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Generation is lost in that shuffle. Paul was tough on sin, whereas guys nowadays, every kind of sin there is, they call it an addiction. Okay, we're on Romans 7. Deals with sanctification, the Christian, and the law. Romans 7. And we're picking it up with verses 15 to 25. where Paul talks about the struggle within. What happens when a believer tries to live under the law? Paul says something very controversial in verses 15 to 17 of Romans 7. First time I read it, I almost freaked out. Again, he's dealing with what happens when believers try to live under the law. He talks about the struggle within, but Paul says in verses 15 to 17, the new man The new you created in Christ Jesus. Once you accept Christ, the old man is dead, the new you is alive. The new man does not sin. Now that's kind of hard to swallow, but that's what Paul says. We've got to try to figure out what Paul is getting at here. But the new man does not sin. Look at verses 15 to 17. For that which I am doing, I do not understand. For I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me." So Paul is saying that the new man does not sin. He's saying that there's a principle that he calls sin. I don't think this is a sin nature, because sin nature implies that you by nature sin, you can do nothing else but sin. Once we're saved, I don't believe we have a sin nature any longer, because we're no longer slaves of sin, now we're slaves of righteousness. But there is still a principle of sin in man, which causes us to sin. Paul refers to the sin principle as the old man. The person you were before Jesus Christ came into your life, before he saved you. Now we need to keep in mind the flesh, and I don't know how literal we should take Paul on this. The flesh, the New International Version will translate the flesh as the sinful nature. But maybe the flesh here should be taken a little bit more literally. Maybe there is some type of genetic, strong genetic influence, I don't know, but Paul is telling us that the flesh, the old man is not yet redeemed. Now look at Romans 8.23, Paul says this, and not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the down payment, guaranteeing that God will fulfill the payment in full, so the Holy Spirit guarantees when He indwells the believer, guarantees that the believer will be kept secure. That's what the firstfruits means. It means a down payment. And not only this, but also we ourselves having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Now, earlier in this passage, In verses 15 and 16, we already cry out, Abba, Father, and the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So Paul says in Romans 8, 15 and 16, that we're already children of God when we're spiritually saved and we're saved in the moment of salvation. But verse 23, He says that our bodies are not yet adopted. So we're spiritually adopted, but we're not physically adopted. Our bodies are yet to be redeemed. This, by the way, I don't want to get off on a tangent, but the health, wealth, and prosperity movement, where they argue that Jesus Christ saves the whole man when he died on the cross, he saves the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, they are correct. Where they're incorrect, though, is on their timing. Jesus Christ paid the price for the whole man, but the fact of the matter is our bodies will not be redeemed until the second coming of Christ and this mortal body puts on immortality. So the health, wealth, and prosperity movement, they confuse glorification with justification and sanctification. Okay? So we need to keep that in mind. Jesus Christ did pay the price to fully redeem us and give us our resurrection bodies. But if Kenneth Copeland thinks because he hasn't had a cold for two weeks, that shows the power of Jesus Christ to transform his body. He's crazy. When Jesus Christ fully heals our bodies and fully transforms our bodies, that's glorification. That's when our bodies will no longer be capable of death. There will be no more pain, no more sorrow. And so Paul says in Romans 8 that the flesh is not yet redeemed. So there still is a sin principle in the believer which can cause us to sin. And Paul equates that with the old man, but then Paul says that the new man The real you. Now you might not feel like the new man. You might not feel like a new creation, but if God says you're a new creation and you feel like the old man, who's right? Well the answer is God's right, and you're wrong. So even if you feel like the old man, don't trust your feelings instead, and don't lean on your own understanding, but instead trust the wisdom and the truth of God. The new man does not sin. John says the same type of thing. I think his emphasis is a little different in 1 John 3, 9. 1 John 3, 9. John says, No one who is born of God practices sin, because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Now, the word for practices is in the present active indicative. So it's no one who is born of God continually practices sin. So I think it's more of a habitual lifestyle. In other words, it would be evident that the person really isn't saved. But it's close enough for us to see an overlap in the thought of John and the thought of Paul, both inspired by God here. But the fact is, the new man does not sin. God considers this the real you, the new man. 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. The new you is the redeemed you, the spiritual aspect of you. Our flesh is still polluted by sin. Our flesh still has the sin principle. We have not yet received our resurrection bodies. There is a sin principle that causes us to sin, but that's the old man. But the new you does not sin. So when you are responsible for your sinful acts, but when you do those sinful acts, that's not the real you. That's the old you. And you are responsible for bringing the old you back into the picture. For the fact of the matter is that is not the you that's going to go on into eternity. That was the you that died on the cross with Christ. Now, you're responsible for bringing back the old you, for going into the closet and pulling your old corpse out and dragging it around. And you're responsible for that, but the fact of the matter is, as far as God's concerned, that's not the new you. Somehow, Paul is touching on that same aspect that we saw at work when Jesus looked at Simon and said, you are Peter. He looked at this guy and he changed his name to Rock because of the rock hard faith that he would have, the uncompromising faith that he would have after the Feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled him and empowered him. So Jesus was able to see Peter not as he was, but as he was going to be through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Somehow God sees us as the new man and when we do sin, it's not the new man who sins, it's us bringing back the old man who died on the cross with Christ. Paul says in verses 18 to 21 of Romans 7 that our flesh is polluted by sin. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. So our flesh is polluted by sin. A believer's mind wishes to please God. Now you might say, well I'm a believer and my mind doesn't wish to please God. Well then, Paul, and myself included, would question whether you're really a believer. A believer's mind wishes to please God, but the fact of the matter is a believer still cannot please God by self-effort. Now, the new man is not sinning, the new man is not defeated, the new you created in Christ Jesus, but it's the sin principle in man that is defeated. You see, we are dead to sin, we are separated from our sin. So when God looks at us, He sees us as separated from our sin. Our sin was nailed to the cross with Christ. So it's the old man that sins. This aspect will be changed when Christ returns. Remember Romans 8.23, we look forward to our adoption as sons of the redemption of our bodies, when our bodies are redeemed. At this point, we've only been spiritually redeemed. We're only spiritual sons of God. But the day is going to come when we're also going to be physically redeemed. and also be physically adopted as sons of God. So it's not the new you created in Christ Jesus that sins, it's the old man that sins, and this aspect will be done away with. This aspect will be changed when Christ returns, so it's not the you that's going to go on into eternity. So the new man does not sin. That's the eternal aspect of man. 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. Ephesians 2, 10 talks about that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so the new man does not sin. It's the eternal aspect of man. But the old man's sins, that aspect will be changed when Christ returns. So we are responsible for allowing the old man to return. If we allow the old man to return, we are responsible for those sins. Because sin no longer has power over us. Now Paul talks about the inner man in verses 21 to 24. Look at verses 21 to 24 of Romans 7. I find then that the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death? So the inner man, Paul says that the believer, his mind joyfully agrees with God's law. Again, if your mind doesn't joyfully agree with God's law, then it's pretty good evidence that you're not a believer. If you truly trust in Jesus for salvation, if you truly love Him, trust in Him for guidance, you're going to joyfully agree with God's law in your mind. Still, the sinfulness of the body imprisons the believer if he attempts to obey God's law on his own. Self-attempts to please God will always fail. Now, you know, it is possible that maybe the genetic makeup of man forces him in a situation where he makes choices, but those choices always fall short. of pleasing God. And it could be due to the genetic makeup of man. I'm not saying this is, you know, I'm not being dogmatic on this, but with genetic research it might point in that direction. But then when a believer is born again and dwelt by the Holy Spirit that enables the believer to then live by the Spirit rather than living by the flesh. And so we don't have an excuse for continuing to sin. I'm not saying that it's sinless perfection, but what I am saying is when we do sin, we shouldn't have an excuse for it. Now, James Dobson is a godly man, but a lot of his psychology is out to lunch and non-biblical. When he constantly talks about sinful acts as addictions, and makes excuses for believers to sin, the Holy Spirit has given us the fruit of the Spirit, one of the fruit of the Spirit, is self-control. Therefore we can say no. Paul says we're no longer slaves to sin, now we're slaves to righteousness. But the believer, his mind joyfully agrees with God's law, but the sinfulness of the body imprisons the believer if he attempts to obey God's law on his own, in his own power. Self attempts to please God will always fail. Romans 8.8 says that, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Self-attempts to please God will always fail. John 15, 5, Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He abides in me, and I in him. He bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Galatians 3, 3, another passage that deals with this. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 3. Are you so foolish having begun by the Spirit and regenerated by the Holy Spirit? Are you so foolish having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? And so he's telling the Galatians, if you're born again by the Holy Spirit, if you're saved through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, Why do you think that you're going to perfect yourself and live the victorious Christian life through human effort and through the strength of the flesh by attempting to obey God's laws in your own power? So again, self-attempts to please God will always fail. We need to trust in the triune God to empower us to obey Him. Now here's a little formula that I'll probably repeat over and over again throughout the course on Romans and throughout my preaching throughout my life, but obedience does not equal man obeying God's laws through our own strength. Us obeying God's laws through our own strength. That is not obedience. Even for the believer who's already saved, we can't obey God's laws in our own strength. The formula for obedience is faith and love in action. A believer is set free so for the first time in his life he can obey God's laws and obedience equals faith and love and action. In Romans 3.31, Paul tells us, he asks the question, do we then nullify the law by this faith? Since we're not saved by the law, we're saved by faith, do we then nullify the law by this faith? And then he says, not at all, rather we uphold the law. So we obey God's laws through faith, not through our own human efforts to obey the law in our own strength. Romans 14, 23, the last portion of that verse says, whatever is not from faith is sin. So anything you do that's not of faith is sin. Now remember, there is no power in faith. The power of faith is in the object that that faith is placed in. In other words, when Paul's talking about whatever is not from faith is sin, he's talking about the fact that we need to have faith in Jesus. to keep us from sin. In other words, not just saving faith. Remember when he started out in Romans 1, 16 and 17, he talked about from the righteous man shall live by faith, the just shall live by faith. He talks about from faith to faith, the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. It's from saving faith to living faith. And now what he's talking about is whatever is not from living faith to sin. So we have to live trusting in Jesus for guidance throughout our lives. Trusting in God's Word. If we have a conclusion, if we have a conclusion from the old man, a view from an opinion based on who you were before you were saved, and then you read in God's Word that God's truth contradicts that, you have to trust in Jesus and trust in His Word and reject the views from the old world view. A lot of times you'll have ladies that get saved and they have a hard time submitting to their husbands because they just can't accept it. They need their minds to be renewed. Romans 12.1 and 12.2. Now if they're a true believer, they have a new mindset, a new world view, set on obeying God, At the same time, they still bring in conclusions from the old world view that need to be changed, need to be transformed, need to be renewed. So Romans 3.31 and Romans 14.23 tell us very clearly that in order to obey, we must do works of faith, not works of the law, but works of faith. In other words, we can't say, Phil Francis, after he gets saved, can't say, okay, now I'm saved, so I trust myself. to be able to obey God's laws because then I'm still in the realm of sin. What I need to do is say, hey, I couldn't trust myself to save me. I had to trust in Jesus. And so I'm not going to be able to trust myself to be able to live the victorious Christian life. Again, I have to trust in Jesus to empower me to do that. And so we need to trust in Jesus for guidance and to empower us to live the godly life. But obedience equals faith and love in action. Look at Romans 13, verse 10. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. So again, Paul says that love is necessary to obey God. Not just outwardly obeying God's laws, not just having a relationship with God's laws, but having a personal faith and love relationship with the lawgiver himself. In Mark 12, verses 30 to 31, Jesus also said that love is the way that we uphold God's laws, but this is something that only the believer can do. Jesus isn't saying this is what you need to do to be saved, He's saying that this is what believers will do, those who are saved. Mark 12, verses 30 and 31. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, you should love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. All the Old Testament laws were summed up in these two categories that you should love God with everything you've got and love your neighbor as yourself. But the only way you're able to do that is if you recognize you're a sinner, you can't obey God's laws in your own strength, you accept Jesus Christ, as Savior, and then He empowers you to obey His laws. But in order to obey His laws, we must tap into the power He has given us, and that can only be done through faith in Him, and love for Him, and love for our neighbor. And so obedience equals faith and love in action. A personal faith and love relationship with the God of salvation and the God of creation rather than a relationship with God's laws, it's a relationship with the lawgiver. And so we must look to Christ for deliverance, not just from the penalty of sin, but we must look to Christ for deliverance also from the practice of sin. Because the law cannot deliver us, it was not designed to deliver us. Jesus is the Savior, Jesus can set us free. Look at John chapter 8. Talking about salvation, but it can also be applied to living the godly life. John chapter 8, verses 34 to 36. And the slave does not remain in the house forever, the son does remain forever. So, start with 34. Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son does remain forever. If therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. So he sets us free from being a slave to sin. So we must look to Christ for deliverance, not just for salvation, but deliverance from the practice of sin, sanctification, because the law cannot deliver us, but Jesus sets us free from this body of death, He'll literally, and do it in the fullest sense when we're glorified, but even now, when we trust in Him to lead us, He could set us free from sinful acts. So Christ not only justifies, He also sanctifies and glorifies. The law does none of the above. That is very important. The law not only does it not justify us, The law does not sanctify us and the law does not glorify us. Jesus Christ alone justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies us. The law does none of the above. And so Paul's conclusion is in verse 25 of Romans 7. You know, he just asked the question, who will set me free from the body of this death? And now his answer is in verse 25. Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then on the one hand I myself with my mind in serving the law of God, but on the other with my flesh the law of sin. So Paul's conclusion is that only Christ can deliver us from the presence of sin which pollutes us. Now the ultimate deliverance that Christ will give us is in Romans 8.23 when he glorifies us. when He changes us from the twinkling of an eye. But the fact of the matter is, Paul is saying that Jesus Christ, even right here and now, can give us moment by moment victory if we trust in Him. The problem isn't that sin is so powerful. 1 Corinthians 10.13 tells us very clearly that no temptation has overtaken us but such as is common to man. And God is faithful who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also that we may be able to endure. We don't have an excuse when we sin. God always gives us an exit. He always gives us a way out, a way to say no. So the problem isn't that sin is too powerful and that there's no way we cannot sin. Jesus set us free from the power of sin in our lives. We're no longer slaves to sin, now we're slaves to righteousness. The problem is we underestimate Jesus and his work on the cross of Calvary. The problem is we have a lack of faith in Jesus and his ability to deliver us from individual acts of sin. The problem is we don't love Jesus enough. We love the old man, the sinful ways, being our own king, human autonomy. And so the problem is that we don't trust Jesus enough, faith, and we don't love Jesus enough. Again, obedience equals faith and love in action. Faith in Jesus and love of Him in action. But Paul's conclusion is that only Christ can deliver us from the presence of sin which pollutes us. Paul says that the believer's mind serves God's law. Look at Romans 8, 5. For those who are according to the flesh, non-believers, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. So if you're a believer, you have a new mindset. Your mind is now set on obeying God. Now, that's your mindset, that's your goal. If there's a guy or a girl that claims they're a believer and their mind is not set on obeying God, then I wonder if they're really saved. But if you are a believer, your mind is set on obeying the things of God, However, if you try to bring that about through your own strength, you're going to continually fall short. But the believer's mind, he has a new mindset, he wants to serve God's laws with his mind. But the believer's body serves the law of sin. Okay? Believer's body serves the law of sin. That's just what he said in Romans 5 25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand, I myself with my mind and serving the law of God, but on the other with my flesh, the law of sin. So what we need to do is to submit our bodies, to submit our flesh to the ways of the Spirit and not vice versa. The solution to this problem, Paul talked about it earlier in Romans 6. No, we have to know something, we have to consider ourselves something, and then we have to present ourselves. The solution of Romans 6, we need to know what Christ accomplished on Calvary. That He not only saved us from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin. Therefore, we need to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God as a result of Christ's work. And then we need to present ourselves to God as His instrument to be used by Him, because we desire to be used by Him. You see, when we're living under the law, we have a relationship with God's laws, and there's no power there to enable us to obey God's holy laws. We live under the law, We have a relationship with God's laws. We attempt to obey God through our own strength and out of fear of judgment. But when we live under grace, we have a relationship with God through Jesus. We obey God through faith and love and Jesus is our source of power through which we can obey God's laws. And so we obey God through faith and love. Again, obedience equals faith and love. in action. Man cannot save himself from eternal damnation, but we need to recognize that man also cannot save himself from sinful living. So even the saved man can't save himself from sinful living. Faith in Christ is the only answer. We're saved by God's grace, grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and we live a godly life. by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. I'm not saying sinless perfection, but when you do sin, and you will sin, when you do sin, you have no excuse, because it's not any inadequacy found in Christ, it's not any inadequacy found in the law, The problem is, and it's not that sin is too powerful because you're no longer a slave to sin. When you sin, it's your fault. You're the only one who needs to be blamed. So we don't call sins addictions. We don't give people reasons, excuses for why they should continue in sin. We tell them that God has empowered you to say no to sin and therefore you need to moment by moment, day by day, say no to sin. But when you do fall, you don't have an excuse. Now, sin is an internal power. An internal problem, I mean. Sin is an internal, internal, I-N, internal problem. Look at Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17, verses 9 and 10. The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deed. But it talks about the fact that a deceiving heart is the base of all sin. Sin is an internal problem, it's not an outward problem. We spoke about Matthew 23. verses 25 to 28 where Jesus told the Pharisees that outwardly they appeared obedient but inwardly their hearts, they had not been regenerated and they cleaned the outside of the bowl but not the inside of the bowl and that the inside needed to be cleansed. Sin is an internal problem. Matthew 15 verses 18 to 20 Matthew 15 verses 18 to 20, Jesus states the following. But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands do not defile the man. So it's not the outward things that defile the man, it's that which comes from the heart. So sin is an internal problem. So it needs to be, in other words, You don't put a band-aid on a ruptured appendix. If the problem is internal, putting some outside window dressing on it isn't going to help it. If you've got a wall that's all cracked and it's breaking down, then painting it on the outside isn't going to help. Okay? Sin needs internal surgery, spiritual surgery, if you will. Take a look at Titus. Titus 3, verses 5 to 7. Titus 3, verses 5 to 7, talking about Jesus. He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, so not because of outward works, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. So it's inward regeneration whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So sin is an internal problem. We don't need outward reformation. We need inward regeneration by the Holy Spirit. And so believers when they're saved they have a new mindset. Remember Romans 7 and verse 22? Paul says, for I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man. See, the man, we've been cleansed from within if we're believers. Believers have a new mindset. Verse 25, the last portion of that says, on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin. So the believer has a new mindset. His mind has a new overall goal, and that is to serve God. If somebody professes to be a believer and doesn't desire to serve God, then that's, you know, when somebody comes to me for counseling, if they're in the midst of a habitual sin, but they say, I want to stop and I want to do things the Lord's way, I take that as evidence that the person truly is saved. But when a person comes to me for counseling and they're in the midst of a habitual sin, and they tell me, look, I don't want to stop, then, you know, the Bible says no one can serve two masters. And it seems to me that when a sin is more important to us than our love for Jesus, that's pretty good evidence that the person isn't saved. But a believer has a new mindset. He really does, he or she really does want to serve God. So they have a new mindset, a new worldview, if you will. Still, though, believers need their minds renewed. Look at Romans 12, 1 and 2. That sounds almost like a contradiction, but I'll explain it in just a minute. Romans 12, 1 and 2, Paul says, 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, that means do not be outwardly conformed to this world, don't be outwardly conformed to the world's pattern or walk outwardly like they walk, but instead be transformed, in other words be inwardly 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. Paul's not contradicting himself. He's saying in Romans 7 and 8, we have a new mindset. Now our minds, for the first time in our lives, in our minds we want to serve in the inner man. We want to serve God and His purposes and obey His commands for the first time in our lives. We want Him on the throne. We don't want ourselves on the throne any longer. Okay? So believers have a new mindset. Still, we have a new worldview, but we bring a bunch of conclusions from the old mindset. from the old world view, and so we need to study God's word and allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds. So even though believers have a new overall mindset, that of pleasing God, believers still need their minds renewed, Romans 12, 1 and 2, because we still keep with us conclusions from the old world view. For instance, A guy might get saved on Monday but might still think, well, if I'm going to find a girl and get married, I should live with her for a year because you don't buy a car unless you test drive it and drive it around and check it out and see if you like it. Well, the fact of the matter is, once that believer gets saved, he has a new mindset, now he wants to serve God. As he studies the Word, his mind gets renewed and he finds out that God puts ladies in a different category than he puts cars. Cars are things. Ladies are human beings created in God's image. And so the believer has a new mindset, still he needs the mind renewed and he needs to throw away those conclusions from the old man, those conclusions from the old world view that, well, this girl won't love me unless I show her what a great lover I am, that type of garbage. you do things God's way and we need to have our minds renewed. So believers must trust in God to empower them inwardly to live godly lives. Believers must trust in God to inwardly empower them to live godly lives. In other words, the problem with sin is not so much a problem of the flesh as it is a problem of the mind Because the mind, when we trust in the Spirit, when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can say no to the urges of the flesh. That's what makes us different from the non-believers. But believers must trust in God to empower them to live God's lives. Again, Galatians 3.3, Paul says to the Galatians, are you so foolish after having begun with the Spirit, by the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goals through human effort? So Paul is saying, look, if the Holy Spirit saved you, you better trust the Holy Spirit to guide you into godly living, rather than starting to trust in the old man all over again. Galatians 5.16, Paul says, but I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Believers can walk by the Spirit. And then Proverbs chapter 3, Proverbs 3, verses 5 to 7, Proverbs 3, 5-7, that says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. You see, Proverbs, even though this is Old Testament, what he's saying is don't live under the law because you can't keep the law on your own. Trust in God with all your heart. That's that faith and love in action. Trust in God with all your heart. don't lean on your own understanding and the Lord will make your paths straight. So the believer must trust in God to inwardly empower him through the indwelling Holy Spirit to live godly lives. We need to keep in mind the law condemns, it cannot empower us to live godly lives. Romans 3.20, no one will be justified in God's sight by obeying the law, rather through the law comes the consciousness of sin we become conscious of our sins so the law condemns but God's grace provides us with the power to obey his laws not through our own strength but through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and therefore it is us trusting in and relying on God and loving God with everything we got desiring to follow in the path that he has for us, and it's faith and love in action that equals obedience, trusting in God to empower us to obey his laws. We are not only justified by Christ and not the law, but we will also be sanctified and glorified by Christ and not the law.
Advanced Romans #16
Series Advanced Romans
Sermon ID | 3270674915 |
Duration | 41:28 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Language | English |
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