Romans 7:1-6
There was once a woman that was a perfectionist in
everything she did, and so prayed “Lord, please send me the perfect man.”
And the Lord answered her prayer.
One evening a young man knocked on the door, politely asked if
he could speak to the young women, and she first laid eyes on him, she knew
“this is my perfect man!”
He was handsome beyond description! He had a perfectly
sculpted body, he was dressed impeccably, spoke with eloquence, he had money -
I mean everything about him was perfect! Soon enough they were married,
and the woman thought “how blessed I am, I’m married to the perfect man!”
This guy was a machine - each day he awoke at the exact same time, and he
looked perfect, his breath was even minty fresh! He would perform the exact
same routine each morning, eat the same breakfast, leave at at exactly 7:05,
arrived at his perfectly organized office at 8:00 (not a second early or late),
left at exactly 5:00 pm, his office perfectly clean and organized. it was
incredible… and a little unsettling.
He would arrive at home at exactly 6 pm, his wife meeting
him at the door. She had worked hard all day to have the house in perfect
order, having herself perfectly made up, with the perfect meal on the table,
ready to eat. As hard as she tried to be perfect for him, there was
always something off just a bit. “honey, there’s a hair out of place, can you
redo your hair? Honey this tea is three degrees too warm, would you get
me another ice cube? Honey there’s a spot of dust on top of the
refrigerator, would you redo the fridge? Well, after just a few months, she
went from “He’s the perfect man!” to “I utterly loathe him….”
“That’s it” she thought, I’m getting a divorce. She goes
before the judge, and when the judge asks “what are the ground for this
divorce?” she responds “He’s perfect!” “Divorce denied.”
“I know, I’ll poison him! Even if i go to jail, its
better than being married to him,” so she puts some arsenic in his tea.
But to her amazement, he drinks it down with no ill effects. His
perfect kidneys were easily able to filter out the poison! Completely defeated,
Mrs Not-so-Perfect resigns herself to a life of failure with Mr Perfect.
1.
That’s a picture of how it goes with some
Christians… they come into relationship with Christ, they experience the
life-changing grace of God, they’re delivered from the bondage of sin and
death,
a.
But then they think “OK, I’m a Christian now, so
I’m going to need to be really good from now on! I'm going to put some
rules in place to make sure I succeed.
b.
I’m going to get up at 4 am, read my bible for
an hour, then pray for an hour.
c.
I’m never going to watch TV again, I’ll never
tell a lie, I am going to be a GOOD CHRISTIAN for Jesus.
2.
But what happens? After a few weeks, they slip
up and sleep in; they get a call to go into work early, and they can only
pray for 45 minutes, they walk into a room where a TV is on, and they watch ten
minutes of The Walking Dead…
a.
Guilt sets in, “I’ve just got to try harder…”
I’ll set up BETTER rules… more is better, right?
b.
The problem is - you’ll never win, you’ll never
perfectly obey the law
c.
(ummm) That’s why Jesus came and died, because
we CAN’T be good enough to get to heaven!
3.
So what does that mean? Do we just toss the law?
Do we try harder?
a.
Great questions, that's why Paul is going to
address it here in Romans 7!
4.
So far in Roman’s we’ve learned that coming into
relationship with Christ changes everything:
a.
Changes our relationship to God
b.
Changes our relationship to to the world
c.
Changes our relationship to death
d.
Changes our relationship to sin
e.
Today, we’re going to learn how a being in
Christ changes our relationship to the LAW.
(Another question)
7 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?
5.
There is a cultural perspective to this text,
Paul is obviously talking to Jewish Christians “brethren, for I speak to those
who know the law). Why?
a.
Earlier Paul was speaking to the non-Jews who
probably lived a life of idolatry and immorality, teaching that in Christ, they
don't have to live that way anymore.
b.
Now Paul turns his attention to the Jew, who
probably would have lived their lives according to the law.
6.
See, this is the issue that a Jewish person who
accepted Christ would have: “Yes Christ died for me, but in order to be
acceptable to God, I still have to obey the law.”
a.
Not only Jews, but many people would think that
way, "there have to be rules!"
b.
And Paul wants us all to understand that our
relationship to the law was changed the moment we accepted Christ.
c.
And to make the case, he's going give an
illustration that will help us understand the purpose of the law, and our
relationship to it.
7.
But first he makes a stunning statement: “the
law has dominion over a man as long as he lives”
a.
Meaning - every human being that is born comes
under the authority of God’s law. It doesn’t matter if you agree with it, or
understand it, it is our reality.
b.
(In the same way as when you’re born into the
US, you under the authority of the laws of this country.)
c.
Guess what, If you live on this planet, even in
outer space, if you exist in the human realm, you cannot escape the dominion of
God’s law - his territorial boundaries are the entire universe!
8.
We know that mans law tells us when we've
crossed the line, if I go over the speed limit, I've crossed the line, I've
broken the law.
a.
In the same way the purpose of God's law is to
show us when we’ve crossed the line, when we’ve sinned.
b.
Now if you think about it, man’s law doesn't
impact me unless I break it... (Speed limit)
c.
Same with God’s law:
But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the
lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, 1 Tim 1:8-9
9.
The law shows us what’s wrong, but the problem
with the law is that it will not save us. It can’t make us acceptable to
God.
a.
All it does is show us that we AREN’T ACCEPTABLE
to God!
b.
and worse, no matter how hard we might try to
obey it, we'll never get it right!
c.
It’s like we’re married to Mr Perfect, we'll
never measure up!
d.
...but there is a way out...
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.
10. Now
this doesn’t hold as much weight today in our culture of no-fault divorce, but
it SHOULD.
a.
See when a couple enters the marriage
relationship, they're standing before God and man, and making a vow “for better
or worse, till death do us part.”
b.
Which, if I’m not mistaken, means “we’ll stay
together for better or worse, until one of us dies.”
c.
One man said “I know I said for better or worse,
but she’s much worse now than when I took her…”
d.
But in God’s eyes this statement holds great
weight, because in God’s eyes marriage is for life
11. So
in God’s eyes, a man or woman can't just decide “I’m going to marry another
person,” unless their spouse had died.
a.
However if the spouse dies, that person is now
free from the marriage bond, and they’re free to marry another. (now don’t
you get any ideas!)
b.
The point he’s making is this: Before
Christ, you and I were condemned by the law. We were bound to it, we were
“married” to it, and there was nothing we could do to change that fact.
c.
The only way out of that relationship is for
“the husband” (the law) to die… once he's dead, the law no longer has authority
over you.
12. We’re
just like the woman married to Mr perfect, we can try as hard as we can,
working and striving to be perfect, but no matter how hard we work, we’ll
never be perfect enough for Mr Perfect.
a.
And just like Mr Perfect, the law is perfect,
it's not going to die, matter of fact it'll exist forever - God’s word is
eternal!
The Law and the believer vs unbeliever
13. Now
there are two perspectives regarding the law:
a.
One is the person that doesn’t have a
relationship with Christ; for that person the law condemns them…
b.
No matter how good they might obey the law,
it'll never be good enough to earn their way to heaven.
14. The
other is the Christian; Now the law doesn’t condemn the Christian
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1
15. But
the law can still a slavemaster, because no matter how hard you try to obey it,
you’ll never get it perfect!
a.
Some Christians get really twisted up regarding
the law, trying to be better Christians by obeying everything in the bible...
16. Take
the Sabbath for instance, many Christians believe you’re not supposed to do
anything on the Sabbath, because that’s what the bible says…
a.
But Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, what did
Jesus say?
And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not
man for tshe Sabbath. Mark 2:27
17. In
other words, God gave us the Sabbath so that we could rest, relax, take a day
off! He knew we needed it!
a.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t cut the grass,
maybe cutting the grass helps you relax!
18. Some
Christians will install rules and regulations in order to keep themselves
righteous…
a.
That never works either
19. The
early church dealt with this very issue, Romans got saved, started attending
church, and the Jewish Christians were telling them they needed to be
circumcised, and not do anything on the Sabbath...
a.
The Jerusalem council
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the
whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and
Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men
among the brethren. 23
They wrote this letter by them:
The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, to the
brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some who went out
from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must
be circumcised and keep the law” —to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it
seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you
with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who
will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the
Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary
things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from
things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from
these, you will do well. Farewell. Acts 15:23-29
20. Wow,
that’s a pretty short list! There's a lot of churches that would say the
Apostles left a few things out!
a.
Like the youth pastor that showed a missions
movie… the deacons called him on the carpet for it. When the youth pastor
said “well you guys showed a slide show at the last missions report, what’s the
difference? To which the head deacon replied “if it moves, its sinful!”
b.
That's where you end up
21. See,
when a Christian tries to be acceptable to God through the law...
a.
They’ll either become a poser, pretending to be
righteous when they’re really not,
b.
Or they’ll collapse from trying to be perfect,
crash and burn!
What did Paul say?
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the
power of any. 1 Cor 6:12
22. See
all things are lawful, nothing can steal our standing with God, the real
question is “will I become enslaved by this thing?”
a.
If it effects my walk with God, my relationship
with God, or my relationship with others, or my ministry to The Lord, then its not
good.
23. Let
me explain something: Mankind was originally designed to be in
relationship with God.
a.
But sin entered like an alien invasion of the
human race, it corrupted the intended nature of man
b.
That corruption passed down from Adam to every
generation
24. Before
I came to Christ, I might have had moments of desiring my intended nature,
moments when I wanted to be good, times when I wanted to be better, but they
were only glimmers.
a.
I quickly fell back to the reality that I was
powerless to change my state, it was all i knew, it was all I had available to
me...
b.
The only thing that could break me out was
death… and THAT is exactly what Jesus did...
25. Through
His death on the cross, Jesus death delivered me not only from bondage of sin,
but also from the bondage of the law…
a.
Just like sin no longer has the power to control
me, the law no longer has the power to condemn me.
b.
Paul likens it to a marriage, where Mrs
Not-so-Perfect (us) doesn't die, Mr Perfect (the law) doesn't die,
c.
Jesus death, and our death with Him, released us
from that marriage.
d.
Now we are in a new relationship with Christ…
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.
26. Back
to our example, Mrs Not-so-Perfect had only one option to be free, she could
die…
a.
But rather than her dying, Mr Love came along,
and gave His life FOR her, He died for her, releasing her from the bondage of
Mr Perfect,
b.
Now she is married to Mr Love
c.
No longer does she have to be perfect, she is
loved and accepted JUST AS SHE IS
d.
And guess what, because of her love for Mr Love,
her new desire is to walk worthy of His love!
27. The
motivation is no longer performance; it’s now GRACE and LOVE!
An interesting thing happened several years into our
marriage, Tammy and I began to believe that we loved one another NO MATTER
WHAT. She began to realize that I loved
her just as she was, even if she never changed, and I would be stay with her
for the rest of our lives. I began to realize that she loved me the same way.
It changed our relationship! As we began
to grow closer to one another, we began to sin LESS against each other. It was a beautiful thing.
In the same way, as we realize how much God loves us, we
will grow closer, and we will sin less.
Not because we are constrained by the rules, but because of the
relationship!
The Newness of the Spirit
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.
28. The
law didn't die, just like Mr Perfect, the law is alive and well... Doing its
job being perfect, showing the ungodly that they’ve crossed the line...
a.
The one that died was “me” – but it wasn't
really “me,” he just seemed like me because that’s all I knew.
b.
I didn’t know any different, I had no other
nature to guide me
29. But
now, “in Christ,” I have a new nature to guide me, the nature of Christ
a.
Hence the meaning “the newness of life” that
becomes our reality when we accept Christ.
b.
I'm now heading back towards my intended design,
holiness and righteousness
c.
We are literally born into a new life, and a new
nature, guided by the Spirit of Christ that lives in us – IN CHRIST.
Copyright © 2014 Clay Ritter.
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