The Believer and Indwelling Sin
Romans 7: 14-25
Our scripture passage for today is a picture of a soul in conflict...in conflict with his desires, in conflict with his true self, in conflict with the Law of God, and in conflict with Satan.
The conflict is real, intense and strong.
It is summed up in verse 24, 0 wretched man that l am, who shall deliver me?
HE IS MISERABLE OVER THE SITUATION, THE STRUGGLE.
And he ends with the sad realization, "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the Jaw of sin.
There is a great debate in some theological circles as to whether these words describe a Christian or a lost person.
Some say there is too much bondage to sin for a Christian
Others say there is too much desire for good for a lost person.
Those who take the "non Christian" side point to verse 14, I am carnal, sold under sin.
And verse 18, “for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
They say these verses prove the writer has to be non-Christian because the true Christian is no longer under sin and he has the power to do, not just want to do, God's will (Philippians 2:13)
How can it be a Christian who says he is "carnal, sold under sin" when 6:14 says "Sin shall not have dominion over you."
If a person has died to sin (6:11), why does the writer warn them not to “let sin reign in their mortal body”? (6:12)
It is because SIN IS STILL AN OPTION... It can still move in and begin to rule your physical body.
So, I am convinced that these verses speak of a Christian... in fact, as you will see, I believe they speak of a very mature and spiritual Christian.
V 22 “For in my inner being I delight in God's law;”
Can an unbeliever delight in the Law of God? Not in scripture!
Romans 8:7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
2nd proof v. 25 So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Two proofs- The unregenerate do not say "Jesus Christ OUR Lord nor do they serve the Law of God with their mind.(8:7)
3rd Proof “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
This says there is a battle between a part of him that wants to do God's will and a part that does not want to.
It is only the Christians that have that part that wants to do right... PlJ.il 2:13
Jeremiah gives the best picture of the heart of the unredeemed. Not a heart that wants to do right, but (17:9) "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? NLT
4th Proof v. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. KJV
Where does the desire to do right come from? FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT!
The heart, the soul, and the mind yearn to do what is good. The bent is toward good… THAT IS CHRISTIAN
Romans 3 says the heart , soul and mind of the un-Christian is different...
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
17 And the way of peace have they not known:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
There is none of this tension, this battle, between doing right and doing wrong, DOES NOT EXIST IN THE UNSAVED!
OK, LET''S SAY IT IS A CHRISTIAN. WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN IS IT???
Let me say there are two kinds of Christian
Carnal Christian... Flesh on the throne
Spiritual Christian.. God on the throne
Some say it is a Christian but it is a CARNAL CHRISTIAN... a Christian on a very low spiritual plane.
One person remarked "This is the abject failure and misery of a Christian who attempts to please God under the Mosaic System. In other words.. A super legalistic Christian trying to crank out his own righteousness in his own flesh."
If you have ever known a legalist, one thing you know is that they are ALWAYS under the illusion that they are very spiritual.
I believe that this is a very spiritual Christian. This is one who has spent great amounts of time at the foot of the cross and in self examination.
He knows what he is and how far he falls short.
PRINCIPLE: THE GREATER THE SPIRITUALITY AND MATURITY OF A CHRISTIAN, THE GRATER WILL BE HIS OWN SENSE OF SHORTCOMING AND UNWORTHINESS.
Immature, infantile, carnal, fleshly Christians, when confronted with their sins, do not fall broken like this… they become very defensive and say, “Well, I’m doing better than so-and-so!”
"You show me a person agonizing in the depths of his own soul because he cannot do everything written in the word of God and I'll show you a spiritual person."
John MacArthur
Don't get me wrong. I believe those infantile, carnal Christians also get convicted about their sin. I believe there are times when they are truly broken.
What sets those infantile Christians apart from the truly spiritual Christians is that for the infantile, the broken-ness is short-lived.
They are described in James 1:23, 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ESV
But the truly spiritual man is described in verse 25, 25 “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.:
5th Proof Remember: THIS IS PAUL!! I!!!!! A very spiritual man.
Paul constantly felt this way.
1 Cor 15:9 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Ephesians 3: 8 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
The more a man spends time in the Holy Word of God, and in the Presence of the Almighty, and at the foot of the cross.... THE MORE HE IS AWARE OF HIS UNWORTHINESS.
1 Timothy 1:12 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
This is a Christian that has matured so much that
SIGNS OF A MATURE CHRISTIAN
1. HE HATES SIN!
V 15: but what I hate, that do I.
2. HE LOVES RIGHTEOUSNESS
vv 19, 21 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
3. HE DELIGHTS IN THE LAW OF GOD FROM THE BOTTOM OF HIS HEART
v. 22 For I delight in the law of God
4. HE DEEPLY REGRETS HIS SIN
v. 24 O, wretched man that I am
5. HE THANKS GOD FOR THE DELIVERANCE THAT IS HIS IN JESUS CHRIST.
v.25
He recognizes the source of his problem... I AM CARNAL... FLESH
How do you BEST know when you are really close to God???
Not when you have great prayer times.
Not when you feel the spirit moving in a worship service. Not when the Holy Spirit reveals things to you.
When you are most aware of your sin, when you are most broken by your sin, when you are more acutely aware of the wall between you and God
THEN YOU ARE TRULY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY!!!!!
The greatest saints of all time were those who lived with the greatest awareness of their own sinfulness and unworthiness.
Where did they get that awareness?
AT THE CROSS.... by spending hours and hours at the foot of the cross...
Praying and thanking God for the cross Reading the gospel stories of the cross Meditating on the meaning or the cross They saw all of life fi•om the cross
This morning I want to ask you five questions
1. DO YOU HATE SIN!
2. DO YOU LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS
3. DO YOU DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF GOD FROM THE BOTTOM OF YOUR HEART
4. DO YOU DEEPLY REGRET YOUR SIN
5. DO YOU THANK GOD FOR THE DELIVERANCE THAT IS YOUR'S IN JESUS CHRIST.
Only two answers.... Yes or No
INVITATION:
I invite both to God's altar today
For the Yes's- to cry out to God and ask Him never to let you get over it.
For the No's- to ask Him to break you
