Believers are no longer under the bondage of the law but are married to Christ, who is their new husband and the source of their life. The law, while holy and good, reveals sin and its power, leading to a struggle within the believer between the desire to do good and the indwelling sin of the flesh. This internal conflict, characterized by the "I, me, myself" experience, highlights the inability of personal will to keep the law and the necessity of Christ's power for victory. True Christian experience and deliverance come not from self-effort under the law, but from Christ living within, enabling believers to serve God by His Spirit.
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the seventh chapter of the book of Romans I want to divide it into sections to make it easy to follow may I read from verse one through verse six first of all Paul writing by the Holy Spirit know ye not brethren for I speak to them that know the law how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband, so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loose from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress. though she be married to another man. Wherefore, here's the conclusion of it, wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law, by the body, and definitely, implying the death of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth food unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, meaning in our unsafe condition, the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. May the Lord bless this first section of the chapter. A very definite one that is the conclusion of what we have read in the preceding chapter. For in the preceding chapter, in chapter six and verse thirteen, the beloved apostle wrote, We are not under law writing to believers, but under grace.
In other words, And may we definitely take it in there. This is the problem in the chapter of dealing with the law after we have been saved. But the beloved apostle makes an application in the opening of this chapter very plain that while a woman is under the law of her husband as long as they live, yet when he dies that law stops and she has liberty and freedom to marry again. and what does the apostle apply it to please if you will know this let me get the application with you in verse four again wherefore my brethren ye also are become dead to the law now let me repeat it again I made it and it's the emphasis we are not as believers to consider ourselves under the law of Moses as a rule of life.
Now there's nothing wrong with the law as we shall see. But we have been delivered from that bondage of the law. And let me be reminded with you very carefully where the substance of the law can be said as one man came to the Lord Jesus and asked him what should I do? What should a man do to inherit eternal life? And the Savior answered him, What sayeth the Scripture? And the man quoted the Scripture, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
And thy faith and thy neighbor as thyself. This do, said the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt live. And let me emphasize again, it had to be perfection in loving God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and also loving everybody else the same way. And God, there's only one man ever did that. That's the Lord. But that was the Lord demanded. It was the holy demand. It was the righteous demand. But you know as well as I do, The Father was not with the Lord or with us, and we'll see more about that tonight. But here you have the Apostle consummating that thought, that we have been married to the Lord.
In other words, may I say it humbly and carefully, tis the Lord Jesus himself who should be in direct control of our lives. Now we have been saved. We're under the authority and the direction of the heavenly man. Not the law of Moses. But we go on as we would like to. As Paul has consummated it in verse six to say. But now we are delivered from the law. That being dead wherein we were held. That we should serve in newness of spirit.
And not in the oldest of the leaven. Now the sixth chapter made it very evident how we died to the Lord in Christ. And that's from chapter six. God considers every man, woman, boy and girl who has believed on the Lord Jesus. Having been dying, buried and risen with Christ to walk in a newness of life. Now we come to verse seven. Let me read from verse seven down through, if I may, through verse thirteen. For the apostle goes more into detail about the law and in relation to it.
And he brings out very carefully concerning the law's activity what the law did. What should we say then? Is the law sin? No. God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin. You remember we had in chapter six the words that by the law came the knowledge of sin. And you take, by way of example, just the Ten Commandments, which were the main features of the Mosaic Law. Whoever has kept them perfectly. No one. As we know from Romans three, all the sin had come short of the glory of God but was anything wrong with the law and here Paul said no I had not known sin except by the law for I had not known loss the Lord revealed to me what I oftentimes designed and covered it after except the law it said thou shalt not cover it the law with but through the law is the knowledge of sin I don't know whether you're acquainted with some of the old-fashioned preachers
as I was in my early days but some of the first things they did when they preached the gospel they preached the law proving that a man was a sinner a woman was a sinner proving from the scriptures we had failed to keep the law and then they went on to give the remedy Christ see and so Paul said through the law I learned I should not have it. But then, reading verse eight, with sin, taking occasion by the commandments, wrought in the all manner of concupiscence, for without the law sin was dead.
Here's the thought. The law magnified the corruption of sin in the human race. And it does. Look. example of it we were conversing before the meaning in the opening of the meaning rather about the conditions today what's causing it people don't want to listen to God's law how they live what they owe him and so it is they become as you have it here the all manner of concupiscence and sin has come in For without the law, sin was dead.
In other words, sin made, or the law coming in made sin a far more serious thing. For may I be reminded, before Moses wrote the law, there was no law. You go to the book of Genesis, the book of Exodus. There was no law until the children of Israel became a nation. And then the law came into guidance. supposedly to guide and direct the people of Israel and even they failed. But the result of the law coming in also brought in verse nine, for I was alive without the law once.
But when the commandment came, sin revived. And I, you know, it's a strange thing. But people seem to enjoy disobeying the law, don't they? More so today perhaps than ever before in your life and mine. And when the law came in, then it magnified the reality of sin. And his hypothesis had brought death to me. He's speaking of what the power of the law did. And then in verse ten, the commandment which was ordained to life, I found it to be death.
In other words, I could not, I was unable, I knew man was able to keep the law. Even the man that came to the Lord Jesus on that occasion, after the Lord stated, this do, and you live. The man made an excuse, and he creates the question, who's my neighbor? That's how you got the parable of the Good Samaritan. He wasn't preaching, he wasn't seeking to help his neighbor either. He wanted to get in the kingdom, but he didn't meet the requirements. And there's no question that now, let me say again, I don't know whether you believe it, but it's there.
What the Lord Jesus said, if you do this, you'll have life. Because again, as we have read from Romans chapter three, we've all broken the law. and we are guilty before God and that's what Paul summarizes here the commandment which was ordained to life I found it brought death to me for sin it wasn't the law it was my sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it threw me wherefore and he summarizes there's nothing wrong with the law it's holy and the commandment holy and it is just And it is good.
You have the same question, a similar one raised in First Timothy chapter one. Where Paul raises the rights to Timothy. Regarding the principle of the believer being under grace and not under law. But there were men who were thinking to bring in the law. And teaching even believers to follow the law. We'll find more about that later. But may I give you the thought? I remember on one occasion, many, many years ago, up in Pennsylvania, I came to the assembly gathering one night. I was one of the first there. And when a man came in, and I introduced myself, and he introduced me to me himself, and then he told me if I've just been saved.
And you know what he said in the next breath? He said, now I can keep the law. Now I looked at him and said, Friend, you're in for trouble. I can understand it. It's just been saved. He thought, now I can keep the law, the commandment. Well, let's find it out. We'll find out more about it as we go on. But we read in verse thirteen consummating this section. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. There was nothing wrong with the law. It was my statement. It was my sin. In other words, nothing wrong with the law.
It is holy. And as in I Timothy chapter one, Paul wrote to Timothy, the law was not made for a righteous man, but for the one holy. The adulterers, the hallmongers and so on. They need the law. There's no question. Now look, you take the general situation today. A good dose of the Ten Commandments ought to wake people up. If they'd listen to the voice of God. But you know, it's amazing. I'll tell you a little incident. I don't know how I came to go into this funeral home.
It was a black funeral home, I recall. And to my amazement inside it, they had the Ten Commandments written. on the wall. They're big tight. All the way down. And may I say, I was disgusted when I saw them underlining one phrase, Thou shalt not commit adultery. And I recognize them. Men sought to in that direction. Their desires to even disobey the law. And as you have it in this thirteen verse, but sin, that it might appear sin, work in death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sin.
Did you ever notice in Galatians chapter three that The beloved apostle says to the believers in Galatia, The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And I never forgot my first impression when I first read those words. As a boy in England in school, we had a schoolmaster I've seen punished literally with a good black strap every boy in the class.
Today he'd go to jail, I'm sure. But anyway, that's what happened. And a schoolmaster, he made us behave. But as we read here, but he revealed to me, though it was good, yet it revealed to me, that sin had become exceeding sinful. Except it would be for the law I would never have known how sinful I am. Now we go on further. We come to verse fourteen and I want to go to the end of the chapter in this great section that's before us.
For here we are now and I want to make it very careful having a description of a believer who unfortunately puts himself under the law as a principle of living. Let me revert again to the incident and I mentioned the man that said to me, Now I'm saved I can keep the law. And I said to him, Friend, you're in for trouble. For to thus try to do it, in other words, He was confident that in himself and by himself he could now keep the law.
May I say frankly, if a God had been married to Christ, for it's only through Christ alone we can be victorious. But what we read now on is the description of a man, a believer who puts himself under the law as a principle of life, trying to obey the law. Now may I say, there's been disagreement at the meaning of this section. Someone said it was the description of a sinner going that way.
But from the context, you can find in the reading of the context, As the Apostle Paul describes it, it was the experience of a Christian, even he himself. I fully believe myself, from what we're going to read now, that the Apostle himself knew this experience and writes of it very carefully. Now let me give you the thought before we go further. You find some pronouns that were not in the preceding part. I, me, and myself.
I, me, myself. Let me again make a distinction. I said to that man long ago, you're in for trouble if you try to do it yourself. Did not Paul write in Philippians chapter four and verse thirteen I can do all things through Christ who empowers or strengthens me it's the new husband he's the one who alone can keep us faithful to God even after we're saved but I want to remind you again I me and myself In the section before, you'll find it forty-seven times.
You'll find the word pronoun I, thirty times. And many times the pronoun me. And at the end of the chapter, he speaks of myself. I, me and myself and company. My beloved, the lesson is this. The power of Christian experience is not in my own strength. It's got to be Christ. We shall see that at the end of the chapter. But let me read on and see the experience. Verse fourteen. For we know that the law is spiritual. But I'm fleshly.
Now let's stop right there. I'm carnal. And the word means fleshly. Look. I'm looking at you and you're looking at me. I haven't changed in my body since the Lord saved me. I still have my body of flesh. When God saved me, He didn't save my body, He saved my soul. But I'm still here. I still have the body. And if I confess the truth and I should and I do, I know that in my body dwells the motions of sin, indwelling sin in the body.
Look, you know how to sin, even if you do not. You know how, don't you? Whoever taught you. I remember talking to many young, some little young people one time. I said, how many of you boys and girls know how to be good? How many of you know how to be naughty? And they all put their hand up. I said, who taught you? They couldn't answer me. Why did you do it? You were born with it. And my beloved believer, you and I well know from the word of God, while we're in this body, you've got the indwelling sin. Please let me say, don't tell me a Christian cannot sin.
I know a man that told me I can't sin anymore. Paul, was he sinning? I knew that wasn't according to the book. And read on. And Paul said, I'm fleshly, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do not. There are Christians who, unfortunately, in their experience, do the very things that they don't want to do. Now that they've saved, they know better, but still they do it.
And what they hate, they do. And then Paul goes on to say, If then I do that which I would not, I consent under the law that it is good. In other words, when I disobey the law, I'm admitting the law is good. Now then, and note, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Let me again refer to an incident when I met a man at the door of a schoolhouse and introduced myself and shook hands with him and thanked him for coming to hear me.
Asked him how long if he was saved. He said, I've been saved over forty years. And I looked at him and I was only a young fellow about thirty something, just over thirty. I said, you're older than I am. Been saved longer than I am. But in the next breath he said to me, he almost knocked me over by what he said. He said, I've got something else. I can't sin anymore. I've had all sin taken out of my heart. And then in the next breath of my son when he said, I wish you'd pray for me. I felt like saying, you better start praying for me. Look, here's the thought in verse seventeen. Now then it is no more either do but sin that dwelleth in me.
And here's the Christian who knows that in his and her body there are the motions of indwelling sin. For I know that in me That is in my flesh. Not in my soul. In my flesh. Dwelleth no good thing. Now here's the proof. He's the Christian. For to will. My desire is present with me. To do the right thing. But how to perform that which is good. I'm not able to do it. For the. And you find it more confused. For the good that I would do, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do.
And may I say again, it's the confusion of a believer trying to follow the law as a rule of life instead of doing what Paul said in Philippians four. I can do all things through Christ. And what we have in our chapter, the beginning of it, we are married to another. And let this other one other person, the Lord Jesus himself, control us. Now verse twenty. Now if I do, then I would not. Tis no more I there do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. My beloved, let me say lovingly, how necessary it is Have you not noticed in the reading of many scriptures by the apostles, particularly in the epistles, of the believer is told to judge himself and herself for indwelling sin.
Let me give you one example of scripture. First Corinthians chapter eleven, the Lord's Supper. as the dear apostle enumerates the privilege and the responsibility as well as the glory of having the Lord suffer in that same fashion he said let a man examine himself judge himself to be worthy or to do it worthily is the meaning of it to do it in a worthy manner make sure in other I'll give you very frankly The blessedness of realizing before I go to the Lord's Supper, let me make sure that my heart is in fellowship with the Lord, and there's no sin that needs to be confessed.
But there's nothing between me and my Lord. I'll tell you very frankly, let a man examine, and the meaning is let him judge himself, and so let him need that he might discern the Lord's body. And so the believer is told again and again to judge himself and herself in the flesh that they might not be condemned with the world because of living wrong. And now the apostle goes on to say, and let me read that in verse twenty again. Now if I do that I would not, tis no more I to do. It's then that dwelleth in me. And I find then a law.
the power that when I would do it good, evil is present with me. And may I say lovingly, how as believers we should realize the danger and the peril of indwelling sin within our bodies. And here's the evidence that he was a believer. I delight in the law of God as I begin with man. I want to please God. 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. Now let me enumerate it.
I'm sure you may have read from other readings, as you may have it, in Second Peter chapter one. The believer has two natures. you got the old nature of the flesh but thank God you got the new nature of God and here you learn from the lesson in this chapter they don't work together you have it in Galatians chapter five mentioned where the spirit warth against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit they don't agree And beloved, how we need to realize the necessity of even judging ourselves and examining ourselves to make sure there's no sin between our heart and God in our lives.
And then he goes on to say, though he delights in the law of God after the inward man, he says, I see another law in mine. Now get the word mine. in my members warring against the law of my mind. When I want to do good, Paul is saying evil is with me. And there's a battle between the two natures. I think CI scope will very nicely cover them. In his comments of this chapter, I think he speaks very frankly of the War of the law, two nations against each other.
And there is one thing is so difficult for us to learn. Let me quote first Paul's words again in Philippians four thirteen. I can do all things but through Christ who empowers or strengthens me. The one to whom I married And then when he considers the battle between the ego, when he has this battle, it doesn't make him feel good. Notice consummation of it, and the conclusion of it in verse twenty-four. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
My beloved, let me say very frankly, and how we need to realize it more. that we cannot serve the Lord and please Him by the exercising of our own personal will. The ability comes only from the Lord Jesus. I think of the words as you have them in Zechariah chapter four, verse six. Not by might nor by power, meaning might and human power, but by my Spirit set the law. Now let me just briefly and quickly say, when you get into chapter eight, you don't read about I, me and myself.
And you read in chapter eight in the very opening of it, there's a new law that should control the believer. It's the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Not the Old Testament law. Well, let me quote the words of John chapter one, fourteen. When John wrote, the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, full of grace and truth. And we beheld his glory, the glory is of the only begotten of the Father.
And the same chapter, just below that verse fourteen. The apostle wrote, The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. It's the old principle that chapter six of Romans said, verse fourteen, We are not on the law. We are on the grain. But when a believer puts himself or herself to try and keep the law in their own strength and their energy, it doesn't work. There's a conflict between the two natures, the divine nature and the human nature.
And Paul comes to the conclusion, he says, it makes me a wretched man. Oh, wretched. And that reminds me of an incident I read, very humorous. And it happened many years ago in the country of Scotland, north of Scotland, in the Hebrides Islands up there. Two servants of God were having gospel services in a tent, preaching the gospel in this little country town, way in the north of Scotland. And they didn't have any newspaper, but they had what they called back in those early days. This is way back, I would say, about seven years ago.
They had a man that was called a bell ringer. He went around the town on certain occasions of the day announcing the news. Well, these two evangelists, they got him to announce their services every day. And they gave him a text that he could tell the people, invite them to the gospel service in the tent, and the preacher is going to preach from, and he named the scripture, and quoted it. Well, one day they gave him the paper to announce their message, and he began to announce it. Tonight the preacher is going to preach from, and he's quoted this book of Romans chapter seven in verse twenty-four, old wretched man, and he stopped, old wretched man that he is.
He wasn't going to say old wretched man that I am. You get the thought. But here's the Apostle telling how wretched he felt trying to live a Christian life by the Lord. And may I say this, if you read Philippians chapter three and the opening of that chapter, there was no man that was more zealous for the Lord than the Apostle Paul before to happen even when he was first saved. And so for a believer, we're not under law. But we were on the grips. But then, at the end of the chapter, he found deliverance.
And that deliverance follows in its details in chapter eight. But here's where he found it. I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. He's going to take the wretchedness away. And it sure does. When it's not I, but Christ living in me. Let me quote the words of Paul in Galatians chapter twenty. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I but Christ liveth in me.
And the life and I live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loves me. That's how God is delivered. And oh beloved How many believers today outside our testimony, many of many places are trying to keep the law as a rule of life. They're married to another. Now, no, let me finish this verse. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God. That's the one I want to serve with my mind. But with my flesh, I'm only a sort of sin.
And so the deliverance came. As you go into chapter eight, you'd never find the apostle Paul in chapter eight talking about himself. I, me, myself. It's the spirit of God and the power of the spirit of God and spirit of a new life. And of course in chapter eight, the life of the Spirit of God in the believer is manifested with all the blessing that is included in it. But here in chapter seven, you've got a very difficult chapter, especially for believers, but thank God the whole matter is proving I'm not under law, but I'm under grace.
Shall we pray? Our dearly beloved Father, Oh, we thank thee for thy word. The entrance of thy word giveth light. It giveth understanding to the simple. And we thank thee, Lord, even in our New Testament. What a great change under grace. We are dead to the Lord. Oh, blessed Lord, the Ten Commandments are not a rule of life for us to follow.
But Lord Jesus, look, if we listen to thee, we'll keep them. If we obey thee, we know we can keep the very commandments of the law of state. But it's got to be in thy power. And we say with thy dear servant, Jude, we rejoice that thou art able to keep us from falling. And we pray tonight, Lord, please don't let any of us have a good opinion of ourselves in the flesh.
God forbid. Well, did Paul say, God forbid that I should glory say in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom I am crucified unto the world and the world unto me. Blessed Lord we pray, control us. Lord Jesus, isn't it precious? We're married to thee. You're the new husband. And if we know our Bible that says, Husbands, love your wives. Wives, be submissive to your husbands.
And may we with thine law be submissive to our beloved husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, for his name's sake. Amen.