Expound: Romans 6-7 - Part C

Paul, realize man, I'm in trouble.

I can break God's law as soon as I open my eyes in the morning and before I get out of bed. I can covet, so it's a Duchess white male it's realized I needed myself to activity all these years, but inwardly my thought life was impure and I realize I was guilty of breaking God's law, but he can live a perfectly good life will soon realize it or not today on connect. Skip Skip shares. You can still live in victory. Despite harassing nature.

Did you know that Skip often shares important updates and physical encouragement of social media. Be sure to get the latest from Jim just follow him on Facebook, twitter and Instagram at Skip Heitzigs or bets at Skip peach pie teasing IG now we were in Romans chapter 7 as we dive into today's teaching with Skip Heitzigs, or when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death describing you before salvation.

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. The proof that you are dead to the old and alive to Christ is by the fruit right that's what he says here in verse four that you should bear fruit to God.

Jesus in John 15, you know, go home and read that don't do now but go home and read John 15 write a little note look look it up later. Jesus talked about abiding in him, that the branch abides in the vine that the branch is a constant close living connection with the branch and in so doing, there's fruit bearing the takes place, and he talks about bearing fruit very much a more fruit very much fruit and and that's God's intention for life stick to bear fruit by Jesus at some 30, some 60 semi wonderful you can bear as much fruit as you want as as you want. That control is in your decision-making.

It is, and of course God has God will add to that hell, hell send trials to prune you so that you bear more fruit, but that the decisions that we make on a daily basis and the choices that we make during those trials will determine what kind of fruit were to bear, but his intention is that we bear fruit to him.

Okay, I don't want to. I don't want to lose this. Yes, he's making an analogy about being married but just to just get the. The weight of this in verse forces that you may be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead.

The analogy is marriage okay but just for a moment think of yourself as being married to Jesus. So here's what I want to get another. There are lots of analogies.

The New Testament uses about a relationship with God and are there put there so we have an understanding of them where called the sheep is called the good Shepherd I were called the body of Christ. Jesus is the head of the body. That's the relationship we are called children of God. He is the heavenly father all sorts of different analogies to portray the relationship. I gotta tell you, there's none more precious than the idea of intimacy as portrayed by a marriage relationship where the bride of Christ were married to him.

That speaks of intimacy. It speaks of the kind of intimacy that I think God wants is not only to enjoy, but to portray.

If you if you read Ephesians about the husband and wife husbands, otherwise why Smith your husband talks about marriage being a horizontal microcosm of the vertical relationship we have with God. We have a relationship with God. The best portrait of that process is in a marriage relationship on earth. Go read that section of Ephesians.

Again, not now, but later to get there that the importance of that that intimacy and the power of a good marriage is a good witness for Christ that that's one of the thoughts that is in that passage in Ephesians okay now we begin now in verse seven we wanted to get through this. If we can.

There's a shift.

The takes place in verse seven, and it is noteworthy and it's easy to spot because Paul goes from the third person in his writing, and the second person to the first person he talks about. I mean my myself, he uses personal pronouns in this section. This next section 47 times. You are getting Paul's autobiographical sketch of his struggle with his flesh. That's why this is a very precious section you're getting Paul's personal struggle. He confesses it plainly in this section you might call it the struggle of the save the soul. Verse seven to the end of the chapter, the struggle of the save so I imagine coming to Christ was quite an adjustment for this Jewish rabbi named Saul of Tarsus we came to realize on the Damascus Road who it was that was saving him and what the relationship was to the law of Moses and all that he had been taught under the feet of the Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem and having the kind of re-educate himself for three years in Arabia, I think it was in an enormous adjustment and I've always looked at Paul's life is sort of three periods of his life.

The first graders when he was a Pharisee and he was trained that way believe that he was right before God struggled to keep the laws of God in his own flesh and then he came to the point of the Damascus Road in the three years in Arabia were he sort of went through the law and studied it over and over again and and understood the struggle that he had in keeping it inflaming the fleshly struggle with the Old Testament law and then the third section of his life is the victory of walking in the spirit even though still have the flesh, but the victory walking in the spirit which which will take us into Chapter 8 so I kinda set that up so that you understand the honest struggle. Paul and I do love his honesty here. I love how honest the Bible is one of the hallmarks of the Scripture. Unlike most biographies is its heroes are pictured with all of their weirdness words and all goofiness and all yeah you get a picture of Abraham, the father of faith who decided not to believe in God and said his wife is his sister. Aren't you glad that's in there, King David, a man after God's own heart who commits adultery with several women, Peter who the rock who love Jesus with all of us are, but denied him Thomas so honest such candor, but doubted him right there such honesty and all the heroes of the Bible.

I like that is when I was a kid I remember in the church I was raised in seeing the pictures of of disciples and apostles and they always have these Frisbees over their heads. These glowing Frisbees and I'd say mom dad look at. They have a frisbee over their heads was on Frisbees.

Those are halos because their holy while you start thinking that people like that where Frisbees right where halos are the perfect and as you start reading through the reality of the historical narrative of the Scripture you realize then Frisbees be broken.

Those things will fly the flawed, so listen to Paul what shall we say then, is the law sin, certainly not on the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law said you shall not covet.

No.

No doubt Paul would be accused of dissing the law being critical of the law saying it's not important. So basically you're saying that of the laws. No good in the laws just basically simply not Ludden sin at all. The problem is not with the law.

The problem is with me.

So what shall we say that is a loss and certainly not on the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law I would not of known covetousness unless the law said you shall not covet, but sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire for apart from this law sin was dead. The loss stimulates my old nature. This is human nature. Any law you see a sign wet paint. Don't touch go up close and look you see fingerprints. It's just humanity. The loss stimulates some rebellion within us now is this verse nine. I was alive once without the law when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Paul had tried to live for God as a Pharisee on his own. He thought he did pretty good dignity he thought he was doing really good. In fact, when he tells his background to the Philippian church. In Philippians, I think, in his chapter 3 he gives his pedigree and he says if anyone can boast I can boast more. I was circumcised on the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin concerning the law. I was a Pharisee concerning zeal, I persecuted the church concerning righteousness which is from the law. I was blameless. I was always pretty good. I thought I was pretty perfect. He struggled for years. His whole life as a tell music students studying the. The writings of Gamaliel and the rabbis in the law was to keep the law. He felt like he had done pretty well. Struggle hard to keep until he was studying the law and in particular the 10 Commandments.

One day, and he really took a long look at the 10th commandment.

You see, you can read all the other commandments and says what you shall not murder Bible killed anybody. You shall not steal. I really haven't stolen as an adult, much or anything, you shall not commit adultery never slept with another man's wife so you can start checking off. I've done good I been good until you get to the 10th commandment. And the 10th commandment found in Exodus chapter 20 says you shall not covet.

Now were dealing with something far different now are not dealing with outward action. Now were dealing with the inward attitude. Now it's it's not just what have I done, but what I wanted and he lists seven things a person shouldn't covet. You shall not covet your neighbor's house so you go to your neighbors, and I wish I had that house is not covet your neighbor's wife. She's pretty careful, nor his manservant or maidservant, or ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors. So that's the 10th commandment.

And if you break the 10th commandment, it leads to breaking other commandments because once you start wanting something.

It starts opening the door to further behavior, but it's not dealing with outward action is the dealing with inward attitude so suddenly Paul realize man, I'm in trouble. I can break God's law as soon as I open my eyes in the morning and before I get out of bed.

I can covet, so it's a dentist wipe me out. It's looming, I realized I needed myself in outward activity all these years, but inwardly my thought life was impure and I realize I was guilty of breaking God's law is that I would not of known sin unless the law said you shall not covet, but sin taken commandment produced to me all manner of evil desire law apart from for apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Now I believe verse nine. Is Paul referring to him during his younger years up until the Damascus Road experience. The time he spent in Arabia going through the law, examining it coming to the no covet clause and then realizing yikes sin is just revived and I am wiped out. I'm dead you destroyed make sense and the commandment verse 10, which was to bring life. I found a bring death interesting in Leviticus forget exactly what chapter I'm guessing around chapter 15 buses. Here's my lost key bylaws do these things and you shall live. Got a saying here's the best way for you to live.

My intention is that you live a wholesome wonderful life and therefore here's my law, but both said that wasn't my experience it it it didn't cause me to live it produce death in me as I realize I broken God's commandments. I desired my neighbors wife I desired my neighbor's house. I wish I had my neighbor's business and wealth, donkeys, oxen, etc. wipe me out. Sin revived. I died the commandment, which is to bring life. I found a bring death for sin taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and it killed me.

Therefore, the law is holy. The commandment holy, just, and good. There's nothing wrong with the commandment it's holy come from a holy God got to sing this the best way for you to live as then what is good become deaf to me.

Certainly not, but sin that it might appear sin was producing death and be true, what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin again. That's a description of the unregenerate person. Here's what Paul is saying in an actual problem is in the law.

The problem is Paul.

The problem is me and the law only amplifies the sin that is in me, it's in me, but now I read what the law says it was like okay it's like you may be selected. We talked about the last few weeks you might be speeding down the freeway. There's no road signs. Suddenly somebody puts up a sign 50 miles varies and I broken that twice over three years now. The law amplifies not only your behavior but your desire in the future to keep going that high-speed to the problem is with the law. The problem is sin and the problem is in us and our flesh. For we know, verse 14, the law spiritual, but I am carnal, Greek word is I am sorry key costs circuit because the flesh starts circuit causes a word simply means I made a flash law spiritual, but I made a flash memo. Jesus said to his disciples were to pray with you, Jesus would improve their fell asleep Jesus of the spirit is willing, flesh is weak. I am carnal I am made of flesh. I am by my nature week and unable to keep God's law tope. The law shows the standard law shows God's requirements and by showing God's requirements shows how far I have come short of God's requirement. So as we told you before the law is like a mirror. The mirror is an accurate reflection of you. We don't always like what we see when we look in the mirror but it's honest.

However, though it's an honest reflection of you. It doesn't have the capacity to fix you the law reflects your sin. The law doesn't have the capability to fixtures and no amount of I'm in a try to work really hard to make 15 new years resolutions on a break by January 2. If that's your life, to make the resolution of a try really hard your always going to live in Romans chapter 7, you need to graduate to Romans chapter 8 for what I am doing verse 15 I do not understand, for what I will to do that. I do not practice what I hate that I do if then I do what I will not to do. I agree with the law that it is good, but now it is no longer I who do it, but sin, who dwells in me or sin that dwells in me. You know what it's like the little boy does something wrong it is and why did you do that because I know that's what Paul is Paul's little boy, I just did some bet on a wide I know I keep doing it. Have you ever experienced this, we all experience this. This is human experience. This is the Christian experience, for I know that in me, that is, in my flesh.

Nothing good dwells from four to will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good. I do not know.

I do not find for the good that I will to do. I do not do, but the evil I will not to do that I practice, for if I do what I will not to do it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. He's not using his nature as an excuse is just simply saying I make frequent ongoing bad choices in my old nature. I flesh I find then a law that evil is present with me the one who wills to do good for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death is a note of exhaustion and that question. It's like I've been struggling for so long and he cries out who will deliver me from this old body of death. It's like it's these caring dead corpse on his back, tied to his back is decaying.

Every day these caring around it smells it's gnarly. It's raunchy cool. Deliver me. Aren't you glad the chapter doesn't end with that question. It answers the question in the very next verse and we will in the chapter. I think God who will deliver me. I think God hears who will deliver him through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind ice myself serve the law of God with the flesh the law of sin.

I'm going to explain that next time because it's a perfect porch for the house that is Romans chapter 8 the victory chapter.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ this next part will get to it next time that Skip message from the series expelled to share about a resource sure sold with God's amazing truths. Joy in the midst of hardship is a hallmark of the Christian life. Is it really possible hears when you hike to sometimes what that is the happy trail turns into a really daunting road and we have to figure out how to navigate. A lot of times God's purpose in allowing trials is to give us opportunities to grow to the point where we can genuinely experience joy in the midst of trial. Learn how to face trials with courage, wisdom gives joy with one use booklet happy trials and when you get $20 or more today to help keep this Bible teaching ministry of the year will send you a special bundle of three booklets by Linda happy trials don't tempt me and speak no evil. Get your bundle of three booklets for gift of $20 or more by calling 800-922-1888, or give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer that's critically skip.com/offer. Do you want to see lost souls brought out of the darkness of this world to encounter the light of Jesus because that's exactly what you can make possible today for your support you give today will not only help keep these teachings coming to you, but it'll also help bring many others closer to Christ so they can experience new life in him just as a connector skip.com/donate to give a gift today that connectwithskip.com/donate or you can call 892 1888, 892 1888. Thank you for changing lives with the gospel today and tomorrow is Skip Heitzigs of shares about the stunning declaration about the new life you can have in Jesus. The reasons we love this chapter is how it begins and how it ends and everything in between. This adds to it begins with no condemnation.

It ends with no separation. We have no condemnation before God can't be separated from the love