If you had opened your Bibles this morning with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter seven. Passage we're gonna read this morning to establish our context is Romans chapter seven beginning in verse 14 through verse 25. The apostle Paul writes, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am a flesh sold into bondage. For what I am doing I do not understand, for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So now no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and make me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who will set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin. Let's pray. Father, these words here are traumatic. They are a reminder of our condition. They are a reminder that apart from you, there is nothing but evil in our hearts. As we explore this passage this morning, we pray, Father, that your spirit would give us understanding, that we would rightly discern what the apostle is teaching us in this passage, that we might rightly interpret and we would rightly apply this to our lives. Father, we recognize that there is nothing good in us. Everything or anything that is good in us is because of what you have wrought in us through your spirit. And we give you thanks and praise that you have opened our eyes and you have given us a knowledge of and a belief in your son Jesus as our savior. So we ask your blessing upon our time together this morning. We pray that these words would be glorifying to you. that you would correctly be worshiped as you justly deserve. We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Today I want to revisit a passage that many of us are familiar with. As I read through it, I'm sure many of you recognized it, have read it many times. And in the past, I myself have described Romans 7 as really a description of a holy war. It is a holy war that rages within each of us. One of the books that John Bunyan wrote was a book entitled Holy War. It was an allegory just like Pilgrim's Progress. And I found it very interesting because he very aptly describes the condition that we all live in. That is, we all live in holy war. A prince lived in a castle. And he was protected by the high walls of the castle and protected by the soldiers who stood on the wall. And he thought himself to be impervious to attack. But what the prince didn't realize that two of the gates in the castle had been left open. One was the ear gate and one was the eye gate. And through those two gates the enemy crept in and attacked him. And so what resulted was a holy war. The holy war rages within us because what enters into our eye gate, what enters into our ear gate is then enters into our mind and fills with sin. We are consumed. We take the things that we see and hear and they result oftentimes in sin, and that results in the holy war raging within us. We do the things we know we should not do, and we don't do the things we should do. What a great description. In Romans 7, the apostle Paul clearly states the conflict that rages in every man and woman. The knowledge of what is good and right, but the inability to do it. Christians from every generation have come to appreciate Paul's emotional and heartfelt writing in Romans chapter seven because it conveys the battle with sin that rages within each of us. And in describing the struggle with sin, Romans seven gives us consolation that our struggles with sin are not out of the ordinary, that every single one of us struggles with them. In studying Romans chapter 7, the major point of contention among scholars over the centuries has centered on the spiritual condition of the person writing or speaking in this passage. The question most often asked of Romans chapter 7 is, is Paul speaking as a Christian or is he speaking as an unbeliever? What perspective is Paul approaching this from? And if Paul is speaking as a Christian, as most people believe he is, his words in Romans 7 have consoled multitudes of Christians with the thought that if Paul so labored with sin, then I know that my struggles with sin are not out of the ordinary because Paul experienced the same struggles that I struggle with. But here I'm challenged, I'm here to challenge you this morning. with a new interpretation of what Romans 7 really means. I read an article a couple years ago in the Master's Seminary Journal by a man named Jay Street, and he challenged and changed my understanding of Paul's teaching in this passage, and I want to explain what I learned from Jay Street's article. To begin with, one of the excellent points that Jay Street makes at the beginning of his paper is that Romans 7 has unintentionally become an out-of-context passage that people often read, often cite. In other words, millions of Christians have been so quick and grateful to embrace the application of the Christian struggle with sin that we have committed the cardinal error of bad hermeneutics and we have neglected the context of the passage. We have made the grievous error of making application of a passage without first observing and properly interpreting the passage. One of the exercises that I like to do when I teach a class in hermeneutics is to look at familiar and popular passages of scripture and show how they are taken out of context. And I wanna look at two of them this morning. The first one, and hopefully you're familiar with these, the first one is Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 11, which says, for I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. And this verse is extremely encouraging. And many of you have it written in artwork, probably hanging on the wall in your house. It is a great encouragement. The problem for many Christians is, Christians wrongly believe that the promise that is contained in Jeremiah 29, verse 11, is God speaking to Christians. That God is saying, of Christians, I know the plans that I have for you. Plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. The problem is, Christians, the church is not being spoken of here. How do we know this? Well, Jeremiah himself says in Jeremiah chapter 29 at the beginning of the chapter, verse one, he says, now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent to Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, who were in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. So the context of chapter 29 is Jeremiah writing a letter of consolation to the Jews who were in exile in Babylon, telling them that their exile was not forever, that they would return. He would bring them, God would bring them back to Jerusalem. So he's giving them this consolation in verse 11, that I have plans for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. That is the context. Yes, it is a word of great encouragement, but it is not God's promise to the church. It is God's promise to Israel as they are in exile. It is critically important that we understand the context. Yes, we can find application, we can find encouragement in it, but it is not a promise that God makes to the church. So for anyone else to claim that this is a promise to the church, for them, it is wrong. The context is immediately determined to be the Jewish people. Interesting that Obi read from Philippians 4.13, because Philippians 4.13 is another out of context passage. We see it all over the place. Paul writes, for I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And Obi very correctly said, There is a context to that passage. But what is the context of Paul's statement in 4.13? As Obi points out, Paul is writing a letter of thanks to the Philippians for the financial gift that they had given to him, and he makes the point that he had endured a great deal of suffering in his ministry. And he expresses this in 2 Corinthians. So in the context, we learn in Philippians 4, verses 10-12, that Paul is expressing his gratitude for their financial gift. because his life has been filled with uncertainty and hardship. Nevertheless, despite all the trials that he had endured, Paul declares his confidence that God would strengthen and sustain him. But before Paul makes his well-known statement in verse 13, Paul first says in verse 11, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. He has learned the secret of contentment. because God had showed it to him as he endured many trials. And then he says, for I can do all things through God who strengthens me. And it's interesting, for as many people as write Philippians 4.13 on their headbands and on their athletic shoes and everywhere else to declare that they have the strength which God supplies, nobody ever writes Philippians 4.11 on their jersey, which says, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. The kid sitting on the bench is not wearing that on the back of his jersey. The fact is we have a hard time being content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. The cardinal rule of Bible interpretation is understanding the context of the passage. So what is the context of Romans chapter 7? As Jay Street writes in his article, while many Christians feel validated by this text, most have missed its point altogether. Throughout church history, many have asked, is Paul speaking as a Christian or as an unbeliever in Romans chapter 7? But this question is misguided and it leads to an improper conclusion. Instead, the question should be, is Paul speaking about someone under the old covenant or someone under the new covenant? It's like, whoa, I never thought about it that way. We always think of Paul speaking, this is Paul speaking autobiographically. Is he speaking as a believer or as an unbeliever? We have not thought about is Paul speaking as one who is under the Old Testament, Old Covenant or under the New Covenant. So let me repeat that again. Is Paul speaking about someone under the Old Covenant or someone under the New Covenant? In other words, is Paul speaking to Christians or Jews in Romans chapter seven? Most people answer that Paul is speaking to Christians. After all, the letter to the Romans is written to the saints who are at the church in Rome. Furthermore, conventional wisdom points to the fact that the theme of Romans chapters 5-8 is the subject of sanctification. Chapter 7, being in the middle of that section on sanctification, deals with believers, those who are under the new covenant. But the belief that Romans chapter 7 is speaking to believers merely because it is in the section regarding the subject of sanctification ignores the construction of Paul's letter. Yes, Romans 7 does progress thematically. Romans chapters 1-3 talks about the various types of unbelievers. Romans chapter 4 speaks of justification by faith. Romans chapters 5-8 speak of sanctification. But that's not all they speak of. To insist that Paul must remain restricted to these themes without deviation is to really ignore the text. As we read through Paul's letter to the Romans, we clearly see that Paul writes his letter rhetorically as though he is debating some unseen opponent. Paul often does this. Paul engages in this hypothetical debate because in so doing, he's not only able to present the doctrine that he's teaching, but then he's able to immediately turn around and express the objection to that teaching. So in fact, what he does is he engages a lot of his arguments standing here going, this is the doctrine I'm teaching you. But wait, Paul, and he objects. He knows their objection before they even raise it because he was the one who used to object. He is a master, a master in handling the scriptures. And because he was a master and because he had those same objections when he himself was an unbeliever, he knows how to answer their objections. J Street observes, for the most part, Paul leverages his many rhetorical questions to speak for and with an imaginary Jewish opponent for the purpose of educating his mostly Gentile audience on how to defend the gospel. In fact, J Street documents Paul using the second person singular pronoun, that is you, you, second person plural meaning you all. He uses that 85 times in the book of Romans. This use of the singular pronoun you indicates that Paul is speaking as if to an imaginary Jewish opponent. As he progresses through his argument with his imaginary Jewish opponent or debater, in Romans chapter seven, Paul addresses the subject that every Jew who hears the gospel message struggles with. And that is, a Jew would say to Paul, Paul, what about the law? What about the law? Does the law or does the gospel negate the law? Therefore, to answer the question of what about the law, in Romans chapter 7 verse 1 we see that Paul turns his attention to briefly address the subject of the Jews and the law. Paul begins Romans chapter 7 by identifying who he is speaking to. He says in verse 1, Or do you not know, brethren, for I am speaking to those who know the law, that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? Here in Romans chapter 7 and verse 1, Paul now directly addresses his brethren. But the question is, obviously, who are his brethren? He answers this question by further identifying them in verse 1 as those who know the law. Now, while Gentile Christians may have known about the law, they did not know the law intimately the way the Jewish people did. They did not have a thorough, comprehensive knowledge of the law. And regarding his use of the term brethren, Paul uses this same term later in Romans chapter 9 verses 3 and 4 when he speaks of his concern for his brethren, the Jewish people. He says, my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites. Who are the Israelites? They are the Jews. So he's speaking, he's using this term brethren to speak of his Jewish brethren, his people. So beginning in Romans chapter 7 and verse 1, Paul turns his attention to his brethren who demand he explain how the gospel of Jesus Christ was compatible with the law of Moses. And to present his argument, Paul employs a rhetorical device in which he metaphorically steps into the shoes of his opponent to present his case. Paul presents two major Jewish objections in Romans 7 and in verse 13. His first objection is presenting the gospel to a Jewish opponent. The response was then, what shall we say then? Paul, are you saying that the law is sin? That's his argument. If the law cannot save you, only faith in Jesus can save you. Paul, are you saying then that the law is wrong, the law is sin? And to this objection, Paul immediately responds, may it never be. God forbid. On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. So Paul uses this rhetorical device very effectively. He correctly anticipates the objection of any learned Jew because he himself was a very learned Jew. Paul, are you saying that the law of Moses is bad? Are you saying that the law is evil and sinful? That's the implication of what you're saying, Paul, that the law cannot save you. Are you saying the law is bad? Because that's the way they would have interpreted it. Then stepping out of the role as the objector, Paul answers the question as himself. May it never be, or God forbid. On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. Then having presented the objection and provided the answer in Romans chapter 7 verses 7 through 12, Paul gives the supporting evidence for his answer. He says, for I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, you shall not covet. But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died. And this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me. For sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good. The law is good, but the effect that it had on me is it killed me. In Romans chapter seven, verses seven through 12, Paul explains the purpose of the law. God gave Israel the law to expose sin, but it exposed sin that was already there. Before man's knowledge of God's commandment, there was no transgression because there was no law to transgress. Just as you cannot be given a speeding ticket on a road that has no speed limit. So that was the condition of man. You are not guilty of breaking a law if the law does not yet, if there's no law on the books. The law of Moses was God's revelation to man of what sin is. And the knowledge of sin and the punishment for breaking the law was also given. And that is you are guilty and therefore you are condemned. The punishment is death. We see this same explanation for the purpose of the law explained by Paul in the book of Galatians chapter three, verses 21 through 24. Paul employs the same rhetorical device as he's debating an unseen opponent. Paul then asks, as the opponent, the objector, is the law then contrary to the promises of God? It's amazing, Paul knows these objections because he was the one who used them. He was a master debater. He understood everything. He understood all the nuances of the law. He understood all the nuances of their objections. He would try to entrap people with his objections. He knows where all the traps and all the pitfalls are. So is the law then contrary to the promises of God? And the answer is, may it never be. For if the law had been given, which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law. But the scripture has shut up or enclosed everyone under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified, not by the law, but be justified by faith. The law of Moses was never designed, never designed or intended, nor able to save anyone. The Mosaic Law was never intended to save the Jewish people. The purpose of the Mosaic Law was to show that we are all guilty of an infinite number of sins. We are infinitely guilty of breaking God's law every day of our lives. The Mosaic Law was designed to show mankind that we need a savior. And as Galatians 3.24 clearly states, the law was our tutor, intending to lead us to Christ. So then having stated in Romans 7.12 that the law is good, In having explained the purpose of the law, Paul resumes his rhetorical argument in verse 13 when he presents the next objection. The second objection is, therefore, did that which is good become a cause of death for me? And here, Paul, again, the master, lays for himself a trap. He says, well, I guess if the law, if I'm guilty of breaking the law, then I guess the law is the cause of my death. And there is the trap. Again, Paul says, may it never be. Rather, it was sin. It was not the law, it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin, by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment, sin would become utterly sinful. Here Paul voices an extremely important and insightful objection. And I don't want us to miss the implication of what he's saying here. When the objector asks, did that which is good, that is the law, become a cause of death for me, The objector is in effect saying, Paul, you say that the law is good, but aren't you saying that the law is really the cause of death? And this is a great question, because it's like you're on the witness stand at a trial, and you have this very tricky lawyer asking you a question, and he's intending to trap you, and trap you in making a statement you don't wanna make. And that's what this statement is. The question is, aren't you saying then the law is the cause of my death? And Paul, knowing that this is the trap, because he's probably sprung it many times in his own life, he recognizes how dangerous this trap is. If someone steps into this trap and says, yes, the law is the cause of death for man, then he opens up the opportunity to accuse God of doing evil. God is the one who caused me to die. If the law, in other words, if the cause of death of men is the law, then giving us the law of God is the cause of every man's death. And that in itself is a blasphemous accusation against God. God did not cause us to die. The law simply exposed our sin for what it was. By voicing this objection here in Romans 7, verse 13, Paul is warning us not to fall into this trap. He is forearming us, understanding that somebody may throw this objection in your face, and you have to understand the nuance of what it, the law does not cause your death. Your sin causes your death. That is why he replies, may it never be, for God is not directly responsible for our death, for the death of men. It is the law, not God. And having denied the accusation against God, Paul then explains the true cause of death to all men. Rather, it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful." The law itself is good. Why is the law good? Because it is the expression of perfection which God lives by. The law is an embodiment of the perfection of God. God perfectly obeys the law. When Jesus Christ came to the earth, he perfectly obeyed the law. He did not violate one tenet of the law. So the law itself is good, but it is the sin that results from disobeying the law. It is sin which results in our death, not the law. So Paul is clearly stating here, do not blame God. The law that God gave us It's merely revealed to us that sin was already present in us. Before the law was given, sin was present. But again, where there is no speed limit, there is no speeding ticket. It's interesting, if you look back, if you think back in scripture, from the time of Adam until the time of Moses, why did men die? Did they violate any law? Did they break any law? No, nobody broke any laws until the Mosaic law. So why did people die? they died because of Adam's sin. When Adam sinned as our federal head, when he sinned and was condemned, all of his descendants were condemned. For the first 2,500 years of history that is recorded in the scripture, the reason people died was because of Adam's sin. But then with the advent, with the revelation of the Mosaic law, God then gave all these laws to man And then with the receiving of these laws, we then became guilty of breaking all these laws. So instead of dying simply for Adam's sin, we die now because we have violated all of these laws. We have violated all of God's law. So the purpose of the law was merely to reveal to mankind the vast depth of sin that is within each of us. And because the law has revealed sin in every human heart, Paul's words in Romans chapter 7, verses 14 through 25 reveal war that rages within every single person. And to every Jew who knew the law and tried to live by the law, Paul's words in verses 14-25 clearly state the conflict the law provokes within the heart of every Jew. Every Jew reads these verses, verses 14-25, and they identify them. They identify with them. They understand. Let me read it again. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am a flesh sold into bondage. I'm a slave to sin. For what I'm doing, I do not understand. For I'm not practicing what I'd like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Oh, what a revelation that is. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. What a revelation that is from Paul. What a revelation it is to the Jewish mind as they consider what Paul is teaching here. What was the purpose of the law for the Jews? And the Jews recognized, I know what I'm supposed to do, and I don't do it. I can't do it. They had always wrestled with the law. And they had always prided themselves on external obedience to the law. Well, I didn't kill anybody. I didn't steal anything. But the question is, what was their heart? What was in their hearts? And they all recognized within their hearts, their hearts were far from God. Because of their knowledge of the law of God, every Jew knows what God's law requires. And for as much as they may have declared their outward obedience to the law, in their hearts they knew that they were doing and thinking evil, contrary to the law of God. My point today is that J Street's point is that while God has written on the heart of all men to know good from evil, only the Jews had the law which explicitly taught them God's standard of good and evil. So here in Romans 7, Paul is appealing to the Jews and their knowledge of the law to persuade them why the law cannot save them. And it's interesting that Paul is making this argument. This argument is a very lengthy argument, but it's an argument he makes in all of his other writings. Every step In his ministry, Paul encountered opposition from the Jews. We call them Judaizers. Judaizers were the ones who said, yes, believe in Jesus, but you also have to be obedient to the law. The Judaizers could not get over the fact that the Mosaic law was no longer necessary for them to be saved. They did not understand that if you believe in Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law in your place. You are no longer bound by the tenets of the law. The law cannot convict you. because you have been freed. Jesus has interceded on your behalf. The Jews could not accept that because to them that meant the law is bad. There's something defective in the law. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, but there's got to be something good about the Mosaic law and they could not let that go. So throughout his ministry and even today, there are people who insist, yes, faith in Jesus Christ, but you also need to obey the law. And that creates a problem because We place upon ourselves this need, this requirement to obey the law, when in fact there is no requirement to obey the law. Yes, it is the manner in which we should strive to live, but it is not a law that we have to obey and receive punishment for disobedience. So, do we still think that Romans 7 is written to the church, written to Christians? Notice in Romans 7 that there is an absence of Paul's usual New Testament teaching. Notice that if you carefully read Romans chapter seven, verses seven through 25, Paul speaks of nothing of the New Testament graces that he regularly communicates in his epistles. He says nothing of faith, or the gospel, or forgiveness, or repentance, or redemption, or reconciliation. No mention of hope, or mercy, or love, or peace, or grace, the new covenant, the Holy Spirit, or Jesus Christ. He said none of those words. None of the elements that comprise the new covenant gospel message are included in Romans chapter seven. Instead, you only find elements of the old covenant. In Romans chapter seven, Paul refers to the law and the commandment 23 times, but there is not a single reference to grace. In Romans seven, there are seven references to death, but not a single reference to forgiveness. There are 16 references to sin, but not a single reference to reconciliation. Paul refers to other Old Testament terms, enslavement, bondage, inability, defeat, hopelessness, and wretchedness, but there are no new covenant references to hope, grace, redemption, or forgiveness. Why is that? Because Paul's not talking about the new covenant, he's talking about the old covenant. He's talking about the law, what the law requires. The law was about keeping the commandments. And if you did not keep the commandments, then you suffered the penalty, which was death. You were guilty of sin and you were guilty and the judgment was rendered against you, death. There's no mention of Christ. There's no mention of grace. It is all of the old covenant. And who was the Old Testament, the old covenant written to? It was written to the Jews. The old covenant was never given to the church. The old covenant was given to the Jewish people. From this passage and the interpretation that I suggest, there arises an objection. And the objection is, if Paul's making his case for a Jewish opponent who is under the old covenant in Romans chapter seven, why does he use the first person pronoun I and me throughout this instead of you? Instead of speaking to you Jews, Paul is saying I and me. Why would he include himself in this argument? And it is true that he uses I and me and my 37 times in this passage, but doesn't talk about you, he talks about me. Why is this? Well, based upon his use of these very personal terms of himself, many Christians argue that Paul is writing autobiographically. that he's speaking of himself and the struggle that he wrestles with sin. I think that's how we have arrived at this interpretation that Paul is speaking of himself because he's using these pronouns, I and me and my. And furthermore, many argue that Paul's use of the present tense throughout this indicates that he is engaged in a present ongoing battle with sin. It's not something that happened in the past. He's talking about there's something that's going on right now. and the present tense indicates Paul's still wrestling with this problem with sin. But scholars point out that throughout the letter of Romans, Paul employs a type of Greek rhetoric in which he places himself in the shoes of his imaginary opponent for the sake of vividness and emphasis. For example, if you look at Romans 7, verses 14 and 15, If he were to use the pronoun you instead of I and me, it would read like this, for you know that the law is spiritual, but you are a flesh sold into bondage to sin. For what you are doing, you do not understand, for you are not practicing what you would like to do, but you are doing the very thing you hate. Now the message is the same, but it is less effective. In fact, read this way, it would be read as an accusation. Paul is simply accusing his readers. And in so doing, the readers are immediately on the defense, and they're trying to come up with an argument, a debate. They want to try to defend themselves from what Paul is accusing of them. So instead of accusing them, Paul is simply accusing himself. He's standing in their place, and he's accusing himself. And in so doing, he's not putting them on the defensive. He's simply saying the same thing, but he's saying it of himself, of me, standing in your shoes. It's a very effective way to write, a very effective employment of an argument because it disarms his opponent. His opponent is not immediately on the defensive, but now can stop and think, well, Paul, you know, think about Paul himself. It's like, well, how does that affect me? So Paul getting this person, this unknown imaginary person to think along with what he's saying rather than being defensive about the accusation that he's making. So Paul's use of the first person pronoun And the present tense is used to add urgency and vividness to his argument. This is a well-known and common form of rhetoric in the time in which Paul lived. And his readers would have understood what he was saying, what he was doing in using this form of rhetoric. Now I wanna make an important point in anticipation of an objection that some of you might have. Some of you might be asking, does this interpretation of Romans 7 mean that Romans 7 does not apply to me or does not apply to Christians? And the answer I would to use the words of Paul is say, God forbid, may it never be. I am not suggesting that this passage has no application to the church or to Christians. After all, we all do struggle with sin. Even as passionately as Paul so eloquently states in Romans chapter 7, we can identify with that. You read Romans 7 and say, I can identify with that. I do the things I know I should not do, and I don't do the things I know I should do. I mean, that is living the Christian life. The point is, Paul's not writing this to the church, he's writing it to a Jewish reader, because he's trying to argue with them concerning the law. They want to adhere to the law, and he's telling them why the law cannot save them. Nevertheless, What Paul writes about in Romans chapter seven does apply to us very much. It's not interpreted as being intended a message for the church, but the application very much applies to us. We can take and say, yes, I can identify with that. I understand what Paul is saying. So my purpose this morning is merely to correct what I now see as an improper interpretation of the passage, who Paul is writing to, what his intended audience and argument is. As I said earlier, Paul is speaking to an imaginary Jewish opponent for the purpose of educating his Gentile readers regarding the law and how to respond to the argument the Jews have to the gospel message. So if you had an opportunity to speak to a Jew and present the gospel, you would hear this argument. So you're saying the law is bad? You're saying the law is evil? You're saying the law is the reason I die? They would throw these arguments at you. And so it at least is arming you with the knowledge of the truth and understanding what some of the objections might be. Now, especially in the Roman times, because the early church was made up of both Jews and Gentiles. And as Jews would come and visit, the Gentiles would have to answer this objection from a Jew who was really struggling or trying to understand the Mosaic law. What about the law? Is the law bad? No, no, no. Let me sit down and talk with you about that and explain to you why the Mosaic law is not bad. So it was helping the Jewish, I mean, the Gentile Christians in the Roman church helped to evangelize and speak to a Jewish person who was trying to understand. And it was a major problem because in the early church, a great number of Jews were coming to salvation, but they really struggled with this idea of the law. Can I have Jesus and the law at the same time? That's what the Judaizers were advocating. They're saying, you believe in Jesus, but you also need to adhere to the law. And Paul, throughout his ministry, is saying, you know, the law is unnecessary. Jesus fulfilled the law. Nevertheless, Paul very clearly and passionately expresses the Holy War, the rages within the heart of every child of Adam. We read Romans chapter seven, verse 15, and verses 18 and 19 identify with the sentiment so emotionally expressed by Paul. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing that I hate. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." Oh yeah, I can identify with that. We can all identify with that. There in those statements, Paul clearly expresses that holy war that rages within every Christian heart. And because we so readily identify with the sentiment expressed in the passage, we inadvertently misinterpret this passage as being intended for the church. But it is not. It is a message intended for the Jewish reader. The application of this passage to ourselves is very appropriate. But we must get the interpretation correct if we are to accurately handle the Word of God. Does that mean, as we have read this passage over the years, that we have misunderstood it? Not really. We understand the message. We just need to make sure we understand who Paul is writing to. He's writing to a Jewish reader who is really struggling with the meaning of the law. Nevertheless, the application is for us perfectly. In Romans chapter seven, Paul is addressing those who are still under the old covenant law because he is explaining that the Mosaic law was never intended to save us. It's never intended to save anyone from their sin. The old covenant law was only designed, only designed to identify what sin is so that men would understand why we are separated from God and why we cannot save ourselves. It is only when we understand that we are hopelessly lost in our sin and unable to save ourselves that we see a need for a savior. And having explained why the old covenant law only condemns those who are under it, it makes Paul's words in Romans chapter eight, verses one through four, all the more sweet and precious to us. Therefore, as we've been memorizing, in Romans chapter seven, you reach the depth of despair, the valley of despair. My theology professor talking about Romans chapter seven, he says, do not ever stop at the end of chapter seven. If you read Romans chapter seven, don't stop. Keep going and read chapter eight. Because where Romans chapter seven brings you to the valley of despair, oh, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from this body of death? Then you reach the height of joy in Romans chapter eight. Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are now in Christ Jesus. And it goes on as we read through Romans eight over the last months. We see the heights, the soaring joy that we have, the promises that are contained in Romans chapter eight. But because most Christians have been taught that Romans 7 is an autobiographical account of Paul unsuccessfully wrestling with his sin and the consequences of sin upon his heart, many Christians have adopted this attitude in their approach regarding their own sin. This is an application to us, but the interpretation is, who is Paul writing to? But as we read these words and lament over our own failure to conquer sin in our lives, we have to be careful not to see our sin as a failure to live the Christian life. Let me say that again. As we read through Romans chapter 7 and recognize our own sin, we have to recognize that the sin that is in our life is not a failure to live the Christian life. It is so easy to forget that God did not call us to live lives of sinless perfection. He called us to live lives of faith. Faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and dependence upon the Holy Spirit to guide and to nurture us. We are not called to live perfect lives. So often we live with the fear of our own ever-present sin waiting to accuse and convict us of every infraction, and we thus strive to rid ourselves of sinful thoughts and sinful actions. That's great. We should strive to rid ourselves of sinful thoughts and sinful actions. But in so doing, and it's easy to lose sight of the fact that in striving in our own strength to live as we believe we will live and please God, we are actually creating new laws within our own heart. If we live, say, I can't do this. If I do this, then I'm being disobedient to God. If I do this, if I don't do that, we're constantly creating laws within ourselves. I have to do this. If I don't do this, I'm being disobedient to God. What have you done? You just created a law within your own heart. What do we do? We naturally place obligations upon ourselves, and when we place an obligation upon ourselves to act in a certain way, we are creating a law. We are creating a law within ourselves. I have to do this. If I don't do this, then God is displeased with me. No. Where does it say that? We make the mistake of creating laws within ourselves. And what do we do when we break the law? We flog ourselves because we've been disobedient to this law that I created in my heart. So we have to be really careful about doing that, about imposing a law upon ourselves that God does not impose. For this reason, we are prone to impose these new laws. As I said, Romans chapter seven is a great chapter because it exposes to the light of day, exposes what is in our heart. I do the things I know I should not do, and I don't do the things that I know that I should do. And in striving to live obedient lives, we inadvertently put ourselves back under the law. The gospel message has freed us from the law because of Christ's fulfillment and having perfectly fulfilled the law, Christ has freed us from the penalty of the law. So if you create a new law for yourself, a new obligation for yourself, you have just created another law, a law for you to fulfill. And if you create a law for yourself to fulfill, you know you're gonna create a law for yourself that you're gonna break. And in so doing, then you punish yourself. You punish yourself for something that God does not even intend for you to do. So we are prone to put ourselves under the law. There is a book out right now, actually we're going to, our fellowship group is going to study it, probably in the future. It'll be a while. But it's called The Law and the Gospel. And the problem is trying to reconcile the law and the gospel. The gospel message has been fulfilled. The gospel, Jesus Christ has lived perfectly according to the law. He has freed us from the penalty of the law. So why do we put ourselves back under it? How do we inadvertently put ourselves back under these laws that we create within ourselves? So as I wanna close with this today, as I said earlier, if ever you read Romans chapter seven, don't stop at verse 25. Go on and read the beginning, at least the beginning of Romans chapter eight. So let me begin here in Romans 7, verse 24. Having just lamented his condition, Paul then cries out, O wretched man that I am, who will set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh no longer, but we walk according to the Spirit. And there is the great joy Jesus Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law. The law no longer has a claim on us. Yes, it should be the desire of our heart to live obedient lives and understand that we will fail. But Christ has paid the penalty for our sin. The law is no longer gonna be the cause of our death. Yes, sin still rages within us. There is this holy war within each of us. We accept that and we fight that battle. We fight that war every day. And you're going to lose battles quite often. But nevertheless, we already know that Christ has won the victory. No matter how many battles you lose with the sin that is in your flesh, ultimately, you know that you're going to win the war. Jesus Christ has already won the war. For that, we give him thanks. Let's pray together. Father, we do give you thanks and praise that while this sin still rages within each of us, we are so grateful in the knowledge that The sin is not the cause of our death. Jesus Christ suffered our death on the cross in our place so that we might be freed from the penalty of sin and death. Father, what an infinite gift you have given to us. And we recognize, Father, that we fail every day. We do allow sin to continue to rage within us, and we succumb to the desires of the flesh. Like the Apostle Paul says, we recognize now that it is not we who are sinning, but it is our flesh. It is our flesh that desires to sin, but our hearts, our souls desire to be obedient to you. Our soul belongs to you. Our soul will be with you forever. Nevertheless, there is this sin, the sinful flesh, these tents of flesh that we still live in, which still desire to sin. So we pray, Father, that you would give us your spirit that we might strive each day to fight the good fight, recognizing that we will lose battles, but we already celebrate and give you all praise and glory that you have already won the war. We thank you and praise you in Jesus' name, amen.