Mankind And
The Law
Rom. 7:1-25
Introduction
All of mankind is represented in one of three kinds of
lifestyles. We are Natural Persons, Carnal Persons, or Spiritual
Persons.
The term "law" appears 78 times in the book of Romans. The
term Law appears 23 times in
chapter seven (7). So the term LAW is very important in this book and
chapter.
I gleaned a lot of help from several books but especially
from John Phillips work on Romans.
1. The Law And The . . Spiritual Man. 7:1-6
A. He . . Knows The Law's Power
Ends At Death. 7:1-3
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law),
that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the
woman who
has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives.
But if the husband dies, she
is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her
husband lives, she marries
another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies,
she is free from that law,
so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
1. Rom. 6:14 For sin will not rule over
you, because you are not under law but
under grace. (HCSB)
Illustration
I read an illustration a long time ago
about a woman who married a man just to get out of her house and a
domineering father. She married an older man and he was very
domineering, and gave her a list of requirements. He
died and after a few years she married again to a man she loved very
much.
One day while cleaning in
her attic she found the old list of requirements from her first husband
and laughed that she
was doing most of those requirements for her present husband. But she
did them motivated by love.
B. He . . Shows The Law's Power Ends At Death.
7:4-5
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through
the body of
Christ, that you may be married to another -- to Him who was raised
from the dead, that
we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the
sinful passions which
were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to
death.
Illustration
Stuart Briscoe tells of his experience
as a raw recruit in the Royal Marines during the Korean Conflict. His
company
was under the supervision of a particularly intimidating sergeant major
who dictated how life was going to be for the
young soldiers. Briscoe did not realize exactly what a dominant force
the sergeant major had become in his life until
the day he was discharged from the Marines. On that day, he knew he was
a "free" man. No more orders; no more
drills; no more "Yes, SIRS!" In spite of what he knew, the first time
he encountered the sergeant major after walking
out of the discharge office as a free man, he still popped to
attention--until he realized he did not have to. He was
"dead" to the sergeant major.
So he relaxed in his new
identity, and approached the sergeant major as a "former" Marine--
casual and
comfortable. Regardless of how his former superior may have disliked
Briscoe's new posture and attitude, he was
powerless to do anything about it. Briscoe had been discharged
from--Briscoe had died to--the sergeant major and
his laws (Hughes, Stories, pp. 248-249). --Holman New Testament
Commentary
C. He . . Glows From The Newness Of The Spirit. 7:6
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we
were held by, so
that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the
oldness of the letter.
1. Psa. 119:176 Verses 8x 22 Letter of the Hebrew
Alphabet. All verses Give praise
to the LAW.
2. 2 Cor 3:6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new
covenant, not of the
letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit
produces life. (HCSB)
Illustration
Last Sunday Night we observed the Lord's
Supper. I sensed the leading of the Lord to ask people to give a
testimony about the person who influenced them for Christ. I really
sensed the Spirit of God at work in our service. That is what being
spiritual is all about. It is not judging or fusing or fighting or
trying to get our way.
Application
The Law And The . . Spiritual Man.
He Knows, Shows, and Glows
2. The Law And The . . Natural Man.
7:7-13
A. The Natural Man . . Discerned
By The Law. 7:7-9
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the
contrary, I would
not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known
covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." 8 But sin,
taking
opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil
desire. For
apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law,
but when the
commandment came, sin revived and I died.
1. Rom. 6:15 What then? Should we sin because we are not
under law but under
grace? Absolutely not! (HCSB)
B. The Natural Man . . Deceived By The Law. 7:10-13
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to
bring death. 11 For
sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed
me. 12 Therefore the
law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 13 Has then
what is good become
death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was
producing death in me through
what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become
exceedingly sinful. NKJV
Illustration
Did you ever see a sign that read, "Wet Paint?" What do most people do.
Touch the newly
painted object. Paul was told not to covet, but it seemed to stir up
covetousness. Why? Satan
loves to bring temptation to break the commands of God.
Application
Have you ever touched wet paint and have the sticky
substance on your fingers much too long?
Sin takes you where you don't want to go, Keeps you longer
than you want to stay, and cost you
more than you want to pay.
3. The Law And The
. . Carnal Man. 7:14-25
Introduction
When was Paul Carnal? I don't know but evidently He Knew.
A. The . . Clarity Of The Carnal Life. 7:14
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,
sold under sin.
1. Note all the personal references.
B. The . . Confusion Of The Carnal Life. 7:15-17
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice;
but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I
agree with the law that
it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that
dwells in me.
C. The . . Clashes Of The Carnal Life. 7:18-20
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present
with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good
that I will to do,
I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if
I do what I will not to
do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Illustration
A man came into a church where Rom. 7:19 was being read, and settled in
saying, "at last I have
found my kind of church."
D. The . . Conflicts Of The
Carnal Life. 7:21-24
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good. 22 For
I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see
another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will
deliver me from
this body of death?
1. The . . Conflict Of Law Of God and The Law Of Sin.
7:21-22
21 I find then a law, that evil
is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of
God according to the inward man.
2. The . . Conflict Of The Law My
Members and My Mind. 7:23
But I see another law in my members, warring against
the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin
which is in my members.
E. The . . Conquest Of The Carnal Life. 7:24-25
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from
this body of death? 25 I thank God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So
then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh
the law of sin. NKJV
Illustration
An old miser regularly counted his money. Many people knew this, and
one night a very poor
man tried to borrow some money. The miser refused and there came a
clash of anger. In his rage
the miser killed the poor man. He then decided to take the body
to the river and throw it over the bank and into the swift
current. He made his way to the river down the allies and corridors
hoping not one would see
him. He finally got the body where he could toss it into the river but
rigor mortis had set in and
pulled him into the river also and he got drowned.
That is the way of sin. It traps you. Many have habits
they would like to break, but they do not
have or do not yield to the Power of God for victory. Paul got victory
because he got delivered.
Ro. 7:24-25 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. NKJV
Victory come through Jesus, It can be ours today,
It can be yours today.
Conclusion
Vernon Grounds writes, "A friend told me of an incident that happened
while he was in
seminary. Since the school had no gymnasium, he and his friends played
basket ball in a nearby
public school.
Nearby, an elderly janitor waited patiently until the
finished playing. Invariably he sat there
reading his Bible. One day my friend asked him what he was reading. The
man answered, 'The
book of Revelation.' Surprised, my friend asked if he understood it.
'Oh, yes,' the man assured
him. 'I understand it!' 'What does it mean?' Quietly the janitor
answered, 'It means that Jesus is
gonna win.'"
Grounds concludes, "That's the best commentary I have ever
heard on that book. Jesus is going
to win. That's the biblical mind-set." Morning Glory, January 4, 1994,
p. 9
Song:Victory In Jesus
I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, Of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins And won the victory.
I heard about His healing, Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't To me the victory.
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I'll sing up there
The song of victory.
Chorus
O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood.