Post by arete on Nov 10, 2014 23:35:19 GMT
Introduction:
Hypocrites! Now, that is an emotionally charged word for many people. We may know its origin – referring to masks actors wore in ancient Greece. Perhaps we are used to the idea that a hypocrite is one who says one thing and then does another. Yet, there is a different meaning accompanying such a word – that is acting like everything is all right when it isn’t. That is one form of hypocrisy almost endorsed by some churches – the idea that we are supposed to act like we have it altogether when we don’t. Or that we’re supposed to act happy when we’re not…etc. There is a stigma within the church universal that we should never admit to struggling with our Christian walk. Well if you have heard that or seen it in practice – it’s wrong. It’s sinful. This morning we are going to see that even Paul deals with the frustration of sin in his Christian walk. He is open, clear and rather forceful in how he presents his struggles with sin…
Context:
Last time in Romans, Paul was clarifying the role of law and refuting the idea that freedom in Christ could ever be used as a license to sin. He continued by explaining that sin uses the opportunity of the Law to stir more sin & rebellion. The Law in its part clearly exposes sin even as sin plums the depths of depravity. The good news is that the Law is not what saves us – Jesus alone does that – but the Law reveals both God’s standards and our inability to meet them. The Law’s job is to irrefutably show our great need for the Savior. Yet, upon salvation we find that we are still trapped in a body of sin and death. The frustration of continued sin in the life of a believer is felt by Paul too as he proceeds this morning in Romans 7….
Body – Romans 7:15-25 – ESV
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Frustration vv. 15-17
Now to begin, many folks that write about the Bible are uncomfortable with this passage. Some say it must be written to the lost because a believer can’t feel certain ways. Some say it’s only for the carnal believer – a person who is saved but is deeply mired in ongoing and unrepentant sin. Some say Paul was writing to everyday and essentially mature believers. I think it best to avoid an either/or situation here. I believe that the text itself when read with common sense has a common sense meaning. I believe there is something here that everybody needs to hear no matter where they are in relation to Jesus.
First, Paul admits that he simply cannot explain his own actions. He doesn’t understand himself – in regards to knowing the truth and still sinning. This makes me feel at least a little better, because I cannot explain me to myself either. I don’t know why I can know what God says and know his son as my Savior and still break his law
Paul identifies the various ways this works out:
1. God says there are certain things we’re supposed to do. Paul wants to do what God says, but he knows that there are times when he doesn’t do them.
2. God also says there are some things we’re not supposed to do. Paul hates the evil of sin as God has revealed it, but he knows there are times he does the sin he hates
Paul even reminds himself and us that even when he sins since he knows it is sin. He knows that the Law is good – yet he sins anyway
Paul’s next statement in verse 17 might seem like an excuse or an attempt to shift blame. It’s not. Paul wants to get to the root. He knows that as a born again believer he desires to please God and reject sin. But he sins. So the root must be dug out. That root is the fact that as fallen humans we have inherited a fallen nature from Adam. Sin lives in us.
Illustration:
A university student was seen with a large “K” printed on his T-shirt. When someone asked him what the “K” stood for, he said, “Confused.” “But,” the questioner replied, “you don’t spell “confused” with a “K.” The student answered, “You don’t know how confused I am.”
Application:
Confusion is normal and acceptable – but when the confusion about what is right or wrong or how we should proceed – we can turn right to God and to his word. That’s part of the wondrous gift he gives by revealing himself – he takes away our confusion about who he is, who we are, and how we should live to please him. Frustration is also normal. We should never be satisfied with sin in our lives. We may have to live with our fallen nature, but we shouldn’t like it and we should always strive to better live up to our understanding of the Scriptures. This requires effort on our part. We must know what God has said. We must take time to understand what God has said. We must put that understanding to work in every part of our lives. In all our time with the Scripture, we should be praying for the Holy Spirit to help us understand and put it to work. Remember God is not surprised that we do not have the ability to live sin free lives. That’s why he sends to Holy Spirit to live in us and to empower us
Fleshly Desires vv. 18-20
Sin living in us was a bit of a cliffhanger in the last point, and now we return to it in verse 18 for the next installment.
Paul reminds us of what he has taught us – there is no one who does good or seeks after God. Or as he puts it here: nothing good dwells in him. Nothing good dwells in us either. That may hurt our self-esteem – but Christians should be more worried about being right before God than worldly views on self-esteem. Our worth comes from God not from within us.
Paul jumps next to the heart of the matter – when we are saved by Jesus Christ alone, we still have this body of sin & death. Even when we desire to carry out the very will of God, we have no internal power or ability to carry it out.
Even worse than not having the power to do right, humans do have the power and inclination to sin. So while society wants us to believe that everyone is essentially good – Paul reminds us of what we see every day and what we see even in ourselves. Rather than being essentially good, we are essentially sinful – that could lead to despair, but let’s not despair till we have seen all that Paul has to say…
Illustration:
From Texas history comes the story of the conversion of Sam Houston:
At one time, the Texas hero was called "The Old Drunk." While he was governor of Tennessee, his wife left him. In despair he resigned as governor and tried to escape his problems by going to live among Cherokee Indians. He stayed drunk much of the time. It is said that the Indians, as they walked through the forest, would have to move him out of the path where he lay in a stupor.
Later, he went to Texas, where he became the great hero of the Texas revolution when he routed General Santa Ana's Mexican army. Houston's battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" helped win independence for Texas. He married the daughter of a Baptist preacher and later trusted Christ, but he still had some of his old tendencies.
One day as he rode along a trail, his horse stumbled. Houston spontaneously cursed, reverting to his old habit. Immediately he was convicted of his sin. He got off his horse, knelt down on the trail, and cried out to God for forgiveness. Houston had already received Christ, but God was teaching him to live in fellowship with him moment by moment. And as soon as the Holy Spirit made Sam Houston aware of his sin, he confessed it.
Application:
See the issue here is that we have no problem admitting that God alone saves us – that at the moment of our salvation – he is the one who does all the work – that we cannot save ourselves. The same is true for the ongoing work of salvation – sanctification. We can’t empower our growth in Christlikeness. We can’t will our way to pleasing God. God alone – specifically God the Holy Spirit is who indwells us and empowers our growth. It is good that we should pray for the Holy Spirit to do his convicting work on us. He convicted us when we were lost and he is still at work convicting us of our sin and enabling us to truly repent – to turn from our sin and turn toward our God.
Free in Christ vv. 21-25 – But free from what?
Well first to restate the situation: Paul finds it to be a basic truth that when we desire to do right, evil makes itself available and easy to reach. This basic truth is called “a” law as balanced by referencing God’s law as Paul continues…
In the inner self, when we are regenerated, when we are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life, we do desire to obey our God & Savior
Still, Paul cannot escape, and neither can we, that there is a war being waged between our desire to obey God and the temptation of sin – sin that actually is within our very flesh
I have mentioned how easy it would be to despair - and Paul’s words are filled with anguish and anxiety – Wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of death?!
Paul moves quickly from despair to hope (but there may be times in our lives that trip may take longer.) No matter how frustrating it gets to have to deal with our sin and confess and repent over and over…we can still thank God. We can thank him because of Jesus Christ. While God would have been perfectly just to leave us to our sin and death, his grace and mercy has saved us – freed us from the penalty of sin, is continuing to perfect us, and will one day deliver us to himself free from sin for all time and forever in his presence.
But there is no escaping the basic facts…even while we desire to serve God and obey him, we still sin…
Illustration:
There’s a Gospel tune from recent years that has the following chorus, “And I’m not the man that I ought to be. At times I fall short of what You want of me And I’m surely not the man I want to be. But thank God, I’m not the man I used to be”
Application:
We have so much to be thankful for…but sometimes we forget to be thankful of our salvation. The continued presence of sin can be a reminder of how much we need God’s grace and a reminder to be thankful even in the midst of temptations and trials. Yet, it’s hard to praise God when we are sorely tempted, but it is precisely what we need to do in addition to praying for deliverance from our temptation. Also, when we sin against our God, our repentance should also include prayers of thankfulness that we can repent, that he is merciful and gracious, and that he has promised to deliver us ultimately from the very presence of sin.
So What?
This passage is about encouraging us even when we are frustrated with the sin that so easily entangles us. In Paul’s culture there was a type of poem called a lament. That type of poem would focus on a trial or tribulation or temptation in life. These poems were emotionally charged and pulled no punches. Another defining trait was that they ended with praising & trusting God.
This part of Romans sounds like a psalm of lament – especially in how it ends and laments have much to say to the believer today.
We can be honest with God with our true feelings. We cannot surprise God when we express our true emotions and doubts to him. God would rather we bring him our struggles & anxieties.
1. It is not a sin to question, grieve, despair or even complain to God. It is, however, a sin to refuse to take these things to God.
2. Our requests to God for deliverance should be made in light of God's nature and in concern for God's honor.
3. If the petition includes deliverance from a situation resulting from our own sin, confession is necessary, for a broken spirit and a contrite heart is what God desires.
4. Our response to anticipated or actual deliverance is to be praise to God. Praise should take place even before deliverance is assured.
Let us purpose then to have emotional and spiritual honesty with God and with one another. We should not be found guilty of the hypocrisy of pretending to have reached perfection here on earth. Such pretending is not honoring to God and his will of sanctifying us (maturing us & molding us in Christ-likeness.) It also makes light of God’s promise to perfect us when he delivers us safely to himself in heaven
In spiritual honesty with one another – we will help hold one another accountable & to help one another heal from the effects of sin. Let’s make NCC a safe place where we can find shelter with one another.
In spiritual honesty in world, we will avoid the accusation that Christians act holier than thou. We will model the absolute reality that God saves regular everyday people and that the salvation we have is because he is gracious not because we are perfect.
In our spiritual honesty before God, we will not be telling him anything he doesn’t know. He knows when we sin. He knows when we are overwhelmed, tempted & tried. Rather than informing him, what we are doing is a necessary step of repentance – we confess our sins not to inform God but because he has promised to clean us when we are honest with him.
We have all had hard times & sinful times. We will again. Let us be like Paul when this happens. Let us be honest about our sin & let us praise God that he alone delivers us – because only he can.
Pray – thanking God for our great salvation
Benediction
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Num. 6:24-26)
Hypocrites! Now, that is an emotionally charged word for many people. We may know its origin – referring to masks actors wore in ancient Greece. Perhaps we are used to the idea that a hypocrite is one who says one thing and then does another. Yet, there is a different meaning accompanying such a word – that is acting like everything is all right when it isn’t. That is one form of hypocrisy almost endorsed by some churches – the idea that we are supposed to act like we have it altogether when we don’t. Or that we’re supposed to act happy when we’re not…etc. There is a stigma within the church universal that we should never admit to struggling with our Christian walk. Well if you have heard that or seen it in practice – it’s wrong. It’s sinful. This morning we are going to see that even Paul deals with the frustration of sin in his Christian walk. He is open, clear and rather forceful in how he presents his struggles with sin…
Context:
Last time in Romans, Paul was clarifying the role of law and refuting the idea that freedom in Christ could ever be used as a license to sin. He continued by explaining that sin uses the opportunity of the Law to stir more sin & rebellion. The Law in its part clearly exposes sin even as sin plums the depths of depravity. The good news is that the Law is not what saves us – Jesus alone does that – but the Law reveals both God’s standards and our inability to meet them. The Law’s job is to irrefutably show our great need for the Savior. Yet, upon salvation we find that we are still trapped in a body of sin and death. The frustration of continued sin in the life of a believer is felt by Paul too as he proceeds this morning in Romans 7….
Body – Romans 7:15-25 – ESV
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Frustration vv. 15-17
Now to begin, many folks that write about the Bible are uncomfortable with this passage. Some say it must be written to the lost because a believer can’t feel certain ways. Some say it’s only for the carnal believer – a person who is saved but is deeply mired in ongoing and unrepentant sin. Some say Paul was writing to everyday and essentially mature believers. I think it best to avoid an either/or situation here. I believe that the text itself when read with common sense has a common sense meaning. I believe there is something here that everybody needs to hear no matter where they are in relation to Jesus.
First, Paul admits that he simply cannot explain his own actions. He doesn’t understand himself – in regards to knowing the truth and still sinning. This makes me feel at least a little better, because I cannot explain me to myself either. I don’t know why I can know what God says and know his son as my Savior and still break his law
Paul identifies the various ways this works out:
1. God says there are certain things we’re supposed to do. Paul wants to do what God says, but he knows that there are times when he doesn’t do them.
2. God also says there are some things we’re not supposed to do. Paul hates the evil of sin as God has revealed it, but he knows there are times he does the sin he hates
Paul even reminds himself and us that even when he sins since he knows it is sin. He knows that the Law is good – yet he sins anyway
Paul’s next statement in verse 17 might seem like an excuse or an attempt to shift blame. It’s not. Paul wants to get to the root. He knows that as a born again believer he desires to please God and reject sin. But he sins. So the root must be dug out. That root is the fact that as fallen humans we have inherited a fallen nature from Adam. Sin lives in us.
Illustration:
A university student was seen with a large “K” printed on his T-shirt. When someone asked him what the “K” stood for, he said, “Confused.” “But,” the questioner replied, “you don’t spell “confused” with a “K.” The student answered, “You don’t know how confused I am.”
Application:
Confusion is normal and acceptable – but when the confusion about what is right or wrong or how we should proceed – we can turn right to God and to his word. That’s part of the wondrous gift he gives by revealing himself – he takes away our confusion about who he is, who we are, and how we should live to please him. Frustration is also normal. We should never be satisfied with sin in our lives. We may have to live with our fallen nature, but we shouldn’t like it and we should always strive to better live up to our understanding of the Scriptures. This requires effort on our part. We must know what God has said. We must take time to understand what God has said. We must put that understanding to work in every part of our lives. In all our time with the Scripture, we should be praying for the Holy Spirit to help us understand and put it to work. Remember God is not surprised that we do not have the ability to live sin free lives. That’s why he sends to Holy Spirit to live in us and to empower us
Fleshly Desires vv. 18-20
Sin living in us was a bit of a cliffhanger in the last point, and now we return to it in verse 18 for the next installment.
Paul reminds us of what he has taught us – there is no one who does good or seeks after God. Or as he puts it here: nothing good dwells in him. Nothing good dwells in us either. That may hurt our self-esteem – but Christians should be more worried about being right before God than worldly views on self-esteem. Our worth comes from God not from within us.
Paul jumps next to the heart of the matter – when we are saved by Jesus Christ alone, we still have this body of sin & death. Even when we desire to carry out the very will of God, we have no internal power or ability to carry it out.
Even worse than not having the power to do right, humans do have the power and inclination to sin. So while society wants us to believe that everyone is essentially good – Paul reminds us of what we see every day and what we see even in ourselves. Rather than being essentially good, we are essentially sinful – that could lead to despair, but let’s not despair till we have seen all that Paul has to say…
Illustration:
From Texas history comes the story of the conversion of Sam Houston:
At one time, the Texas hero was called "The Old Drunk." While he was governor of Tennessee, his wife left him. In despair he resigned as governor and tried to escape his problems by going to live among Cherokee Indians. He stayed drunk much of the time. It is said that the Indians, as they walked through the forest, would have to move him out of the path where he lay in a stupor.
Later, he went to Texas, where he became the great hero of the Texas revolution when he routed General Santa Ana's Mexican army. Houston's battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" helped win independence for Texas. He married the daughter of a Baptist preacher and later trusted Christ, but he still had some of his old tendencies.
One day as he rode along a trail, his horse stumbled. Houston spontaneously cursed, reverting to his old habit. Immediately he was convicted of his sin. He got off his horse, knelt down on the trail, and cried out to God for forgiveness. Houston had already received Christ, but God was teaching him to live in fellowship with him moment by moment. And as soon as the Holy Spirit made Sam Houston aware of his sin, he confessed it.
Application:
See the issue here is that we have no problem admitting that God alone saves us – that at the moment of our salvation – he is the one who does all the work – that we cannot save ourselves. The same is true for the ongoing work of salvation – sanctification. We can’t empower our growth in Christlikeness. We can’t will our way to pleasing God. God alone – specifically God the Holy Spirit is who indwells us and empowers our growth. It is good that we should pray for the Holy Spirit to do his convicting work on us. He convicted us when we were lost and he is still at work convicting us of our sin and enabling us to truly repent – to turn from our sin and turn toward our God.
Free in Christ vv. 21-25 – But free from what?
Well first to restate the situation: Paul finds it to be a basic truth that when we desire to do right, evil makes itself available and easy to reach. This basic truth is called “a” law as balanced by referencing God’s law as Paul continues…
In the inner self, when we are regenerated, when we are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life, we do desire to obey our God & Savior
Still, Paul cannot escape, and neither can we, that there is a war being waged between our desire to obey God and the temptation of sin – sin that actually is within our very flesh
I have mentioned how easy it would be to despair - and Paul’s words are filled with anguish and anxiety – Wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of death?!
Paul moves quickly from despair to hope (but there may be times in our lives that trip may take longer.) No matter how frustrating it gets to have to deal with our sin and confess and repent over and over…we can still thank God. We can thank him because of Jesus Christ. While God would have been perfectly just to leave us to our sin and death, his grace and mercy has saved us – freed us from the penalty of sin, is continuing to perfect us, and will one day deliver us to himself free from sin for all time and forever in his presence.
But there is no escaping the basic facts…even while we desire to serve God and obey him, we still sin…
Illustration:
There’s a Gospel tune from recent years that has the following chorus, “And I’m not the man that I ought to be. At times I fall short of what You want of me And I’m surely not the man I want to be. But thank God, I’m not the man I used to be”
Application:
We have so much to be thankful for…but sometimes we forget to be thankful of our salvation. The continued presence of sin can be a reminder of how much we need God’s grace and a reminder to be thankful even in the midst of temptations and trials. Yet, it’s hard to praise God when we are sorely tempted, but it is precisely what we need to do in addition to praying for deliverance from our temptation. Also, when we sin against our God, our repentance should also include prayers of thankfulness that we can repent, that he is merciful and gracious, and that he has promised to deliver us ultimately from the very presence of sin.
So What?
This passage is about encouraging us even when we are frustrated with the sin that so easily entangles us. In Paul’s culture there was a type of poem called a lament. That type of poem would focus on a trial or tribulation or temptation in life. These poems were emotionally charged and pulled no punches. Another defining trait was that they ended with praising & trusting God.
This part of Romans sounds like a psalm of lament – especially in how it ends and laments have much to say to the believer today.
We can be honest with God with our true feelings. We cannot surprise God when we express our true emotions and doubts to him. God would rather we bring him our struggles & anxieties.
1. It is not a sin to question, grieve, despair or even complain to God. It is, however, a sin to refuse to take these things to God.
2. Our requests to God for deliverance should be made in light of God's nature and in concern for God's honor.
3. If the petition includes deliverance from a situation resulting from our own sin, confession is necessary, for a broken spirit and a contrite heart is what God desires.
4. Our response to anticipated or actual deliverance is to be praise to God. Praise should take place even before deliverance is assured.
Let us purpose then to have emotional and spiritual honesty with God and with one another. We should not be found guilty of the hypocrisy of pretending to have reached perfection here on earth. Such pretending is not honoring to God and his will of sanctifying us (maturing us & molding us in Christ-likeness.) It also makes light of God’s promise to perfect us when he delivers us safely to himself in heaven
In spiritual honesty with one another – we will help hold one another accountable & to help one another heal from the effects of sin. Let’s make NCC a safe place where we can find shelter with one another.
In spiritual honesty in world, we will avoid the accusation that Christians act holier than thou. We will model the absolute reality that God saves regular everyday people and that the salvation we have is because he is gracious not because we are perfect.
In our spiritual honesty before God, we will not be telling him anything he doesn’t know. He knows when we sin. He knows when we are overwhelmed, tempted & tried. Rather than informing him, what we are doing is a necessary step of repentance – we confess our sins not to inform God but because he has promised to clean us when we are honest with him.
We have all had hard times & sinful times. We will again. Let us be like Paul when this happens. Let us be honest about our sin & let us praise God that he alone delivers us – because only he can.
Pray – thanking God for our great salvation
Benediction
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Num. 6:24-26)