Romans Chapter 7:7-9

This book, Friends, diagnoses the problem. And at that point, then you got a choice. Do I listen to what it says? The Bible says I got this problem. The problem is either with the Bible or the problem is with me. The problem is with the Bible or the problem is with me. I think the problem is with the Bible. Is there something wrong with the Bible?

No, there's nothing wrong with the Bible. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. When it comes to God's Word, it not only tells us what's wrong with us, but how to make it right. Today, Pastor David McGee helps us understand how to dive deep into God's Word and be changed as he continues in the book of Romans chapter 7. But before we get into today's teaching, the devil is able to influence so many Christians today because they simply don't know their Bibles. And if the enemy can keep you ignorant about God's Word, he can keep you weak. That's why we want to send you Pastor David's DVD message, Romans from Rome, recorded in the heart of ancient Rome. This eye-opening teaching will show you beyond a doubt the historical accuracy of the Bible. Romans from Rome is our way of saying thank you for your gift today to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So go to crossthebridge.com to request your copy.

Again, that's crossthebridge.com. Now here's David McGee with his teaching, Let the Bible Read You. So Paul is saying, was the Bible bad because it points out our sin? He's saying no way. No way is the North Carolina translation.

He's saying no, certainly not. And what's interesting is whenever somebody begins to criticize the Bible almost every time is because they're trying to get off the hook, so to speak. They're feeling convicted. And so they're trying to, you know, oh, well, well, the Bible says we're supposed to do that. Oh, the Bible, I watch Discovery Channel, right? You know, and, you know, it's, it's, oh, there's so many translations. That's a classic. And I usually answer, well, actually I go back to the Hebrew and Greek through the original. Oh, and then the ever classic, it's filled with contradictions. Anybody in there ever hear that one? Yeah. Next time somebody uses, have your Bible with you.

Next time somebody uses that on you go, oh really? Would you show me one? I've done this. And without exception, people go, well, they're in there. Well, okay.

Well, I just want to help you work through this. Show me they're in there. Well, how do you know they're in there? Well, somebody told me, and you believe them without checking it out and reading it for yourself.

Are you that gullible? Now, if you do this and somebody presents a problem and you're unable or unequipped, please just call the church and say, Hey, somebody's asking me, it's going, I'm not sure what the answer is. Or use a, we got that little, uh, ask the pastor button on the website.

You can click it and send in an email and we'll be glad to help you out. A lot of times people they're trying to get off the hook. So to speak contradictions in there. No, no, no. There's no contradiction. I've read this thing from cover to cover numerous times. There's no contradictions in there.

Folks. There's some difficult passages to comprehend, but there's no contradictions. See, it says you shall not covet.

Oh, that thing's filled with contradictions. Why? Because I'm convicted about covening. Thou shall not covet. Interesting commandment.

Why is it interesting? Because it's an attitude of the heart. It's not necessarily an action. Now, covening obviously can lead to an action, but the last commandment is similar to the first and that it's a condition of the heart. Have no other gods before me. That's an attitude of the heart. See, if you have something before the Lord, that's not necessarily an action. Now you'll, you'll do, you'll do things that will show that God is not first, but it's an attitude of the heart.

Same thing with covenant. It's an attitude of the heart. What is covening? Covening is wanting something that you shouldn't have basically. Now, obviously it includes lust and sexual activity, but it's also a view. If you want something that's not yours, you want something that doesn't really belong to you. We had the video on tithing. You understand when you don't tie, you are walking in covenant. Why? Because the first fruit belongs to God.

And if you think that first 10% belongs to you, you're wanting something that's not yours. That's covening. Now Jesus deals with this.

He talked to some guy in Mark chapter 10, and he says, now it was, it was going out on the road. One came running, knelt before him and ask him good teacher. What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God.

I'll stop there for just a second. We're not in this passage, but let me make a couple of comments. First of all, when he says, why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God. He is trying to lead him to the understanding that Jesus is indeed God, that he indeed is the Messiah, the coming Prince. And so he says, Hey, why do you call me good?

If there's only one good, that is God. Well, the guy misses it in verse 19 and he continues. And he says, you know, the commandments do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not fraud, honor your father and mother.

It's interesting. The ones he leads out, he leaves, he puts in those kinds of relationship commandments with one another, not with our relationship with God, but with one another verse 20. And he answered and said to him, teacher, all these things have I kept from my youth.

Now I'm really doubting that, but let's read on. Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, one thing you lack, go your way. So whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.

Come take up the cross and follow me. But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possession. And that's what had him materialism. And, and, and not that we all need to give everything away that we have. God graciously recommends a 10% here, but, but in this, he's saying, you know, here's the problem.

This guy is so materialistic. God, Jesus says, you know what? You got to get over that. You got to get over that.

Sadly enough, he didn't there. Some scholars, some commentators actually believe this might have been Mark himself who reports us like an eye witness. And later on, we found out that find out that Mark was of substance or of means his mother had a large enough place to accommodate people in Jerusalem. But again, that's not our passage, but we're talking about this, coveting, wanting something that you should not have. And the Bible says, that's not good. That's not right. You should not covet. It's an attitude of the heart. And the Bible points out that there's something wrong, something wrong with what? Something wrong with the Bible.

No, something wrong with us. See, if I go to a doctor and he tells me I'm sick, the problem is not with the doctor. The problem is I have a sickness or an illness. Now at that point, I can say, well, I don't like doctors. I like doctors. I don't like what they always tell. You know, they, they tell me I'm sick when I go, well, wait a minute, friend, maybe you need to hear that.

And at that point I can say, well, I'm just going to avoid doctors. Well, some people treat Christianity in the Bible like that. I'm going to avoid the Bible because it tells me what's wrong with me and I'll just feel better.

I'll avoid it. The Bible is trying to help you. See, if I go, if I, if I take my car to McCann and they look at it and go, well, yeah, pastor David, your, your alignment is all out here and we need to do something. I don't go, well, who are you to tell me my car doesn't drive straight. They're telling me what they know. They're not telling me what they think. They've got equipment that they use and go, well, it's out of alignment. Now I can sit and argue with them, but it's still going to be out of alignment in it. The Bible says, Hey, your life in essence is out of alignment. And you can sit here and argue with the book and go, I don't like it.

But you know what? God's not telling you what he thinks. He's telling you what he knows in this book. He knows these things.

And he's saying, well, here's the problem. James chapter one, verse 23 talks about this. It says for, if you just listen and don't obey, speaking of the word of God, it is looking is like looking at your face in the mirror, but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily in the God's perfect law, the law that sets you free.

And if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. The word of God is it's like a mirror that you hold up and granted, you know, if you, if you have a rough night, if you're out late or whatever, and, um, or maybe you don't feel well, or maybe you got a blemish or something, you know, you go up the mirror and you're like, Oh man, I don't see the mirror. You know, as you, as you get older, you just don't enjoy mirrors as much as you used to anyway. Right?

Cause things are happening. But anyway, so what do you do? Do you look up in the mirror and go, wow, I don't look well. I'll just avoid mirrors all day. You can't really do that.

Can you just mirrors like everywhere. Now granted, sometimes you look in the mirror and you see some things you can't do anything about. And really, when you look into God's word, you see some things you can't do anything about and it leaves you in a state, if you will, of, of desperation. Now, I think some people stop short and they go, okay, well, you know, the Bible's filled with do's and don'ts. Well, I guess in a twisted perverted way, you could look at it like that, but see the Bible is, is to tell you what's wrong so that then you can make it right. I've seen too many Christians think, well, the point is to make you understand you've done wrong.

That's the point. Want to make you feel as bad as you possibly can before you get out of here. That's not my goal.

That is not my goal. That shouldn't be any Christian's goal to make somebody feel bad. Now granted, as we're talking about this, there's a sense of kind of being, well, a little uncomfortable in there.

Maybe a sense of, well, I'm, you know, I'm not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing that sense of being uncomfortable. You have to understand I'm okay with that as a, as a teacher of God's word, as a matter of fact, at certain times, that's going to happen now at some point, some people go, well, I don't like this. You've offended me and you take what I term the bait of Satan and you run off instead of addressing issues that are in your life.

I don't want to leave you in that state. My goal is not to make you feel bad. My goal is for you to understand the problem. So then you can address it and find the solution. Life lesson here. God's word not only tells us what is wrong, but how to make it right. God's word not only tells us what is wrong, but how to make it right.

It's like that cool diagnostic tool. You kind of hook yourself up to that machine and goes, well, you're not firing on all eight spark plugs here, partner. Here's an issue. And here's an issue. And you need to address these things.

Now that the Bible in the, in the incredibly spiritual sense is a diagnostic tool. And what I mean by that is, you know, if I go into the garage and I pull in and go, well, it's running a little rough. Sounds like it's skipping maybe out of, you know, and they go, oh, well, let's change the tires. No, that's not what they do. That wouldn't even address the problem. They want to address the problem. They want to look at what the problem is. Diagnose what the problem is.

Guess what? This book friends diagnosis the problem. And at that point, then you got a choice. Do I listen to what it says? A lot of people that's where a lot of people miss the curve. Well, The Bible says, I got this problem. Problem is either with the Bible or problems with me problems with the Bible problems with me. I think the problem is with the Bible. A lot of people do that.

A lot of people do that a lot of times. Well, there's either something wrong with that church or there's something wrong with me. Oh, there's something wrong with that church. There's either something wrong with that pastor. Everybody knows here that there's some wrong with that. There's either something wrong with the pastor or there's something wrong with me. Oh, there's something wrong with him. I'm just hunky dory. Fine.

Don't have any problems. So is, is that the case? Or is there something wrong with the Bible? No, there's nothing wrong with the Bible. It's interesting talking to people sometimes because they'll just, Oh, and I do this. I sometimes tell people more than I meant to tell them. I'll talk to somebody and go, well, I don't believe the Bible teaches tithe. You know what? I immediately know when somebody says that they ain't tired. I've never talked to one person said, I don't think the Bible teaches tithe.

And instead I give 15%. Another one comes up, people go, well, I think the Bible says it's okay to, to drink and get drunk. You know what? I know as soon as they say that they drink and they get drunk and that's why they're saying that I understand that I used to do the same thing. I used to try to validate my behavior through scripture. You know, well, God said that enjoy every herb on the earth. Praise you, Lord.

Thank you, Jesus. But I was trying to twist scripture so my, so I could fit my behavior in it instead of saying, well, no, you're kind of taking that out of context. So our opinion of the word of God can be altered by our behavior that we want to engage in.

Be careful with that. That's part of going verse by verse. You can't, it makes it almost impossible to twist scripture to make it mean something that it was not intended to communicate. You're listening to pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more powerful insight from God's word in just a moment.

But first, so many people today are losing faith simply because they don't know how much real evidence there is for the truth of the Bible. We want to help you strengthen your faith so that you can live the abundant life God has for you by sending you pastor David's DVD message, Romans from Rome. This insightful teaching recorded in the heart of the ancient city of Rome will help you see the book of Romans in its historical context and confirm your faith in the truth of God's word. Romans from Rome is our gift to thank you for your donation to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So go to crossthebridge.com to request your copy today. Again, that's crossthebridge.com. This is pastor David McGee with Cross the Bridge.

You know, I want to thank you for listening to Cross the Bridge. I also want to tell you about an exciting website. The website is lostlovedones.org and it works very simply like this. You go to the website and you put the first names of up to 10 people that we begin praying that they get saved. Now it takes two things to get saved, presentation and prayer. And what we're offering is prayer and also there's different tools there to help you present the gospel to them. So we're there with you, helping you with the presentation, helping you with the prayer. There's over 920 people that belong to the prayer team on Lost Loved Ones and you can join the prayer team as well and help us to pray for others who don't yet know Jesus.

And together we can see a huge revival starting with your lost loved ones. Now back to today's teaching. In verse eight, but sin taken opportunity by the commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead.

For apart from the law, sin was dead. What's that term? Well, I don't go through life touching doors and benches. I just know that'd be a weird life to, to, to walk through and to leave. But you know, it's interesting. Something can happen that makes me feel compelled to touch a door or a park bench or something. You know what it is?

If I walk by and it has a sign, do not touch wet paint. Now all of a sudden I'm going, huh? Y'all do it too. Don't, don't look at me like that.

All pastor. Oh yeah. Probably got paint on your hand now, man. We see that. Do not touch says it's wet. Doesn't look wet. See, we hadn't even thought about touching that bench until we see that wet paint sign. There we go.

But suddenly, because it says do not touch, we want to touch it. I can go to my kids. Don't watch that channel.

What channel? Don't go to that website. That's the way, you know, I'm, I remember here's a classic. I've been growing up, man, going out in my granddaddy's farm. My granddaddy said, don't touch that fence. What fence? That fence you're standing by.

This fence? Yeah, don't touch it. Man, it wasn't five seconds. He turned around. I thought I'm going to touch it. I grabbed it.

It was an electric man. He was trying to tell me what not to do. I didn't want to touch that fence until he said, don't touch that fence. Now, as soon as he said, don't touch that fence. Guess what I want to do.

I want to grab that fence. I hadn't even thought about, see, that's what happens with the Bible. The Bible says, don't do this. And then some of us are, you go, well, you know, I've never actually done that before. I wonder what that is like to do that. I don't, I, the law awakens something in us, if you will. It says, don't do this. And then all of a sudden we go, well, huh, is it really wet to paint?

Is the fence really electric? And understand that that's part of the nature that we deal with. There's a fallen sinful nature that you and I are dealing with. Even after we come to Jesus, we're still dealing with it. We're still going through it now, you know, and I know, and I've talked to theologians who should know better. And I've talked to psychiatrists and psychologists who argue about this sinful nature. And you know what, talking about knowing things when people are talking to me, when I talk to a psychiatrist or a psychologist and they say this, you know what I automatically when they say, Oh no, I don't believe in a sinful human nature. You know what I know? They don't have kids.

They don't because you can't have kids and not believe in a sinful human nature because the first time your little precious angel comes up and looks you in the eye and lies to you and you think, where'd you learn that? Your mother? No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

No, no, no. There's just that fallen human nature and really changing ourselves. It's beyond our unaided will.

We can't do it. That leaves us in a really desperate place because we can't really change ourselves. Oh, we can change ourselves a little bit, but really not a lot. And we certainly can't change ourselves from the inside out. I mean, we know what to do. We know how to live a perfect life. Sure.

Why don't you? There's that constant irritation and we have to be honest about that constant irritation to be better than we are. That's not only in Christendom. That's outside of Christian and people want to be better than they are, but inside the truth of the Bible with the power of the spirit, we can do that. We can yield to God instead of yielding to sin, but there's still that tendency to yield to sin. James describes it like this. James 1.15, then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. The Bible points out where we sin, when we sin, how we sin.

And it does it with just an incredible uncanny accuracy, doesn't it? Some of you shared that you come in here and some mornings or evenings or whatever, and you listen to the teaching and I've had some of you come up and go, man, it's like you were in the car with us on the way to church. I wasn't. It's just the Lord knows the word points out what's wrong. And at that point you go, well, there's something wrong with me. Friend, there's something wrong with all of us. There's something wrong with you. There's something wrong with me.

There's something wrong with the person beside you, behind you and in front of you. That's the reality. The Bible points that out.

But see, what's the solution? You can't just go through life avoiding the Word of God. You can't go through life avoiding mirrors.

I guess you can try, but wouldn't it be better to go to the one who can help you? That's what we want to do here today. Verse 9 says, I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Now this is really, some of these parts of Romans are kind of, they're kind of difficult and we have to dig into them. Let me give you this verse in the New Living Translation.

Romans 7, 9 in New Living Translation says, same verse. I felt fine when I did not understand what the law demanded, but when I learned the truth, I realized that broken the law and it was a sinner doomed to die. There's that moment as you look into the Word of God where it's kind of that uh-oh moment when you look at it, you go, well, I haven't done that and I haven't done this and this is a problem.

That's a problem and I don't know what I'm going to do. You don't have to live the way you are right now. You can be set free. You can walk filled with the joy of the Lord, but see admitting that there's a problem is part of the solution. So you don't know until you're a sinner that you need a savior, but in that moment you realize that you've broken God's law and you really can't make it up and you can't do perfect.

Well in that moment of despair, hope walks in in the form of Jesus Christ and says, you know what? I'm willing to forgive you. I know you're not perfect.

So often we try to fool God. Well, no, no, no. God, I am perfect.

No, no. You can't read this book and think you're perfect. So he's writing to those who think they can be righteous through the law or those who are proud unbelievers who don't believe in the law and don't think they sinned. Martin Luther said this. He said if they would know the law, they would also know their sin. And I'll tell you what, you know, this is a deep theological book, but I like what Mark Twain says. They were talking to him about the Bible and he said, you know, it's not the part of the Bible that I don't understand that bothers me. It's the part that I do understand seeing why there are deep theological things in here.

There's some real basic stuff of like, love God, love people. That's really enough. If you're going to be honest today, that's enough to realize, you know what? You don't do that. I don't do that.

We don't do that. So now do we just talk about how bad we feel and how we've messed up? No, we look to Jesus and say, Jesus, please help us. But admitting again, something is wrong is part of the solution. A lot of people think the goal of Christianity is to make people feel bad. It's not, that's not real Christianity. Some people measure a church service on how bad they feel when they leave.

If they walk out and they're really miserable, that was really good. I feel horrible. I feel like a worm.

I'm just going to walk under my car without ducking here because I'm just that tall now. I don't want to do that. But again, realizing there's a problem, it's part of the solution. I'm not doing the things I'm supposed to be doing. And I need Jesus to help me to do this. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll-free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Before we go, we want to help you strengthen your faith so that you can experience the power of truly knowing and believing God's Word. That's why we want to send you Pastor David's DVD message, Romans from Rome.

This insightful resource, recorded in the heart of the ancient city of Rome, gives you a much deeper understanding of the historical context of the entire New Testament, meaning you'll know God's Word better. Romans from Rome is our gift to thank you for your donation to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So go to crossthebridge.com now to request your copy today.

Again, that's crossthebridge.com. You know each day comes with its share of stresses, so what better way to wake up than with an encouraging word from the Lord? Visit crossthebridge.com and sign up now for David McGee's email devotionals. Each devotion includes scripture and a message from the heart of David McGee. It's easy and it's free. Sign up today at crossthebridge.com. And be sure to join us next time on Cross the Bridge with David McGee to hear more from the book of Romans. We'll see you then.