Romans 7

The Battle Within

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13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. – Romans 7:13-20 ESV

In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul had to address some pressing issues within their local fellowship. Like a loving father confronting his wayward children, Paul took them to task for their spiritual immaturity, which had led to some less-than-godly behavior.

Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.  I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT

This passage is essential to understanding what appears to be Paul’s personal confession in Romans 7. There are those who would claim that Paul is speaking of his pre-conversion experience, but it seems that Paul is describing the condition all believers face every day. Even though we are set free from captivity to sin and death by Christ’s death on the cross, we still have our indwelling sin natures to deal with.

When Paul writes, “I am of the flesh,” he is saying that he still has his sarkikos or carnal nature. At salvation, we are not removed from these earthly bodies, and these earthly bodies are driven by earthly appetites. The Greek word Paul uses is sarkikos, and it refers to anyone who is “governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God” (Outline of Biblical Usage). To be governed by the flesh is to allow oneself to be controlled by one’s earthly appetites. It is the same Greek word that Paul used in his letter to the Corinthians. He wrote, “You are still sarkikos.” In other words, they were saved, but were conducting their lives as if they weren’t. Then he gave them examples of what being sarkikos looked like.

You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? – 1 Corinthians 3:3 NLT

Each believer maintains the capacity to live under the control of their sin nature or flesh. Yes, they have the Spirit of God living within them, but they must choose to live under His control or the control of their sinful nature (flesh). Paul makes this choice very clear in his letter to the believers in Galatia.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. – Galatians 5:16-17 NLT

It is a matter of control. In his letter to the churches in Ephesus, Paul used an interesting comparison to illustrate what it means to be controlled by the Spirit.

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. – Ephesians 5:18 NLT

To be drunk with wine is to allow yourself to be under the influence of the alcohol in the wine. It alters your behavior, speech, and thought processes. You act in ways that are contrary to your normal behavior, and that is exactly what happens when you allow the Holy Spirit to fill or control you. It is not a matter of getting more of the Spirit; we receive all the Spirit we need at salvation. But it is a matter of allowing the Holy Spirit to have more of us.

The dilemma we face as believers is exactly what Paul described.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. – Romans 7:18 ESV

Our flesh is sarkikos or unspiritual. But we are to live as spiritual creatures or new creations, because of Christ’s saving work and the Spirit’s presence within us. But our fleshly or sinful nature battles against our new spiritual nature. The flesh is of this earth; its appetites and desires are driven by the temporal things of this world. But we are no longer of this earth. We are citizens of heaven, which makes us aliens and strangers here. We are residents of God’s kingdom, which is not of this world. Even Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36 NLT).

As believers, we must realize that our flesh stands opposed to all that is godly. It is natural and of this world and does not desire anything that is of God. It is driven by selfish, sinful desires. That is why Paul says, “I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:27 NET). And he encourages us to “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5 NET).

We must live with a constant awareness of our sinful nature. We can never allow ourselves to be lulled into a sense of complacency or overconfidence, thinking we have gained complete mastery over our sinful natures. They are always there, ready to take back control of our lives as soon as we let our guard down. So we must live in constant awareness of our need for the Spirit’s control, because while we may have the desire to do what is right, we lack the ability to carry it out on our own.

Father, it is comforting to know that even the great Apostle Paul struggled with his fleshly desires. He was not an automaton and immune from the temptations of his own indwelliing sin nature. Yet, he was able to put to death the deeds of his flesh because of his reliance on Your Holy Spirit. As Peter said, You have given us everything we need for living a godly life (2 Peter 1:3). We have Your Word, the body of Christ, and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit at our disposal. So, there is no reason for us to give into the desires of our flesh — except that we want to. It is a choice we have to make everyday. I want to live increasingly more dependent upon You and under the control of the Spirit. Keep me in Your Word, surrounced by fellow believvers, and keenly aware of my need for the Spirit’s power, provision, and protection from Satan, the world, and my own flesh. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

God Made A Way

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7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. – Romans 7:7-12 ESV

In assessing man’s relationship between the law and sin, Paul strongly emphasized that these two things are not synonymous. He did not want anyone to assume that the law must be somehow sinful because it caused man to sin. He clearly states: “Am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! ” (Romans 7:7 NLT). The law simply reveals man’s sin, just as a speed limit sign exposes a driver who is exceeding the legally enforced, visibly posted limit. The infraction is the responsibility of the individual, not the sign.

Sin cannot be blamed on the law because, as Paul says, “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12 ESV). God’s law was given to show man his inability to live up to the righteous standards God required. Man’s sin nature was the problem; the law simply exposed it. Paul states that “apart from the law, sin lies dead” (Romans 7:8 ESV). Paul used the Greek word nekros, and while it can refer to actual death or lifelessness, it can also mean “destitute of force or power, inactive, inoperative” (Outlines of Biblical Usage).

Paul was not saying that sin was completely dead and impotent, but that until the law came, it remained dormant.

At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. – Romans 7:9-10 NLT

He was not suggesting that man was sinless before the law came, but that man sinned in ignorance. There were no speed limit signs, so to speak. So men went as fast as they wanted, with no feelings of regret or remorse. But when the law was given, God’s limits became known, and man’s sinful nature was exposed. Using one of the Ten Commandments as an example, Paul states that before learning the command “You shall not covet,” he would not have known that coveting was wrong. His sin nature would have coveted, ignorant of any conviction that he was doing anything wrong.

But when the law was given, it clearly revealed that coveting was against God’s will. Yet, man’s sin nature resisted that command and produced an increased desire to covet. Because of man’s sinful nature, he possesses a predisposition to rebel against the will of God. You can see it in a small child when you tell them not to touch a hot stove. Suddenly, everything in them wants to do exactly what you just told them not to do. Because of the fall, humanity is wired with a relentless attraction to the forbidden. When God says, “You shall not,” we inherently respond, “But we shall!”

God gave the law to show mankind what was required to maintain a right relationship with Him and to experience true life. Because God is righteous and holy, He requires that those who desire to enter His presence be holy. He cannot tolerate sin. Just as light cannot coexist with darkness, neither can God coexist with sin. And Paul explains that God’s good, holy, and righteous law, which promised life to anyone who could keep it, ended up bringing death to mankind. Paul explains why.

Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. – Romans 7:11 NLT

Sin was the problem, not the law. St. Augustine describes man’s predicament this way: “The law orders, that we, after attempting to do what is ordered, and so feeling our weakness under the law, may learn to implore the help of grace” (cited in Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book 2, Chapter 7, Section 9), John Calvin).

Paul said, “had it not been for the law, I would not have known sin” (Romans 7:7 ESV). It is our awareness of our sinfulness as revealed by the law that creates in us a desire for God’s help. But sadly, many just try harder to keep God’s law. Their self-awareness of their guilt simply increases their self-effort. Rather than throwing up their hands and saying, “I can’t”, they stubbornly refuse to ask for help from God and push themselves harder, thinking they can somehow earn His favor. Sadly, there are others who, when convicted by God’s law, refuse to acknowledge its authority over them. Sin, “seizing an opportunity through the commandment” (Romans 7:8 ESV), ultimately produces a growing list of infractions and transgressions. They knowingly and willingly break God’s “speed limit.”

In the next chapter, Paul provides the great news regarding God’s law. He writes, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins” (Romans 8:3 NLT).

The law shows us our sin. It also reveals our need for a Savior. And God sent His own Son to do for us what the law was never intended to do. Jesus came to save us and free us from the condemnation of the law. Our righteousness is found in Him, not in our feeble attempts to keep the law. God did for us what the law could not do; He saved us from sin. No amount of behavior modification or rule-keeping would eliminate our love affair with sin. Only the transformation of our hearts could produce the righteousness God demanded. 

The prophet Ezekiel records the promise God made to His covenant people, the Israelites. They had failed to live up to His holy standards and repeatedly violated His law. Yet, God assured them that a day was coming when He would perform a miracle of heart transformation that would not only restore them to a right relationship with Him, but would also enable them to live in perfect obedience to His law.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” – Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT

That is what God has already accomplished in the life of every Christ-follower. And Paul reassured his young protegé Titus that this heart transformation was a guaranteed reality because of God’s matchless grace.

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. – Titus 3:3-7 NLT

Father, in Your grace, You provided the people of Israel a clear compendium of Your righteous standards. Your law revealed exactly what they needed to do to live in community with You. But they were incapable of keeping your law. In fact, the more they tried to live in obedience to Your revealed will, the more often they failed. But You were simply trying to expose their helplessness and hopelessness. You never intended the law to save them; it was designed to expose their sinfulness and their need for a Savior. They needed to understand that a sinless life was impossible without Your help. Obedience was unachievable as long as they operated in their own strength and according to their sin-prone wills. So, You sent Your Son as the cure for what ailed them. He became the means by which sinful men could be made righteous in Your eyes. As the author of Hebrews writes, “the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God” (Hebrews 9:14 NLT). You made a way when there was no way. You provided salvation when we couldn’t save ourselves. And we are forever in Your debt. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Free to Live and Love Like Christ

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1 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. – Romans 7:1-6 ESV

In this section of his letter, Paul seems to be addressing his words to believing Jews in the church in Rome; to “those who know the law.” To drive home his point about freedom from sin and the law because of our death with Christ, he appealed to their understanding of how the law worked. According to the law, if a woman attempted to marry another man while her husband was alive, she would be a lawbreaker and guilty of committing adultery. But if her husband were to die and she remarried, she would not be committing adultery because his death would have freed her from the condemnation of the law. That particular law would no longer apply in her case.

So it is with those of us who have died with Christ. As Paul stated earlier, “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6 ESV). Not only has the old self been crucified and put to death, but the condemnation of the law has passed away as well. That does not mean that when we sin, we are not breaking God’s law. When you lie, you are violating God’s command against lying. When you covet, you break God’s command: “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17 NLT).

But even when we knowingly or unwittingly break God’s law, there is no longer any condemnation. Paul makes that perfectly clear in the very next section of his letter.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. – Romans 8:1-2 ESV

For the believing Jews to whom Paul was writing, their lives prior to coming to know Christ were marked by a constant need to keep God’s law perfectly. To fail to obey all of His laws was to come under His just and justified condemnation, a fate that brought the penalty of death. Just prior to his death, Moses warned the people of Israel about the gravity of failing to practice perfect obedience to God’s law.

“If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.” – Deuteronomy 28:45 NLT

Centuries later, James picked up on this warning in his letter to believing Jews.

But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. – James 2:9-11 NLT

That is why Paul refers to it as “the law of sin and death.” The law could not save; it could only expose and condemn. It could not sanctify anyone or make them more holy; all it could do was show them their sin. In fact, Paul states that very fact in verse seven of this chapter.

…am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” – Romans 7:7 ESV

As he stated in Chapter 6, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV). This ties back to his earlier statement in Chapter 5.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. – Romans 5:12 NLT

Adam’s sin didn’t result in the immediate termination of life, but it did result in the first couple being expelled from the garden and their loss of intimacy with God. Their relationship with God was permanently and irrevocably changed because they had chosen to disobey God’s prohibition against eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So the death Paul refers to is not just physical; it has a spiritual dimension. Violation of God’s law produces alienation from Him because He is holy. God had made His expectations of the people of Israel clear.

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 ESV

“…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” – Exodus 19″5-6 ESV

Their holiness was non-negotiable. As God’s children, the Israelites were to live set-apart lives that clearly differentiated them from all the other nations. But God knew they would never live up to His righteous standards. That was the whole purpose behind God giving them the sacrificial system. He knew they would violate His law, so He provided them with a means for restoring their damaged relationship with Him. He designed the sacrificial system to provide atonement for their sins. The blood of innocent lambs and bulls had to be shed to pay for their sins. Breaking the law brought condemnation and a death sentence. And the author of Hebrews describes the redemptive nature of God’s sacrificial system

…under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. – Hebrews 9:22 ESV

Speaking to his Jewish brothers again, Paul reminds them that they had “died to the law through the body of Christ” (Romans 7:4 ESV). Like the widowed woman in Paul’s illustration, they had been freed from the law so that they could belong to another. In their case, their new “partner” was Jesus Christ. They were no longer obligated to keep the law because they had died to it. Through their death with Christ, they had been set free from the law. As a result, they were no longer condemned by the law.

In their case, they were the ones who had died. The law still existed, but their death had nullified their covenant relationship with the law. So now, when they violated God’s law, there was no longer a death sentence hanging over their head. All their sins, past, present, and future, had been paid for by the blood of Christ. He had paid the penalty for their sins with His own life. And their newfound freedom allowed them to “bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4 ESV).

Prior to their salvation, Paul’s Jewish brothers found themselves doing battle with the law and the flesh. While they knew what the law demanded of them, “the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death” (Romans 7:5 NLT). Despite knowing God’s laws, they ended up violating them and producing “fruit for death” (Romans 7:5 ESV).

But Paul reminds them of the good news of the gospel:

But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. – Romans 7:6 ESV

Now we have the Spirit of God to convict us when we sin. Rather than condemning us, the Spirit provides us with a new way of responding to our sin.

…we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 NLT

The Spirit also provides us with a new capacity to refrain from sinning in the first place. St. Augustine wrote, “The doctrine through which we receive the commandment to lead an abstinent, virtuous life, is the letter. This kills unless there is with it the Spirit, which makes alive” (St. Augustine, Concerning the Spirit and the Letter).

Without the help of the indwelling Spirit of God, the law can only condemn us to death. But with the Spirit’s help, we can live according to the law, not out of a fear of condemnation or the threat of death, but out of love and gratitude for the grace of God as expressed through the gift of His Son.

Father, You haven’t lowered Your standards. You didn’t decide to grade on a curve or dumb down Your expectations. Instead, You offered Your Son as the solution to our longstanding problem with sin. He did what we couldn’t do; He kept Your law perfectly and established Himself as the sinless, unblemished sacrifice, worthy of shedding His innocent blood as atonement for our death sentence. As a result, we are no longer on death row awaiting the just condemnation for our sins against You. Instead, we are fully forgiven and totally acquitted of any and all crimes we have committed — for all time. We stand before You as righteous and pure because we have been covered with the blood of Christ. And You made it all possible. Thank You! Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Romans 7:14-25

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The Solution to Sin.

Romans 7:14-25

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 7:24-25 NLT

I have always taken comfort from this passage. Here is Paul, the great apostle and a veritable icon of spiritual virtue and Christian integrity, wrestling with the very same issues that plague me as a believer. Even as a great man of God and powerful spokesperson for the cause of Christ, Paul still struggled with the effects of sin in his life. Like me, Paul still had a sin nature. There was that part of him that was still susceptible to falling back into slavery to sin – even though he had been set free by Christ. Remember what he wrote in chapter six? “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living” (Romans 6:16 NLT). It’s a simple matter of choice. You can choose to obey God or you can choose to obey sin. And it results in a daily struggle for most of us. Paul said, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15 NLT). In other words, in his heart he desires to do the right thing, but his sin nature leads him to do just the opposite. The problem with Paul is the same one that we face. He had an active sin nature. “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Romans 7:18 NLT).

Paul describes in simple, yet stark, terms, the all-too-common theme of my life. “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t” (Romans 7:18-19 NLT) The important thing to remember in reading these verses is that Paul is pointing out our inability to conquer the presence of indwelling sin through self effort. We may desire to do what is right with all our heart, but our flesh is inherently sinful and incapable of living up to the righteous standards of God. Which Paul describes as a principle of life that manifests in the following way in each of our lives. “…that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong” (Romans 7:21 NLT). It is as if there are two persons living in the same body. One wants to do the will of God, while the other seeks to resist that will and pursue a life of sin. It reminds me of the image of the demon and the angel, sitting on opposite shoulders of an individual – alternately whispering into the poor person’s ears, providing contradictory counsel about what to do in a given situation. Paul describes it as “another power within me that is at war with my mind” (Romans 7:23 NLT). The result for Paul was misery, which caused him to call out for deliverance from this daily, ongoing battle with sin in his life.

Paul knew that he had been set free from slavery to sin by the death of Jesus on the cross. He knew he was a new creature and a new creation. But he also knew, from experience, that he still had a formidable sin nature that waged ongoing war with his new nature. As long as we live on this earth and in these bodies, we will do battle with sin. Jesus’ death did not eradicate sin. He simply ended its strangle hold on our lives. We no longer have to live as unwilling slaves to its influence, obeying its every command and fulfilling its every wish. We have been set free. But sin still remains. And if we try to conquer sin on our own, we will always fail. If we attempt to rely on our own strength, we will always come up short and unsuccessful. Which is why Paul exclaims, “Thank God! The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25 NLT). Jesus is the answer for not only our salvation, but our ongoing sanctification. It is He who gave us victory over sin and death, providing us with a way to made right with God. And He continues to do it throughout our lifetimes. He gives me the strength to say no to sin. He has provided me with the Holy Spirit, as a powerful ally in my daily struggle with sin. I need to recognize that it is Jesus who saved me, but who continues to save me from the effects of sin on my life. He alone can deliver me from a life dominated by sin and death. The presence of sin in and around me, should drive me to a greater and greater dependence on Christ and His Spirit within me. I should know from experience that my flesh is weak and incapable of winning the battle alone. But I have Christ on my side and the Holy Spirit within me. I have a resource that provides me with the capacity to do what my heart desires. Paul goes on to describe this capacity as “the power of the life-giving Spirit” who has “freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:2 NLT). Jesus has provided us with eternal life. The Spirit provides us with the ability to live righteously in our daily lives – here and now. Thank God!

Father, there is a daily battle going on in my life that I far too often fail, because I am attempting to do it all on my own. Continue to show me my daily need for Your Son’s saving power. He didn’t just save me and then leave me on my own, but He gave me His Spirit. I just need to learn to rely more and more on the Spirit’s power and less and less on my own. As I grow increasingly aware of my sin nature, drive me to Your Son and Your Spirit’s indwelling presence in my life. I have the power to live the life You’ve called me to live, and it comes from You, not me. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Romans 7:1-13

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Free To Be Fruitful.

Romans 7:1-13

So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. – Romans 7:4 NLT

Paul continues his diatribe about the law and its role in the life of the believer. He is having to instruct the believers in Rome, just as he had to do with those in Galatia, that the law is holy and its commands are holy and right and good. But there were those who were trying to say that keeping of the law was also a necessary requirement for salvation. This was a teaching that had cropped up in the early days of the church and had been following Paul in his missionary journeys throughout the Gentile world. Some Jews who had come to faith in Christ in the days immediately following the events at Pentecost, were convinced that conversion to Judaism was a required next step in the process of becoming a follower of Christ. For them, the law of Moses was still in effect, as was the requirement of circumcision for men, and the keeping of all Jewish religious festivals and rituals. So they were attempting to convince Gentile converts that their conversions were incomplete unless they became card-carrying Jews and kept the law of Moses.

As a former Pharisee and expert in the law of Moses, Paul knew exactly what the requirements of the law were. He had lived most of his life attempting to keep the law in order to attain a right relationship with God. But since his conversion to Christ, he had grown to understand that the law was never intended to save him. It was given to reveal the righteousness of God and the sins of man. And when Christ died on the cross, He paid the penalty that God required for sin, because the wages of sin is death. His sinless life was what was required to satisfy the just demands of a holy God. He became the blameless sacrifice required to atone for the wrath of God against sinful mankind.

Paul loved the law and understood that it was given by God. But he also understood its purpose. “It was the law that showed me my sin” (Romans 7:7 NLT). The law revealed God’s righteous standard and exposed man’s inability to keep it because of his sin nature. But Christ’s death provided a way for us to escape the condemnation of the law. The law can no longer condemn us because we died with Christ. Our old man was crucified with Christ and we have been given new lives and a new power to live holy lives. Which is why Paul says, “We can produce a harvest of good deeds for God” (Romans 7:4 NLT). Not in our own strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. Paul gives us the wonderful news that “we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6 NLT). WE CAN SERVE GOD! Not through our own feeble attempts at trying to keep some written code or standard. But through submission to and reliance upon the Holy Spirit who Jesus sent to indwell us and empower us. We have a new power and a new capacity to live lives that are pleasing to God. But it requires that we come to grips with the painful reality that our self-effort is still inadequate to satisfy a holy, righteous God. If we allow ourselves to fall back into some form of rule-keeping, we will fail. We will become defeated and demoralized. The law is a constant reminder of our own tendency toward self-righteousness. We somehow want to try to measure up. We want to perform and earn God’s favor. We are prone to becoming spiritual over-achievers. But Paul wants us to know that spiritual fruitfulness is a byproduct of living in the power of the Spirit, not our own flesh. Only the Spirit of God can produce fruit that is pleasing to God. Only the Holy Spirit can produce holy people. And as soon as we realize that the life God is looking for in His people is of divine origin and not the product of human achievement, the sooner we will experience the fullness of life that Jesus came to bring.

Father, show me how to rely more on the Spirit and less on me. Open my eyes to the impossibility of trying to earn favor with You based on my own self-effort. Keep pointing me back to the futility of trying to earn my way into Your good graces or trying to live up to Your standards on my own. I needed Your Son to save me. I need Your Spirit to sanctify and transform me. Never let me forget that fact. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org