Romans 7:1-13
“From Duty to Devotion”
Vs. 1-6 Signed, sealed and delivered
Vs. 7-13 I fought the law and the law won
Intro
The word “law” is used 23 times in the 25 verses of chapter 7. What is this legalism that Paul so adamantly warns us against? It is the belief that I can become pleasing to God by obeying a list of rules and regulations (do’s and don’ts). The weakness of legalism is that it only sees sins plural all the while missing seeing sin singular. It judges the outward all the while missing the inward. The end result of prolonged living under the law is that it will inevitably produce two types of people: Quitters or Pretenders!
The Quitter: Sooner or later a person living in legalism will give up on this false brand of Christianity, as they are honest about their failure to live up to their own standard and drop out believing that either Christianity failed or they did.
The Pretender: This person will become extremely hard to live with as they will focus all of their attention on what others aren’t doing and what they are doing to escape the nagging reality they are grossly inadequate in most areas. In this section Paul will discuss two topics that will deliver those who suffer needlessly with either of these two casualties of Church-ianity.
Vs. 1 “Doesn’t the Law help us get a handle on sin?”
Vs. 7 “What good is the law if we don’t need it anymore?”
Vs. 1-6 Signed, sealed and delivered
Vs. 1-2 “Doesn’t the Law help us get a handle on sin?” The law addressed by Paul refers to “a standard of conduct used as a source of righteousness by us and others.” The most obvious of these is what we call the Ten Commandments, which pointed out our failure never patted us on the back when we got it right. The law is a diagnostic tool like an x-ray machine; it reveals plainly what has always been there, but was hidden before, so you can’t blame an x-ray for what it exposes. Paul uses the illustration of marriage to show that “Death dissolves legal obligation” in verse 1-3. According to Old Testament Law a husband could divorce his wife, but a wife could never divorce her husband. That’s why Paul uses this analogy as an illustration of someone married to Mr. Perfect Law and the only way to escape his glaring perfection and your glaring imperfection is to die. Mr. Perfect Law can’t die, we have to die to Him, friends, it’s the only way. You see the trouble living with Mr. Perfection isn’t what you get from him; the problem with Mr. Perfect is what He gets from you, imperfection! He is always on time, He always follows the rules, and does exactly what He is supposed to do. In every situation and every circumstance you can expect nothing less than perfection. At first he is very attractive but the problem comes when married to Mr. Perfect we soon discover that though Mr. Perfect is well, “perfect”, we are far from it. And with every burned meal, every late arrival at an appointment, every misplaced action or word we realize that though we are married to Mr. Perfect, he is married to us and all of our imperfections stand out like black ink on white paper!
Vs. 3-4 The only antidote is to be free from marriage to Mr. Perfect; but how to accomplish this? You go to your lawyer and say, “Sir, I want out of my marriage as soon as possible.” “On what grounds?” your lawyer asks. “Well sir, he’s just too perfect!” “I’m sorry, I think I misunderstood you, did you say you want a divorce from your husband because he is too perfect?” “Yes sir, that’s my reason for divorce!” “He always acts and behaves perfectly and it’s driving me insane. Every time I go into the bathroom, the toilet seat is always down. Every time I go into the bedroom his clothes are always picked up, the bed made and his side of the sink is clean; I just can’t take it anymore.” “Well Mrs. Perfect; I’m sorry to inform you have no grounds for divorce and the only option I can see that will ever end your marriage to Mr. Perfect is death.”
Folks, you will never see a trial in which they dig up a corpse and charge him with a crime then sentence him to serve time because the authority of the Law doesn’t reach to the grave, we are free from the Law when we are dead. Listen up dear ones as we are told by Paul in Galatians 2:20 that we have “been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Every one of us in Christ has been set free from our marriage to “Mr. Perfect Law” because in Christ we have died, so now we are free to be married to Mr. Love, Jesus! When we throw off the bounds of legalism we will become fruitful because we will become excited about being married to Mr. Love and what we saw as duty in our relationship to Mr. Perfect we will now see as devotion to Mr. Love. Vs. 5-6 The Christian Life is meant to be a life lived in love and devotion, not legalism and duty! Far too many churches in an attempt to keep people in the pews have reduced the Christian life to a legalistic system of expectations and control so that folks will “HAVE” to stay connected instead of running off to the next “great thing”. Folks, the answer isn’t to develop a better trap, it’s to remove the doors. “But if you remove the doors won’t people run off out into the world or to other fellowships?” Not if the reason they are here is out of devotion and not duty!
Paul’s point is summed up in two statements:
Vs. 4 “we have become dead to the law”: When we were unsaved, we were under the authority of the law but when we trusted in Jesus and were united with Him we died to the law. It wasn’t the law that died, it was us who died to the law. The law couldn’t die because it still rules over people but we have died to it as believers so that it no longer rules over us. But that doesn’t mean we are just “lawless”, as we are now “married” or “united” to Jesus. What this means is we are no longer motivated by a list of rules to do what is right instead we are motivated out of love to do what we are now created to do love.
Vs. 6 “we have been delivered from the law”: This is the logical conclusion that the law cannot exercise authority over a dead person and as such we are delivered from the control and motivation of the law. This deliverance has not made us rebellious or independent; it has made us “bond servants” serving out of choice predicated on love. What does such a service look like? Well Paul describes it as a service in “the newness of the Spirit” instead of in the “oldness of the letter”. That means our motivation has changed from the energy of the flesh to the energy of the Holy Spirit. It has also changed to a relationship to the Living God from that of the impersonal letter.
There are four ways you can determine if you are living under the law:
You point out how well you are doing, so you can distract others from looking at areas where you aren’t doing well.
You are critical of others, which is another diversionary tactic so others will become distracted and start looking at someone else’s flaws instead of yours.
You struggle with admitting when you are wrong, because if you do you will have to admit you need to change.
You suffer from anxiety and depression as you cannot maintain your own standards.
Vs. 7-13 I fought the law and the law won:
Vs. 7-13 Paul deals with the paradox of the law: In itself it is holy the voice of perfection but it doesn’t bring about perfection in us it brings about destruction. The root of the word Holy means “different or out of this world good”! But how can something “out this world good” be so destructive to us at the same time? It is clear by the use of the personal pronouns “I” and “me” used 8 times in 6 verses, that Paul is describing something that he personally had gone through in the past. Paul anticipates what the argument would be: “What good is the law if we don’t need it anymore?”
To answer this Paul gives four functions of the law today:
Vs. 7 The law reveals sin: Paul didn’t use murder or adultery as an illustration; he used the last of the 10 commandments, “coveting” because it is invisible to the naked eye, an inward attitude instead of an outward action. It was for this purpose that Jesus taught on the true intent of the 10 commandments saying that if you lusted in your heart you committed adultery and if you angered in your heart then you murdered.
Vs. 8-9 The law arouses the sin: There is something about human nature that always wants to push the limit. If the sign says keep off the grass we have to walk on it. If it says, 70 we have to go 75. Legalism doesn’t make a person sin less, it causes them to sin more because the flesh tends to test the prohibition.
Vs. 10-11 The law kills: The law cannot give life, it can only show a person that they are guilty, it offers no solution. There is nothing more deadly than a Christian or a church that is proud of its “high standards” and its attempts to live by them in their own strength. These “Pretenders” condemn the “Quitters” that flee the legalism which only creates more anger and bitterness.
Vs. 12-13 The law shows the sinfulness of sin: People realize that there are such things as evil and sin in the world. What they fail to realize is the destructive nature of sin personally. Most folks only recognize that they are a victim of some else’s sin, not that their sin is victimizing others.
Saints, get back to devotion not duty, fall in love with Jesus and things will turn around in a flash. In the book of Isaiah the prophet spent the first 5 chapters pronouncing woes upon people and nations, but in chapter 6 when he came into contact with the living God he said, “Woe is me” as he realized that he was no better than the folks he was pronouncing woes upon. The English Philosopher and writer G.K. Chesterton was asked by a woman that wanted him to write about what was wrong with the world; he wrote back his reply in two words: “I am”. The problems of the world today are not political, or economical it’s PERSONAL! Folks, the law says, “Responsibility,” but love says, “Respond to Me!”
Romans 7:14-25
“The Pig and the Prodigal”
Vs. 14-19 What’s my problem
Vs. 20-23 The bad side of good
Vs. 24-25 The answer is a Who not a how
Intro
Having explained what the law is supposed to do, Paul now explains what the law cannot do.
Vs. 14 The law cannot change you: Even though it is holy, just, good and spiritual, it nonetheless lacks the power. The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law.
Vs. 15-21 The law cannot enable you to do good: It is clear by the many uses of personal pronouns that Paul was having a problem with “self”. Our mind, will and body can either be controlled by the old nature or the new nature, the flesh or the spirit. That’s the question Paul asks; “How can I do the good I want?” “How can I not do the evil I don’t want?”
Vs. 21-25 The Law cannot set you free: How frustrating it is to exert all your energy in trying to live a good life only to discover that your best is not good enough. Is there any deliverance? Yes thank God! The secret of doing good and not doing evil is to yield to the Holy Spirit.
Some folks that have read this have become convinced that Paul was a golfer and reading verse 15 I can see how they come to that conclusion: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” But what Paul is talking about is much more serious than a game of golf and it is something that based upon the original language was a personal experience at the present time that he was writing this letter.
Vs. 14-19 What’s my problem
Vs. 14 The 2nd half of chapter 7 Paul addresses the truth that the law, regardless of how holy it is, cannot restrain a carnal man (the “flesh”). The word in the Greek means, “characterized by the flesh” and speaks of the person who can and should do differently but does not. Notice that by the use of personal pronouns “I” and “me,” Paul does not excuse himself as a person in this view. He describes his condition as “Sold under sin”. He is in bondage under sin and the knowledge that he is isn’t helping him out. Like a man arrested for a crime and thrown in jail; the law will only help a person out if he is innocent, but offers no help for the person who is guilty and in fact the law argues against him, not for him.
Folk’s, just because Paul says that he is carnal, doesn't mean he was not a Christian. The truth is his awareness of his carnality is evidence that God has done a work in him. His condition is not one he is happy about nor one that he is justifying, it is one that he recognizes and is tortured over even though he understands that the law is good it’s killing him. Vs. 15-19 So what does he do with this condition? What everybody does, try to do what is right with our own strength.
And in this Paul discovers three realities in verse 15:
Vs. 15a “For what I am doing, I do not understand”: His problem wasn’t desire; he wanted to do what is right. His heart said “There are things I would love to do right, but I just can’t seem to do them.”
Vs. 15b “For what I will to do.”: His problem wasn’t knowledge; he knows what the right thing is. His heart said, “There are things I don’t want to do, yet I keep finding myself doing those things.”
Vs. 15c “that I do not practice”: His problem was a lack of power: how to perform what is good I do not find. He lacks power because the law gives no power.
Vs. 16-17 Paul says as a born-again Christian he now has a conscience that agrees with what is right, but he also discovered that there is something else within him that rises up and says, “NO!” So that even though he was determined to do what was right and not do what was wrong he found his determination wilted as the law says: “Here are the rules and you had better keep them.” But it gives us no power to keep the law. In verse 17 Paul seems to be offering up an excuse in the sentence, “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” But he is not denying his responsibility as he recognizes that as he sins, he acts against his nature as a new man in Jesus Christ. As such he owns up to his sin, but realizes that the impulse to sin does not come from who he really is in Jesus Christ. The Rabbis taught that every man had two natures: “Yetser hatob” and “Yetser hara” and they could choose which nature ruled their actions.
Now I saw this at work first hand in my granddaughter Hannah as she got her Easter basket from Nana. She was allowed to eat a little bit of candy prior to having dinner but was warned that she could only have the little. Her response was great. She got excited and said “Yeh, Sure Yeh!!!” But she had that candy and started going after another, then another until Mom and Dad had to take the basket away, then she got mad and yelled at her parents to “Stop, NOW!!” What went wrong with Hannah is the same thing that goes wrong with us, the “I and Me” problem. The “I” wants to do it saying “Yeh, sure Yeh” but the sin in “Me” yells at my Dad “Stop it Now”. Our redeemed heart never wants to do anything other than what our loving heavenly Father has told us but our old flesh is the exact opposite. And the problem is that we are made in such a way that our well power is never enough to keep us from sin!
Vs. 18-19 Paul came to understand that he had a battle between two selves. C.S. Lewis wrote that, “Anyone who has tried to do good is aware of this struggle. We never know how hard it is to stop sinning until we try. No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.” Whenever we are disappointed at ourselves it’s an indication that we have either forgotten this verse or don’t believe it. Paul says “nothing,” not “something” or “a few things”! Oh what a difference between what the world says, “that we are all basically good,” and what the Bible says about Christians that “nothing good dwells in my flesh”. Yet when I become upset at myself, bummed out at my failures God has to remind me, “Hey child of mine, why are you so depressed, didn’t I write to you that there was nothing good about your old self. Now you have yet another reason to believe in me and my word!”
Vs. 20-23 The bad side of good
Vs. 20 In Luke 11:11-32 Jesus told the parable of the “Prodigal Son” and this story illustrates how you can differentiate between a pig and a prodigal. Take a pig out of a pigpen, any pig you want, wash him up in a special tub with special soap, and give him the real “spa treatment”. Spray him with perfume and dress him up in a white tuxedo with tails then take him out into a clean environment with the finest furnishings except in one small corner dig a whole fill it with mud water and all sorts of stench and watch what happens to your pig in only a few minutes. That reformed pig will do what all pigs do, He will go right back as soon as possible and make his home in that slop. The prodigal on the other hand will find himself in the mud from time to time but he will never be comfortable making the pit his home.
Vs. 21-23 Our eyes are prone to looking where they shouldn’t, our ears often try to hear something they shouldn’t and our tongues wag around in our mouths more than a dog’s tail spreading junk about others. “What’s the matter with me? Why can’t I do what is right? Why am I so weak?” Believers are perfect with regards to their justification but their sanctification has only begun and is a progressive work. Some have experienced more trials with their soul and have awakened to a sense of their lost condition quicker to proclaim “O wretched man that I am.”
Vs. 24-25 The answer is a Who not a how
Vs. 24-25 The Greek is literally, “Wretched through the exhaustion of hard labor.” Paul had referred to himself some 40 times since Rom. 7:13 in his unsuccessful struggle against sin and in so doing he became entirely self-focused and self-obsessed. He is completely worn out yet wretched because of his unsuccessful effort to please God under the principle of Law. If you read the older commentaries as I do you will see that the writers do not say, “How good I am!” Rather, they are apt to bewail their sinfulness. When Paul writes the phrase “from this body of death” he is making a reference to ancient kings who tormented their prisoners by shackling them to decomposing corpses.
Paul longs to be cut free from the wretched body of death clinging to him. Right here we arrive at the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5 where Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed is the person who has come to the end of themselves, who has come to understand that they are spiritually bankrupt and cries out “I’m a wretched person.” That is our battle getting to the place where we are no longer trying to control sin in our lives but our determination. Paul’s struggle ended when he realized that what he needed wasn’t to be found in “what”, but rather in a Who!
Far too much of our lives have been in search for WHAT:
Program
Procedure
Principle
Saints as long as our quest is after the what and not the Who we will remain in our struggle because the Bible doesn’t offer us any answers in what it only offers one answer in Who, Jesus! The answer is not in theology it is in Jesus personally!
This is difficult for us:
Because of Jesus on the cross, the penalty of sin was paid
Because of Jesus on the cross, the power of sin was broken
Because of Jesus on the cross, my preoccupation with sin has been eliminated
The entire tone of the statement reveals how desperate Paul was for deliverance. He is overwhelmed with a sense of his own powerlessness and sinfulness. We must come to the same place of desperation to find victory. Such a battle with the flesh as I mentioned before leads a person to become either a “quitter” or a “pretender”. Yet there is another alternative to “quitting” and “pretending,” it’s “turning”! The words “Who will deliver me” show that Paul has given up on himself, and asks “Who will deliver me?” Instead of “How will I deliver myself?” But Paul’s “turning” isn’t to some new program, some new teaching or technique. NO, his turning is to the very same Person who he turned to save his soul Jesus!
The cry went out in verse 24b “Who shall save me from this body of death” and as such the question was asked correctly but it was also answered correctly, “I thank God –through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Finally, Paul looks outside of himself to Jesus. Jesus didn't come and die just to give us more or better rules, but to live out victory through those who believe. Paul never found any peace, any praising God until he looked outside of himself and beyond the law to his Savior, Jesus Christ.Friends we don’t need:
A “teacher” to show us a better way of doing what we cannot do, we need a Savior!
A “coach” to motivate us and encourage us to do what we still cannot do, we need a Savior.
A “doctor” to diagnose your problem to do what we still cannot do
We need a Savior!