I invite you this morning to
turn back with me to Romans chapter 7. Having stated very clearly the
condition of man, the powerful working of sin which was in him, Paul cries out, as only a believer
can, You'll never hear the natural man cry this out, never will. But that man born of God will.
He'll cry out, oh, wretched man that I used to be. And that's
not what this is. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? This flesh which is enmity against God,
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. This flesh
which is deceived on every hand, believing that it can keep the
law, When it's told plainly in the scriptures that you can't,
the law is not called a blessing to the believer, or a blessing
to me, it's called a curse. Called a curse. Cursed is everyone
who continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. This flesh, this flesh, it has
a Bible. but he can't understand it. Has
a gospel, but can't hear it. And that's my subject this morning,
saved from a body of death. Romans chapter 7 has been the
topic of much debate and controversy. Some look at it as though it's
describing the experience of a believer as when he's first
being convinced of sin. It's describing that first experience
that he has. And indeed, it does with great
accuracy describe that experience. It does. It does describe it. As it begins to see the law and
see that law as a curse to a fallen man, the law being spiritual,
man being carnal, sold under sin. And then some attempt to read
this chapter as something that could take place but does not
necessarily have to, something that could happen. They say it's
the experience of a weak believer, one who's not yet established
in the faith. One who's still being blown about
by every wind of doctrine. Not grounded and settled in the
truth. But all through this chapter,
Paul never speaks of us, he speaks of him. He always speaks in the
present tense of himself. I, I, I, I. All the way through
this chapter. And this man, Paul, was taught
of Christ himself. and whom you could hardly describe
as a weak, unsettled believer. And then yet others read this
chapter as though it were a parable and not an actual experience
at all, just something to teach. But nowhere in this chapter does
Paul even give a hint that what he's saying is a parable. I personally
believe that what makes this chapter so confusing to some
is because they've never yet been convinced of sin by the
Holy Ghost. Only a man convinced of sin knows
sin and can talk about sin the way Paul talks about it here.
The man who's experienced that in his very soul, he can talk
about it. He can talk about it. Study books and read books and
they can speculate about this and speculate about that. But
no man can from experience really enter into these things and talk
about these things unless he's experienced them himself. Then
they make perfect sense. It's one thing to adhere to the
doctrine of man's fall. It's another thing to discover
yourself possessed with the nature of sin. What does that mean? That means
that you can't redeem yourself. That means your will is in bondage. That means your heart is in bondage. That means your mind is in bondage. That means that you can't redeem
yourself. You can't save yourself. Your
problem is yourself. Does that make sense? It does to the believer. He's
the problem. This world would have you believe
that Satan's the problem, that you're all right, but Satan's
influence on you is what's causing all the problems. You're the
problem. Otherwise, his influence couldn't
touch you. Paul didn't cry, oh, wretched
man that Adam was. He cried, oh, wretched man that
I am. And what Paul is describing in this chapter is a real and
continued experience of every true believer. There is in him
and acknowledged by him an old man and a new man. An old man and a new man. And that old man and that new
man are both described as one man. He uses the word I to describe
both of them. The believer is both sinner and
saint. Paul was Saint Paul. Look at
his epistles in the Bible. It calls him Saint Paul. He was a saint. He was a sanctified
man called by God himself, caught up to the third heaven, taught
by Christ himself. He was an apostle. He was a saint. He was a saved
man. But he refers to himself as the
chief of sinners. And he refers to himself here
as a wretched man. He's both sinner and saint. He's
both blessed and cursed. He's both righteous and unrighteous.
Condemned and justified. The old man and the new man. Now man has but one soul. He's
just one person. He's not two people. I'm just
one person. Paul was just one person. You're
just one person. You just have one soul. There's
not two souls in there. God's going to save one and destroy
the other. They're just one soul. You're just one person. But that
soul, by way of Adam's fall, is born in sin. It's vexed with
sin. The Scripture said it was shapen
in iniquity. Now, I'm talking about a man
after God's own heart, David. He said that he was shapen in
iniquity and born in sin. He came forth from the womb,
he said, speaking lies. And here in chapter 7, he said,
I know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal. I'm carnal. What makes me carnal? I was sold
unto sin. And Paul tells us in verse 18
here of Romans 7, he said, for I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, that which was born of Adam, this old flesh, dwelleth
no good thing. Then why am I being told to look
in there for something good? You won't if you know what Paul
knew. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. It's just, I tell you all the time, it's an empty box.
It's a black hole. My soul, my whole heart, soul,
mind is vexed with the nature of sin. Paul calls this a body
of death. In Ephesians chapter 2, it said,
in you hath he quickened who were dead. That's what he's talking
about. A body of death. Not physical death, but spiritual
death. The Bible says in Romans chapter
5 verse 12, by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by
sin, and so death passed upon all men. You see where Paul is coming
from? Who shall deliver me from this body of death? That's what natural men do. They
sin. They sin. Well, most of you will
agree with that, will agree with this. All they can do is sin. Huh? Did you know that? There's none righteous, and there's
none that doeth good, Paul said, no, not one. That's all they can do is sin,
and that's all they're ever going to do is sin. Paul wasn't a deceived man here
in Romans chapter 7. He wasn't a man here in Romans
chapter 7 who had not been born again, who had not been converted.
This was a man born of God, taught of God, being inspired by the
Holy Ghost to write the very book that we're reading. And this is the man who's crying,
oh, wretched man that I am. That old man hasn't changed one
whit. One whit. That's all that natural man does. That's all he can do and that's
all he's ever going to do is sin. Not always open and blatant
sin like adultery and murder and cheating and lying and all
these things, but by nature, unable to produce that perfect
righteousness which God demands. Paul said back in Romans 7 verse
9, I was alive without the law once when he was back in religion.
He looked at the law as his friend. He looked at the law as his justifier. He looked at the law for his
righteousness. He looked to the law for all
those things and he said the reason for it is because the
sin that was in him deceived him. It deceived him into believing
those things. Thousands believe that today.
I guarantee you this morning they're preaching that in nearly
every church in the land. They're going to stand up and
talk about your righteousness and talk about your obedience
and talk about your goodness and talk about your giving and
your loving and all those things. They're going to talk about that
this morning. Well, that's where Paul was. He said, I was alive
without the law once, but then the commandment came. It came
to me in truth. And I understood what it was
saying. And then he said, I died. I died. I kept that law outwardly. He
tells us that over in Philippians. He judged himself and was judged
by others as blameless. He said in his heart the same
thing the rich young ruler said who came to Christ, all these
things have I kept from my youth up. Lived under the law, believing
themselves to be justified by it. Went in God's favor by their
obedience to it. He said I was alive without the
law once. But the commandment came, and
sin revived. I saw sin in its true nature,
and I died. What is the truth of the law?
Well, the truth is, cursed is every man who continueth not
in all things written in the book of the law to do. Now, we're
told today I had a fellow tell me this to my face. He had a
big sign in his parking lot. I went out to bid on a roof job.
And here's this big sign in the parking lot. And it was done
on a wooden scroll. It had the Ten Commandments on
it. And I said, why do you have that
in your churchyard? He said, well, the Ten Commandments
are enough for me. I said, they're too much for
me. Now, let me tell you something.
If you could love The Lord thy God, this is the first commandment.
If you could love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul,
mind, and strength, if you could do that, you could keep every
precept of the law. And you would, because you love
Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But you don't,
and that makes you guilty of the whole law, because you've
not done what the first commandment Told you you had to do. And the
second one, our Lord said, just like it. Love your neighbor as
yourself. He said, you do this, you'll
keep the whole law. I was alive without the law once. That law is spiritual. It judges
our thoughts, judges our affections, our motives, our intents. And then listen to this. Romans
7, verse 11. For sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, deceived me. It deceived me. What did? Sin
mixed with the commandment. Sin mixed with the law of God. And it slew me. Sin corrupts
everything. It corrupts in us the knowledge
of the law, It corrupts in us all ideas and concepts of righteousness
and judgment. It distorts the reason for the
law, the work of the law, and the curse of the law. Romans 7 builds on the already established fact
that both Jew and Gentile are all under That's already been established.
See, we're guilty of that. We want to run over here to chapter
9 or chapter 10. We want to take a little piece
out of a verse. That's what I believe. We don't want to go back and
see what had already been established and what's already proven to
be a fact. Paul said in Romans chapter 3,
I have before proved that both Jew and Gentile are all under
sin. Already proved that. Being under sin means that there's
none righteous. It means that they're under its
influence and under its curse and under its penalties. It means
there's none righteous, none that understandeth, none that
seeketh after God, and none that doeth good, no, not one. Being under sin means that they've
all gone out of the way. It means destruction and misery
are in their ways. It means there is no fear of
God before their eyes. It means that before conversion,
we were by nature, isn't that what it says over there in Ephesians
2? By nature, the child of wrath even as others. Sin dictates
our thoughts. It stirs our emotions. It corrupts
our judgment. It holds our will in bondage. We become, as Isaiah said, all
together as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses as
filthy rags. So that man, here's another quote from scripture,
man at his best state, when he cleans himself up, And he stops
carousing around, and he stops his drinking, and he quits his
smoking, and he quits his gambling, and he goes and gets a good job,
and he marries a good woman, and he settles down. Man at his
best state is altogether vanity. Vanity. But nowhere is man's enmity toward
God exposed as it is in his rejection of Jesus Christ. And I tell you,
he'd take the word of a poem reader over the Word of Christ.
Yeah, he will. He'd worship a snake before he'd
worship the Son of God. The natural man, the Bible said,
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness
unto him. You mean I had to have a man?
You mean God had to become a man and come down here in my place
and obey that law on my behalf to give me a righteousness? You
mean I couldn't do anything that God would consider to be righteous?
That's exactly what I'm saying. That's foolishness to the natural
man. You mean God and man had to be
in union in one person and Him come and suffer in my stead the
very wrath of God? Bear my sins in His own body
on the tree? Put away sin by the sacrifice?
That's exactly what I'm saying. Natural man don't receive these
things. Please God, through the foolishness of preaching, to
save them that believe. The Holy Spirit works in conjunction
with the preaching of the gospel, but man's not going to have it.
Natural man won't. Nope. He'll hunt a dream, a vision,
something. He'll find something else. He'll
find an experience. He'll find something, and he'll
hope in that. Man thinks, reasons, hopes, and
serves the flesh. And when the Scripture speaks
of the old man, this is what he's talking about. That old
Adam nature, that's the old man. He's talking about every fallen
man and his Adam nature. All right? Here's another fact.
All believers are born of God. They're born of God. This new
birth, I want you to hear what I'm telling you. This new birth
is the revelation of Christ in you. That's what it is. Men say, oh, I've been born again.
I can speak in tongues. That's foolishness to me. I can't
even imagine what that would be before God. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
2. That new birth is the revelation of Christ in you. That's what that birth is. Having stated clearly that God
quickened us together with Christ, We were put to death in Him,
raised with Him, made to sit together in heavenly places in
Him. He tells us all that in the first part of Ephesians 2.
Showed us the exceeding riches of His grace and His eternal
kindness through His Son. He's given us the gift of faith.
Ephesians 2.10. For we're His workmanship. created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Now watch this. Wherefore, remember
that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, and
that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances." Now listen. For to make in himself of twain
one new man. What is the new man? Christ in
you. That's it. That's it. That's not being preached today. That's not being preached today. He made one new man, so making
peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by
the cross, having slain the enmity. Salvation is union with Christ. That's what it is. It's union
with Christ. He is the new man of faith. Christ is. Now, we're somehow
getting the idea, and I get the idea, even listening to some
great speeches, That the believer is the new man and Christ, being
preached to him, inspires that new man. That's not what it says
in the Scriptures. The hope of glory is Christ in
you. And I'm going to tell you something
else. There's another little section there, I think it's in
the book of Matthew, where our Lord stopped him and he said,
now, you can't take an old garment and sew a new piece of cloth
on it. But ain't that what we're talking
about when we're talking about reforming that old flesh, that
old garment? We're talking about putting a
patch here where it's needed, and there's a hole over here,
so we'll sew one on here. It's just going to fall off.
And he said, you don't take that new wine and put it in an old
bottle. Now, I hope you can hear what
I'm saying. God didn't take his new wine and put it in your old
bottle. He put it in his son. And then
he put his son in your old bottle. That's it. Christ in you, the
hope of glory. And if you have hope before God,
you have hope in the Son of God, not in you. Not in you. Christ is not the inspiration
for the reforming of the new man. He's not the example by
which the old man is transformed into a new man. He himself is
the new man. He's the new man. Where his workmanship,
now listen, created in us. That ain't what that says. Where his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in these good works. Paul tells us in
Colossians 2, 6, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding therein
with thanksgiving. And my hope of salvation, my
hope of heaven, my hope of forgiveness, acceptance, righteousness, and
peace is Christ. It's Christ. It's not Christ
plus something I do. It's not His works and my works
somehow mixed together. It's not His righteousness mixed
with mine. It's Christ alone. Christ alone. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. The new birth is not some invisible
force enters into the believer and straightens him out, straightens
out his life and enables him to keep the law and establish
some personal righteousness of his own. The new birth is the
revelation of Christ in you and to you with the understanding
that you're one with him. That's it. And when do we get
despondent and despaired? When do we do this? when you
start looking within, trying to find some evidence of salvation. Isn't that right? Well, not when
you look to Christ. You can't find any reason to
doubt when you look at Him. There's nothing in Him to doubt.
There's nothing in Him to make you despondent. He already satisfied
God. God already raised him up. He ascended into glory with the
angels, and he took his seat at the right hand of God, expecting
to his enemies be made his footstool. There's strong assurance in him,
but there's none in me. And I tell you, every time I
start looking within, boy, you don't pray enough, and you don't
study enough, and you don't read enough, and you don't do something
else. But that's not my hope. I know
I need to read more, and so do you. I know I need to pray more,
and so do you. But that's not my hope. My hope's
Christ. Huh? You see what I'm saying
here? This is what Paul's talking about.
I get in this flesh, and I say, well, to do good, the will's
there. I want to do good. Sure, you
do. But you can't do what you want to do. So there ain't no
hope there. Ain't no hope there. Hope's in Christ. In Him it's
already done. It's already done. New birth
is a revelation of Christ in you. Watch this. 1 Corinthians
1, verse 30. But of Him, talking about God,
of Him, are you in Christ Jesus? By union with Him, He sees me
one with the Son of God. In holy union with Him. Of Him
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Jesus Christ
is the new man, and this new man is all in all that believe. That's what Paul tells us in
Colossians 3.11. Well, how does all this relate
to the believer's walk as Paul describes it in Romans 7, talking
about this old man and the new man? Well, believers have in
themselves a nature plagued with sin, a nature that's always present
And this old nature leaves him crying unto God, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Well, he tells us in verse 25,
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now look back here
at Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6, verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? Is that what we're
doing? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Therefore, we're buried with Him, that is, in union with Him
by baptism. into death, that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also
in the likeness of His resurrection." Now watch this next verse. Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with Him. Ain't
that what this is? Crucified. That the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. What's
he saying? He's saying that our old man,
all that he is, all that he was, all that he's ever going to be,
this old man, all that he's ever done, all that he's doing right
now, all that he'll ever do, that had been crucified with
Christ. He's dead. He's dead. Paul tells us over in Colossians
chapter 3, he said, ye are dead. Ain't that what he said? And
your life is hid with Christ in God. This old man was judged, condemned,
sentenced, and the sentence carried out in the Lord Jesus Christ.
All of his hypocritical thoughts and words, all of his ungodly
acts and passions, all of his ignorant and ungodly ways, gone
forever in the sight of God. Crucified with the Son of God. Now let me tell you something.
Legally, he's dead. Actually, he's very much alive. He's very much alive. Justly
and righteously he was crucified, but actually that old Adam nature
is as much alive in us as it ever was. It pulls and tugs and
lies and threatens and robs us of all of our assurance and peace.
There's only one cure. Only one victory over that old
man. That's the new man. That's the
new man. You ignore the old man. Paul
actually says over in Ephesians chapter 4 that you take off,
put him off. Put off the old man. Take him
off. Quit looking to him. Quit serving him. Quit beating
him. Quit taking care of him. Quit listening to him. Take him
off. Put him off. And put on the new the new man. As faith perceives
our oneness, this oneness between that old Adamic nature and itself,
even so it perceives a oneness in the person of Christ and Himself. And so then, Paul says, here's
how he sums up his present life now. He said, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, that is, with the mind of Christ.
He's my righteousness. He's my atonement. He's my Savior. Huh? He's the new man. I'm one with
Him. With the mind of Christ, I serve the law of God. When
I look to that law, I see that law exalted and honored in my
Savior, don't you? I see that perfect love. He loved
God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and obeyed
every precept in motive, thought, and deed. How can I serve that law? I can
serve that law by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the only way you can serve that law. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Glorifying God with a righteous
resurrection and a loving acceptance with the Father. And this is
the only way to walk before God and have fellowship with Him,
is by faith in Christ. Romans 8, verse 1. Now, if you
can do that, if this is your experience, and if you can do
that, he tells us in Romans 8, verse 1, there is therefore now
no condemnation. To them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh, they walk after the Spirit. What
is it to walk after the Spirit? Is that to dance around and hold
your hands up and close your eyes and let them roll back in
your head and fall out on the floor? That's not it. That's not it. We walk after the Spirit when
we hear those things of Christ and rejoice in Him. That's walking
after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. It's exposed it for what it is.
It showed me the deceit in it. He showed me the curse of it.
He showed me the influence of it. He showed me its end. Paul tells us something of our
past in Romans 4, 17-19. And then he tells us, but you
have not so learned Christ. If so, be that you have heard
Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Him, that
you put off concerning the former behavior of the old man. Just
put him off. Put off all ideas of self-righteousness
and all ideas of self-reform. Just take it off. Put it off.
and put on that new man which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. Preacher, you think you have
holiness? I do in Christ. I do in Christ. He says in Christ
that He's already presented me to the Father and will present
me in that day unreprovable. God Himself can't find anything
to change. Faith hears of the person and
work of Christ. It hears of His eternal appointments.
It hears of His condescension. It hears of His accomplished
redemption. It hears of His present reign
and glory. And faith understands that salvation
is by the sovereign grace of God who has put us into a vital
union with His Son. That all His elect were viewed
in Him. Rewarded in Him. Crucified with
Him. Raised up and seated with Him
in glory. And faith perceives its lost
estate and comes to Christ in hope of mercy and grace. And
it keeps on coming. A lot of people want to look at
this and say, well, that was my experience way back yonder.
It may have been. It might not have been. I don't
know. But I'm telling you, if it ain't your experience right
now, you don't know God. Because once you know what you
are and you know what He is, Where's the life at? It's in
Him. Where's the mercy at? It's in Him. Where's the grace
at? It's in Him. Where's forgiveness at? In Him.
Where's acceptance with God at? In Him. Where are you going to
go? To Him. To Him. So what you're saying, preacher,
that old man and that new man are the same man, only in the
sense that they're both in me. that are both in me. And that
old man that was crucified with Christ shall be taken away completely
when I die. Let me read this and I'll close.
Colossians 3, verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right
hand of God. Seek that. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth, or you're dead. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. That's my life. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, oh, listen to this, then shall you also appear with
Him in glory. Huh? As best as I can tell it,
that's the old man and the new man. That's what Romans chapter
7 is teaching. That's the experience of every
true believer. And his only hope is Christ.
God takes everything else and strips him of it. All hope in
the law, all hope in his own goodness, all hope in his own
will. He takes it all away from him and leaves nothing for him
to go to but Christ. And that's what the law is all
about. Huh? The law leaves you without excuse
sitting before the Lamb of God hoping for mercy.