Okay, this is lecture number 15 in our course on Romans. Lecture number 15. We're going to start Romans chapter 7 today. I want to just briefly go over our outline of the book of Romans so we don't lose track of where we're at. The greetings, personal remarks, and theme were in Romans 1-17. Then Paul talked about the fact that all are lost or condemned in Romans 1-18 to Romans 3-20. Then in Romans 3-21 to Romans 8-39, Paul talks about salvation in Christ alone. So we're in this section on salvation in Christ alone. Paul talked about justification in Romans 3.21 to Romans 5.21. Then he talked about sanctification in Romans 6 and here as well in Romans 7. In Romans 8 he'll talk about glorification and perseverance. Now Romans 9, 10, and 11, the next section, Paul will talk about God's dealing with Israel and then he'll give advice on Christian living in Romans chapter 12 verse 1 to Romans 15 verse 13 and then closing remarks in Romans 15 and Romans 16. So right now we're on the section that deals with salvation in Christ alone. Remember justification dealt with the the act of God whereby he justifies, he declares righteous a sinner who trusts in Jesus for salvation. That's justification, the moment a person first believes. Then we enter into the process, not an act, the process of sanctification whereby God progressively sets us apart more and more for His purposes. That's Romans chapter 6 and Romans chapter 7. Romans 8 will talk about glorification The fact that the act when our Lord's returned, He totally perfects the believer and the total presence of sin is removed from us. And so now with sanctification in Romans 6, Paul dealt with the Christian and sin. Once a person is saved, what is the Christian's relationship with sin? And Paul talks about the fact that Jesus Christ has dethroned sin in our lives, no longer is sin our master, we have the freedom to say no to sin, we are no longer a slave to sin, now we are a slave to righteousness. So that aspect of sanctification was covered in Romans 6. But now here in Romans 7, Paul begins to ask the question, what relationship does the Christian have with the law? So, Romans 6 was the Christian in sin, and now Romans 7 is the Christian and the law. So, let's take a look at Romans 7. Now, remember, brief introduction. Paul has already declared that all mankind is condemned. All are condemned and that salvation comes only in Jesus. Salvation through Jesus was taught in the Old Testament. It's nothing new. The Old Testament is as much the Word of God as the New Testament. Paul argued in Romans 6 that sin is no longer master over the believer. That was in Romans 6 with the Christian and sin, and now Romans 7, the Christian and the law. So the first six verses of Romans chapter 7 Paul tries to answer the question, are believers under the law? Are believers under the law? Now verse 1, Paul points out that death frees a person from the law. Look at verse 1 of Romans chapter 7. For 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. A very key phrase here in this first verse, and I don't even think I put it in my notes, but a key phrase in this verse is what the New America Standard Bible puts in parentheses, for I am speaking to those who know the law. This is real important. Paul right now is not talking to the Roman Christians who were Gentiles, he's talking to the Roman Christians who were Jews, or possibly Gentiles who converted to Judaism before they accepted Christ. In other words, somebody who holds the Old Testament law in high regard. Okay? It's not real easy for somebody who put so much emphasis on the Mosaic Law to then accept Christ, and then to find out that they're no longer under the law. They know that the Mosaic Law came from God Himself. And so why would God just contradict Himself and say, okay, it no longer applies. And so Paul here is talking to those who were Jews or converts to Judaism who know the law, the Mosaic law, now they get saved and the question arises, well what is the relationship between the Christian and the law? And Paul points out in verse 1 that death frees a person from the law. The law has jurisdiction only over the living. Now he gives an illustration in verses 2 and 3 to further explain this. uses an illustration of the fact that a widow, a woman whose husband has died, can remarry. Verses 2 and 3 of Romans 7. For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man. So a widow can remarry. The law binds a husband and a wife, yet death frees the surviving partner. The surviving partner can remarry. Now if a person is joined to another person while married, that is adultery. But here, death frees a person from the law of marriage, about a law of faithfulness, if you will. And so Paul is pointing this out, that death frees a person from the law. Now verse 4, Paul gets right to the point and tells us that our marriage with the law has ended. We have died to the law. Verse 4, Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ. that you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. So our marriage with the law has ended. We have identified with Christ in his death. He died on the cross for our sins. We say that we wanted that death to be credited to our accounts. We have identified with Christ's death, therefore we died to the law. So remember, death theologically means separation. So now we're separated from the law. We are now married to Christ. So we have a new... We're now the bride of Christ. We're no longer married to the law. Okay? So we have a new husband, if you will. Now we're married, as believers, we're married to Christ. We are no longer married to the law. Because of this, Paul says we can now bear fruit for God. So in other words, before you were saved, you could not bear good fruit. You could not bear fruit for God. Before you were saved, while you were under the law, you could not please God. Remember in Romans 3.20, Paul pointed out very clearly that no one will become righteous by observing the law, rather through the law comes the consciousness of sin. So, The law reveals God's holy standards and we in our sinfulness cannot keep God's holy standards. We fall short. But the law reveals to us that we're sinners and therefore we need a Savior. But once we accept Jesus as Savior, we can bear fruit for God. John 15 and verse 5. Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. So apart from Jesus, we cannot bear fruit for God. Believers need to be as vines connected, branches connected to the vine, so that Jesus Christ can bear fruit through us. When Jesus came out of the water, the Father said from heaven, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Only through Jesus can we please God. Galatians 5, 22-23 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. So the Holy Spirit indwells the believer and bears fruit through the believer that the believer could not produce on his own. So God will only accept the perfect works that are initiated and led by the Holy Spirit Himself. And so Paul's point there in verse 4 is that our marriage with the law has ended, we are now dead to the law, we're now married to Christ, and through Christ we can bear fruit for God, which God will accept. Whereas when we were under the law, all we faced was condemnation. Now that we're under grace, and in Christ we can bear fruit which God will accept. Verse 5, quote, refers to us as in the flesh, meaning before we were saved. Verse 5 of Romans 7. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. And so Paul says that when we were in the flesh, before we were saved, our sinful passions were aroused by the law. See, we thought we could obey God's laws, and that basically, that is called pride. There's no way that man in his own sinfulness could obey God's perfect and holy standards. But the sinful passions worked through our body parts. This is why Paul says in Romans 12, 1 and 2, I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." So Paul's saying, look, you presented your bodies as an instrument for evil before you were saved. Now that you're saved, present your body, not as a dead animal sacrifice, but as a living and holy sacrifice which is acceptable to God. So, before we were saved, our sinful passions worked through our body parts. Now Paul says that we need to devote our body as an instrument, consecrate our bodies as instruments to God, so that through the power of His Holy Spirit, He can work through us. Now there's a big debate going on right now, especially in science with the technology on genetics, as to whether or not people's actions are determined, predetermined by their genetic makeup. And I believe that the mind of man is in the soul, it's part of the immaterial part of man, and that's where the decisions are made, though I do believe that there is an interaction between the body of flesh and the soul. How exactly that works I don't know for sure. Some people would take the word flesh in a much more literal way than others would. Now it comes close to Gnosticism in certain points. At the same time it does seem rather strange that Paul would call the sin nature flesh over and over again and differentiate from the... draw a distinction between the flesh and the spirit and then just come right out and call the flesh body parts, members of our body. It seems rather strange that he would do that if he didn't mean something more than just the immaterial sin nature of the non-believer. So it is something we need to look into, but if we are I wouldn't say genetically programmed, but if we are genetically influenced before being saved, I would say it's just to the point that we can choose between sinful actions, but that once we're saved, We're in dwell with the Holy Spirit and we're set free and we're able for the first time in our lives to please God, but I'm not a five-point Calvinist, so I would say even as a non-believer, somehow and in some way, under heavy divine persuasion, we can say yes to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior. So a lot of these things, I'm not saying that I've reconciled them, but the debate would continue in a lot of these areas. But before we were saved, when we were in the flesh, we bore fruit for death. Keep in mind, Jesus Christ, in John 14, 6, says, I am the way, and the truth, and the light. No one comes through the Father, but through me. But he referred to himself as the light. In him was light. In him was light, and the light was the life of men. John 1, I believe, verse 5, somewhere in that area. Life is only in Jesus. So anyone who is outside of Christ is in the realm of death. And as non-believers we bore fruit for death because life is only in Jesus. Now Paul reminds us that death released us from the law in verse 6 of Romans chapter 7. For now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter. And so death released us from the law. When we accepted Christ, we died to the law. We identified with Christ in His death and so we died to the law. The law only applies to living people and the old you, the old me, died. And so we now have new life and new power in the Holy Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 talks about this distinction. Living the life in the flesh as opposed to and then being saved and living life in accordance with the spirit. So look at Galatians 5 verses 16 to 25. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. So Paul says that we have died, those who trust in Jesus for salvation have died with Christ. The old you has died. 2 Corinthians 5.17 tells us that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. If you trust in Jesus for salvation, the old you died with Christ on the cross and now the new you is alive. regenerated by the Holy Spirit and able to walk by the Spirit because the passions and desires of the flesh have been crucified with Christ. Therefore, you know, I'm totally opposed to people who over-emphasize the overemphasize the strength of the temptations they're going through, the fact of the matter is they may seem strong to us, but God tells us that those passions and desires have been crucified, therefore we have the power to say no to sin, we are no longer slaves to sin, we are now slaves to righteousness. Matthew 23, 25 to 28, Matthew 20, 3, 25 to 28, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, and he says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." You see, what Paul is saying is that no one can please God by outwardly obeying the law. Jesus is emphasizing this in Matthew 23 as well. By outward obedience to the law, that's not acceptable to God, because God is looking at the heart. That's why Jesus said, hey, big deal if you haven't murdered somebody, if you just harbored thoughts, evil thoughts about the person, you've already broken that commandment. And so, it's not outward obedience to the law that saves, but it's inward regeneration. We need to be cleansed from the inside. So, the law does serve a purpose, but that purpose is to lead us to Christ, and once we're saved, then we're empowered to obey the law, but it's not the law that we're trusting in. We no longer have a relationship to God's laws. We have a personal relationship with God Himself and the person of Jesus Christ. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3, verses 9 and 10. And Paul says this, Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices. and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. So Paul makes it clear, why should we act like the old man that we once were when the old man is dead? Why should we imitate the old man when in fact we are a new creature created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them? Ephesians 2.10, 2nd Corinthians 5.17. So we have died to the law, therefore we've been released from the law. See, being under the law means a man, and the way Paul uses that, he's not saying that the thou shalt not kill doesn't apply anymore to Christians, but what Paul's saying is Being under the law is a person trying to please God through his own human strength by obeying God's perfect and holy standards. Okay? So being under the law is symbolic for a man trying to save himself by the law. And Paul says, once you're saved... Paul's point is not only that we're saved... we're not saved by the law, we're saved by grace. But Paul also argues we're not sanctified by the law either. We're sanctified by God's grace as well, and by the power, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Now he's not saying the law, the guidelines of the law aren't important, but what he's saying is once you didn't get saved by human effort, once you are saved, If you try to become sanctified and be set apart for God's purposes through human effort, you're just going to frustrate your walk with the Lord. You couldn't get saved through human effort. You're not going to be able to sanctify yourself through human effort either. Paul also points out in verse 6 of Romans 7 that we no longer live by the letter of the law, by the outward regulations, the letter of the law. 2 Corinthians 3.6 2 Corinthians 3.6 And that reads, Who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, where the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. You see, the letter of the law kills a man. Man looks at the letter of God's law, you know, all the technicalities involved, and he tries to keep it in his own human effort, and it kills him, it condemns him. It just proves to him over and over again, the harder he tries to obey God's laws, the more it becomes evident that he can't obey God's laws and that he's a sinner. However, Once you accept Christ, the Holy Spirit regenerates you and gives you life and then empowers you to obey God's laws. But the only time that you're going to obey God's laws is when you recognize that you can't do it through your own strength and you enter into, we'll get to that point later, but you enter into a trusting, a faith and love relationship with Jesus Christ. We'll talk about that later on. Romans 2.29 Romans 2.29 Paul says this, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart by the spirit not by the letter and his praise is not from God but his praise is not from men but from God. So again, to be a true Jew, to be a spiritual Jew, to be saved, the circumcision that has to occur is inward circumcision of the heart done by the Holy Spirit, i.e. regeneration, the new birth, not outwardly obeying God's laws and saving yourself. And so what Paul is saying, the same thing he said about justification, he says about sanctification. You didn't get yourself saved by obeying God's laws through human effort, and so you're not going to grow in your walk with Christ through human effort by obeying God's laws. The growth is going to have to be a process brought about by reliance on the Holy Spirit. to lead you, to guide you, to change you from within rather than a reliance on your own strength. You know, I had a buddy that I worked with on a police department who was a godly Christian man and he told me that he would always be faithful to his wife because he loved her so much and he knew that he would never stoop to the level of being unfaithful to her. And I told him that I'm trusting in God to keep me faithful to my wife. But I don't trust in my own self. You know, here King David was a man after God's own heart. Yet a man that God refers to as a man after God's own heart, if that man could fall into the sins of adultery and murder, then what that tells Phil Fernandez is that Phil Fernandez shouldn't boast in his flesh and that Phil Fernandez shouldn't trust in himself and his own strength to keep faithful to his wife, but instead Phil Fernandez should recognize that any horrible sin that is out there, Phil Fernandez is one decision away from making, and therefore Phil Fernandez needs moment by moment, day by day, to trust not in himself, But the Holy Spirit, the triune God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to deliver me from evil, to protect me, to build a hedge around me and not lead me into temptation. But this idea that we can trust in ourselves, we need to remember, we... earned the flames of hell on our own. And now that we're saved, we shouldn't even want to take over the reins of our life. We should want the Lord to remain in charge. All we did was get ourselves deeper and deeper dig a deeper and deeper ditch for ourselves, and the Lord Jesus Christ got us out of it, we don't need to say, okay, you gave me the lead in the ballgame, I'll take it from here. We need to continually rely on Jesus, not just for salvation, but for guidance and empowerment throughout our lives to give us the victorious Christian life which we cannot earn on our own. And so Paul says that Death released us from the law, we no longer live by the letter of the law, the outward regulations, but instead through the Holy Spirit who empowers us. So now Paul asks the question in verses 7 to 12, well then in that case, is the law sin? Look at verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. For I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, you shall not covet. So Paul says in verse 7, the law is not sin. Instead, the law shows us what sin is. It's just like a speed limit sign. The speed limit sign itself is not unlawful, but it shows us what is unlawful. If the speed limit says 25, then it's telling us anything over 25 is unlawful. But because the speed limit told us that, it doesn't mean that the speed limit sign itself is unlawful. So the law is not sin, but the law shows us, it reveals to us what sin is. But even though the law is not sin, sin does take its opportunity from the law. That's not the law's fault. But sin does take its opportunity from the law. Verse 8. But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind, For apart from the law, sin is dead. And so Paul says that sin takes its opportunity from the law. Without law, one is not accountable for disobedience. Paul's giving a general principle. If there were no laws, there can be no violations of the laws. Now keep in mind, even before the Mosaic law, God said, Thou shalt not eat from the forbidden fruit. So right from the beginning there was law. But Paul was saying, without law, that's a principle here, without law one is not accountable for disobedience. When we know the law, we have no excuse for breaking it. Now Paul says something very interesting, a controversial passage in verse 9. There's a lot of dispute about what this means, I'll just share my views on it. let you know another possibility. Verse 9, Paul says, and I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died. So verse 9, I believe Paul is talking about the age of accountability. John Stott talks about in his book that Paul could be speaking here generically as all mankind. that Paul could be speaking as Adam, that Adam was alive once apart from the law, then God gave the command not to eat the forbidden fruit, Adam ate from it and died. And I think that in a sense you could apply that. It's kind of like the old classical works where they would... morality plays where they would call the name of one man would be every man and his story is really the story of all mankind. Well here in a sense Paul is every man and just as Adam fell in the garden was once alive apart from the law and fell so did Paul. But I think what Paul is saying is that each and every one of us goes through a Garden of Eden experience when we reach the age of accountability. And that would be different for each person. It's when you know right from wrong, then you naturally do wrong, because you were born and conceived in sin, and then you're held accountable. So the age of accountability. When Paul was an infant, he was spiritually alive. Now, 2 Samuel 12, verses 18 to 23, we don't have time to turn there but in that passage King David had sinned adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah the Hittite and as a punishment his son was very weak and then his son died and when his son died they asked him why did he stop mourning when his son died and he said because I can't Because he can't come to me, but I will go to him someday. So this is the same David who said in psalm 23 verse 6 Surely goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever David knew he was secure in Christ David knew he was going to go to heaven. He says Paul by the way the Apostle Paul second chapter Timothy 4.18, he also knew that he would go to heaven. The Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. But David knew he was going to go to heaven, yet he said that he would go to his son someday. So his son, who died seven days old, the day before he would have been circumcised, so he couldn't trust the circumcision to save him, But he knew that he would someday go to the place where his son was. So his son died at seven days old and went to heaven. And so I think what it amounts to, we are conceived in sin. Psalm 51.5, the NID I think is the best translation of that particular verse that I've seen where David says, I was sinful from the moment my mother conceived me. And that's the intent of the Hebrew that is behind that. That even though man is sinful from the moment of conception, from the moment that the sperm cell and the egg cell unite, and the 23 chromosomes from the sperm cell and the 23 from the egg make 46, you have a new human being, Right from the moment of conception, we're sinful. However, we do not know right from wrong, and so we're not yet held accountable for that sin. I believe, in essence, we're covered by Christ's sacrifice because we haven't lived old enough to reach the age of accountability, know right from wrong, and then do wrong, and therefore we're covered by Christ's sacrifice and not held accountable for our sin. Now, when Paul reached the age of accountability, the law then came to him. He knew right from wrong, and he did what he knew was wrong, because, you know, he's conceived in sin, as all mankind is, and he was held accountable for his sin, and then he spiritually died. Now, take a look at Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And verses 1 to 5, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, as before we were saved, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved." And so there it speaks about the fact that we were dead in sin before we got saved. But I believe that in some sense a man, though he is conceived in sin, Though they are sinful from the moment of conception, until we reach the age of accountability and know right from wrong and the law comes to us, we are not held accountable for our sin. Then once we know right from wrong, we do that which is wrong because we are by nature sinners and because of that we spiritually die. So I think that's what Paul's talking about in verse 9. Now another possible interpretation verse 9 that Paul was saying after being saved he was spiritually alive but then he turned again to the law not for salvation this time but not for salvation this time but for sanctification but then the law brought death it stunted his spiritual growth so that's a possibility as well though I think for Paul to say that He was alive apart from the law, then the law came and he died. It doesn't seem to be the kind of language you would use of a believer. So I think at that point, I think Paul's going through his spiritual history here in Romans 7. He was alive apart from the law before he reached the age of accountability, then he reached the age of accountability, the law came to him, then he died. And then later on he's going to talk about him his relationship as a believer once he's saved by Christ and what that entails in his attempt to live a godly life, that it cannot be done in human strength. So Paul then emphasizes again in verses 10 to 12 that the law is holy. He has to keep emphasizing this because he keeps bringing up the fact that the law The more we focus on the law, the more we sin. The more we try to justify ourselves by the law, I should say, the more we sin. So it might give people the impression that the law is evil. So he wants to emphasize that the law is holy. Look at verse 10. And this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me. So God's law gives life to all who obey it. But the fact of the matter is, we all fall short. Romans 3.10, Romans 3.23. Therefore, the law resulted in death. We all, when we reach the age of accountability, enter into that Garden of Eden situation. We become conscious of God's law, and we disobey it. So we all, if you will, have our own personal fall, but again, we've inherited a fall in nature from our parents, And so it's going to result that way except for the one who was born without a sin nature and who is God manifested in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone has passed that test. Verse 11, for sin taking opportunity through the commandment deceived me and through it killed me. So sin deceived us and killed us, not the law. It was sin that deceived us and killed us. Our pride told us that we could save ourselves by obeying the law in our own strength. Verse 12, so then the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. And so Paul says the law represents the holiness and the righteousness of God. The presence of sin in man prevents him from obeying God's holy law. The law declares to man God's holiness. The law also declares to man, man's sinfulness, because man in his strength, his own human strength, when he attempts to obey God's holy standards, he falls short. Romans 3.20 again, Paul tells us very clearly Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, in God's sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. So, the law declares God's holiness, we try to keep it in our own human strength, we fall short, so the law declares man's sinfulness, and therefore the law shows us that we are sinners who need a Savior, and so the law leads us to Christ. Look at Galatians chapter 3, verses 24 and 25, Galatians 3, 24 and 25. Therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. So the law was a substitute teacher for us to teach us God's holy standards and then to show us that when we try to keep God's holy standards in our own sinful human natures, we fall short. So the law was a substitute teacher or tutor to declare God's holiness, to declare man's simpleness, and to lead man to Christ, to show him his need for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So then Paul asks the question in verses 13 and 14, does the law cause death? Look at verse 13 of Romans 7. Therefore, did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be. Rather, it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by affecting my death through that which is good. That through the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful. And so Paul says, in answer to the question, does the law cause death? That the law does not cause death, but it is sin that causes death. You see, the law is good, But through the law, sin's true colors are exposed. That's why Paul says that through the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful. Through God's commandment, the true colors of sin are exposed. Paul says in verse 14 of Romans 7, the law is spiritual. Verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. So the law is spiritual, but man is of flesh. In other words, Paul is saying man is sinful, man desires temporary pleasures, whether it's wealth, sex, fame, power, you know, the list can go on and on, but man desires temporary pleasures, but the law is spiritual. It is God's law. It deals with things of eternal value. And so the law is on a different plane than man. Man's mind, the unsaved man, his mind is focused on the things of earth, But God's law is focused on the things of God. And so now Paul talks about in verses 15 to 25, he begins to talk about the struggle within. What happens when believers try to live under the law? Paul recognized that this was a problem for many believers who were saved and trusted in Christ for salvation, but came out of Judaism they had such an attachment to the law that it was often hard for them to recognize that the fact that they are not only saved apart from the law, but they're also going to be sanctified apart from the law as well.