Text: Romans 7:7-12
Title:The Law is Not Sin
Truth:The Law is good, although it does not save anyone from sin.
Date/Location: Sunday Morning Worship September 1, 2013 at FBC
Introduction
The previous verses, Romans 7:1-6, teach that a Christian has been disconnected from the law so as to be connected to Jesus. Before, sin in the Christianwas aroused by the law and produced death. But now Christians are delivered from the death-producing effects of their former life and instead are able to bear fruit to God.
This whole notion may then raise a question: if the law is so bad and we had to be released from its effects, is the Law sinful then? Why would God give the Law if it was sinful? In short, Romans 7:7 says that it is absolutely wrong to think the law is sin.In fact, the Law is the enemy of sin because it exposes sin for what it is. Sin is our enemy because it kills us. So, the enemy (Law) of our enemy (sin) is actually our friend. Consider Proverbs 27:6.
Thus begins the autobiographical section of Romans 7 where Paul uses himself to show the operation of sin, Law, and righteousness. Each one of us can find ourselves somewhere in Paul’s personal story because it is a general pattern.
- We may find ourselves in a place where we are basically unaware of the wrong we are doing.
- Or we may find ourselves understanding that we are doing wrong because of what God has said. In this stage, we don’t know what to do about it.
- Or we may find ourselves knowing that Jesus died for our sins and that He has forgiven us because we trust in Him, but that we are still in a struggle with sin.
I. Are You Unaware of Sin in Your Life?
A. All people know God in at least a basic way (Rom. 1:20). And all people know sin to some extent (Rom. 2:15). They know sin because there is a law or code of right and wrong that is written in their hearts. Unfortunately that code is obscured by sin itself because people naturally don’t want to obey it. We want to make excuses, blame others, or ignore the wrong things we are doing. We like wrong things.
B. Note that Paul indicates the possibility of being unaware of the wrong that he is doing in verse 1: “I would not have known sin.” There is a certain immaturity and lack of awareness that people can have about their own wrong. When brought face to face with it, they may even acknowledge it, but they are spiritually dead (separated from God and God’s holiness) and so cannot sense sin.
C. The Bible says a similar thing at the end of verse 7, “I would not have known covetousness.” It didn’t dawn on him that coveting was wrong.
D. He writes in verse 8, “apart from the law sin was dead.”
E. He adds in verse 9, “I was alive once without the law.” What he means is not that when he was born the law was not in existence. Coming from the observant Jewish family that he did, Paul most probably was taught the law from youth. But it did not dawn on him for a while—the light bulb didn’t turn on—that he was actually in sin. Compare that to the rich young man that came to Jesus and said that he had kept all the commandments from his youth (Luke 18:21)!Such an attitude arises from pride and spiritual death.
F. Perhaps you are in this state of being kind of blissfully unaware that you are a sinful person. Let me do you the favor of shaking you awake, of turning on the light, of opening the window shade, of making you aware that you too are a sinner. You might not like it at first, but if you stick with me and find out the solution, you will thank me!
II. Are youAware of Sin but Don’t Know What to Do?
A. The Law of Moses, written down in “hard copy,” reveals a clear picture of sin.It is a way that the light bulb can be turned on to show us our own badness. Law causes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). The Law is like a magnifying glass to expose sin in all its ugly detail.And this is just what we need to become a Christian.
B. Exodus 20:1-17 is the Bible text that records the 10 commandments.
C. The 10th commandment deals with coveting, an internal attitude, not just external behavior. Coveting is desiring something that someone else has because you don’t have it. The sinfulness of coveting is independent of the thing that you covet. Coveting amounts to idolatry—placing something ahead of God because you desire that thing more than God (Colossians 3:5).
Other commandments that are internally-oriented are “honor your father and your mother” and “have no other gods before me.” These certainly have actions associated with them, but gods are integrally connected to adoration or worship or fear (internal things). Honoring is more than simple obedience.
The rest of the 10 commandments are stated in terms of actions. However, today we know that the Lord commands us to avoid not only the actions, but the thoughts and attitudes that lead to the actions, which are equally sinful (Matthew 5:21-30).
D. Remember that we are talking about the commandment regarding coveting. Verse 8 teaches that sin uses the commandment as a base from which to launch its evil attack on us. Sin then interacts with the law as in a dangerous chemical reaction and produces all kinds of evil desires in us that are not pleasing to God.
E. It was like the commandment wakened up a monster in Paul that changed him from being unaware of sin to having sin become alive and killing him (verse 9, 11). Paul was deceived by sin, something like Eve was deceived by the serpent. He doesn’t use this as an excuse. But I believe we can agree that sin doesn’t give full disclosure when it comes knocking. It doesn’t tell us how far it will take us or how much it will cost us; it only presents the glittery side of the temptation and only lets us find out the awful results after the fact. Sin is deceitful because it is a false front—there is no truth in advertising with sin.
F. Verse 10 indicates that the commandment was to bring life. We have learned elsewhere that the commandment itself has no power in itself to give life, but if you were able to keep it you would live (Galatians 3:12; and on this principle, see Proverbs 4:4, 7:2). Unfortunately, the state in which we are born makes this an impossible task.
G. Perhaps you are in this state of being painfully aware of your sinfulness and your acts of sin. Oh, what to do about it?
III.Have You Trusted Jesus?
A. The solution to the sin problem is to believe in Jesus Christ – John 8:24. Then you will know that your sins are forgiven and you are released from their awful penalty (Romans 6:23) and power (Romans 6:14).
B. Just what does it mean to “believe in Jesus”? That is sort of shorthand for the following ideas:
1. Acknowledge that you are a sinner. Just admit it to God!
2. Know that Jesus is the Son of God, chosen by God to be the Savior of the world.
3. Understand that Jesus came from heaven to earth in a human body in order to die for sins, and that he in fact did die in our place for our sins (1 Peter 3:18).
4. Affirm that after Jesus died he rose again from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Romans 10:9-10).
5. Desire God to pardon you from sin. Tell God that you understand the badness of sin and that you want to turn away from sin and turn to God where you should be. Ask God to pardon you and tell Him that you believe in His Son Jesus as your Lord and Savior (Acts 16:31).
6. There is no specific formula or words you have to say. Many different words can be used to express the same belief. God knows your heart anyway, and He stands ready to receive you and will not turn you away (John 6:37).
7. Ask yourself if you want to be a true follower of Jesus, or if you want to follow something else as your highest priority. If you want to follow Jesus, that is a good indication that you have genuinely believed in Jesus Christ.
IV.Conclusion (v. 12)
A. The Law is holy.
The entire body of law is morally pure. Any law of God, whether in a previous era (Exodus 20) or in the present era (the Law of Christ, Galatians 6:2, James 2:8), is holy.
B. The commandment is holy and just and good.
Paul is talking about the particular commandment against coveting.
This commandmentis also morally pure, just, and good. Even though it has as a side effect of producing more sin, that is not the fault of the commandment itself. It is the fault of the person who is under the commandment.
C. Grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. Whatever you can’t have, that you want. But the grass may be greener because the grass is growing over the septic field! You don’t want to go there.
D. Next time we are going to look in more detail and what happens with the Christian’s struggle against sin. Just because you believe in Jesus and are saved, does not mean that sin automatically disappears. But Jesus does help us even in that struggle. MAP
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