Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
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for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us for this week's study, and I want to talk to
you today about this subject, the believer and God's law. The believer and God's law. Now,
I'm going to begin teaching in Romans chapter 7, beginning at
verse 14, but to lead up to there, the Apostle Paul has been showing
in Romans 6 and 7 First of all, how a believer, a true child
of God, a sinner saved by grace, that's a Christian, one who has
been washed in the blood of Christ, cleansed from all his sins, and
that's the legality of salvation. The sins of God's people, Christ's
sheep, the church, God's elect, had been imputed to Christ, charged
to Him, and He died for those sins. That's why He died, because
of the sins of His people charged to Him. The wages of sin is death.
And He died and was buried and arose the third day because He
justified them and gave them His righteousness, which is imputed
to them. And therefore, by the death of
Christ, believers are freed from sin, justified from sin. And what that means is that in
Christ, because of what He accomplished on behalf of His people, they
cannot be charged with sin. The law cannot condemn them. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. It's God that justifies. It's
God who pronounced me not guilty. It's God who pronounced me righteous
because of Christ and my union with Him. And that pronouncement
is based not upon anything in me. It's not based upon anything
I do or try to do. It's not even based upon my believing. I do believe. And that's a work
of God the Holy Spirit within in the new birth. But the pronouncement
of justification comes because of what Christ did on the cross,
what he finished, what he completed. For Christ is the end, the fulfillment
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
And so therefore I'm not guilty. I'm righteous in God's sight. And in that sense, I'm justified
from sin. Scripture even goes on to say
I'm dead to sin. That's what Paul was writing.
That means sin cannot be laid to my charge. Sin cannot condemn
me. And then he goes on in Romans
7 to talk about how a believer is dead to the law. The law of
God. Now, the Bible teaches that everyone
who is under law in any form, shape, or fashion, and in that
sense what it's talking about is people trying to be saved
by their law keeping, or people trying to make themselves righteous
by their obedience to the law. The scripture says, for example,
in Galatians chapter three and verse 10, that those people are
under the curse. And the reason is, is because,
as Paul quotes from the Old Testament in Galatians chapter 3, the reason
is, is because cursed is everyone who continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. You see,
if you're trying to be saved or to become righteous before
God by your law keeping in order to be saved, then you're under
the curse. But in Jesus Christ, that curse
is removed. For He was made a curse for His
people, for us, that we might receive the gift of salvation. And so the law of God brings
sinners in guilty before God. Now Paul had been talking about
that in Romans 7. And he'd already said that in
Christ, He's dead to the law. The law cannot condemn Him. But
let me show you another side of that. The law cannot condemn
him because he has a righteousness that answers its requirements,
its demands. You see, I have a righteousness
that answers the demands, the requirements, all the conditions
that the law demands. Now, what is that righteousness?
Well, it's not my obedience to the law. It's Christ's obedience
unto death. You see, Christ's obedience unto
death equals perfect righteousness, and I am in Him. He is my Savior. He is the Lord, my righteousness.
So I'm dead to the law. The law cannot condemn me, and
the law cannot require anything of me by way of obedience in
order to attain or maintain salvation. Now, do you understand what I'm
saying? The law cannot require anything of me in order to attain
or maintain salvation. I'm in Christ. I have salvation. So when Paul brings this forth
and he talks about his new state as a justified sinner, a regenerated,
born-again person, a believer, he says that he's delivered from
the law in verse 6. that being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, newness of
life, newness of spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
And what Paul's talking about there is that now, as a willing,
loving bond-slave of Christ, he's enabled to seek to obey
God, not as a legalist in fear of punishment, and not as a mercenary. for promises of earned reward.
But he does it as a willing, loving bond slave whose debt
has been fully paid, debt to the law, and who is motivated
by grace and gratitude and love. Well, the Apostle Paul then in
verses seven through 13, he turned back to his past. Everything
in Romans seven, verses seven through 13 is written about the
past, it's all past tense. And he was talking about when
he was a Pharisee, when he was an unbeliever. He imagined in
his sinful, self-righteous heart, and listen, I'm not picking on
Paul, that's all of us by nature before we come to a saving knowledge
of Christ. But as a self-righteous, unbelieving
Pharisee, he thought that his obedience was good enough to
equal righteousness. That would give him life. He
said, I was alive without the law once. In other words, I thought
I had life. I thought I was going to live
forever because I was such a good person. But then, he says, when
the law came, when the Holy Spirit Convicted him of sin under the
preaching of the gospel and he describes this in Philippians
chapter 3 He found that law to be unto death in other words
He thought he was good enough to keep the law, but when the
Holy Spirit revealed the reality of the law the spirituality of
the law Then he said sin revived sin sin there was a revival of
sin in his mind in his conscience in his heart and And he said
he died. He found that the law could only
condemn him based upon his best efforts to keep it. Why? Because
he's a sinner. That's why the law condemns me
or you based upon our best obedience, our attempts to obey, because
we're sinners. The wages of sin is death. So
he says the law, the Holy Spirit used the law to bring him in
guilty before God and the Holy Spirit then revealed Christ to
him and brought him to Christ for righteousness, for forgiveness,
for salvation, for life. Again, he describes that well
in Philippians chapter three. He said that all, everything
that he thought as an unbeliever recommended him unto God in his
law-keeping, he found he counted but nothing, nothing, in light
of what Christ did in his obedience unto death. In fact, he goes
on, he uses strong language in Philippians 3. He said, I count
it all but lost. He said, I count it but done that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ.
Now, in Romans 7, 14, he turns to the present. From Romans 7,
14 all the way to the end of the chapter, it's all written
in present tense. And now he talks about his relationship
to the law as a believer, and he shows the struggle within
himself between the flesh and the spirit. The Holy Spirit resides
within. He's given his people a new spirit,
new life, spiritual life, and he's brought them to see Christ,
but there's still the remaining sinfulness of the flesh. Paul
says there's a struggle. So here's the law and the believer
in the believers life as a Christian as a person saved by grace and
listen to what he says in verse 14 of Romans 7 He says for we
know that the law is spiritual. That means the law reaches to
the heart That means the law Condemns sinners not just for
what they do or don't do but also for what they think and
their attitude, their motives. It reaches the heart. Christ
taught this in the Sermon on the Mount when he taught about
how the law, the Pharisees taught that it's a sin to murder, but
Christ took it further. He said it's a sin to even have
hatred in your heart. The Pharisees taught that it's
a sin to commit adultery, but Christ took it even further.
He said, that's a sin, but it's also a sin to lust in your heart. You see that? Covetousness, Paul
mentioned in Romans 7. That's a sin of the heart. The
law reaches the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Hebrews
chapter 4 speaks of that, how the word of God is sharper than
any two-edged sword. It pierces asunder, not just
to the actions, not just to the acts of sin, but to the thoughts
and the motives of sin. And you see, that shows us how
sinful we are by nature. Sin is not just in what we do.
Sin is in what we are by nature. We're born spiritually dead. We fell in Adam, ruined by the
fall. And we're born in this life physically,
spiritually dead, without spiritual life. That's why Christ told
Nicodemus, you must be born again, or you cannot see or hear or
enter the kingdom of God. We don't have spiritual eyes
and spiritual ears naturally. And that's the problem. So he
says, verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual. He says,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. I'm of the flesh. I'm a human
being. That's what he means. I have
to deal with things in this physical world all the time, every day. And the law shows me that I'm
sold under sin. I'm saved by the grace of God,
but I'm still a sinner. Sold under sin, a slave to sin. That's what that means. Now,
how can the same man say in one place, I'm freed from sin, or
I'm dead to sin. And now in verse 14, he says,
I'm carnal, sold under sin. Is that a contradiction? Now,
you know how some people deal with that passage. They say,
well, Paul's talking about before he was saved. And that is not
true. As I said, if you wanna know
what Paul's talking about before he was converted, read Romans
7, verse 7 through 13, that's past tense. But when he picks
up at verse 14, he changes to the present tense. Paul is saying,
this is what I am presently. I'm saved by grace, but I'm a
sinner saved by grace. And that's what the law of God
still shows me. It still shows me that. I'm a
sinner saved by grace. Paul wrote to Timothy in his
old age and he said, this is a faithful saying worthy of all
acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
of whom I am, present tense, chief. So Paul goes on to describe
the struggle that he has within himself. And what he's essentially
showing here in these verses is the believer's relationship
to the law of God. Even as a believer, I cannot
keep the law. Now, should I try to keep the
law? Should I try to be an obedient
person? And the answer is yes. Think
about Paul the apostle. He says, I am carnal, sold under
sin. Look at verse 15, he says, for
that which I do, I allow not, or that means I know not, what
he's talking about, I don't approve of it. And when he says that
which I do, now Paul was not an immoral man in the eyes of
the world, before salvation or after. But he says that which
I do, I allow not. Well, what are you doing, Paul?
What great sin in your life is prevalent? Well, that's not what
he's talking about. Listen to it again. Verse 15. For that which I do, I allow
not, I approve not. For what I would, what I desire
to do, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. Now what is Paul saying there?
Well, as a sinner saved by grace, chosen of God before the foundation
of the world, Redeemed by the blood of Christ you see haven't
been ruined by the fall we have to be redeemed by the blood of
Christ and now as a regenerate sinner a regenerate person born
again regenerated by the Holy Spirit I Now have a desire to
obey God To obey God rightly to obey God perfectly But I cannot
do it while I exist in this body of flesh. I cannot do it. My desire is to be a true, perfect,
obedient servant of God. But my obedience always falls
short of perfect holiness and righteousness. My best efforts
to obey God. My best efforts to keep the law
always fall short of righteousness. My best thoughts, my best desires,
my best motives are always contaminated and brought down by the flesh
to the point that I cannot say at any time I am righteous within
myself. Now, I can say I'm righteous
in Christ. Now, remember I asked this question,
how can the same man say I'm dead to sin, freed from sin,
and then say I'm sold under sin? Well, he's talking about two
different things. In Romans 6, he's talking about
the believer's legal standing, justification before God, based
solely upon the imputed righteousness of Christ, his blood. In Christ,
I am totally free from sin. Sin cannot condemn me. In Christ,
I am perfectly righteous in Him now, not in myself. In 2 Corinthians 5.21, it says,
For God made Him, that's God the Father, made Jesus Christ
the Son of God, to be sin for us, for his people, Christ who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. As I stand before God in Christ,
Christ as my representative, Christ as my substitute, Christ
as my surety, Christ as my high priest, Christ as my mediator,
I am perfectly as righteous as I'll ever be, legally, before
God. But in myself, even as a regenerate,
born-again person, I'm still a sinner. I'm still one who has
to struggle. with sinful thoughts and desires,
and I have to fight holding back sinful. And listen, I cannot
do that in my own power and my own goodness, because I don't
have any. It's all of God. So Paul says, for that which
I do, I allow not. When I desire to worship God
and to pray unto God, I desire to do that with no distractions,
no sinful thoughts creeping in. Can I do that? He says, no. What
I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. And verse 16, now listen to this.
He says, if then I do that which I would not. If I do that which
I desire not, I consent unto the law that it is good. The
law is not the problem here. I'm the problem. That's what
Paul's saying. The law's good. The law of God,
his precepts, that he commands us in every way, that's a good
thing. That's a reflection of God's
goodness, righteousness, and holiness. The law's not the problem. We're the problem. I'm a sinner.
And so he says in verse 17, now then it is no more I that do
it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now that language has confused
a lot of people. It sounds like, some people might
say, well it sounds like Paul's passing the buck. He's saying,
well I'm not really the one doing that, that's a sin. And there
are some people who talk about like we're two persons. Like
there's the holy me, the righteous me, and then there's the sinful
me. And Paul's saying, well, it's not really the holy me that's
doing it, it's the sinful. That's not what Paul's saying
at all. He's simply saying that when you see me fall short of
the standard of righteousness and holiness in the law, you're
not seeing what God sees. You're not seeing the real me
as I stand before God in Christ. You might look at me or see something
that I do, and you might say, well, man, how can he be a Christian?
But you see, we struggle with sin. But God sees me in Christ. God doesn't hold it against me.
And he says in verse 18, he says, for I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. As
I exist in this earth, in this human body, this flesh, there's
no good thing that dwells in me. Now, we'll make the distinction. The Holy Spirit indwells us,
and He's certainly good, but Paul is talking about his own
person. Even though I have the Holy Spirit
indwelling me, the Holy Spirit has not made me perfect in myself. The Holy Spirit is perfect, but
I'm still not perfect in myself. So Paul even says how to perform
that which is good. I find I don't even know how
to do anything perfectly. righteously, without, I don't
know of a moment of my life that I'm not having to struggle with
the contamination and remaining influence of sin. So there's
no good thing that dwells in me and that is in my flesh. Verse
19, for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which
I would not, that I do. The good that I want to do, I
don't do. The evil that I don't want to do, I do. Now again,
understand here, Paul is not an immoral man in the eyes of
the world. But he's talking about the struggle
within himself as he sees the perfect law of God in Christ.
And so he says in verse 20 again, he mentions again in verse 20,
now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. It's not the real me as God sees
me in Christ. As God sees me in Christ, I'm
freed from sin. I'm justified. I'm righteous. But in my flesh, in this human
body, as I exist in this world, there's evil present with me.
He says in verse 21, I find then a law that when I would do good,
evil is present with me. That law there is a powerful
principle. And what he's saying that when
I would do good, there's a powerful principle. that keeps me from
keeping the law perfectly, from being perfectly conformed to
Christ. But now look at verse 22. He says, for I delight in
the law of God after the inward man. Now the inward man is the
heart, the new heart, the new spirit, the very core of his
person. And what does the inward man
do in a believer? The inward man looks to Christ
for all salvation, for the forgiveness of all sin, for all righteousness
and eternal life in glory. And that's the only way that
we can delight in the law of God. When I look at the law of
God and compare myself in my obedience, I don't have anything
to delight in. I have a lot of things to be
ashamed of. I have a lot of things to repent of. I have to pray,
Lord, Lord, forgive me of my sins. I thank God that Christ
is my advocate. He continually presents the merits
of his blood for my sin, for the forgiveness of my sins. But
when I look at myself in Christ, washed clean from all my sins,
righteous in Him, I delight in the law of God. Christ kept the
law for me. So he says in verse 23, but I
see another law in my members, that is my human body, warring
against the law of my mind, how I think, the inward man, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my
members. When I look to Christ, I have
nothing to be ashamed of. But when I want to obey Him perfectly,
when I want to be perfect according to His Word, there's another
law in my members. And listen, the grace is a powerful
principle too now. It's more powerful than the power
of sin. And that's what keeps a believer
desiring to obey God. People say, well, if you're righteous
in Christ and you cannot be charged, then why obey? Because of the
powerful law of grace, the principle of grace, the power of grace
in the heart. But he says there's another law,
and that's the law of sin, he says, which is in my members.
And so here's the conclusion that Paul comes to when he looks
at himself, when he judges himself. In these two verses, verse 24,
O wretched man that I am, present tense. He doesn't say, O wretched
man that I was. He says, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death? The body is dead because of sin. The spirit is life because of
righteousness. So old wretched man that I am,
that's what a Christian is. A Christian is the old wretched
man. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And here's the conclusion, now
it doesn't stop there. The conclusion is in verse 25,
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, and so then with the
mind, that's the spiritual, a life within the spiritual heart. I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of
sin. You see, there's no improvements on the flesh. Salvation is not improving the
flesh. It's not the flesh getting better
and better. Salvation is leaning to Christ and looking to Him
for all salvation, for all forgiveness, for all righteousness. I hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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