GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR MAN FROM START TO FINISH

Part IV: God's Righteousness Granted In Sanctification, Romans 6:1-8:39

D. Facing Our Sin Nature's Inability To Produce Righteousness

(Romans 7:14-25)

I. Introduction

A. After discussing how the good Law of God exposes the sin nature in man (Romans 7:7-13), Paul addressed a very relevant problem that not only unsaved men, but also true believers experience in life -- their sin natures.

B. Romans 7:14-25 explains how the sin nature is a problem for all mortals, what we need to know for our good:

II. Facing Our Sin Nature's Inability To Produce Righteousness, Romans 7:14-25.

A. In "relating his personal experience" in Romans 7:14-25, "Paul consistently used the present tense whereas he . . . used the imperfect and aorist tenses" in his past discussions about the Law, B. K. C., N. T., p. 467.

B. Thus, "he was describing his present conflict as a Christian with indwelling sin and its continuing efforts to control his daily life. The clause, 'sold under sin' (KJV, v. 14) describes an unregenerate person; but sin also resides in a believer, who is still subject to sin's penalty of physical death. As a result, indwelling sin continues to seek to claim what it considers its property even after one has become a Christian," Ibid.

C. Paul accordingly admitted that, like a child, he did not understand what he did (Romans 7:15a NIV, ESV), for what he wanted to do he did not do, and what he hated is what he did do, Romans 7:15b.

D. In doing what he did not want to do, Paul agreed with the Law that it was good, Romans 7:16. Thus, the problem he faced was his sin nature within him, what he figuratively called his "flesh," Romans 7:17. [I do not believe Paul referred to literal "flesh," for the Gnostic heresy taught matter such as the body is evil, and Paul would not be teaching the body was innately evil or Christ's incarnation would have been impossible!]

E. Indeed, Paul acknowledged that even as a believer, nothing good dwelt in his "flesh," his sin nature, for though he had the desire to good, he lacked the ability to perform it, Romans 7:18 ESV.

F. Repeating his quandary, Paul again noted that he fails to perform the good that he intends to perform while he keeps on performing the evil he does not want to do (Romans 7:19 ESV) because of the sin nature that indwells him, Romans 7:20 ESV.

G. Paul then discussed this problem in terms of two opposing law systems within him, Romans 7:21-23:

1. On the one hand, when he wants to do good, a law within him lies close at hand to thwart his obedience to the good of God's perfect law, Romans 7:21.

2. He acknowledged his delight in God's law in his inner man, but he also noted another, contrasting law in the members of his body that warred against the law in his mind and taking him captive to the law of sin that dwelt in him, his sin nature, Romans 7:22-23.

H. The frustration of this predicament surfaced in Paul's explanation, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24 ESV), or who would deliver him from captivity to his sin nature!

I. Anticipating the deliverance God has provided and which he will explain in Romans 8, Paul broke out with the expression, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25a ESV)

J. Yet, before addressing the solution to his predicament, Paul repeated the fact that he served the law of God with his mind, but with his sin nature the law of sin (Romans 7:25b), EMPHASIZING this point!

Lesson: (1) Essential to a godly life is the need for the believer to realize that humanly, he is utterly, helplessly unable to achieve righteousness because of his sin nature! (2) Thus, every believer in Christ must realize the HOPELESSNESS of even TRYING to live uprightly regardless how dedicated, how devoted and how committed he makes himself apart from the PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL VICTORY that is available in CHRIST his Lord!

Application: (1) Since Revelation 3:17 lists FIVE spiritual PROBLEMS in Christ's prophetic message to believers in TODAY'S era of the Laodicean Church, and the FIRST problem is the same Greek word for "wretched" used in Romans 7:24 of this passage we just studied here, the word "talaiporos," which Greek word appears ONLY in Romans 7:24 and Revelation 3:17 in all of the New Testament (Moulton and Geden, Concordance to the Greek Testament, 1974, p. 932), the LESSON of Romans 7:14-25 is EXTREMELY RELEVANT for US in the MIND of GOD! (2) Accordingly, WE believers in OUR era MUST realize how UTTERLY FUTILE is our BEST HUMAN EFFORT to PLEASE GOD in life and service APART from the spiritual provision provided for us in Romans 8! Thus, BEFORE dealing with that BLESSED SOLUTION in Romans 8, we must LEARN WELL the Romans 7:14-25 lesson of our NEED to see GOD DELIVER us from the CONTROL of our OWN SIN NATURES!