In Romans chapter 7 verse 9, Paul says, he was without the law, for I was alive without the law once. How can this apostle say he was once alive without the law? Some say Paul is referring to the innocence of childhood. But when he came to learn the law, it was then that sin revived and he died. But that really doesn't fit the autobiographical material that Paul states about himself, the portion that we heard read earlier this day by our brother in Galatians, or the biographical material in Philippians. From his earliest childhood, Paul was indoctrinated in the Old Testament scriptures. The education of a Pharisee would mean memorization of large portions of the law. As a child, starting at age five, For example, in Galatians 1 verses 13 through 14, we read this earlier today, brother Kyle did. For you have heard of my conversation that is my life in time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews religion above many my equals in my own nation. being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. And then he says in Philippians 3, 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. Doesn't seem like when he understood the law as a child and got his education that it bothered him that much. He seems to say, I've excelled in that beyond my peers, not just in my understanding of the law, but in my practice of it. There was never a time Paul was alive without law. He's not speaking literally, but metaphorically. There was a time when the law was not condemning him. That's what he means. There was a time in my life where the law did not condemn me. I felt like I had a pretty good record concerning the law. In fact, I think I was blameless. In fact, when you think of that statement in Philippians chapter three, how could any man persecuting the church of God say he was blameless? He's killing Christians. But at that time in his life, he thought he was doing God's service. He was doing the bidding of his master. He thought he was doing what the law required of him, putting the heretics to death. But Paul says there not only was a time I was alive without the law once, a time when the law was not convicted me. I thought I was completing and fulfilling its righteous requirements. But when the commandment came, sin revived, I died. What does it mean? The commandment came. Well, he's talking about the law of God. And he's talking specifically about one of those Ten commandments, thou shalt not covet. He uses that as his example in the next verse. For when I was alive without the law, but when the commandment came, he means thou shalt not covet was illuminated to him and it convicted him of his guilt. He'd always been guilty of violating that commandment. But he didn't know it until the Spirit of God struck Paul's heart with what that command really meant. He understood the letter of it. In fact, it's interesting that the Pharisees literally modified the commandments of God in order to show compliance. For example, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, you know, you've heard it written, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, if any man looks upon a woman and lusts after her in his heart, he's already committed adultery with her in his heart. You see, they would have simply said, no, no, no, no. Adultery is the physical act alone. In fact, they invented traditions to keep from having to, quote, be guilty of breaking God's law. The law commanded, honor thy father and thy mother, the first commandment with promise. But they came up with a term, Corban. If they, instead of taking money and supporting mom and dad, would simply say Corban over that, those resources, they didn't have to support mom and dad. And they therefore nullify the commandment. They did things like that all the time. For example, work on the Sabbath. Well, we define it. You don't carry something beyond the 32nd of a mile. All of these kinds of things in order to be able to say they are complying with the law. In John 16, 8, the Bible, Jesus tells us that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convince of sin. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment. Romans 3, 19. Romans 3, 19. Now we know that what things serve of the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. By the way, who's under the law? Everyone. The whole world, he says. That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. The purpose of the law was to smite the conscience and prove guilt. And when that happened, when the commandment came to him, When the illumination, the understanding, when he saw beyond just the letter of the law. For example, thou shall not covet. The Pharisee would say, no, no, you're not coveting just because you desire. You're coveting and guilty when you actually plan to take what belongs to your neighbor. Then sins committed. Well, that would excuse him for lusting for their neighbor's wife or their neighbor's donkey or whatever he might own according to the law of God. But Paul said the commandment came to him. How many times as pastors and preachers have we had that very thing happen to us when somebody heard us? Or they came to us and said, you know, it was reading in my devotions the other day, I've read that verse scores of times, but the other day it came to me with power, with life and reality. What are they saying? Illumination took place. Understanding took place. That's all Paul means here. Paul was now alive to his sin. In other words, sin was no longer operating under the radar. You see, sin really likes to work under the radar. It doesn't want you to note that it's sin operating. It wants you to think that you are in command. But it came to light, and Paul says it killed him, meaning it so crushed him that he felt like a dead man. The guilt so pressed upon him like a huge rock, he felt dead. And the commandment which was ordained to life, verse 10, I found to be unto death. You go to the doctor, routine examination, a well visit. You're getting your blood work done as you do every year. You feel wonderful until the doctor comes in and tells you that you have a mass growing on the inside of you or that there's some defect that they have discovered that you were born with and will kill you if they don't repair it. Under the radar, unnoticed. But when a commandment came, it shed light on the heart. And this is what he's talking about. You see, part of sin's power is this deception. Look at verse 11. For sin, taken occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it slew me. The power of sin is to keep itself under the radar, to make you think that you're the captain of your destiny, the master of your fate. You're doing what you want to do. Nobody's gonna tell you what to do. And all along, sin is telling you it's the puppet master and you're dancing to its every suggestion. But Paul says, wait a minute now, don't jump to the conclusion that the law is at fault here. The law is actually blameless. Verse 12, wherefore the law is holy, the commandment holy and just and good. Verse three of the eighth chapter, for what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh. You see, the problem is not the law. The problem is us. And the law was never designed to corral us and to bring us into alignment. No, no, it was brought to expose us. And so here is this man feverishly working to annihilate the name of Jesus and all who subscribe to it. And there on the road to Damascus, the very one he's opposing appears to him. And what does he say to him? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads, the pricks, the cattle prodder. In other words, what does he mean by that? He means that prior to his conversion, God had been prodding him. His conscience had been agitated. Something's happened. What happened? The commandment came. and he was all the more working against it. He was trying to silence it by all his good deeds. I'll prove that I am what I've always thought I was by doing this for you, God. I'll take care of this blasphemer and his cult. But all along, God was exposing him by the Holy Spirit's conviction. And so the summary is verse 13. And in the summary of verses 7-12, He gives us the purpose of the law. He states it clearly. What then? That which is good may death unto me, God forbid, but sin. There's the problem, gentlemen, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. There it is. There's the purpose of the law of God. to make you to see how utterly exceedingly sinful you really are. I don't know how much you've studied church history, but in the great awakenings and great moves of God, great outpourings of the spirit, they have all come not only as a result of prayer, but from preachers doing what they would call a law work. But we have abandoned that practice. We find it not useful in our modern, sophisticated era that man is far more intelligent and he won't fall for the doctrine of sin. He doesn't want to hear anything about it. We can't get them in that way. You just turn them off and repulse them. My dear friend, that's the purpose of the law. It's the schoolmaster. And without the schoolmaster, you'll not be led to Christ. And you say, but I know many people that were saved and they never heard any commandment. They just heard about the love of God in the cross and they were truly converted. You're correct, I don't doubt it. But you show me them a year later, months later, and God will always have done a law work, if not before conversion, after conversion. All as it comes, the work of the Spirit. Because by doing so, even after conversion, he's showing them the value and the beauty beyond what they even thought the day they were saved. They see the glorious rescue that's been given to them. They see how far they were in sin. He always does it. Verses 7 through 13 is just nothing more. Listen, listen, listen. A penetrating explanation of verse 5. That's all it is. Let me rehearse verse five for you. For when we were in the flesh, the motion of sins, which were by the law, the law produced this appealing of sin and worked in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. For that reason, you cannot say that Paul is speaking about himself after conversion. You just cannot. Romans 8 verses 8 and 9, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. This is not a post-conversion description of himself. This must be a pre-conversion, but don't want to get hung up on that. Again, that's not the prism by which we interpret, but we have to acknowledge that Paul is dealing with the necessity of the Spirit of God using the law to convince a man that he's lost without hope and he needs a Savior, Christ Jesus the Lord. That's what he's doing here. And if he's not being autobiographical, so be it. But the point is still the same. A man must be arrested and apprehended by the moral character of God that he has violated and fallen short thereof. For all have sinned and come short of what? The glory of God, the righteousness of God. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And it's only the law that exposes that. He speaks as a man under the law. The Christian, as he explains, is not under law, but under grace. Hence, this cannot be the Christian. that we are dealing with here. Now, because of time, I must now get to the part that we have all waited for. Let's read verses 14 through 23. Verses 14 through 23 here for us this afternoon. For we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. What I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent under the law that it's good. Now then it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would, not that I do. Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, worn 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 should deliver me from the body of this 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. Paul now illustrates what he has said, verses one to three. mainly actually verses five through 13. If verses 7 and 13 are a deeper clarification of verse 5, then I suggest to you that verses 14 and 23 are an illustration of verse 5 as well as verses 7 and 13. He's doing exactly what he did in chapter 6. He states the doctrine, and then he illustrates it. He talks about slaves. You were a slave. You're not a slave. I'm using this as an illustration, basically. That's, in essence, what he's saying because of the infirmity of your flesh. I know this is hard for you to follow, so let me put it in the context of slavery. He's now using another illustration. You could call this lesson a lesson in biblical anthropology. It is amazing what he says here. Now, both sides of the argument or controversy of Romans 7, you know the controversy, Paul is speaking of a regenerate man. No, no, no. He's speaking of an unregenerate man. That controversy, both parties have to admit that this is not Paul's present condition, even though he uses the present tense. I, you can't convince me that at the moment he is pinning this by his annual menu wins, I mean, you insist that he is struggling with his sanctification at that present moment. And this is his current condition. Even if you hold that this is a regenerate man struggling in sanctification, you have to admit that that's not the present condition of the apostle. But somehow as he's writing, he comes to the clue and breaks upon him suddenly. And now he can say, there is now no condemnation. That didn't happen while he was writing. No, he's explaining something. He's illustrating something. Therefore, the present tense should not be made important here. It's merely a tool, merely a tool. The present tense tends to make things more dramatic, and it's an effective way to draw the reader into the narrative. Most news headlines are written in the present tense, even though they're talking about something that happened in the past. You've noticed it, haven't you? Man murders, present tense, sick. One, that draws you in. Present tense is more powerful in that sense. And what you have, I believe, is Paul saying, quote, this is the way sin works, using the law to condemn. Let me explain it this way to you, Paul says. Here's the law, and we know it's spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. And then he proceeds to show how this works out experientially in a person. That, I believe, is what he's doing here. We do it all the time, preachers. Here's the problem. Here I am. And here's what's going on. And you stated in the present tense. I don't think you can make much out of the present tense. And if you do, I think you're getting caught up in a very small, minor detail and using it in a major way. Now, if this is an illustration of his thesis, which is verse five, and then again, summarized in verse 13, then I think Paul is stating here something of a man's unregenerate state. Look at verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, that I am carnal, sold under sin. Now, once again, Paul is using this verse to answer critics. He's dealing with the critic here, concerning his view about the law. And so he starts off and, hey, I agree. The law is spiritual. Quit accusing me of condemning the law as something evil. No, no, no. It's holy, just, and good. It's spiritual, man. I've never disputed that. We know the law's spiritual, but I'm carnal. Now, what is the meaning of the word carnal? Well, I told you earlier it means flesh or fleshly, pertaining to the flesh. It's the same word found in verse 5, for when we were in the flesh. It's the unregenerated man dominated by the rule of sin. It's the same thing. He's not changed his definition. Go back to Romans chapter 8, verse 5 and 9. May I read it again? It's so important not to Read it, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded, fleshly minded, is death. But to be spiritually minded, which the law is, is life and peace. You see, the law is spiritual. Because the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. For it's not subject to the law of God neither, indeed, can be, so then that they are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." We know Paul is using the word flesh or carnal in this way because of what follows. I am carnal, sold under sin. The word sold means to be sold as a slave. Paul is saying, whoever this person is, whether it's hypothetical, whether it's autobiographical, it doesn't matter. This man is a slave to sin. But friends, if that is a regenerate person's condition, I beg you, how do you explain Romans 6? It would be a complete turnabout, contradiction to everything He's established. In answering the objection, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? For sin shall not have dominion over you. You're not under the law. You're under grace. Know ye not that to whom you yield yourselves, servants, slaves to obey? Your servants ye are to whom you obey. Again, the problem isn't the law. Problem is that the law is dealing with slaves to sin. And in that case, all the law can do is state what God's will is and condemn those who do not obey it. Paul states the same thing in the very next chapter. Look at Romans 8, 3. I read it earlier. For what the law could not do, the law could not make this man right with God. Why? Because it's weak through the flesh. But God sinned in his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, so that what could then happen, what is verse 4 say could happen, so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. This is, I think, one of the strongest arguments that this is a man yet under the law, under sin, but not just any unregenerate man. But more about that later. We need to ask the question, does this sound anything familiar to what he's already said? Again, it's a restating of verses seven through 12. Paul is not doing something different here. He's just restating. He does this through chapter 6, chapter 7. He does it all the way through the epistle. What did he say in those verses that states that the law is spiritual? Well, he says in verse 7, is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would have known sin except through the law. Verse 12, the law is holy, the commandment holy, just, and good. He's repeating himself. What did he say in those verses that state that he was in the flesh, sold under sin's mastery? Verse 8, but sin, taking opportunity, by the commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. But verse 9, sin revived and I died. Verse 11, for sin, taking occasion, by the commandment deceived me and by it killed me. He's just restating what he said. The law spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. Why do we have to come up with these other theories? Because it fits the theological construct that we want to assert. You can't press these false divisions on the text. The text must tell you how it's to be divided, what Paul's outline and flow of argument is. There's no way this man is a Christian struggling in sin. You cannot so speak of a Christian If you do, you've destroyed everything he has said in the sixth chapter and before and what he will say afterwards in the eighth chapter. Now, in this illustration, beginning with verses 15 and 16, Paul introduces duality. Duality. And many of you say, but I can so identify with this duality as a Christian. Well, really, you can't. You think you can. But you're looking through the wrong rose-colored glasses. This is not jokes. This is not a statement of your experience as a believer. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that I do not. What does he mean by this word allow? What's the Greek word? Do you know what the Greek word is? You might be interested to know. It means it's the Greek word gnosko. What is the conosco? What's the conosco mean? It's the word which means to know or to understand. Paul is really saying, for what I am doing, I don't understand. For what I will to do that I do not practice, for what I hate that I do. And so he now introduces dueling motives. Remember the Q&A, we talked about the will. The will can only do what is the strongest motivation at the moment. And Paul is introducing dueling motives in his person. He wants to obey the law of God, but for some reason he can't do so. Now here's where those who believe this is a regenerate man struggling with his sanctification says, well, hey, he has to be a Christian. Why would a sinner want to obey the law of God? Romans 8 says he can't, can't even be subject to it. Well, stay with me. Stay with Paul, I would say. Watch the mind of the logical preacher here. Don't make him say something he's not saying. And I pray I will try not to do so either. Paul does not say he sins in every single instance. Nor does he mean sometimes this is the case. Rather, he means this is the overall trajectory of his experience. This is his norm. Most of the time, when I try to do good, I don't. He doesn't mean every single time. He always does what's wrong. But this is the trajectory. This is the course of his life. If this is the course of his life, can he be a Christian? Absolutely not. The soul that sinneth it shall die. He that's born of God does not continually habitually practice sin, says the Apostle John. Again, in verse 16, he demonstrates that he's not opposed to the law of God. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. You see this duality. I want to do what's right, but I, the same I, ends up doing what I didn't plan on doing. Something in me. There's a schism. There's a divide. He wants to obey, but the problem is not the law, but his nature. He's a slave to sin. Remember verse 14 and preceding. He's a slave. Let me give you a conclusion here about self and sin, because that's what he does in verse 17. He states the thesis, verse 14, he explains it in verse 15 and 16, and now he gives you the summary, the conclusion. It's about himself. I find something in me that wants to do right, to obey God, but then when I get ready to do it, I end up sinning again. What is the conclusion? Verse 17, but now, It's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Paul understands his problem is much deeper than just poor choices or behavior. There's something wrong with his nature. The problem is with the way he's constituted. Sin is the problem of nature, not just behavior, friends. Paul's not trying to excuse himself by blaming sin. That's not the tactic here. No, no. He's trying to say, I've discovered something about my nature. My behavior is following the course of my nature. I'm finding that in me, sin is ruling. Sin's mastery is over me and it's working through my flesh. And again, what does he do? He repeats himself again, verses 18 through 20. This is nothing more than repetition. 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's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. See, he says the exact same thing he said in verse 17. Do you see that? He's just repeating himself. Paul restates the last part of verse 17 in that last part of verse, first part of verse 18. But this time he restates it negatively. Sin dwells in me and there's nothing good that dwells in me. Now we must define what he means by in me. And he does so. He helps us. This is the work of an effective communicator. Because he's known he's using this term in me and I repeatedly. And you can get kind of lost. In fact, he probably got lost in the reading of it just a few moments ago. What do you mean? This is getting confusing. And so can you imagine these Christians in the first century Rome hearing the letter not having the ability to follow along in the text? They're just hearing it read to them. And so Paul's empathy comes through, and he says, for I know that in me, ah, yeah, that is in my flesh, he defines it. Now, you could possibly think that flesh means here the same thing as it does in verse 14 and 15, but that would be entirely wrong. In verse five, Paul says, when we were in the flesh. Here, it's not we in the flesh, but the flesh in us. Do you see the difference? Thus flesh here is something different. It's the same thing as what he states later in Romans 7.23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Members here is what he means by flesh. The natural appetites and desires of the body and the mind. This is how he defines, in my flesh. He uses the same terminology in chapter six, referring to those natural appetites and desires of the mind and the body. That's how he defines flesh in this verse. Remember verse 12, verse 13, verse 16 and 17. In other words, Paul states, I want to do what the law commands, but sin in me, taking advantage of the perverted appetites and desires of both my mind and body, wins over the desire I have to obey God. I'm utterly powerless to obey. Therefore, sin wins. That's what he's saying. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Now that is a most interesting statement. How to perform what is good I do not find. Look at it. Don't pass over too quickly. Think about it. Paul says nothing like that in chapter six concerning the Christian. He writes as if the believer does know how to yield his or her members as instruments of righteousness under God. Nothing like that is stated about the Christian in verse six besides this. Paul tells the Philippians that it is God who not only supplies the desire, but the power to do God's pleasure. Philippians 2.13. Remember what Paul says about these Christians prior to their faith in Christ in Romans 6.20. For when you were servants, slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. You were not under the control of righteousness. What does that mean? It means the same thing it means to be slaves of sin. It's a point of contrast. When you were slaves of sin, you were under the control. To now be a slave of righteousness means you are under the control of righteousness. Therefore, when you were a slave of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. But now you're in a different state. You're not under the law, you're not under sin, you're under grace. And grace is an empowering force. It doesn't mean they were free from the obligation of righteousness. Every sinner is obliged to obey God. Here, it means they did not have the power to do so. That is a unregenerate man's condition, but not a Christian. And then he explains this law of sin. He states it as a law. Verses 21 through 23, 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 of my members worn against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Sin works, listen, I know you're tired. Sin works in a natural person like any natural law. It's a ruling principle. Jump off the roof of this building. You're not going to fly. You're going to fall. It's a law, a physical law. Sin is a spiritual law, and it cannot be broken. It will always work every time. Sin works as a ruling principle. What does Paul mean in verse 21? The one who wills to do good. Well, he answers in verse 22. The one who delights in the law of God, according to the inward man. Now here, here we have the strongest case. Verse 14, I think, is an absolutely striking statement that would rule out a regenerate man. But here, my reformed brethren, for the most part, believe that this is the concluding statement that overwhelmingly proves that this is a regenerate man struggling with his sanctification. Because a true Christian only can struggle with holiness. Only a true Christian wants to obey the law of God. Only a true Christian can inwardly delight in the law of God. Well, it's true that we Christians sometimes have what we would call an intense battle with sin. True. We will to obey God and we do what is good, but for some reason we lose the battle and sometimes we fall into sin. And we want to apply that experience to this. But this is the wrong text to do that. Galatians 5 is the text to do that with. There you have it. Walk in the Spirit and you won't give in to sin. But if you don't walk in the Spirit, you will fulfill the lust of the flesh and every time. But there in Galatians 5, does he make it a hopeless scenario as this man No. In fact, in Galatians 5, he says it's quite possible to walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but to actually win the battle. In fact, he goes on to say, if you're not, then the works of the flesh are being produced in you and you're going to die. But those who are in the spirit, what do they produce? The fruit of the spirit. And he describes the life of a Christian. The argument for this position is that a sinner cannot say that he delights in the law of God, especially delighting it from the inner man. Inner man here defined by those who want to interpret Paul is saying this is a regenerate man. They define inner man as the spirit. They argue the unregenerate spirit is bound in sin, hates God and doesn't delight in God at all. Here's my question for you all. Here it is, I'm coming to it. You ask me questions, now it's my turn to ask you. Can the sinner in any way delight in the law of God from the inner man? Well, before you answer that question, how does Paul use the term inner man? He only uses it three times, this is one of three places. He uses the same term in the book of Ephesians. Let's turn to it, Ephesians 3.16. Ephesians 3 16. This is that great prayer of the apostle Paul for the Ephesian believers. And he's praying that God would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. What does that mean? Same term. What does he mean here? What does he mean by the inner man? Does he mean the spirit? Or does he mean something else? Well, to help us, let's look at the only other place this concept is found in the apostles' writings. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16. And here we are going to discover and receive, I think, more insight What Paul thinks when he uses this term, inward man, second Corinthians four 16 for that, which calls for which calls we faint nod, but though our outward man perish yet be inward man. is renewed day by day. So what does he mean here by inward man? We're not quite for sure in Ephesians. We're not really quite sure for Romans. But can we say for certainty what he means here in 2 Corinthians 4.16? Absolutely. He means the non-physical part of man. That's all he means. My outward man, my material physical body, it's dying. But the non-physical part of me Well, it's going on, it's being renewed day by day. He's contrasting the physical part with the inward part, the non-physical. You cannot confuse these terms, inner man, outer man, with old man and new man. I think my Reformed brethren who sees this as a regenerate man struggling with holiness has done that. They've confused the inner man with the new man. The old man with the outer man. No, no, no. Paul is defining how he uses the term here as the inner man, the non-physical aspect of a man. He does it in the very next verse of Romans 7, verse 23. Go back to Romans 7. He tells you what he means by inner man. But I see another law in my members warned against the law of my mind. There it is. That's what he means by the inner man, the non-physical aspect of your person. The mind is non-physical. We're not talking about the brain. The brain is a physical organ that the mind uses while in this physical body. But when you die, the mind is going to function. You are going to be a thinking person after death. because the mind is non-physical. And here, the context tells me that this is what he's meaning. He's talking about the non-physical part of the inner person, which includes the mind. The mind. I see under the law of my members, worn against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. He says it again, verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, watch it, here's his concluding statement. So then, with the mind, I serve myself, serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. My mind, the inner man, I'm serving the law of God. So I think that's what he means. You may not agree, so be it. But I think that To me, the context is clear. He's talking about the non-physical part of him, which would include the mind. But let's back to the question now. Can a sinner delight in any way in the law of God and yet be unsaved, unconverted? And the answer definitely is yes. We have too many scriptures that says so. But not every sinner. That's not the norm. That's not the rule. Certainly Paul is clear on this in Romans 8. The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. He is opposed to God and God's law and all that's holiness. But let's take a look at a religious man who's yet to be converted. Go back to the second chapter. Remember, I took time to say that the beginning of Romans 7 is not Romans 7, 1, but the second chapter. Thou that boastest in the law, by your disobedience do you dishonor God. The Jews naturally boasted, rejoiced, is what that word, glory in the law. Every Pharisee delighted in the law of God because he believed it was his guarantee of eternal life that God had invested the oracles of God in the special people, the descendants of Abraham. And because of that, they were entitled to heaven, not those Gentiles. No, no, we are God's people. How do we know we're God's people? Because he gave us the law. He didn't give that to anybody else. They boasted, they rejoiced, they delighted in it. with the mind. They believed it was their ticket. They believed that they could get some conformity to it. Listen to what Paul says prior to his own conversion. He was zealous for it. He did delight in it according to the mind. Not the spirit of man. No, the will didn't delight in what the spirit of the law. He delighted in the letter of the law. In his mind, he saw the law was good. It was just as a reflection of God. Yes, I must do this. I suggest to you, Paul would have before he was converted, thou that makest thy boast of the law. This delight, though, that this, the delight that a Christian has is not such a carnal delight, but one born of the Spirit. This man has had something happen to him that it's just not a religious man trying to work his way into heaven. Something's happened to this man, but short of conversion. It's the delight that comes when the commandment comes and you understand it in its spiritual nature and quality. You see it, and while it breaks your heart to see your sin, you concur with the mind that the law is right. Yes, I am guilty. The law is holy. The law is just. The law is good. When has he said something like this? Verse 9. This is not new. He's repeating and illustrating what he said in verse nine. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Brethren, this is not just a unregenerate man. It's one who's been awakened by the law of God through the spirit and his convicting work. What happens to a religious person when they're convicted, when their self-righteousness is exposed? Does anyone know? I know. I found myself in such a place. I remember reading Romans 6, 6 and 7 one day. Knowing this, the old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer be servants of sin, for he that has died is freed from sin. And overwhelmed, a thought penetrated my mind with authority. That's not happened to you. I closed my book and said, no, it hasn't. I went home to tell my wife, what's in this book's not in me, it's not in half the people I'm preaching to. And then I tried, then I tried to do my absolutely best. And when I couldn't, I threw up my hands and said, I must be consigned to hell. Don't hope for me. I don't want to read my experience into this. That would be terribly wrong hermeneutically in every way. But I think this is exactly what he's dealing with here. This man illustrates what verses seven through 13 explain a man who is unregenerate, but he knows the law. He's boasted in it. Who like Paul could say that touching the righteousness, which is in the law brainless, but now he's awakened to his self righteousness. He now considers it all done. Knows the spirit of God has illuminated his blinded eyes to see what he never saw before. And he's condemned. And the more he tries, the more he's condemned. The law of sin has captured him. And now he's known. This man never knew such a law. He never understood. But sin had captivated him and held him in bondage. That was foreign to his mind. Romans 7.23, But I see another law, my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. How does the law of sin rule in such a person by the law of God? Romans 7, 1 and 2. Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But the husband dies, she's released from the law of her husband. Do you not see? He's just explaining the first half of the chapter. Lloyd-Jones was right. By the way, I didn't come to this theory, interpretation, because I read Lloyd-Jones. I came to this within years, a few short years after my conversion. And when I found that Lloyd-Jones believed it, didn't know much about the man, I bought the used commentary on Romans 7. And then I started reading it, and then I got to the other commentaries. I said, this is a man I like. This was the first voice I'd ever read after who had any authority as far as men considers authority, who was saying the exact same thing I was saying. Amen. For when we were in the flesh, verse 5, the sinful passions, again, just repeating, which were aroused by the law, were at work in my members to bear fruit to what? What does he bear his fruit to? Death. Verse 10-11, death. I found to bring death. For the sin taken occasion by the commandment, deceiving by it, killed me, death. Verse 13, how then what is good become death to me? Certainly not, but sin that it might appear, sin was producing death in me. And what is his summary conclusion? What is the cry of this man's soul? Here he is, verse 24, 25. It's the summary of the law of God and its purpose. The law consigns me to a dominion of sin. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this? body of death. Death. He's just stated again what he has said earlier. And I think that's the biggest mistake that people make with Romans 7. They forget about what the first half of the chapter says and they take off on this tangent. Because of one verse, because he delights in the law of God in the inner man. And they interpret that as the spirit. No, not at all. It doesn't fit the context. It entirely, entirely violates the context of what he's trying to do with the chapter. Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul. Not what my toiling flesh hath borne can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God. Not all my prayers or sighs and tears can bear my awful load. That's what the law does. It makes you to know the load of sin. Only Christ and not the law can free me. I thank God through Jesus Christ. He has to say it. He can't wait to chapter 8. His soul is lifted up in exaltation and adoration. And it comes forth like an ejaculation of praise. Oh, thank God! Yes! Jesus Christ! He can! But then he comes back and says, here's life at the best. Life at best for a man under the dominion of the law and knows it. So then with the law, the inner man, the mind, so then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Can you imagine the apostle telling us that he was going to obey the word with his mind, but he's still going to let the flesh go on and serve sin? And this is the future state of any believer? No. And it isn't the state of any believer at any point in time. Amen. Because you've been made one with Christ. So that what's true about him is true about you. Amen. Well, I'm thankful to the law of God. I don't curse it. And I don't tell people you need to disregard the law. Amen. That's right. Any believer in the new covenant should be, as the apostle, Do we make void the law through faith? Nay, we establish the law. The law, when used properly, is good. It does its work. It brings us to Christ. For we discover that the load of sin that we carry, even as a law within us, is too much for us. We discover that our righteousness is as filthy rags. but all there's a righteousness of another. One, one spotless lamb of God. He who came from glory to rescue a sinner condemned to die like me. Oh, is it possible that this kind of righteousness can be given to me if merely I believe and put my confidence in him? And Paul resoundingly will say, yes, Again I say unto you, yes, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved for he is the righteousness of God revealed in the Old Testament law. preached by the prophets and in this last hour has come and been made manifest to us. And if you will trust in his efficacious blood, he'll wash away all of your sins and the judgments of God will not stand against you. For in Christ, your sins have been condemned. And he can pronounce over you today, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Why? Because you stand glorified in the Son. Amen. Praise God. Amen. Father, we thank you for this glorious, glorious epistle. And we've just really raced through two chapters. We've collected a gem here and a piece of gold here, but we've left so much behind. Help my brothers in their days ahead to continue to study and to see what you want them to see, for I know it will always be the truth. For thou art the spirit of truth, and you will guide us into all truth. For this we pray to the glory of one the one who died. Oh, Lord, we want to be faithful preachers of the gospel. We want to help our people to see the gospel, to not just be saved by the gospel, but to be also saved in your son's life, to live by the gospel. So I pray, Father, that you would make us more able communicators of this glorious good news in the person of Jesus. We pray this in thy name. Amen.