Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Romans

Romans 7:13-25

INTRO: Someone once said after reading this passage that Paul must have been a golfer. You see, every golfer knows that the thing you want to do you don't do and the thing you don't want to do, you do. Let me give you an example.

         My golf game has a problem.  It is called a slice. I hit the ball and it goes to the right. I want it to go straight ..straight is good, slice is bad. So I try to compensate for my slice by aiming to the left. No good...I change my grip, no good, I bought a special club that promised no more slicing...no good. No matter what I do, no matter how much I want the ball to go straight, it goes to the right.  Except, when there is a dogleg to the right and I actually want it to go to the right, then I hit a perfectly straight shot...I don't understand it! Unless I get help from a golf pro at a country club, I will never be able to fix my slice on my own.

EXP: But, no matter how I play, I still enjoy golf.  Slice and all. Because there really isn't anything at stake except perhaps my pride. Paul, in this passage is talking about something much more important than a golf score, more important than my battle with hitting the ball straight or hitting it to the right. He is talking about the battle between God in us and sin in us.

         That which I want to do, I do not, and that which I don't want to do, I do.  This is the cry of one who is struggling to please God on their own and failing. Often, this failure brings the Believer shame because of their inconsistent Christian behavior. They look at other  Christians and think, why can't I get it all together like them? They never seem to struggle with sin like I do.

BACKGROUND:  Let's think about that for a moment. This passage was written by Paul. The man who made it his daily business to discipline himself so as not to be disqualified in the spiritual contest.
 The man who pressed on to the goal of God's upward calling. He portrayed the journey to Christ as a race to be won, a battle to be fought. Victory for Paul was not immediate, he worked long and hard at it.

          Paul speaks here more freely and personally than I believe anywhere in his writings. He puts on no false airs of piety or holiness. Paul struggled with sin, and perhaps we are to expect the same. No one is so close to God, so 'Christian'  that they never battle with sin. There is however considerable disagreement among Biblical scholars as to the application of this text. Is this Paul in his Pharisee days or is it Paul after his conversion?  My question is, why does it have to be one or the other?

         True, Paul is writing in the 1st person, present tense. Paul is writing about his current life experience. But Paul is also  multidimensional (peeling away the layers) so I also believe Paul is also speaking retrospectively of his days as a Jewish Pharisee and perhaps as representing all Jews who are living under the Torah of YHWH. This will be important to remember as we look at chapters 9-11 of Romans.

TRANS: Since we don't have any Jews here this morning, not that I know of, I want to concentrate and speak to the Believers who are struggling with good intentions, struggling to do good.  Struggling to live holy lives, acceptable to the Lord Jesus Christ. Struggling and failing. I want to examine the battle between God in us  and  sin in us.

I. How Sinful Is Sin? (Romans 7:13)
         I believe this is the key to understanding the whole text. 'that thru the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful.' The Law, Paul tells us was given to expose us to the sinfulness of sin.

        Sin is the worst possible affront to God. It is the worst imaginable rebellion against God. It is against all that God represents. It is stench, filth and the most disgusting smell to God. It is against His nature, His will and is selfish, destructive, dirty, ugly and impure. Get the picture? Sin is so exceedingly sinful that while on the cross, while Jesus was bearing your sin and mine, he cried out 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!'

         Yet, many Christians excuse their sin as a 'mistake' or 'weakness'. They sin and call it something else: adultery is called an 'affair' , fornication is called 'making love', murder of unborn babies is called  'abortion'.  Have we become so cold, so numb to sin that it really doesn't affect us anymore...at least not like it used to ? That is the problem. Until we recognize sin for the total and unbridled wickedness it is, we will never want to oppose it and live in victory.

TRANS: How sinful is sin? It can take something good and holy and just like the law and make it bring death. It can take someone, saved by grace, who has the storehouse of God in heaven to call upon, who has the promises of God to stand upon, who has the indwelling Holy Spirit to lean upon and make them frustrated, weak, ineffective and defeated.

II. How Does This Sinfulness Show Itself? (Rom 7:14-23)
         Let me give you the readers digest version. Paul is saying 'I don't understand what I am doing.  I do the things I don't want to do. And I don't do the things I want to do, because when I try to do good, sin stops me. When  I do what I don't want to do it's because there is evil in me, it is called sin. But there is also good in me. However, sin is winning  the battle.

ILL:  You are in a conversation with someone and another persons name comes up. You start to talk about them and before you know it you are sharing things that ought not to be shared. You crossed the line, sin has won the battle. You didn't intend to gossip but you did.

         Paul said he wanted to do right, to please God as he walked day by day thru life. His desire was to be conformed to the image of Christ, but often despite his desire and good intentions, he gave in to sin. Paul also said 'I practice the very evil I hate.' How many of us could admit to that...in public? Paul did. He hated sin because he understood what it meant to God. He understood that it broke God's heart so he wanted sin to break his heart as well.

APP: Are you in a battle with sin, head to head, wrestling with to do or not to do something? Do you hate the sin you are struggling with? Does it break your heart when you  sin,  like it breaks God's heart? Have you ever thought about it like that? Or have you just given up the fight because you think there's no way to gain  victory or because you've become numb from the habit?

         Paul gives us a glimpse of hope  in vs 22 when he talks about the Law of God in the inner man. There is something good in us and it is at war with sin. It is our 'new man' 'inner man'. According to 2 Peter 1:4 it is the divine nature we share in Christ. It is the Holy Spirit of God. But Paul doesn't go into that here..it's coming in chapter 8.

TRANS: Paul has been speaking of the Believer who is going into battle with sin, alone, unarmed, w/o depending on the Holy Spirit. When we do this is it no wonder we cry out like Paul in vs. 24

III. Where Does Sinfulness Take Us?  (Rom 7:24)
         'O blessed am I of men, an ambassador of Christ, a favorite of heaven and a  spiritual father to many.' No, Paul, in his own painful words speaks for all of us when he says 'Wretched man that I am, who will same me from the body of death?'

         Wretched means : a miserable, distressed condition. Paul comes to the end of his rope. He is desperate. He has tried but failed, who will help him now? When we cry out to God as Paul did, it takes us to the place God intended us to be; kneeling  and leaving our burdens and battles at the feet of Jesus.

         When the Believer realizes his condition and cries out to God, God will answer! But as long as we try to handle life on our own, we never find the answer to Paul's cry in vs. 24. And we continue on in life, frustrated, ineffective, depressed and defeated.

TRANS: But this was Paul and although Paul knew the struggle of sin he also knew the mercy, grace and forgiveness of God, first hand. As he experienced the struggle with sin, so he also experienced the strength and empowerment of the Holy Spirit .
When you get to the point where in desperation you cry out to God for help because you are unable to do anything else, you are exactly where you should be.

Bottom Line:
Deliverance is in Jesus Christ  alone. (Rom 7:25)

         Paul says it really isn't as bad as it looks. There is help! There is hope. There is deliverance. There is victory in the battle with sin. It is  in an intimate love relationship with JESUS CHRIST....as...... LORD.

         Paul  finishes this passage by reminding us that there is and will continue to be a struggle between God in you and sin in you but be of good cheer, Jesus Christ is the victory and strength is available thru the indwelling Holy Spirit. So Praise God!
 Author and Bible teacher, Ray Steadman writes : There are teachers who teach that this passage in Romans 7 is something a Christian goes thru but once. Then he gets out of it and moves into Romans 8, never to return to Romans 7 again. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even as mighty a man as Paul went thru it again and again. This is a description of what every believer will go thru many times in his experience because sin has the power to deceive us and to cause us to trust in ourselves, even when we are not aware we are doing so. The Law is what will expose that evil force and drive us to this place of wretchedness that we might then, in devotion of spirit, cry out, Lord Jesus, it is your problem, you take it.'

         The battle with sin must be a battle we allow the Holy Spirit to fight for us, in us. More in chapter 8

Conclusion:
         A man had 2 dogs, one brown and one white. His neighbor used to watch the dogs fighting in the back yard. One day he said to the dogs owner. 'I notice that on some days the brown dog whips the white dog and on other days the white dog chases the brown dog away yelping. I wonder why that is? The owner replied. 'It probably depends on which one ate more'.

         If a child of God insists on feeding the lusts of  his flesh and filling his mind with impurity, the sinful influence in his life is bound to grow more powerful. And he will live a defeated life. On the other hand, if the child of God feasts on the Word of God and  hungers to fill his mind with 'things above'  his life can be a clear channel for the Spirits operation. Then he can know victory over sin.

 So tell me, what has been on your diet lately?