Continuing in Romans 7, Paul remains on his thought about the law and how it can be sin when we look to it for salvation. In this next section Paul opens his heart to us and gives us an insight into how he sees himself. Verse 13-25 show a man who recognises that he doesn't do the things he should, but rather continues in sin because that is how we are naturally inclined.

The climax of this passage is his honest statement in verse 24: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Paul asks the question we all need to ask. How can we be free from sin. Paul comes back with the simple answer in verse 25. There he exclaims,

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.

Jesus is still the answer to our problem with sin and his arms are open wide to receive us. Our guest speaker, Alan Hanna, leads us through this passage so we might know how to live for Christ, free from sin.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Good evening.

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Uh, if you have your Bible with

you, can I encourage you to have

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it open at Romans chapter seven?

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Uh, because as David said there

this evening and last week as

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well, now that we're in Romans

seven, we're in deep water.

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Um, some of the things that are going

on in here and going on inside Paul's

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mind aren't as immediately clear as

some of the things that you've thought

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about already in the letter so far.

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Actually, tonight's passage, the second

half of Romans chapter 7, is at the

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center of a little bit of controversy.

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We've read it there already, and maybe

you think upon hearing it and reading it,

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that you know who Paul is talking about.

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You know whether it's a Christian

or a non Christian, but there

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isn't a consensus on that.

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Some people think that Paul is

talking about, uh, non Christians.

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Paul is talking about his life

before he trusted in Christ.

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But the same number of people think

that he is talking about a Christian.

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This is his experience

after he trusted in Christ.

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I hope you'll agree with me that

as we work our way through this

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passage that we can get both from it.

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We can see both of these things

here, so I'm not going to

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come down hard on either side.

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But there is one thing that Paul makes

unmistakably clear in this passage, and

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this is the main focus of this evening.

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The law cannot save.

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Trying to keep the law is not

going to bring you freedom,

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or deliverance, or security.

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Doing the law and doing religion

and trying hard on your own terms,

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that is not going to achieve

what you think it should achieve.

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No, freedom and deliverance and security

and all those good things that we yearn

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for, they are found only in Jesus Christ.

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So, this is picking up where you left off

from last week, and second half of Romans

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chapter 7 is Paul, uh, teasing out the

real world application of the first half.

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And verse 13, if you look at it

there, that is the, the summary of

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what he said before as well as the

introduction to what's coming next.

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He asked the question, did that

which is good then bring death to me?

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By no means, it was sin producing

death in me through what is good,

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in order that sin might be shown to

be sin and through the commandment

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might become sinful beyond measure.

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Now we know that he concluded that the

law itself is good, that's okay, but

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now he wonders was it actually that good

thing which created and caused so many

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problems for Paul and for all of humanity?

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And the answer, thankfully, is no.

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The problem was that hard issue of

sin, um, that took that good thing

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of the law and then used it for evil.

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Now, I want you to imagine

something, just for a wee second.

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Tomorrow morning, PCI, they're going to

have a meeting and they're going to rule

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out a new rule for all congregations

that Uh, they have to have a sign on the

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way into the Meeting House that says,

On your way into church this morning,

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you're not allowed to spit on anyone.

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Okay?

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They're not actually doing this,

because that would be a bit weird.

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Just in case, that's a disclaimer.

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But just imagine, they do that, and

you come in next Sunday morning,

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there's a sign that says, Don't spit

on anyone on your way into church.

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And you're going to read that and

think, Right, well that's a good sign.

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I hadn't really thought

about it, but you know what?

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I think I think there's some people

on the veil who would like to spit on.

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So when you're coming into church,

normally there's absolutely

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no angle to spit on someone.

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But if you see a, a rule that

says don't spit on people, well,

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the first thing your, your mind's

going to jump to is, well, there's

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umpteen people I could spit on.

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That's a really silly example,

but you get what I mean.

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Sin has an influence over us that

when we read laws, which are good laws

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in the Bible, the Ten Commandments.

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Those laws are good, and holy,

and righteous, and we know that,

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but we are tempted to break them.

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Simply because that is in our nature.

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That is what the sin

in us causes us to do.

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So the law itself is good, those rules are

good, but the problem is that we are not.

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Okay, that's the kind of, the

summary, um, of the last section,

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introduction to the new one.

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From verse 14, then, we get an

insight into Paul's experience.

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Now, Paul, he's one of those guys that,

that we often use as a role model,

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um, after his miraculous conversion,

he fed himself on God's word.

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He strove for holiness.

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He gave himself to the mission, he

preached the gospel where no one had

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preached it before, he was instrumental

in the founding and the building of so

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many churches, and there's so much about

Paul and his life that we could look at

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and think, well, I'd love a piece of that.

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There's so much about Paul that we

see and we want to be like that.

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We wish he would sit down and give us all

the secrets so that we could take part

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in that Christian success story as well.

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But that's not what we're getting

here in Romans chapter 7, because

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here Paul is sitting down with us.

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He's got his head in his hands and

he's opening up about the bits that we

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don't really get to see anywhere else.

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The unglamorous bits.

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And what he says is something that every

single one of us here tonight or watching

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online, this is something that we get.

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This is something that resonates with us.

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Whenever I read this passage, I

think, you know what, this is the Paul

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that I most closely identify with.

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Look at verse 14.

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Law is spiritual in that it

comes from God, but Paul is of

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the flesh in that he is sinful.

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He's got lots of problems.

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And then verse 15.

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I don't understand my actions because

I do not do what I want to do.

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And I always seem to end up

doing the very thing that I hate.

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Now doesn't that feel familiar?

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Here we have this great titan of the

Christian faith that we always turn

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to and we try to follow his example.

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And here he is telling us that he

is deeply conflicted, because at

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base level he wants to do good,

but he just can't stop doing.

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what is wrong.

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Look at verse 16 then.

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Paul knows that the law is good.

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Uh, he's in agreement with it.

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Paul, those things that it

commands and requires are good.

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That's the way things should be.

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And you and I know that as well.

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We know the laws are good.

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We know they are right to follow.

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We know that those laws are

there for our benefit, for the

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benefit of those people around us.

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We know it too, Paul.

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We know that it's right not to

be selfish and to love others.

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We know that our desires shouldn't

be split between this world and God.

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We, we know all that stuff.

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But as much as we agree with it, and

we know that it is right, we also know

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that verse 15 is the story of our lives.

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Just look at it there again.

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Verse 15, For I do not

understand my own actions.

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I do not do what I want.

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But I do the very thing that I hate.

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That just tastes familiar.

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We cannot understand our own actions

at times, because we know all that

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stuff, and we might even have some

sort of desire to do what's right.

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And yet we always find ourselves

at the other end of the spectrum.

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There's an inner conflict going on in

here, in each of us as well as in Paul.

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For verse 17 to 20, then he's kind

of teasing out that idea a little

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bit more, and we get a picture of

Paul who, as he explains, is fleshly.

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There is a sin problem in his life, and he

knows what the good things are, he knows

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God's laws, and he knows that God's ways

are right, and yet because of his sin

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problem, he just cannot seem to do them.

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And now it's worth noting here, he's

not using sin as a sort of a scapegoat,

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that it's sin, but it's not me, Paul.

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No, he's saying it's the

sin that dwells in me.

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The sin in him is the reason that

he's doing this, not the excuse.

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This is the reason.

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And I hope you see now that

controversy we mentioned at the start.

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So just think about it.

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Scenario one, that Paul

is talking about himself.

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Before he became a Christian.

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And we read that, and that makes sense.

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Paul, we know, was a religious Pharisee.

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He knew the law, and he

was passionate about it.

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But now, with a little bit of

hindsight, he can look back and

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say, As much as I tried, I never

actually succeeded in doing it right.

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He never did what the law fully required.

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He knew what the good was, but the sin

in him kept him from doing it right.

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So that makes sense.

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But then also with Scenario 2, there

is a taste that Paul is talking

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about himself now, as a Christian.

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Not only does he know the

law, but he wants to do good.

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He wants to please God, and yet

the sin that's left in him, it's

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still tugging on his robes, and

tugging him into temptation, and

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making him give in to what is evil.

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So I hope you see there's

merit to both views here.

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But I hope you see that no matter what

scenario it is, no matter which one it

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is, the application remains the same.

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Doing the law simply will not cut it.

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Because if you're a Christian, then

you simply cannot follow the law

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to, if you're not a Christian, you

cannot follow law to such a perfect

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extent that it outweighs your sin.

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Sin always disqualifies because sin

is always more than our good bits.

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And because if you are a Christian, Well,

then sin is still a part of your life.

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You and I know that from experience.

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And it tempts us back into its

arms at almost every opportunity.

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Following the law will not deliver.

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It will not bring you freedom.

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And it cannot offer you security,

whether you're a Christian or not.

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Why?

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Because we cannot keep it.

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We'll keep going on the passage here.

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Look at verse twenty one.

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Whenever Paul wants to do that which

is right, whenever that desire to

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do the law and to keep the law is

there, then evil is right beside him.

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Evil is, is always ready to take over.

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And that resonates with us as well.

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You, you and I can understand that because

how often have you done something good

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and immediately after fell into sin?

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I think if we're being honest with

ourselves, and I am very much including

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myself here as well, it's a lot.

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And I think maybe one of the

most common ones here is pride.

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You know, you do something

that is morally good.

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It looks great.

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You reach a fork in the roads

where you have a decision to make.

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You can go the bad way, the easy

way, or go the hard way and the

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good way, and you go the good way.

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And afterwards you think, well, you

know, that was a really tough decision.

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Well done me.

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I'm great.

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And then we're into pride or in service.

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This is particularly appropriate for folks

like me, for folks in leadership at the

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front, give a talk or do something great.

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And people are always so encouraging.

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People are always so lovely.

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And that's very easy to go to our heads,

the temptations just sitting there.

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You know, I did speak really well.

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My argument was very convincing.

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Well done me.

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And then we're back to pride,

or maybe even in our own heads.

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Paul's talking a lot about his desire

for good, his inner want to do good.

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Well, we can look at

other people's situations.

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We can implant ourselves into

their scenarios and we can dream

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up that scenario where we do

what's right and we're the hero.

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And we stand up for what is good,

and then we're right back to pride.

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Evil lies close at hand

whenever we want to do good.

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When we know what good is, and

when there is the opportunity to

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do good, evil is always there.

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Think of verses 22 and 23.

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Again, I know in myself what's right, and

some of us may have the desire to do what

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is good, and yet in the real world, we're

always disappointed by our own actions.

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Verse twenty two, For I delight in

the law of God in my inner being,

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but I see in my members another law,

waging war against the law of my

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mind, and making me captive to the

law of sin that dwells in my members.

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This is an enormous conflict.

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Paul is really in turmoil here.

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You can hear how different this is

from the really doctrinal stuff that

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he's talked about so far till this,

because this is Paul's experience.

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And now he just reaches breaking point.

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What's he supposed to do now?

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Let's think about those scenarios

again for, for a second.

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If he is recounting his experience

before he became a Christian, Then

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when he reaches this point, he realises

that he is in a hopeless condition.

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He knows the requirement of the law is

perfection, to keep all of those laws, and

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yet he knows that he has not done that.

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In fact, he says whenever he tries

to do that, he just messes up.

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The target is way up here, and

Paul can't even get off the ground.

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And if he is recognisant of this

experience After he became a Christian,

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then surely he's in dangerous territory.

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Jesus said, if you love me,

you will keep my commandments.

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And Paul explains that,

yes, I do love you.

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And yes, I even love your commandments,

but, uh, I just keep breaking them.

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And we know that conflict is always

going to be true for a Christian.

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Sin from the old stuff is still left over.

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Sure, it doesn't have dominion over us

anymore, but it still has an influence.

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But is this really how

it's always going to be?

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Are we always going to feel this way?

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Is that conflict always going to be there?

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And really the deeper question

there for Christians is, well,

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why does God even bear with me?

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Am I really secure in his kingdom?

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Keep failing at every turn.

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We're unsure about this.

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So for non Christians, Paul's analysis

leads to a hopeless situation.

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But for Christians, Paul's

analysis leads to despair.

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So, where do we go from here?

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Paul himself is at breaking point.

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Maybe you are too.

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Whichever experience he is thinking

of, he breaks from his train of thought

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because he just has to get to the answer.

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And that answer is found

in verses 24 and 25.

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O wretched man that I am, who will

deliver me from this body of death?

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Well, thanks be to God.

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through Jesus Christ.

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Oh Lord, our Lord.

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So, oh wretched, wretched people

that we are, who's going to deliver

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us from this endless cycle of sin?

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Who will free us from this ceaseless task?

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Who will lift this burden

from our shoulders?

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Well, thanks be to God because

Jesus Christ, He will deliver us.

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It is only in Jesus Christ that

we find the resolution to the

267

questions that Paul asks here.

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So, for those who are not Christians but

are striving to keep his commands, for

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those who aren't Christians but you, you

think your own righteousness is going to

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be enough to, to secure eternal life, to

cover all those sins, how is that going?

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Because we see how it was going

for Paul here, it wasn't working.

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And Paul, he was the best of the best.

273

He was the top dog when it

came to keeping the law.

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He knew the laws, and as far as

he could understand, he was doing

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it all to the best of his ability.

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But now that he thinks back, and

he says this elsewhere as well,

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it was never going to cut it.

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No matter how moral, or how zealous,

or how well educated, following the

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law was never going to be enough.

280

Because no one, not even Paul, was

going to follow it well enough.

281

Yes, that law in itself is holy and good

and righteous, but here's the killer.

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We are not.

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We can never be good enough, because

our sin constantly disqualifies us.

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And so trying to get right with God,

trying to get eternal life on those

285

tracks, it's only going to lead us

to disappointment, to hopelessness.

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And ultimately to the just punishment

which sin deserves, eternal death.

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No, none of us can do it.

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Following the law does not deliver.

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But Jesus Christ does.

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The just end of sin is death.

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Nothing you or I can do

is going to change that.

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But listen.

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What Jesus Christ has

done does change that.

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What Jesus Christ has done

does change everything.

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No longer do we need to endlessly

strive for a goal that we

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would never be able to reach.

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No longer do you need to trust in

your own stained actions and works.

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No, now we can trust in Him instead.

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We can trust in Jesus, whose

perfect sacrifice more than

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meets the demands of the law.

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His sacrifice offers more than

what we could ever imagine

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that we could have ever earned.

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Following the law does not work.

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It simply cannot work.

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And God, in His incredible grace, knew

our weaknesses and our limitations.

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All because of our own sinful hearts.

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So he achieved what we could

never achieve for ourselves.

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He took what we could never get rid of.

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And he offers the prize

that we could never earn.

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People hear the gospel and people

hear about Christianity and they

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think it's far too much loss.

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But listen, when we get Jesus,

we get absolutely everything.

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We get what's really good.

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We get what really lasts, and we get

what we were ultimately made for.

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Trusting in yourself will not

work, but trusting in Jesus will.

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And that leads me to the

second scenario then.

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What are Christians supposed to do here?

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When we reach that breaking point, when we

look over the last week and we can't even

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count how many times that we have failed.

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God and not lived up to that standard.

321

What are we supposed to do?

322

When we were like Paul and when we

knew what was right, we might even

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have a want to do it and yet we still

failed What are we supposed to do?

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Well, we can't get caught up and it's

important to remember this We cannot get

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caught up in the in the trap that once

you become a Christian and trust in Jesus

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Then you stay a Christian because of your

own hard work That's the assurance killer,

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because none of us are good enough.

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Yes, Christians sin and mess up.

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That influence from our

old life is still there.

330

It's still going to be with us.

331

If it affected Paul,

it's going to affect us.

332

It doesn't make it okay,

but that is reality.

333

Sin will be with us until we

are perfected and with the Lord.

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So, what are we supposed

to do in the meantime?

335

Well, what we are supposed

to do now is cling to Jesus.

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Christians, we know all too

well how wretched we can be.

337

We know all too well our hearts

are inclined towards evil.

338

We know all too well how we

could never earn what we have.

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So, cling to Jesus Christ, who

has bought this inheritance

340

and has secured it for you.

341

It doesn't mean we sit back

and relax and do nothing.

342

You'll come to, to Romans 8 very soon and

in Romans 8 you'll find out that we, we

343

do the Christian life relying on God by

the Spirit and you'll, you'll cover all

344

that there but for now cling to Jesus.

345

I think it would be

inappropriate to end on verse 25.

346

Paul was working through this.

347

I don't think the chapter break is

helpful here because in Romans chapter 8

348

verse 1 he tells us something important.

349

He's just talked about all

the times that we mess up.

350

All the times that we do stuff that

deserves condemnation, all the times

351

that we fail God, when we should have

done what was right and we didn't.

352

And that could leave us totally

distressed and in despair.

353

But listen to chapter 8, verse 1.

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There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

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Even though there is so much there to

condemn us, there is no condemnation

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for those who are in Christ.

357

Yes, there may be consequences for

sin for us, for those around us,

358

but no final, utter, and complete

condemnation for those who are in Christ.

359

It's not a license to sin,

but that is our security.

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And that when we inevitably mess up

and again and again, God will not just

361

throw us aside and forget about us.

362

No, all of our sin has

been answered at the cross.

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And those who trust in Jesus for their

salvation now, well they can trust

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in Jesus for their eternal life then.

365

So who will deliver us from this body

of death and weakness and limitations?

366

Only Jesus Christ, there's a lot in

there and I know it's sometimes hard

367

to follow because there's almost two

trains of thought going on here, but

368

don't miss the wood for the trees.

369

God's word is not here to confuse us.

370

If you feel confused, you blame me.

371

But what we're supposed to take away

from this is that trying to get by

372

on your own simply will not work.

373

If you're not trusting in Jesus then

your righteousness can never reach a high

374

enough standard to get right with God.

375

Our good works are always tainted by sin.

376

Life by ourselves will never deliver.

377

Not now and not life after death either.

378

So, trust in Jesus, who lived

and died and rose again to share

379

with you real and lasting life.

380

Trusting in Him will bring deliverance.

381

It will bring freedom and

it will bring security.

382

For those who, here who do trust in

Jesus, unfortunately, sin is going to

383

be by our side until death do us part.

384

That doesn't mean we give in.

385

We all know that once we

become a Christian, our lives

386

must start to reflect that.

387

Good works always are the natural

result of faith in Christ.

388

But I hope this has made you think

about your life and your sin.

389

Because it made me think.

390

And strangely I, I hope it leads

you to, to that little place

391

that Paul was in, in verse 24.

392

I hope it leads you to echo those.

393

words.

394

Oh, wretched man that I am, who will

deliver me from this body of death?

395

Because when we recognize our own

limitations and our own weaknesses,

396

well, then we realize that we

really cannot trust in ourselves.

397

And so our only hope is to trust in

Jesus Christ and praise God for in him.

398

we get real life, real freedom, and

real security, both now and for forever.

399

Let's pray.

400

Our Father in heaven, we thank

you for this passage in Romans.

401

We thank you for how open and

honest Paul is with his struggles.

402

Lord, we thank you for showing this up,

this to us, for we so often feel the same.

403

We confess to you how often we,

we think we can get by on our own.

404

We confess how often, even when

we do trust in you, we think

405

we can trust in ourselves.

406

And we confess just how often we fail you.

407

We know these things ought not to be so.

408

So, please turn our eyes ever to Jesus.

409

Let our hearts be filled with a

desire for him that trumps a desire

410

for anything else in this world.

411

Help us, even now, to trust

in Christ and in Him alone.

412

And it's in His name that we pray.

413

Amen.