Hallelujah, He has found me. The next time somebody says to
me, I found God, I'm going to say, I didn't know He was lost. Romans chapter 7, while you're
turning there, I'm going to be speaking from Luke chapter 11
verses 33 through 36 tonight. on a single eye or an evil eye. If you could read that passage
of scripture in Luke chapter 11, verses 33 through 36. I've entitled this message, and I hope every one of us will
give this some serious, prayerful thought. I've entitled this message,
Are You a Romans 7 sinner. You know, there are not very
many of those. Most people are not. Are you
a Romans 7 sinner? You know, some have taken this
passage of Scripture that I've just read and have said that
Paul was speaking of his experience before God had saved him. Now,
the person who holds that position, one of two things is true of
them. Either they're not saved. And that's what I suspect. Or
if you give them the benefit of the doubt, they're in a backslidden
condition. So hard-hearted, so given over
to the spirit of the Laodiceans, rich, increased with goods and
having need of nothing, that they lack all discernment to
see themselves in this light and are at the verge of being
spit out of the mouth of Christ. That's a sobering thought, isn't
it? Are you, am I, a Romans 7 sinner. You see, if I'm not a Romans
7 sinner, I'm not a saved sinner. Now let me repeat that. This
is very important. If I am not, as Paul described
himself to be in Romans chapter 7, if I am not a Romans 7 sinner,
I am not a saved sinner. Now, I have four goals in bringing
this message. First, I want to glorify God. Second, I want to clearly state
what this text actually says, and I don't want to hold back.
out of fear that someone will use what I'm saying to justify
their sinful lifestyle. Now, I realize that some will
do that, but some will also hang themselves with a rope. We do
not stop the manufacturing of ropes because we're afraid somebody
will hang themselves, do we? You see, they would have found
some other way to terminate their life if they didn't have the
rope. The rope's not the problem. The one who killed himself is. We're not going to hold back
on the truth out of fear that someone will abuse it. They will,
but there's nothing we can do about that. We're still going
to speak what God's word actually says. May God give me the grace
to do that. Are you a Roman 7 sinner? And
thirdly, in bringing this message, I want every believer here to
enjoy the riches of full assurance, knowing I know the Savior and
He has saved me. Wouldn't that be a blessing if
you can leave this place knowing that the Lord has saved you and
you're a saved sinner. And my fourth goal in preaching
you this message is I want those who are not saved to know they're
not saved. And that is the first step in
salvation, to find out that you're not saved. What a blessing that
would be if someone this morning finds out that they're not saved. If you find that out, you'll
cry for mercy and not until then. In verse 13 of Romans chapter
7, Paul says, was that then which
is good made death unto me, God's holy law? Is it the cause of
my death? God forbid. But sin, that it
might appear sin. I fear that most people may mistake
sin for goodness in them. They don't see it as sin. It
doesn't appear to be sin. That would be true of most people. But to some, sin appears to be
what it is. Sin. And what do these people
see concerning themselves? What do these people think concerning
themselves? But sin that it might appear
sin. Working death in me by that which is good. God's holy law.
that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly, surpassingly
sinful. Paul says in verse 14, for we
know. You know, I love that language. A Christian is somebody
who knows. We know, Paul says, speaking
as the representative of every believer, we know that what thing
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world be guilty before
God. We know that, don't we? Paul
said, and we know that all things work together for good. to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
A Christian is someone who knows something. It's not speculative
knowledge. He knows, having been taught
of God. And Paul says regarding himself
in verse 14, for we know, and every Christian knows this, for
we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal. That means fleshly. Sold under
sin. Sold as a slave to sin. Now, God's law is spiritual. It's perfect. You know, the first
commandment that we would have put nothing before God. He's
so glorious, nothing should be put before Him. When we read
of the commandment against idolatry, He's so glorious that to make
a comparison with Him is altogether evil. You can't make a false
view of Him or a false imagination of Him without it being great
wickedness. He's so altogether glorious. He's so altogether
lovely and glorious and holy. Oh, how wrong it is to take His
name in vain. To speak in Him of any other
term except for reverence and fear. because of who he is. Oh,
how glorious it is to rest, the Sabbath of rest, resting in Christ. That's what that's referring
to. It's not just keeping a day, not doing anything on that day.
But isn't his rest glorious to know that he's done it all and
there's nothing for me to do? What about the commandment regarding
honoring your father and mother and any other kind of authority?
It's just right. It's glorious. Thou shalt not
kill. What a glorious command. Don't
kill anybody's body. Isn't it wrong to kill somebody?
What about killing their character? Murdering their character? That's
murder. What about becoming jealous of
them? That's murder. According to the Lord, being
angry without a cause. Thou shalt not commit adultery. All sex
outside of marriage, the covenant of marriage is wrong. All spiritual
adultery, looking for comfort and assurance outside of the
covenant of grace. is wrong. Thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not false or shoplift, but thou shalt not steal glory
from God. It is a glorious commandment. His commandment is spiritual.
It's spiritual. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt
not covet. Paul says we know that the law,
God's holy law, the Ten Commandments that I've just quoted, is spiritual,
but he says regarding himself, I am carnal, fleshly, sold under
sin, dominated by sin, as a slave is to its master. Now that's
what Paul says about himself. And if you or I believe that
we've kept one of these commandments, even one time that I've mentioned,
we proved by that we're completely ignorant of the law being spiritual
and us being carnal. Now, if verse 14 doesn't describe
me, the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. That means I'm not a Roman seven
sinner. And don't think about anything
else right now. Don't think about what is so-and-so
think about that. Are you, you personally, a Romans 7 sinner? Do you know that the law is spiritual? But I am carnal, a slave. That's what he calls it. A slave
to sin. Verse 15. For, now he's talking about his
experience. For that which I do, I allow not. I do not approve. I do not recognize
as good. For that which I do, I allow
not. What I would, you know, I would
desire. to never sin again. What I would is to be perfectly
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. What I would is to never
be disobedient to him. That's what I would. But let
me tell you that which I would. What does Paul say? He said,
I do not. He didn't say I mess up sometimes.
He said, I do not. But what I hate. Sin. Self-promotion. Self-glory. Self. What I hate. That's precisely
what I do. Now, that is the description
of the Romans 7 sinner. Would this describe you? Verse 16. He says, if then I
do that which I would not, if I do that which I know is wrong
that I don't want to do. If I do that which I would not,
that I don't approve of, that I think is wicked, that I think
is contrary to the law of God, to the character of God, to the
holiness of God, if then I do that which I would not, I consent
unto the law that it's good. If God condemns me, just, right,
and holy is His name. His law is good. He is right. And I am wrong. Now, the confession
of sin is this. You take sides with God against
yourself. That's a Romans 7 sinner. Are you, I repeat, are you a
Romans 7 sinner? Verse 17. Now he says if, verse 16, if
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law,
it's good. Now then, it's no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now this speaks of the
two natures of the believer, and this is very important. I
want you all to listen to me very carefully. This speaks of
the dual, D-U-L-E, I think that's the way you spell it. D-U-L-E. This speaks of the dual between
the dual, D-U-A-L, natures of the believer. Every believer
has two separate natures. We're born into this world with
a sin nature, and it's what we call total depravity and total
inability. Now how can this best be expressed? Total depravity is seen essentially
right here. The Lord said in John chapter
5 verse 40 to his enemies, you will not come to me that you
might have life. So evil, so given over to wickedness
you are that you will not come. Now somebody says, does man have
a free will? No. No. That's the only way to answer
that. No, he doesn't. His will is bent to evil by nature. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Anybody who believes in free
will doesn't believe in free grace. They don't believe man's
really a sinner. No, you will not come to me that
you might have life. That's total depravity. A man's
unwillingness to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, who's altogether
lovely, and he doesn't want to come. Here's total inability,
no man can come to me, except the father which has sent me
draw him. Man's inability is seeing that not only he won't,
because he can't. He's unable because of his evil
nature. Now somebody says, well, should he be held responsible
if he can't? Well, what if someone was guilty of murdering your
child and their plea was, well, I couldn't help it. It was my
nature to do it. I couldn't hold myself. I couldn't prevent myself
from doing it. You say, well, they ought to get off then. I
mean, they shouldn't be held responsible. No, lock them up, throw away the
key. Now this is the Romans 7 center. Would this describe you? Total depravity seen in the fact
that you won't come to Christ by nature. Total inability, seeing
that you can't come to Christ by nature. Not that you want
to, but that you can't. That's not all. There's no such
thing as somebody who wants to come to Christ and wants to be
saved, but they can't because nature won't let them. No, you
will not come. And that's where the cannot comes
from. You will not. Now Paul says,
I know that in me, or verse six, now there's no more I that do
it, but seeing that dwelleth in me. Now, not only if I'm a
believer, here's what happened. If I'm an unbeliever, I have
this, I'm totally depraved, totally inane, but can't come to Christ.
But when God saves me, he gives me a new nature, one that was
not there before, a holy nature. The scripture says, born of the
spirit, born of God. partakers of the divine nature,
a new nature that was not there before. A new heart, God said,
I'll give you. Now, Paul says, when I sinned,
it wasn't the new man that did it. It was the old man. It wasn't
me. It was him. Now, does that excuse
my sin? No, not in any way. But, you
know, it's only really the new man that recognizes the sin of
the old man. And if you can't see this about
yourself, it's because you don't have a new nature. If you had
a new nature, you'd see this about yourself. You'd see that
everything about you, your old man, is nothing but sin. And
if you fail to see that, it's because you don't have a holy
nature that sees that. Now like I said, this could very
well be entitled a portrait of a holy man. This man in Romans
chapter 7 is the holy man. And this holy man recognizes
the sin of the old man. He's the one who sees. He's the
one who owns the sin of the old man. Now we're born of God when
we have a new nature that John actually says cannot see. Can
something born of God see Him? Answer that question. Can something
that's born of God see Him? No. He that's born of God does
not commit sin. He cannot sin. His seed, God's
seed, remains in him. Now this is very important, this
thing of two separate natures. Here's one error that comes out
of not believing that a believer has two separate natures. This
is where progressive sanctification comes from. You know that? If
you don't believe a believer has two separate natures, you
think, well, one, you get progressively more holy, and that's the natural
outcome of not believing in two separate natures. Now, the new
nature is holy, not partially holy, but holy. The old nature
is nothing but sinful. It'll never get better. The new
nature never becomes sinful. Two separate natures. Now, when
we're born again, We're given this new nature, born of God,
and hence comes the battle. Galatians 5.17 says, the flesh
lusts against the spirit, and the spirit lusts against the
flesh. And these two are contrary one
to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would.
And if you're a believer, you find that concerning yourself,
don't you? This inward battle. The old nature never gets better.
Now, if somebody says, I cannot see two natures at war within
me, well, it's because you only have one nature. You've never
been born again. If you've been born again, born
of the Spirit of God, you will know exactly what I'm talking
about. And if you haven't, you'll be a stranger to this. Now, Paul
is giving the experience of that one who has been born again and
consequently has two natures. And he says, regarding the sin
that's committed, look in verse 17, look at the language he uses.
Now then, It's no more I that do it. It's not that new man,
but the sin that dwelleth in me. It's that old man who committed
that sin. Now look what he says in verse
18. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, what I am by
nature dwelleth no good thing. Nothing. Nothing good. Only that
which is evil. Only that which is contrary to
God's holy law. Do you know that about yourself? Do you know it? Are you a Roman
7 sinner? Can you say, I know? I mean,
this is something I know. I don't have to be convinced
of this. This is something I know. That in me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing. Nothing but sin. For I know,
Paul says, that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing. For to will is present with me. I would never sin against my
God again. I would be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. That is my desire. My desire is that I might be
delivered from myself and be made just like Him. My desire
is that this old nature be purged away and there's nothing but
that which is pleasing to God. That's my desire. For to will.
is present with me." You know, not everybody has that will.
Only God's people. They're given this will. Thy
people shall be willing, the scripture says, in the day of
thy power. Now he says, to will is present
with me, but as far as the performance, as far as the working out of
that will, how to perform that which is good, Sometimes I fall
short. I make mistakes. I mess up. That's not what he says, is it?
He says, how to perform that which is good. I find not. Not one time in all my experience
In myself, have I ever done that which is good? In my experience,
I think of what John said, if we say we have no sin, talking
about there a noun, sinful nature. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves. We've lost all credibility. The
truth is not in us. If we say we've not sinned, and
there's a verb, and that's regarding anything I've done, including
my prayers and my preaching and my motives and everything about
me. If I say I've not sinned, I make him a liar. John says. Because he says, I have. How
to perform that which is good? I find not. He repeats himself
in verse 19. For the good that I would, I
don't do it, haven't done it even once. But the evil which
I would not, that I hate, that I despise, that I would never
do. That's exactly what I do. And you know what this is called?
It's called honesty. That's what it's called. This is that spirit in whom there
is no guile. If this is not you, you're a
phony before God. You're not even being real. You're
not even being true. You're a phony. This is called
honesty. before God. Oh, blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose
spirit there is no guile. Before God. Now remember, I'm
talking about before God. I'm not I'm not, you know, if
you say to me, will you take care of this $5 bill for me?
I'm not going to say, no, I think I'm going to steal it. You know,
I know it's well, no, I'll say, yeah, I will. And by the grace of God,
I want to take care. I want to, I want to treat you
right. I want you to treat me right. This is not talking about
somebody just mistreating someone saying, well, I couldn't help
it. It's my sinful nature. Not saying that all, but I'm talking
about what I am before God. What I am before God. The good that I would, I do not,
but the evil which I would not, that I do. Verse 20, he repeats
himself again. Now, if I do that which I would
not, it wasn't me, it was him. It wasn't me. It wasn't the new
man. It wasn't the holy man. It wasn't the new creation of
God, the new heart. It was the sin that dwelleth
in me. It was the old man. Verse 21. I find then a law. A law that I can't get away from.
A law that's always there. That when I would do good, evil
is present with me. Do you find that law within yourself?
That when you would do good, and you would if you're a believer,
you would never sin again. But even when you're even thinking
something like that, that old evil man, you can feel his breath
in you. He's always there. And it's a
law. It's not something you can get
away from. I find that a law, a principle working within me
that when I would do good, evil is present with me. Now, once
again, this is the holy man speaking. You know, I'm looking forward
to getting into Romans chapter 8 next week, but I remember real
clearly when I was a young man, somebody told me, you need to
get out of Romans 7 into Romans 8. I didn't know they were contradicting
each other. They're not. That's nonsense. You're always
in Romans 7. You're always in Romans 8 if
you're a believer. Get out of Romans 7 into Romans
8. As I said, Romans 7 is a portrait of a truly holy man. Someone that God has saved and
has given this holy nature. Someone that God has taken the
very righteousness of His Son and imputed it to them so that
they're just before God. Don't look at Romans 7 as anything
other than what a believer is. I find in the law, Paul says,
that when I would do good, evil is present with me, for I delight. And that word is where we get
the word hedonism from. I find pleasure. Now, would this
be you? I'm asking you, are you a Roman
7 sinner? The Roman 7 sinner delights in
the law of God after the inner man. that new man. Now, when
I look at God's law, I see it's holy, I see it's just, I see
it's good, but not only that, I'm not afraid of it. You know
why? Because I've kept it. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. I've kept that
law. I don't need to worry about it condemning me, because I've
kept it in my blessed Redeemer and substitute. I've kept it.
He kept it for me. When He kept it, I kept it. He
said to John the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Me and Him. Me and Him. We both
did it. When He did it, I did it. And
so, I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Verse 23,
but I see another law in my members,
in my body, warring against the law of my mind, the
new man, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin,
which is in my members. The believer has two distinct
natures funneled into one body. And these natures hate one another.
The holy nature hates the evil nature. The evil nature hates
the holy nature. And these two natures are funneled
into one man. That's why we're such messes,
I reckon. You know, I don't know how else
to say it. You have these two natures funneled into one man.
You got a war going on, the holy nature and the sin nature. Somebody
says, I don't have this war. Well, of course, you only have
one nature then. Now, realize that. If you don't have this
war going on with you, you're not a holy man. All you have
is a sinful nature, an evil nature. You're enslaved to the devil,
blinded by the devil. If you're a new man, you have
this war going on. Paul said regarding this sin
that's in my members, he said, I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind. And look at the language,
bringing me into captivity. When you're in captivity, that
means you're in a cell and you can't just walk out. You feel
like you're trapped. Captivity. bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members." A prisoner of war,
and Paul is expressing his utter dissatisfaction with sin. He's
not looking at this as an excuse or a justification for his sin.
He's expressing his utter dissatisfaction with sin. You see, the only freedom
there is, is to not sin. The only freedom there is, is
for his will to be completely done. That's the only freedom. Freedom is not freedom to sin.
Freedom is being delivered from sin. But Paul says, I feel enslaved
to it, captured by it, locked up by it, and I cannot escape.
And then in verse 24, Look at his response to this. He says,
Oh, wretched man that I was? No. Oh, wretched man that I am. Right now, present tense. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? A dead, rotting, putrid carcass
chained to a living man that he's dragging around with him.
Who shall deliver me from this body of death. Now Charles Spurgeon
made a very interesting comment about this statement, oh wretched
man that I am. He said, wherever you have a
man who believes in responsibility and inability, you have a wretched
man. Now what do I mean by that? The legalist doesn't believe
in inability. The licentious do not believe
in responsibility. The legalist thinks he has ability
to change his state, to do something. The licentious, the man who uses
grace as an excuse to sin, he feels like he has no responsibility
to obey. Hey, I'm okay, everything's fine.
But if you find a man who really in his heart believes in responsibility,
and inability, you'll find a man crying out, Oh, wretched man
that I am. Not that I was, but that I am
right now. Now, if I'm not crying this out
right now, it's because I have no understanding of what God
does for and in a sinner when he saves him. Now, let me repeat
regarding Romans chapter 7. Let me repeat this. This is the
portrait of a holy man. I think it's amazing that people
have taken this passage of scripture and said, well, Paul couldn't
have been saved when he said this. He was talking about his experience before salvation.
Well, that said by someone who's not saved. If you knew the Lord,
if you knew yourself, if you'd experienced the grace of God,
you'd know exactly what Paul was saying. I ask again, are
you a Romans 7 sinner? I am. Thank God I am. Now look what he says. O wretched
man, verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? And you know that he's referring
to what was done to torment prisoners when they're in prison. They
would actually chain them to a dead body. Can you imagine
how horrible that would be, to be chained to a dead body? Everywhere
you go, you'd have to drag that body around in the cell, and
you couldn't get free from it? That's how Paul describes having
his old man. chained to a dead body. And the
only way I can be delivered is if somebody comes and delivers
me and rescues me. I need to be rescued is what
Paul is saying. Do you? I need to be rescued. Who shall rescue me from the
body of this death? Verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. I love the way Paul, even when
he thanks God, he says it's only through Christ. God couldn't
even accept my thanksgiving apart from the mediation and the righteousness
and the merits and the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do
you know that's so good regarding you? You thank God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he makes this conclusion.
He says, so then with my mind, I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh, the law of sin. This is not an excuse for
sin, but it's an explanation for it. With my mind, with the
new man, I serve the law of God. With the flesh, the law of sin.
But notice how he said, I thank God. I thank God. If you're a Roman seven sinner,
thank God for it right now. Thank God for it. There aren't
many Roman seven sinners. If you're a Roman 7 sinner, if
you found this is true to your experience, thank God for it. You see, if you're a Roman 7
sinner, you're a saved sinner. One that he has done a mighty
work of grace in. You see, the Roman 7 sinner understands
something. that the natural man doesn't
understand. He understands this. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is altogether a work
of grace. You see, a Roman seven sinner,
as a sin, he sees this thing of total depravity, total inability. He sees that with regard to himself.
A Roman saving sinner needs the grace of God. He needs God to
elect him. He doesn't charge God with injustice
for not electing him. He needs God to elect him. He
knows if God left him to himself, he'd go to hell. He needs Christ
to actually put away his sin. He needs an effectual atonement.
He needs a successful atonement. He needs the irresistible, invincible
grace of God. The doctrine of grace is not
anything other than the doctrine of need for him. He needs to
be preserved so he can persevere in the faith. This is the Roman
seven sinner. I thank God through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Now, are you a Romans
7 sinner? Would that describe you? Beloved,
if you are, you're a saved sinner. And here's why I say that. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. of whom Paul said, I am the chief. Let's pray.