Romans 189: Romans 7 - The Truth About Sin, the Law, and the SpiritWelcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
The theme of Christianity is LIFE. In John, Chapter 5, Verse 24 the Lord Jesus Christ says…
JOH 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life (the ZOE life…the resurrection life), and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
As a believer in Christ you have moved from one realm, death, into a different realm…LIFE. First John, Chapter 3, Verse 14…
1JO 3:14 We believers in Christ KNOW that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren unconditionally. He who does not love unconditionally abides in death.
Unbelievers are not able to love unconditionally.
God is always willing to tell us what to do and what not to do, so that we, as Christians, as believers in Christ, can walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called…the LIFE. We are not to indulge in the evil deeds of death…but instead we are to conduct ourselves as would the children of a King… Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verses 7 to 9…
EPH 5:7 Therefore do not be partakers with them (unbelievers)…
EPH 5:8 …for you believers in Christ were formerly darkness (the realm in which unbelievers live), but now you are Light in union with the Lord; so walk as if you are children of Light (because you are)…
EPH 5:9 …for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and all righteousness and all truth…
Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verse 11…
EPH 5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them…
Sin bears no fruit…it produces death…by merely being yourselves as Christians, the new creatures, by thinking and acting like the children of a King, your conduct exposes the unfruitful deeds of darkness as unrighteous…as dead…specifically the unfruitful deeds of other believers in Christ…the Holy Spirit is responsible for exposing unbelievers…Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verses 15 to 18…
EPH 5:15 Therefore be careful how you believers in Christ walk, not as unwise men walk but instead walk as wise men walk…
EPH 5:16 …making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
EPH 5:17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
EPH 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but keep on being filled by God in the Spirit…
If we are to live this LIFE in the LIGHT we are to give up self-control and self-centeredness, and we are instead to turn ourselves over to God the Holy Spirit’s control for a LIFE of LIGHT and PURPOSE and MEANING. This is the LIFE to which the Word of God invites you…a supernatural life. Welcome!
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
Walk in the Light
Let’s listen to June Murphy sing the opening song…WALK IN THE LIGHT.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful to you, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Thank you for the resurrection life…the ZOE life…a LIFE eternal…thank you for the LIGHT, Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ…in whom there is no darkness at all…and for His impact on our lives…thank you for transferring us through our faith into the kingdom of Your beloved Son…thank you for a destiny that is filled with LIGHT and not darkness…
Help us to turn to God the Holy Spirit, our mentor and teacher, for guidance, for direction, for illumination of a LIFE that is worthy of our calling…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY The Truth About Sin, the Law, and the Spirit
God the Holy Spirit continues His work in us through Paul’s letter to the Romans, by zooming us in to the essence of the Christian Way of Life. Last week He helped us to discover the connection between Romans, Chapter 5, and Romans, Chapter 8. Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 1 and 2 say…
ROM 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith (in the past), we keep on having peace with God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ (right now)…
ROM 5:2 …through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this sphere of grace in which we stand (right now); and we exult in the future hope (with absolute confidence) of the glory of God.
As a result of our justification by faith, we keep on having peace with God, which means that God has nothing against us. We can enjoy the peacefulness of this relationship with God, and we can relax in it.
Now if we skipped over Romans, Chapters 6 and 7, and picked up the thoughts of Chapter 5 in Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 1 and 2, we seem not to miss a beat…
ROM 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
We have peace with God.
ROM 8:2 For the law of God the Holy Spirit of life in union with Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
We have LIFE…the ZOE life…the resurrection life. We are free from death. That’s one connection. But it’s deeper. To really understand this section of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we have to look at Romans, Chapters 6 and 7 and 8 in another context. These chapters are a family.
These chapters reveal the lifestyle offer of Satan…DEATH…and the lifestyle offer of the Lord…LIFE. Here’s what Romans, Chapters 6 and 7 and 8 discuss…
ROMANS: Revealing the Spiritual Lifestyle Offers
Romans, Chapter 6 discusses the truth about SIN. Romans, Chapter 7 discusses the truth about LAW. Romans, Chapter 8 discusses the truth about the SPIRIT.
What is the truth about SIN? Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 11…
ROM 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
We are dead to sin. We are alive to God. We are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. These are established and irrevocable facts. Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 14…
ROM 6:14 For sin shall not be master (a lord) over you, for you are not under the principle of law but you are under the sphere of grace.
What is the truth about the LAW? We are not under law. We are under grace. Romans, Chapter 7, Verse 6…
ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (of the law).
We have been released from the law. We are dead to the law. Sin and death are no longer masters over us. As believers in Christ we have been released from THE RELIGIOUS LIFE by the Cross. Said another way, we are no longer “in Adam.” Our marriage to Adam is over.
What is the truth about the SPIRIT? Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 1 and 2…
ROM 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
We have been released from the condemnation of spiritual death.
ROM 8:2 For the law of God the Holy Spirit, the resurrection life in union with Christ Jesus, has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
You are no longer under the law of sin and death from your marriage to Adam…you are now under the law of God the Holy Spirit…you are married to the Lord Jesus Christ…you are “in Christ.”
Before we go on in the study of Romans, Chapter 7, I’d like to share a refinement of the thoughts God the Holy Spirit has blessed us with as a result of this overview.
I have told you that Satan offers us three lifestyles…THE RELIGIOUS LIFE…THE LEGALISTIC LIFE…and THE LASCIVIOUS LIFE. I have told you that the religious life is a lifestyle of SIN. I have told you that the legalistic life is a lifestyle of over focus on the LAW. I have told you the lascivious life is the lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Now some of you take exception to me putting “rock and roll” in the problem category, so I am happy to change it to sex, drugs and country music since I hate country music. So for the whiners, don’t say I never did anything for you! But if you look at Romans, Chapters 6 and 7 and 8 as a family, you see that Satan really has one lifestyle offer, with two faces. The Lord Jesus Christ, of course, as always, only offers one thing…one lifestyle. Here’s the refinement of thought.
Satan offers THE RELIGIOUS LIFESTYLE. At the base of this lifestyle is a series of deeds that flow from SELF. The two faces of this lifestyle are anti-nomianism…anything against the law…like lasciviousness…like being bad… and legalism…an over focus on the letter of the law...for example, thinking that salvation is earned by being good and by living a good life. The result of the RELIGIOUS LIFESTYLE is sin and death.
The Lord Jesus Christ offers THE RESURRECTION LIFESTYLE. At the base of this lifestyle is the Lord’s gracious work on our behalf at the Cross, which tore down the barrier between God and Man, removed the sin problem, removed the law problem, and gave us, as a free gift, the offer of salvation through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The result of this lifestyle is LIFE…the ZOE life…the eternal life…THE RESURRECTION LIFE. Take a five-minute break. BREAK All Bow Down
TODAY’S STUDY The Truth About Sin, the Law, and the Spirit
So here’s a look at the family of chapters, Romans Chapter 6, Chapter 7, and Chapter 8.
ROMANS: Revealing the Spiritual Lifestyle Offers
With these things in view, we can continue our look at Romans, Chapter 7. I see four passages in Romans 7.
FOUR PASSAGES IN ROMANS 7
First Passage Verses 1 to 6 Death Ends the Law
Second Passage Verses 7 to 13 The Function of Law Exposes us and Kills Us
Third Passage Verses 14-24 The Experience of Law Exposes Us and Kills Us
Fourth Passage Verse 25 The ONLY Way Out
Let’s take on the first passage…Romans, Chapter 7, beginning at Verse 1…
ROM 7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?
ROM 7:2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
ROM 7:3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
ROM 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
ROM 7:5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
Okay…let’s look at the passage in detail…Romans, Chapter 7 ,Verse 1…
ROM 7:1 Or do you not know (are you ignorant?), (Jewish) brethren (for I, Paul, am speaking to those who know the principles of law…the Jewish believers, not the Gentiles), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?
Death is the only way to get around the law in human terms. From the moment of physical birth, we are married to Adam…the federal head of the human race…we are “in Adam.” In the Greek language of the New Testament…en Adam…has the exact same structure as en Kristo Iesu (in Christ) and en Pneumati (in the Spirit) … we are “in union with Adam.”
IN UNION
En Adam In Adam
En Kristo Iesu In Christ Jesus
En Pneumati In the Spirit
It’s a marriage. Now Paul illustrates using a law that everyone is familiar with…Romans, Chapter 7 ,Verse 2…
ROM 7:2 For (example) … the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living (until death do us part); but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
In other words, death is the only thing that breaks the legal bond. Death frees you from one marriage relationship, and opens the possibility for you to enter a new marriage relationship. Funny, isn’t it, that we died to sin and it broke the law’s hold on us. Did the Lord know what He was doing? Romans, Chapter 7 ,Verse 3…
ROM 7:3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined (married) to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
In penal law (not spiritual law), she would also be called a bigamist! What is bigamy?
BIGAMY The crime of marrying while one has a spouse still living, from whom no valid divorce has been obtained.
Bigamy is a crime! It’s a penal crime and it’s a spiritual crime…a sin. All human beings are born “in Adam” … thus we are married to Adam and have all that goes with being in union with him, including spiritual death…we are set to die the second death. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we die to the relationship with Adam. We are free to enter a new relationship “in Christ” … and our relationship with Christ begins with a death, so that we can be free from the law of being “in Adam.” Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 3?
ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into union with Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Christians move from being “in Adam” to death to being “in Christ.” We are not to be bigamists. We are not to have two husbands. Romans, Chapter 7 ,Verse 4…
ROM 7:4 Therefore, my (Jewish) brethren, you also were made to die to the marriage to the Mosaic Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God the Father.
ROM 7:5 For while we (Jewish believers) were “in the flesh” (“in Adam” … unbelievers…which we no longer are because we are “in the Spirit” and “in Christ” as believers), the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Mosaic Law (Romans 5:20-21), were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for (sin and) death.
ROM 7:6 But now we Jewish believers in Christ have been released from the Mosaic Law, having died to that marriage by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (of the law).
The Jewish believers were in a struggle between law and grace, and this revelation from Paul was stunning to them. Paul was telling them that they were released from the Mosaic Law that had bound them for over 1500 years.
How would you respond to the truth about SIN and the LAW and the SPIRIT? We’ll continue our study of Romans, Chapter 7 in the next lesson.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ are Guarantees!
1TH 5:18 …in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you (who are in union with) Christ Jesus.
PSA 119:71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.
2PE 1:4a …through Christ’s glory and goodness He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become sharers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption of death that is in the world by lust.
CLOSING SONG There is None Like You
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of Your unconditional love, Your glorious Person, Your lucid thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your magnificent essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming! Thanks for watching! Thanks for listening!
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