what God has to say. I'm going to read the entire text from verse 14 on through the end of the chapter, even though we will be focused only on the last few verses of chapter 7. Romans 7, beginning in verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal or fleshly, sold under sin. For what I am doing I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. All genuine Christians, those who have truly been regenerated by God, want to do right. Because of that new life within them. Because they have been united with Jesus Christ in His death and His resurrection unto new life. But all genuine Christians also know the experience that Paul describes here of not being able to do the good that they want because sin still dwells within them, within their flesh, that part of them that they inherited from Adam, that part of them that God did not renew, that part of them that won't go to heaven someday. And as we grow in Christ, this struggle actually grows Stronger rather than weaker. Those who experience this conflict most deeply are not immature Christians, but mature believers. And to be bluntly honest, this struggle can bring even mature believers to the edge of despair as we see in Paul's cry here in verse 24. O wretched man that I am! We are not being honest. We're not being realistic if we don't admit these facts. Now, this morning, we want to take up Paul's final analysis of this problem, this description of this struggle, as we find it in verses 21 through 25. That's going to be our focus this morning. As Paul goes more deeply into this problem, he finally cries out for help in verse 24, as I just said. And then in verse 25, there's the answer. So what we want to do is we want to work through Paul's analysis of this conflict to that answer. Now, as we take up these verses, let me remind you of the four facts I covered these in detail last week, but let me just remind you of them again. The four facts about this entire passage that furnish the backdrop for understanding what Paul's talking about here. Number one, this is Paul's personal testimony, but his experience is typical of all believers. Where Paul says I and me in this passage, we also can say I and me. Number two, Paul is speaking in the present tense throughout these verses. These describe the present tense experience of Paul as a seasoned, experienced, useful Christian. Number three, Paul has a narrow focus in these verses. He is stating His relationship to the law. And the law does a great job of pointing out to us that there is still sin in our hearts. It does a great job of pointing out that the flesh is still alive and well in all of us. But that law does not have the power. Law-keeping does not have the ability to give us victory in this struggle. And then number four, Paul is using language here rather loosely, rather than technically or theologically. His words are fairly informal and we need to make sure that we don't press some of the things that he says too far because of all the places in Scripture where Paul is speaking, he is speaking here from the heart rather than from the head. And this is personal testimony. So, first of all, in verses 21 through 23, we learn of the conflict in response to the commandments. The conflict within in response to the law of God. Now, verse 21 begins by reminding us that Paul's focus here is on the law of God. He begins verse 21 with the words, ìI find then a law,î and the literal translation of the original language is, ìI find then the law.î We could paraphrase this verse at the beginning of verse 21 this way, ìSo then this is the relationship I find between myself and the law of God.î And that relationship, as we just read, can be summed up in one word. Conflict. Conflict within. On the one hand, I want to do what is good and right. I want to keep God's law to the nth degree. But on the other hand, sin still dwells within me. It's never far away. And verses 22 and 23 go on to describe this conflict in much more detail. Verse 22 describes the protagonist. Do we have any English majors here? Okay, so nobody that can tell me who the protagonist is. The protagonist is the good guy. He's the guy with the white hat. He's the guy that rides the white horse. Okay? So Paul uses two descriptions here of the protagonist, of the good guy in this conflict. First, he calls him, I, or I used the term last week, the real me. Paul says, I, the real me. I delight in God's law. But then at the end of the verse, he uses a different phrase. He uses the phrase, the inner man. Now what Paul means by the inner man is that part of him that God has regenerated, made new. The inner man is the opposite of the flesh. The flesh is that part of me that God never renews. That part of me that will not go to heaven. That part of me that is still under the thumb of sin. And the opposite of the flesh is what Paul calls here the inner man. That part of me that God did renew. That part of me that does desire to do what God has told me to do. 2 Peter says that we are made partakers of the divine nature. And what Paul here calls the inner man is that part of us that's a partaker of the divine nature. Now, what does Paul say of the real me or the inner man? He says he delights in the law of God. Or a more literal translation would be, I delight with the law of God. One of the modern translations puts it this way, I joyfully concur with the law of God. A person who is truly saved, who has been made new within, has a desire to obey God's law in every particular to the nth degree. Now obviously, from what Paul says in this passage, he's not ever able to do that. But he doesn't try to rationalize or explain away God's law. as it applies to every part of him, even his thoughts, his motives, his emotions. He agrees with the law of God and he's grieved when he does not measure up to even the least part of it. So that's the protagonist in this conflict. The first part of verse 23 then goes on to describe the antagonist. The bad guy. The guy in the black hat. The guy on the black horse. Paul says, I see another law. And here we get to the root of the conflict. In the believer, there are two opposing laws. One is the law of God. And Paul also calls it here in this verse, the law of his mind, because inwardly he delights in the law of God. But Paul says there's another law. He gives it two different names here in verse 23. He calls it a law in my members. And then at the end of the verse, he calls it the law of sin. Now, what is this other law? It is just another way that Paul is describing how sin works in my life through the flesh. Now, let me make several statements about this other law that he calls the law of sin. First of all, it is a spiritual principle that constantly tells us that we must sin. Let me repeat that. This other law that Paul describes here is a spiritual principle that constantly tells us that we must sin. Just as God's law declares to us that we must do right and demands that we obey, there is this other law in our members that also demands obedience. Demands that we sin. Just as God's law is a constant reminder that we must do right, this other law operates in the same way. That's why Paul uses the word law. It operates in the same way. It constantly demands that we sin. Every time the law of God evokes in us a desire to do right, this law operates in opposition to it. And then in the second place, this law is revealed in our members. And this is what makes this so difficult. Where is the law of God revealed? It's revealed in black and white here in this Bible. Where's the law of sin revealed? When he says it's revealed in my members, what's he talking about? Talking about a club? Members? What's he talking about? He's talking about our bodies. Remember? Anytime Paul uses that word, members, he's talking about the members of our physical body. Now, don't get the wrong idea. Our bodies are not sinful. God created these bodies. Christ died to redeem these bodies. So I'm not trying to teach that our bodies are sinful, but what I am saying is that our physical bodies are the point of attack for sin. This is where that other law is at work. It's at work in my bodily members. For one thing, this law is revealed in the members of our bodies through habit. You've heard me talk about this before. Habit is a physical thing. It is literally a ridge in your brain. Let me repeat that. When you form a habit, there is a ridge in your brain. There is a pathway, a neural pathway that is formed. It is a physical thing in our members. And the habits that we have before Christ don't go away when we get saved. They continue to function. And oftentimes, sin uses those old habits against us. Also, the law of sin takes legitimate physical drives and pleasures and perverts them. For instance, God gives sleep. You go to the book of Psalms and it's God that gives sleep. It's a gift of God. And yet, sin can take sleep and pervert it into sloth. The same thing with emotions. Emotions are often physiological events. They take place as much in our bodies as they do in our minds. God gave us every emotion. None of them is sinful in itself, but often the law of sin perverts them. And many of them become serious sins. And so this law is revealed in our member. Whether those members are our hands or feet or eyes or ears or stomachs or brains or emotions. So it's the conflict between these two laws, the law of God on the one side, this law of sin in our members on the other side that is the root of the frustration, the struggle that Paul is describing here. Now, what's the outcome between this protagonist an antagonist. The end of verse 23 spells out the outcome. These two are warring, the verse says. Notice it does not just say there has been a battle or two. There is a war. Battle after battle after battle after battle. And Paul says now and again in this war, the good guy gets taken captive by the bad guy. Now, Paul's statement is not quite as strong as our English translation portrays it, but let me give you a paraphrase here. The law of sin carries on a campaign against the law of God in my mind and seeks to take him captive. Now, Paul is not saying here that sin wins the war. Precisely not. He says the war goes on and on and on. But every now and again, sin succeeds in throwing me, in taking me captive. Now let me park here for a minute. This isn't a pleasant picture, is it? A warfare within that never ends. Defeat from time to time in that warfare. Is Paul trying to discourage us? Does he want us all to just quit? No, but Paul is being brutally honest here. I think perhaps this is the most honest passage of Scripture in the New Testament. He's pointing out that sooner or later every Christian is going to have to face up to these facts. We must be Christian realists. Now, let me lay it out for you. There is no secret formula for winning this spiritual warfare. Can I repeat that? There is no secret formula. Some of you have been waiting for Pastor Gerard to get to the end of Romans chapter 7. And if we can just get over into Romans chapter 8, I know he's going to give me the secret formula. Let me tell you, there is no secret formula. Now, we as Americans don't like to hear that. Americans don't say can't. You tell an American can't, we'll figure out a way we can. That's what America's all about. Good old American ingenuity. We'll find a way. And that's part of all of us, folks, as Americans, as American Christians. We'll find a way. We're looking for some easy formula for spiritual victory. Just tell me how to do it, Pastor. Just give me the three easy steps. What seminar do I need to attend? Tell me the book that I need to read. We don't like to be told that the Christian life is hard. It's a whole lot easier to believe we just haven't found the secret formula yet. Or that we haven't had the big experience yet. That's what it is. Maybe it's not a secret formula, but maybe there is this experience that I can seek. If I just keep seeking for the right experience, I can find the right experience that will take me from Romans 7 permanently to Romans chapter 8 and I will permanently have spiritual victory. You just have to find that experience. The secret to the Christian life is that there is no secret to the Christian life. The only secret to the Christian life is what Jesus told his disciples way back at the beginning. Take up your cross and follow me. From the very beginning, Jesus promised us that if we follow him, it will be tough. It will be hard. It will be painful. There will be struggle. And there's no avoiding this lifelong struggle for a Christian. See, that's the other thing. As Americans, it is typical for us to avoid what we don't want to deal with. I mean, just look at the politics in this country. You want to make sure you don't get elected? Talk about reforming Medicare. It's automatic. We don't want to talk about that. We don't want to talk about that. You get what I'm saying? And American Christians are no different. Preacher, we don't want to talk about that. Preach on something else. But if we're genuine, Christians, we can't escape this struggle. We can't escape this struggle by going on vacation. We can't escape this struggle by turning on the TV. We can't escape this trouble by going to a different church. We can't escape this trouble by watching Joel Osteen every week. There's a hymn that spells this out. We don't sing it very often because it's one of those that we would rather not be reminded by singing. It's number 574. It's a great old hymn. Cindy, come on down. We're going to sing it. We're going to sing it slowly. And I want you to read the words as we sing it. Am I a soldier of the cross? A follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own his cause? or blush to speak His name. Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Sing the last. Sure, I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the toil and endure the pain supported by Thy Word. Did you get that at the beginning of verse 2? How do you think the average American Christian would really answer that question? Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease? Yes! If there's any way! Please, Lord! Looking for the easy Christianity. Don't want to have to put up with the struggle. But what's the last verse say? Sure, I must fight if I would win. Now, what I'm saying here is hard to swallow. It's hard to face. That's obvious from Paul's reaction in verse 24. I mean, his cry in response to this conflict Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Who will deliver me from this law of sin? Who will deliver me from this flesh? Now, don't mistake Paul's cry here. I said earlier that Paul was on the edge of despair, but he's not in despair. Paul never gave in to despair. You read his life story in the book of Acts. You read the other revelations of himself that he makes in Galatians and 2 Corinthians. Paul never gave in to despair. So, I commend this cry to you. It's not a cry of despair. In the midst of this conflict that goes on in every one of our lives, we all of us must needs cry out like this. Paul's cry is first of all a cry of pain. It's a cry of pain. The word wretched A wretched man that I am indicates a state of suffering. It indicates a state of pain. Or to use the terminology that I often use, Paul was grieved. When from time to time in this conflict, this law of sin took him captive, it was a pain, it was a grief to him. As I indicated to you last Sunday, Paul here is not talking about backsliding. He's not talking about blatant rebellion against God. One of the great old commentators on Romans said that men perceive themselves to be sinners in direct proportion as they have previously discovered the holiness of God. And because Paul knew God on this level, knew Him like Isaiah who said, Woe is me! I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. The closer we are to the holiness of God, the more we will see sin's blackness and the more it will grieve us. You know what confession of sin is? Confession of sin is agreeing with God about my sin. And a big part of that is expressing that sin has brought me pain and grief. That's true confession of sin. Listen, struggling with sin is normal for the Christian, but what is not normal is a Christian who's not grieved. and pained by sin. If you're here this morning and you can sin without compunction, you can sin without grief and pain, then look to your soul. A believer may have sinned this same sin dozens of times in the past. And he may sin exactly in the same way again, but each time he renews the sin, there is grief and there is pain. Paul's cry here uncovers that kind of a heart. O wretched man that I am that this law of sin at times takes me captive. And then Paul's cry is also a cry of spiritual poverty. Far from being a cry of defeat, this cry is a prerequisite for victory. Christ tells us in the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is the man who admits his spiritual poverty and need that has the attitude that is characteristic of Christ's kingdom. And the mature Christian never loses this attitude of spiritual poverty, no matter how much he progresses in the Christian life. He realizes that the more and more he understands his profound need and offers up to God his emptiness, the more God is going to take him forward in the Christian life. It's when we constantly have this attitude that's laid out here in verse 24 that we're going to see victory. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me? Because it's in response to this cry that the answer comes in verse 25. And that's the conclusion of this matter. Now, we need to be certain we do not misunderstand that first part of verse 25, which is the climax, the very climax of this entire chapter. Now, I confess it is easy to misunderstand. Our New King James Version gives a very good translation, a very good literal translation here. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I want you to notice there's no verb in that first sentence. But in our minds, we tend to supply a present tense verb. I thank God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. But I don't think that's really what Paul intends or means. If you look back to verse 24, verse 24 is in what tense? A wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? What tense is that? Future tense. Now, if I ask you a question in the future tense, it expects an answer in the future tense. And so what we really should read in verse 25 is something like this, I thank God who will deliver me through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is really the only way that this passage makes sense. Let me ask you, when will we be delivered from these bodies of death? When will we be delivered from these bodies that have been left behind in the realm of sin and death? Remember how we talked about this in Romans 6? Paul says, I have died to sin, but my body is still here. My body is still in this realm of death and sin. When is that going to end? Yeah, it's going to end when Christ returns. In fact, this is exactly what Paul says in Romans chapter 8. Look with me in Romans 8 and verse 23. Beginning in the middle of the verse, we ourselves groan within ourselves. There it is. Paul, he's talking about this struggle. He says, I groan, O wretched man that I am. He says, we groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our... What? Our body. He's talking about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. See, some of you were thinking that verse 25 means that Jesus delivers us from the flesh now. Sorry, no. He will deliver us when He returns. Until then, we struggle. Until then, there is a war. There is battle after battle after battle after battle. Now, let me make three observations in conclusion here of this matter. First of all, we may continue to faithfully fight this battle because we know we will ultimately win. See, that's the tone here at the end of this chapter. Paul says, I'm being realistic with you. There is a struggle. There is a war. And this war will go on until the end of your life. And from time to time, that law of sin will fell you and bring you to your knees and take you captive. But in the end, we win! through Jesus Christ our Lord. Don't ever quit. Don't ever quit. Never quit. Never lay down your arms. Never surrender in this battle. Because in the end, we win. That's the tone here at the end of this chapter. No matter how discouraging the battle may be, no matter how many times it seems that you're taken captive by sin, do not give up, for we know who wins the battle in the end. armies of Oliver Cromwell were winning battle after battle back in the English Civil War. It was said that they could not lose because they knew, even before they started to fight, that God had already given them the victory. Now, I don't know if that was true of Cromwell or not, but it is true of us. We ought to go into every battle with sin knowing that the victory is ours. This is the only secret I can give you if you want to talk about it being a secret. We win. In the end, we win. And that's why oftentimes my sessions when I'm confessing sin before God end with this prayer, even so come Lord Jesus. Come and deliver me from this body of death. Second observation. We must be brought to the end of ourselves. I said this last week and I'm going to repeat it and drive it home again. We must be brought to the end of ourselves so that we can look to Jesus for victory in this struggle, in this battle. There's an interesting parallel here in this chapter. Verses 7 through 13, Paul is giving his testimony of how he became a Christian. Of what the law did in his life before he was a believer. And then in verses 14 through 25, Paul gives testimony to what the law did in his life after he became a believer. Now, what did the law do in Paul's life before he became a believer? Look at me at verse 9. It says, I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. You remember what we said that meant? It's not talking about physical death. It's not talking about spiritual death. Paul said, the law brought me to the place where I had to say, I can't do it. It brought me to the end of myself. And I had to look to Jesus Christ for salvation. Now we come to Paul's testimony about what the law does in his life after salvation. And guess what? It does the same thing. It brings me to the end of myself where I say, I can't win this battle. I can't win this warfare. O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? I thank God through Jesus Christ. And so I come to the end of myself. And I realize that what Jesus said in John 15, without me you can do nothing, is absolutely true. Paul had to come to the place where he realized that it was only through Christ and His Spirit that he could be victorious. That's what Romans chapter 8 is all about. So if you want another secret to victory, if we can call it a secret, it's this. Christians must learn to depend on Jesus Christ moment by moment for victory. If you don't take anything else away, you take this away. I can't do it moment by moment without Jesus Christ. Moment by moment. In some ways, I don't even like the idea of devotions, because I think we have this idea, well, if I just have my devotional time, I can kind of put enough gas in the tank to make it through the day. I'm sorry you can't do that. Now, I don't want to discourage you from having devotions. You and I ought to have a time like that with the Lord. But we've got to walk through the day, moment by moment, saying, Lord, I can't meet this struggle right now. Lord, I need you right now. Your grace must be at work now, Lord. We must run to Christ again and again and again and again every day. Battle after battle after battle. And the realism of what Paul is describing here is intended to drive us to Christ. Moment by moment. And then one last point I think is an encouragement to us. We aren't the only ones to go through this struggle. Let me ask you, what Christians do you put up on a pedestal? Here's the Apostle Paul. This is his testimony. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Great missionary leaders down through the centuries. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, Paul says. And I love the picture that the author of Hebrews paints in Hebrews chapter 12. He talks about this great crowd of witnesses and he describes the running of a marathon race. And it's the same picture as Paul's painting here. It's a picture of struggle that doesn't end. I have to keep on keeping on. I have to keep on in the marathon of the Christian life. It's not a hundred yard dash. It's not a four hundred yard, four meter race. It is a marathon. I have to keep on. I have to keep struggling. And he says, look, there's this great cloud of witnesses. And you know, when you read that, you say, why would I want a great cloud of witnesses seeing how I struggle and fail? Have you ever thought that? How many of you think that when you read Hebrews chapter 12. That's not what it means. What does a witness do? You put a witness on the stand and he gives testimony. And so what this great cloud of witnesses is there for is to say, you can do it. I did it. I made it to the end of the race. I did it and you can do it. How? What does he say there in Hebrews 12 and verse 2? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And so we have these witnesses around us that are testifying. If you'll look unto Jesus, if you'll keep your eyes on Him, if you'll run to Him, You can make it. You can do it. I'm here to cheer you on. That's the picture. And that's definitely the idea here in this passage as Paul says, this is my testimony. If it happens in your life, understand it happens in my life. And look to Jesus. So I close with a very simple question. Are you looking unto Jesus moment by moment in the struggle that is the Christian life? Not a secret, is it? But it's the only way to victory. that I've ever heard about.