges that the law stands far beyond,
extends rather far beyond, overt acts. And this is what our Lord
said a couple places here in Matthew 5, verse 21. Ye have
heard that it was said by them of old. Now notice he didn't
say it's written. Our Lord Jesus never went against
what was written, but he will go against what men have said.
because they will take what is written and twist it for their
own means. You have heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. And that's what they
thought. If you murder somebody, that's
wrong and you're in danger of judgment. And that was true.
But they did not take it and extend it to its total realm
and total truth. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
the judgment. You don't even have to kill him.
Physically, overtly, you can kill him in your heart. You can
kill him with your words. Do you see it? And whosoever
shall say to his brother, Raka, or that is you're worthless. Are they wrong? Are we not worthless? No, but it's said with a sense
of superiority and pride toward the one you're calling worthless.
Worthless. Worthless shall be in danger of the council, but
whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. So, thou shalt not kill, the
command, thou shalt not kill, extends far beyond just the literal
act of first, second, third degree, whatever it is, murder, as we
often say. Look at another way he illustrates
this, verse 27. Ye have heard that it was said
by them of old, thou shalt not commit adultery. And a person
says, well, I've never slept around. Didn't have sex before
I was married, and when I got married, the only person I ever
had sex with is my wife, or my husband, vice versa. Right? Feel
pretty good about yourself under the law, can't you? And folks,
there's a lot of people that have lived that way. Not everybody's
been like some of us. You hear what I just said? Not
everybody's been like some of us. You have heard that it was
said by them of old, thou shalt not commit adultery, but that's
as far as they ever took it. But I say unto you that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God. The gospel converted,
we acknowledge our Adamic state, still present in us is carnal,
that is fallen flesh. And sold, that word's indirect,
trafficked into slavery. Trafficked into slavery under
sin. Now, here Paul expressed legal
language about his gospel converted relationship to the holy law. You heard I said. Here, Paul
expressed legal language about his gospel-converted relationship
to the holy law, the holy, just, and good commandment, his gospel-converted
relationship to the law that is far more than just mere overt
acts, but it exposes inner, deep, soul corruption. You see that? Inner, deep, soul
corruption, number one. Six things to give to you. My sinful carnality is always
opposed to my spiritual desires, even concerning the law. For
that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that I do. I
would keep God's law. The will is present with me,
but I cannot find how to perform that. Number two, when the law
condemns such action, I acknowledge the law's condemnation as right. If then I do that, which I would
not, I consent under the law that it is good. If it condemns
my conscience when I disobey God's law, it's good that my
conscience is condemned in that. You see it? It's good. The law's
good. The law still exposes sin. It still exposes sin. You can't
read God's law, excuse me, you can't read God's law with eyes
to see, ears to hear, and a heart to perceive and not feel condemned
by that law. When the law condemns such action,
I acknowledge the law is just condemnation. Number three, hear
Paul now exalt the distinguished and the distinguishing blessing
of grace. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. We are allowed by the
grace of God in Christ Jesus to separate our I, our me, from
my sin. Why? Because he separated it
from me when he bore it in his own body on the tree. In living, He loved me. Dying,
He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. I like that. I know some people
read it as a cop-out. The unregenerate mind will. But
it's not a cop-out. It is a fact of God's distinguishing
grace. Let me go on. For the good that
I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that do I. Now, he's not talking about preaching
the gospel. He's not talking about walking
in love, faith, all those things. He talked about the commands
of the law. Doing God's law. It's right to do the law. It's
never wrong to do the law. But you can't keep it. You can't
keep it. The desire, the will, can be
present with you, but you're not going to find the capacity
to do it because keeping the law, you don't keep the law,
one part of yourself, the safe part, and then not keep the law
with the unsafe part. That is hypocrisy. Is it not? That is hypocrisy, let's go on.
Now, if I do that which I would not, and that is not an if of
possibilities, it's an if of, it don't always happen all the
time, but it's always present. As he goes on to say, when I
do good, evil's present with me. Now if I do that I would
not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me. Oh, the privilege of being a
son or a daughter of God. in being able to say this about
yourself. The world can call it a cop-out
if they wish. God calls it a distinguishing
blessing from his grace in Christ Jesus. I find in a law that when
I would do good, evil's present with me. And my beloved brethren,
you'll never be able to rise above that. It is a fact of life
And the sooner and the more often we are reminded by God of it,
the less we'll be under total bondage in our consciences when
we find our flesh not doing God's law, let alone not keeping God's
law. Paul, after his conversion, talked
a lot about doing the law. He said, in the law, I'm blameless.
But he never said he kept the law. Do you ever notice that
you're not gonna find Paul anywhere saying he kept the law. I find
in a law that What I would do good When I would do good Evil
is present with me for I delight in the law of God after the inward
man, and that's the new man and call it the new man that Inward
man, some people call it the new nature. I never really hear
it said, so I'm trying to stay away from that phrase. There's
controversy even about that. I mean, you can't spit unless
you spit on a dry spot. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. Then Paul explains, as I've said,
this blessing of this distinguishing grace in these verses here. I'm
able to make a distinction between my inward man and my old man,
my sin, my flesh, my carnality. Number four, here now, every
gospel converted believer's dire cry in light of this horrid condition. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. It seems like that
old slave master with his whip is always there. Always. You remember what Peter called
the law of Moses, don't you? It's a yoke about the neck that
neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. And they were just
discussing and arguing over circumcision. Now, circumcision ain't that
hard. Especially if you're eight days old, you got no say in the
matter. You can't keep them from doing
it to you. But you remember what Paul said. If you be circumcised,
you're a debtor to the whole law. If you do it for acceptance
before God, you're a debtor to the whole law. Here now, the fifth thing, here
now every gospel converted believers expressed hope of deliverance. Oh, wretched man that I am. Folks,
I know something about this. Not as I should, I'm sure. But
I don't know that God would ever really let us see it in this
life like it really is before him. Your mind, I don't know
that we could operate. Oh, 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 the mind, I myself
serve the law of God. But with my flesh, the law of
sin. And this is happening at the
same time. It is not, I do a little serving
the law in my mind for a while, then I do a little serving sin
in the flesh for a while. Again, I say that's the way religion
operates. That's the basis of most Baptist
and Catholic doctrine of being saved. Live for Jesus for a while,
and when you sin against God, go confess it. One's in a confessional
booth, the other's usually at the front of the church at some
called altar. It's all the same thing, one's just kind of done
in semi-private. That's it. Here's the sixth thing. Here
now, every gospel believers declared present full lack of any condemnation
in our deliverance and a description of their condition in Christ.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's the statement of no con,
we delivered it. And we're delivered now. But
do not think of this now as a time thing. Do not think it is now
in light of this present wretched state. Even now, even while I'm
in this present wretched state, It's not, at one time I was condemned,
but now I'm not. That's not what he's saying there.
Although I could say there's a sense in which we could say
that was probably true. That's not what Paul's saying.
He's saying there is therefore now, even in light of all these
facts. Do you see that? There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. And then
here's the description of them who are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh. but after the Spirit. Now, God
willing, next week, if I'm able, we'll then go into Paul's explanation
of this and look at it in more detail. But note a couple things.
Who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit? It doesn't
say because we walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
This is not a conditional thing. It is a positional thing. You
hear what I'm saying? We're not condemned because we
walk not after the flesh, but we are described as those who
walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.