(# 307) Romans - What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 7?

Class Outline:

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Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries we are “pursuing the truth through the study of the Word of God.” We are committed to learn how to live our lives God’s way because we believe God’s way is the ONLY WAY.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 7?

 

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are dead to sin…Romans, Chapter 6, Verses 1 and 2…

 

ROMANS 6:1

What shall we believers in Christ say then?  Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

 

ROMANS 6:2

May it never be! How shall we who died to (the sovereignty of) sin still live in it?

 

Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 11…

 

ROMANS 6:11

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God the Father, in union with Christ Jesus.

 

Yet even though we are dead to sin, we still have to deal with “the flesh” in us…Galatians, Chapter 5, Verse 17…

 

GALATIANS 5:17

For “the flesh” sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit sets His desire against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another…

“The flesh” in us looks to express itself in thought…Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 9…

 

JEREMIAH 17:9

“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”

 

The secret desires in the heart that connect to lust are encouraged by “the flesh” in us.  “The flesh” looks to express itself in action as well…Galatians, Chapter 5, Verses 19 to 21…

 

GALATIANS 5:19

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are…(sexual) immorality, impurity (unclean thoughts), sensuality (open display of sexual things)…

 

GALATIANS 5:20

…idolatry (the worship of anything other than God), sorcery (witchcraft and trances), enmities (hatred), strife (constant discord), jealousy (self-centered possessiveness), outbursts of anger (rage), disputes (quarreling), dissensions (selfish ambition), factions (division)…

 

GALATIANS 5:21

…envying (desiring what others have), drunkenness (excessive use of alcohol and drug addiction), carousing (orgies), and things like these, of which I forewarn you (now), just as I have forewarned you (in the past), that those who practice such things (unbelievers) will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

God is the only One who can get us out of this “deeds of the flesh” predicament… and we can help by obeying God and His Word…John, Chapter 15, Verse 5…

 

JOHN 15:5

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the vine, you (believers in Christ) are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in(dwelling) him, he bears much fruit (of the Spirit), for apart from Me you can do nothing.

 

Therefore we believers in Christ are to be doing as Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 2 suggests…

HEBREWS 12:2

…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.

 

We fix our gaze on the Christ, the Messiah, who in Galatians, Chapter 1, Verses 3 to 5, makes a promise…

 

GALATIANS 1:3

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ…

 

GALATIANS 1:4

…the Christ who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…

 

GALATIANS 1:5

…to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

 

Although we are entangled in the struggle between the holy life and sin, even after SALVATION…Christ is the One who delivers us…Christ is the One who rescues us.  Welcome to a place where you can learn, from the book of Romans, the magic of God’s work in you, the Christian Way of Living, and the power of taking advantage of everything He has done for all of us.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THY WILL BE DONE

Hillary Scott

 

The opening song for this lesson is THY WILL BE DONE sung by Hillary Scott.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for pouring Your strength into us…thank you for creating us as instruments of Your will…thank you for the unconditional love and grace and forgiveness that you give to us in abundance…thank you for delivering us from our distresses and our persecutions…thank you for being patient with us as we are transformed by God the Holy Spirit into the image of Your Son…

 

Help us both to see and to use the assets You have given us…get our attention when we have gone off the path…gently guide us back to obedience…lead us forward so that we are no longer stuck in the past…heal the relationship damage that exists between the brethren…most of all show us how to live the life You intended for us when You made the sacrifice of Your Son on our behalf…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...

Amen.

 

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TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 7?

 

The first five chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans teaches us all about SALVATION.  The chapters introduce the Christian Way of Life…it’s the idea that “whosoever” … anyone … can be justified … and the way to be justified … the way to be pronounced righteous by God … is through expressing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ … by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as the ticket to the eternal life … the resurrection life ... a life with no beginning and no ending … a sharing in the life of God.  Acts, Chapter 2, Verse 21 says…

 

ACTS 2:21

‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

 

The first five chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans also teach the way NOT to be justified…by the works of the law…by your own efforts… especially NOT by trying to clean up your life to be acceptable to God.  Romans, Chapter 11, Verse 6…

 

ROMANS 11:6

But if salvation is by grace, and it is, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. 

 

So the first five chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans teach the way to be saved and they teach why we need to be saved…they invite “whosoever” to the “so great” salvation the Lord offers everyone as a free gift.

 

The sixth through the eighth chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans teach us about SANCTIFICATION…the holy life…the set of privileges we were set aside for…the Christian Way of Living…our obligation to live for the One who redeemed us from the slavery of sovereignty to sin.

 

It might seem that God’s grace encourages us to sin…grace actually obligates us to live a holy life…obligation means we CAN’T just do as we please…God’s grace offers us the choices that come with freedom.  Freedom from the law is not freedom from obedience…when we are saved by God we are slaves to a new master…not slaves led by the sovereignty of sin…but willing slaves…doulos…slaves in twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week service to God.

 

As Christians, we choose to be obligated to God, and we obligate ourselves to demonstrate our gratitude…we are not obligated as a result of any coercion on God’s part.  And it is not as if the Law is sinful…we are sinful.  Our life is a struggle between the evil of “the flesh” in our bodies and the indwelling God who is also resident on our bodies…God the Holy Spirit (along with the rest of the members of the Trinity).  This inner conflict requires deliverance by God…we will never deliver ourselves from the clutches of “the flesh.”  Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 14…

 

ROMANS 6:14

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but you are under the sphere of grace.

 

As we move on to look back at Romans, Chapter 7, we remember a very mature believer in Christ, the apostle Paul, detailing his personal struggle with “the flesh.”  His account of the struggle is something we are grateful for and relieved by…each of us thought he was the only one struggling!  Let’s revisit to Romans, Chapter 7, beginning at Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 7:1

Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those believers who know the Mosaic Law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person (which means authority over a person…it rules as lord over a person) as long as he lives?

 

ROMANS 7:2

For example, the married woman (the “under-a-man” woman) keeps on being bound by law to her husband while he is living…but if her husband dies (maybe he will and maybe he won’t, but it is possible), she is released from the law (of marriage) concerning her husband.

 

ROMANS 7:3

So then, if while her husband is living and she is joined to another man (maybe she will and maybe she won’t, either sexually or in marriage), she shall be called an adulteress (for breaking the marriage law); but if her husband dies (maybe he will and maybe he won’t, but it is possible), she is free from the law (of marriage concerning her husband), so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

 

In other words, it is clear that bigamy is against the law.  So this example is saying a woman and marriage is like a believer in Christ and the law…a person alive to the law, an unbeliever, is bound by the law…a person who is dead to the law, believers in Christ, are free from the law.  Death frees both parties from the law.

 

ROMANS 7:4

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made (by God) to die to the (sovereignty of the) Mosaic Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined (married) to another (not married to sin but married to Christ)…married to Him (the Christ) who was raised (resurrected) from the dead, in order that we (believers in Christ) might bear fruit (the fruit by means of God the Holy Spirit) for (the benefit of) God (the holy life).

 

Only those who are spiritually alive, rightly related to Christ, the vine, can bear fruit.

 

ROMANS 7:5

For while we were “in the flesh” (as unbelievers, when we were controlled by its sovereignty), the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Mosaic Law (…remember the Law came in so that the transgression would increase)…were at work in the members of our body (prohibitions breed rebellion) to bear fruit for death (not the fruit of the Spirit).

 

The result of sin is death.

 

ROMANS 7:6

BUT NOW we believers in Christ have been released from (the sovereignty of) the Mosaic Law, having died to that by which we were bound (sin), so that we serve in (the) newness of the (prompting of the indwelling God, the Holy) Spirit and (we do) not (serve) in oldness of the letter (of the Mosaic Law…a written codex).

 

Like a widow is released from her husband when he dies, believers in Christ are released from the obligations of the Mosaic Law.  Our death to sin creates a whole new challenge for us, as believers in Christ.  We are no longer destined for the Lake of Fire, but the tribulations of the Christian Way of Living have only just begun.  Let’s take a music break and we’ll continue our look at Romans 7 to see what the challenges are.

 

MUSIC BREAK

WHEN THE STARS BURN DOWN

Phillips, Craig and Dean

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 7?

 

Welcome back!  Romans, Chapter 7, Verse 7…
 

ROMANS 7:7

What shall we say then (face-to-face with these things)? Is the Mosaic Law sinful (because it arouses sin)? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know (the sovereignty of) sin except through the Mosaic Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Mosaic Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

 

When someone says, “Don’t do that,” we want to do it more!

 

ROMANS 7:8

But sin, taking opportunity (seizing a starting point) through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Mosaic Law, it is sin that is dead.

 

There is less sin where there are fewer laws.

 

ROMANS 7:9

I was once alive apart from the Mosaic Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died…

 

ROMANS 7:10

…and this commandment, which was to result in life (instruction on how to live), proved to result in death for me…

ROMANS 7:11

…for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it sin killed me.

 

ROMANS 7:12

So then, the Mosaic Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

 

ROMANS 7:13

Therefore did that which is good (the Mosaic Law) become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin (that caused death in me), in order that sin might be shown to be sin (might be manifest as what it is…destructive) by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

 

It is clear that sin is the cause our problems…

 

The challenge of being an unbeliever is spiritual death...at physical birth all mankind is in bondage to the sovereignty of sin, on the wrong side of a barrier, without a relationship with God, and set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire.  After accepting the free gift of SALVATION through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, with nothing added, we are saved.  After salvation, in the phase our lives called SANCTIFICATION, the challenge of being a believer in Christ is living the holy life in light of the fact that dead, indwelling sin, “the flesh,” is still a very loud enticer from within to disobey the Lord.  Romans, Chapter 7, Verse 14…

 

ROMANS 7:14

For we know (as an accepted and irreversible fact) that the Mosaic Law is spiritual (because it comes from the Lord Himself), but I (Paul) am of flesh (I am unspiritual…and I keep on being) sold into bondage (as a slave) to sin.

 

“The flesh” cannot claim us in spiritual death because the believer in Christ is spiritually alive…but our bodies are still under the penalty of sin…which is physical death (“dying die” from Genesis 2:17).

 

ROMANS 7:15

For what I (Paul) am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

 

Paul is sharing his personal experiences in the holy life of SANCTIFICATION, the Christian Way of Living…WE STILL SIN…and in our minds we don’t understand why we want to obey God and we just don’t.

 

ROMANS 7:16

But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, and I do, I agree with the Mosaic Law, confessing that the Mosaic Law is good.

 

Paul is saying that the Mosaic Law is excellent, yet he is not.

 

ROMANS 7:17

So now (I’m beginning to think), no longer am I the one doing the sinning, but sin which (in)dwells (“the flesh” is doing the sinning).

 

ROMANS 7:18

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, nothing good in(dwells) my flesh; for the willing (to do good) is present in me, but the doing of the good is not present in me.

 

Paul wants to do good…but he can’t carry it out his wishes…neither can we.

 

ROMANS 7:19

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want to do.

 

ROMANS 7:20

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I (Paul) am no longer the one doing the sinning, but sin which (in)dwells me is doing the sinning.

 

Paul realizes there is evil in him that is acting against his wishes.

 

ROMANS 7:21

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

 

Awesome assessment!

ROMANS 7:22

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man (in the new self)…

 

ROMANS 7:23

…but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war (mounting a military campaign) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members (the body).

 

ROMANS 7:24a

Wretched man that I am!

 

Oh pessime ribalde!  Paul acknowledges that “the flesh” is more powerful than his desires and his resolve.

 

ROMANS 7:24b

Who will set me free from the body of this death?

 

ROMANS 7:25

Thanks be to God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving (as a doulos) the law of God, but on the other hand, with “the flesh” I am serving (as a slave) the law of sin.

 

Thanks to Paul for helping us understand our dilemma…and for suggesting the way out of the predicament.  God always gives us a way out of our predicaments.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked, “Sirs (talking to Paul and Silas), what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

ACTS 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to the apostle Thomas, the doubting one, “I am the way (to salvation), and (I am) the truth (the Word of God), and (I am) the (resurrection) life; no one comes to the Father but through believing in Me.”

 

ACTS 2:21

‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation will be saved.’

 

CLOSING SONG

BECAUSE HE LIVES

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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