Well, tonight we turn in our Bibles to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. And we're continuing our study in this great book. And we conclude chapter 7 tonight. And next week we get into what many of you said to me, I can't wait for chapter 8. So chapter 8 has a lot of wonderful stuff. But Romans 7 is also very important. So we're going to consider tonight verses 13 through 24 of Romans 7. Let's give our attention to the Word of the Lord. Romans 7, verse 13. Did that which is good then bring death to me? By no means. It was sin producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment, might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, that I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. Do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God and my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. May the Lord bless tonight the hearing of His Word. I've said it over and over, but I believe that the greatest frustration about the Christian life, at least from my perspective, and I'm going to highlight that tonight, my perspective, is how little the progress that I seem to make in sanctification. You ever thought about how powerful the Heidelberg Catechism is on this? Our Heidelberg speaks of the fact that even the holiest of men in this life only make a small beginning of this new obedience. We've said that. We've said that for years. But do we struggle with that? How do we feel about that? Problem is, I want more and I live in America where I can supersize everything. I want it now. I want it big. I want something more than I feel like is happening. And this struggle is hard for us in the Christian life to get our minds around. I mean, why does the Bible present this glorious victory of Jesus Christ over sin and death, and yet I don't seem often to experience that triumph myself? You know this. Maybe I'm overreacting. Am I? Am I missing something? I say that because I've heard many people say, brothers and sisters, but they struggle with some of the reformed doctrines and they say to me, they say, well, I think you reformed people are a little too defeatist in your view of sin. You know, I mean, come on, get out of the grumpy life. Get into the happy life, and in some ways, I think there's some truth to that, you know, there's some truth to that. But then they go a step further and they say, well, get out of Romans 7 and get on right into Romans 8. And so there's this idea out there that, hey, we should not be so concerned about sin anymore. You're forgiven. You can't help but acknowledge that this pushing away of the ongoing problem of sin, when you ask the question, has it really helped people today in the church deal with the struggle? The reality is, it's not pastorally. That mentality has not pastorally helped many people, has it? You either end up in denial, or you end up justifying sin in the life of the church, and sin is no longer taken seriously. And that's where it's really gone. That's been the kind of consequence of the whole thing. But you know, you know as a Christian that your conscience is often deeply troubled and you feel the burden. You feel the burden of this ongoing struggle. And you know that to avoid that, you know, lands you in denial. The fact is, in the real world, Christians are, and just as much face the same struggle And the same problem, as we go on and we are redeemed, we still have the sinful nature and the problem with it. And I believe Romans is helping us think through that issue. Because we all know that ongoing sin in your life, the life of the believer who has been made alive, it's devastating when you're seeing things really clearly. And the sincere believer who has a wounded conscience because of it, how is he to think through this problem? If you don't think through it well, you end up doing a lot of damage as a pastor and helping brothers and sisters think through this. Because you can throw up your arms and say, what's it all worth? I mean, is this it? Is this the glory of the Christian life? It can be distressing. It can be very distressing. Everything in Romans so far has been rather straightforward, I think, in chapter 7. It's really been an amazing chapter. But then we come to verse 14 tonight of chapter 7, and this has led to a lot of confusion for people. He says this in verse 14 of Romans 7, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. That has led to some very different views regarding Romans 7. What do I mean? I mean, think of what he just said. Sold under sin. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Can a Christian say that? It doesn't sound like the glorious view of Romans 6, does it? Romans 6 was up in the clouds. Romans 6 was beautiful. When Christ died, you died. Speaking of union with Christ, you know, and then we looked at all these beautiful things in Romans 6 about the Christian life and how we are to think, to reckon ourselves dead to sin. We're no longer slaves to sin, but slaves of righteousness. Well, why then is Paul saying, now I'm sold under sin? That doesn't seem to make sense. The question goes like this. Is Paul speaking here of his experience as a believer? Or, alternatively, is he going back and looking at life before he was a believer? How can Paul be so defeatist here if he is a believer? Should we view the Christian life that way? I mean, this is an important question, isn't it? It's a very important question. Can we really say, verse 14, that we're sold under sin and that nothing good dwells in me? Do I really want to run around saying that? Do I want to run around saying even further, Paul says that as a believer, do I want to tell people that? See the dilemma? So there's two main views. The first view, goes like this. Paul is speaking as before he came to be a believer. The heart of the debate here centers on that. Is he a mature Christian or not? This view says he's looking back to the time before his conversion And Paul here is describing this. Paul is describing this conflict. Remember what he said in Romans 6, we died to sin. That means that the old man was crucified. That means that we died. So when Christ died, we died there. Paul said, you have been set free from sin and we have become slaves of God. So if we're set free, then you can no longer speak in that kind of way. And so he says in verse 23, I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. So you get the argument, how could a Christian still be sold under sin and brought under the captivity of it if he's been freed? If he's now a slave of righteousness? So some in the history of the church, some of the Arminians said that Romans 7 is not talking about the mature Christian. Romans 7 is still somebody not saved, how he relates to the law, not saved. That view found heavy support among Pelagius and others. I believe it's wrong. Why do I believe it's wrong? Follow what He's been saying for a moment. Follow everything that we have worked through for a moment. We really run into a tension in Romans 6 and 7. The way that we see things and how God has defined things. In other words, in Romans 6, God has told us how He sees us. How does God see us? He sees us in Christ. That's glorious, isn't it? We're hidden in Him. We have everything we need in Him. The first chapters have described righteousness that has been imputed to us, and therefore, everything we need. And so when the Father looks at us, He sees the righteousness of His Son. And this is glorious for us. This is how we are to think about ourselves. Romans 7 is looking at things from our earthly struggle. And that's where the difference comes in. Paul in Romans 6 told us everything God's done. Freed us, sent His Son to die for us, and we were at the end of Romans 6 marveling at the super abounding grace of Christ that set us free. That's how I felt going through Romans 6. That's what I experienced. But then Paul shifted gears in Romans 7 because he knew there was a concern about our relationship to the law. and how the sinner relates to it. And remember what we considered last week. Paul then describes that for us. He doesn't want to say that the law is bad. He doesn't want to say that the law is evil. And so Paul says, remember last week, Paul described that relationship to the law. And we came to that crucial verse, verse 9, where he said, I was alive once without the law. But when the commandment came. Sin revived and I died. Now, Paul's already talked about his previous life. There was this time when I thought everything was great. I was alive. In my estimation, in my life, how I looked at things, hey, I was the rich young ruler. I kept the commandments from my youth. I lived a good, I lived a moral life. I honored God. I was blameless. No one could measure up to me. Remember he said that in Philippians? If anyone thinks he has confidence, if anyone thinks they're good in their lives, I'm better, said Paul. I've got all the badges. I've got all the marks. In other words, if you were a cadet, the whole thing was loaded. Circumcised the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, And then he says this, "...as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless." I did it. Now that's, he's saying, how I thought of myself before. This is really crucial to tonight. I climbed the ladder to God. I beat everyone. But then one day, The law came home to me. And boy did it come home to me, Paul says. I began to understand the demands. This is the Damascus road. I got struck with the holiness of God. And all of a sudden, what I thought of myself was flipped upside down. That which was dormant in me, in my mind and in my heart, it all came to light. in the ray of God's law, and when the law shone down into the dark pit of my heart, guess what happened? I understood I was a dead man." That's what he's saying. What do we say about the man before he comes to Christ? He's dead in trespasses and sins. That's all Paul's saying here. I was alive without the law, thought I was good, but when the law came, what happens? I believe that he's speaking of regeneration here. But whatever the case, when he speaks this way, he says, when the law hit me, I realized I was dead. That's what verse 9 means. Sin came to life in me. In other words, I got it. I saw it. I began to understand. It's like this morning with the gluttony thing. All of a sudden, the 10th commandment now takes on a lot more depth, doesn't it? Whoa! I said to one of the elders tonight, I didn't know I was a glutton. I'm a glutton. We're all gluttons. Law came home to me. Law got in my heart. So I discovered that the commandment I thought would bring life, in other words, the commandment I thought that if I did, I would achieve, He says actually brought death. Because I was so far from keeping that. And I realized I was deceived about my life. I realized that. And I believe here that's evidence of regeneration. The Spirit of planning life in the heart to see. Because then he realized what? I loved my sin. I didn't keep the law. And the reality is no matter how hard I tried to be accepted by God, I couldn't do it. You see where he's come? He hit the bottom of the barrel. This proud Pharisee, he was a jolly Pharisee. He was a happy Pharisee. This proud Pharisee, dragging off Christians to be killed, hit the bottom of the barrel. And you know, when we're going to talk about conversion, true conversion, this is what you're going to talk about. This is where you're going to start. The burden of what? Your sin. So from here, Where does he go in Romans 7? Well, he's not going back and now saying, great, well, before I came to Christ, I saw how bad I was. That's not where he's going now. That was the opposite thing. He was the rich, young ruler. I've kept it all. I didn't see anything. And so now in verse 14, everything shifts in the present tense. Very important. Everything shifts in the present tense. He's no longer talking about the past. He's now talking about what he's experiencing in the Christian life now that the eyes of his heart have been opened. He's talking about his experience as a believer. Whatever he's now going to describe, he's going to say, this is now what's happened to me. This is my relationship with the law. Now that I become a Christian, now that I've been saved. So it's a very backwards kind of thing. That's what we've noticed here. And this is where the confusion sets in. When I was a Pharisee, just to make sure we get this, I saw myself as good. But when the commandment came, when the commandment came home to my heart, I realized I was dead. Put it this way. When I was a Pharisee, I was in Pharisee row. I don't think anyone up here is in Pharisee row. But this is Pharisee Ra. I was at the front of the church. And I'm saying, God, I thank You that I'm not. But when the law came home to me, I went to the back. And I beat my chest. And I said, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. See it? So Paul is describing the born-again man. What the law continues to do now. And what his experience is now that he didn't have that when he thought he was alive. The redeemed heart comes. What happens to the redeemed heart? You know this tonight. What's our concern in all this discussion about the law where Paul has been saying the law kills? Our concern is, but you see, I love the law. Do we really want to say that? This is the nerves in the church today about this discussion. Do I really want to say that? Because see, now I love the law. It's a delight to me. That law reflects the character of God. It's His righteousness. It's whom I'm being transformed into, this One who kept the law perfectly. I'm being made into His image. I love that law. But you see, you need to understand the problem now, Paul says. Because we've got to be realistic about the Christian life. I live every day at the feet of Christ. Because I go on with life as a Christian, and I'm finding myself in a warfare to which this body of sin that remains wars against my new desire. My new desire as a born-again Christian is to love God's law. That's what's there. I love that law. But all of a sudden, since I've been converted, since I'm now in the present, I have this great desire to keep God's law. But all I'm realizing, because now the mind is opened, all I'm realizing is every step of the way, I'm breaking this thing. That's the issue. He's died to Himself. And He's made a new creature, and now He sees. And if the sinful nature weren't present, then we couldn't have this discussion. But since the sinful nature is still present, that's what you're here wrestling with. I'm bad to the bone. So what does this mean for the rest of the Christian life? Well, Paul's being honest. And that's where I think we have to be. Honest. Of what life is really like. What the struggle is really like. What does he say here? When he died to himself, meaning I've lost confidence in myself before God. And that is the fruit of regeneration. Three times he's going to define the Christian life. explain the problem, and then he's going to say why he's facing it. So you really have to understand the repetition here because he's explaining this over and over and over so we get it. Look at v. 14. We know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. Here's the problem of my life, says Paul. I'm continuing to face... It's this. The law is spiritual. I love the law. It is good. The law has never been the problem. The commandments of God are holy and just and pure, but I, in the sinful nature, have a different story. I'm of the flesh sold under sin. What does that mean? He defines it in verse 18. For I know that in my flesh nothing good dwells. Further, verse 21, there's a law that evil is present with me. This is his grand problem. The God of heaven and earth is radiant. He's beautiful. He's holy. He sent down this law that tells us about Him, His character. The law is set before me that I love. I've come to see because of that there is this other kind of law going on within me. Evil's present. And as I come into contact with God's holy law, I'm realizing about my life that my best acts are still full of sin. That's what I'm realizing. And I'm really struggling with this. I believe the answer has been given to us, a distinction that was made in chapter 6, when He said, the old Adam was killed, put away. You're raised up brand new in Christ. in order that the body of sin might be done away with. The body of sin or the sinful nature is still present. That's what's going on. And so, sin being present, what is he saying? Before I came to Jesus, I was great. After I came, I didn't realize it, but I entered into a war. And now you understand the message of the false teachers. What do they tell you about Christianity when you come? You'll get rich. Everything's going to be great. Jesus told a whole parable about this, of people who didn't understand the Word, and so they came to Christianity on false ideas and false pretenses. And what happened? Because of the tribulation of the Word, when that happened, because they didn't expect it, they were out of here. And so the false teachers give you the message, when you come to Jesus, it's going to be wonderful. And Paul is saying, I didn't know, I didn't fully realize this, but when I got in this, it is a battle. And he describes that conflict. There's a reason you're told to put on armor. There's a reason you're told to put on the armor of God. And so he describes that for you. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. And he expands it in verse 18. For the will is present. No unbelieving man says that. He doesn't get it. But the will is there. What is the will of the regenerate heart? You all are very sensitive and you want to do God's will. But he says, how to perform what is good, I don't find. He's talking about himself alone right now. What I don't find, what I will to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, I practice. And he says in verse 22, I delight in the law of God, the inward man. I love that law. This is why you find this in the Psalms. David's saying this all the time. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity of the law of sin which is in my members. And so deep within my heart, I want to be blameless. That's the bent. That's the drive the Lord has renewed in me. There's this deep yearning to be that, to obey and to love. But you see, the law is exposing it. I'm just seeing what's going on there. I'm constantly finding that actually when I'm honest about my life, I do the things that I don't want to do. if you're honest, that when I think I've found some quick fix to my sin, we're all about quick fixes today, you know, when I think I've found some quick fix, I say, I'm going to set myself to change. And so we have 40 days of this and 40 days of that, and we've had all these prayer guides and all these new quick spirituality fixes, and we think in America we're just going to supersize it and get it fixed. The reality is the next day we found out we didn't do it. That's the struggle. And this inward turmoil is going on. And the minute you think you've done well, you say, I'm in shock. I just stumbled. You want a concrete example of this? Peter, I'll follow you wherever you go, Jesus. I will not deny you. Really? Tonight you'll do it, Peter. Even if they do it, these guys over here, all this, I won't! And soon he found himself warming his hands with the enemies of Christ. You know him? Cursing. And then what happens? Jesus comes to Peter. And I've never known how much to make of the play on the Greek words there. But there's different words being used and I do think it's intentional. Peter, do you love me? Do you agape me? Peter won't use the same word. You know that I love you. Do this then, feed my sheep." Peter, do you agape me? Lord, He won't use the same word. So then, Jesus uses the word that Peter uses. Do you love me? You know that I do. So will is present. But I don't find myself doing it the way that I want to do it. John Newton once said, I was ashamed of myself when I came to Christ. I was more ashamed after. And Paul says that. It's no longer I who do it. Verse 20, now if I do what I will not to do, it's no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me. Verse 23, this law of sin leading me into captivity. Paul's not excusing sin. Anyone who reads it like that has missed the point he's making. He's saying the reason this warfare goes on is because the body of sin is still present. Most Christians would say tonight, well, Pastor, what you've presented sounds rather defeatist. You're talking about sin. And you know, you Reformed people talk about sin a lot. You're not going to make any progress that way. You're going to leave people down. That's not God's design, is it? On your own? Well, the reality is that the Lord is going to show us who the real power behind our sanctification is. It's the Holy Spirit. He's the one working. We're going to be introduced to Him in chapter 8 in a beautiful way. But He's about to encourage us that way. But I want you to notice here what He's doing. I wish I could paint a much rosier picture, but I think we have to be honest. Then Christians don't have higher expectations in this life of what is held out for them in the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness actually dwells. In other words, the fact is, God has called you into a struggle. And I'd love to tell you, tone down the struggle, and I'd love to tell you that it's not going to be that hard, but it is. And the Lord said, enlist in the fight. You're my soldier. You're my people. I've done everything you need to be saved from the wrath to come. You have the righteousness of my son. But you need to understand that this fight will go on. And the reason it continues to go on is because it's still tied to the sufferings of this present evil age, which we have not overcome fully yet. When the Lord returns in glory, we'll have a brand new resurrected body and sin will be done forever. So this is not some defeatist attitude, it's a realistic attitude. The victory is certain. And don't you think it's encouraging that right after this in Romans 8, he says, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. You don't have to worry about condemnation. This is why the Heidelberg tonight said, your sins are covered. Even the sinful nature, God's not going to hold against you. Did you catch that tonight? He's not going to hold the sinful nature against you. So this is what he's encouraging with us tonight, that we would be honest. Back in Paul's day, they would punish a criminal, talking about the body of sin. They would punish a criminal who committed bad crimes by attaching a dead corpse to them. And the slow process of death would be that the body would rot and disease would eventually kill the person. Paul is thinking here about the body of sin. Who's going to deal with that? Is it going to destroy me? And he asks the question at the very end of this, who will rescue me from that? It's a future tense. Meaning it's a question for the future. Who is going to finally deliver me from this ongoing problem of sin? What does he say? Thanks be to God. Death, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. This is not defeatism. It's victory. The Lord has promised us that. By now I live by faith. By now I trust Him. For we who are in this tent, grown, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has also given us the Spirit as a guarantee." So the Christian life is a life of denial. It's a life of fight. That's why it's called the warfare. But Paul is not describing this to leave your head low tonight. That's not the intention. To leave you depressed. Paul is being realistic about it. And we must be. Why? I think there's something wrong in the church today when everyone is always saying they're doing so great. Deep down, if you're a Christian, you've identified with what I've said. You struggle with this. And it should be rather freeing for you because the Lord's assured you of forgiveness. And instead maybe of trying to show everyone that we're always so perfect and our lives are so together. We're good at that in the life of the church. Maybe when the elders come and they say, well, have you done your devotions and your Bible reading? You say, you know, I'm really struggling with my sin. And I need you to pray for me that I'd be stronger in those things. You don't always have to say in front of everyone, my life's perfect. You don't even have to do that in front of your elders. We don't believe it. And don't believe it about us. You can be honest. You can be honest. I'm really struggling as a sinner. And together, can we pray that we would look to Christ and He would strengthen us in this fight? Be encouraged today. That's what this is about. Be encouraged. Remember what Charles Spurgeon said, a heart that is full doesn't need Jesus. Hearts that are empty are always ready to be filled by Him. Let's pray. O Lord our God, we are thankful that You expose what needs to be exposed. And that this is not some grand defeatist view but that You have given us an abiding and living hope that the Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes again, we will finally have put off this sinful nature forever. But until then, You have enlisted us as servants in a fight. And we pray, Lord, that You would help us and strengthen us and in reliance upon Your Holy Spirit, learn to put to death the deeds of the body that we might live. Thank You that there is hope and encouragement and strength. And may we always trust You, realizing that every good and perfect gift has always come from You. Be with us this week. And when we stumble, may we get up and come to You and pray to You and trust Your Word of promise to us. Apply these things by Your Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.