WEBVTT 00:00:01.920 --> 00:00:04.759 Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.400 us in this verse -by -verse study through the 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:11.240 Word of God. In this lesson, we will be looking 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:18.839 at Romans 7 1 -8 4. In the previous chapter, 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:23.219 Romans 6 14, Paul let us know that we no longer 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.559 live under the requirements of the law, because 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.640 we now live under the freedom of God's grace. 00:00:30.410 --> 00:00:33.750 Beginning with chapter 7, he continues to give 00:00:33.750 --> 00:00:37.270 more detail and discusses this concept more completely, 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:42.049 how we no longer live under the law. So, in verse 00:00:42.049 --> 00:00:57.649 1, You see here, law has dominion over people. 00:00:58.409 --> 00:01:01.350 And Paul is not only talking about Mosaic law, 00:01:01.570 --> 00:01:04.870 the original language suggests he is talking 00:01:04.870 --> 00:01:08.629 about law in general. The Mosaic law and the 00:01:08.629 --> 00:01:12.829 natural laws of creation, human laws, and even 00:01:12.829 --> 00:01:17.609 the law of conscious. Verse 2. For example, when 00:01:17.609 --> 00:01:20.730 a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband 00:01:20.730 --> 00:01:24.829 as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws 00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:28.560 of marriage no longer apply to her. So while 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:31.420 her husband is alive, she would be committing 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:34.920 adultery if she married another man. But if her 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:38.379 husband dies, she is free from that law and does 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:42.519 not commit adultery when she remarries. Here 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.340 Paul gives us an example and an illustration 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:49.359 to demonstrate his point. Law has dominion over 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:58.400 people as long as they are alive. are no longer 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:04.140 binding to that person. Verse 4, So, my dear 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:07.739 brothers and sisters, this is the point. You 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:10.919 died to the power of the law when you died with 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:15.280 Christ, and now you are united with the one who 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:19.439 was raised from the dead. As a result, we can 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:24.979 produce a harvest of good deeds for God. In Romans 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:29.800 6, 3 -8, Paul carefully explained that we died 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:34.099 with Jesus and we rose with him. Paul spoke of 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:37.780 our death to sin, but here now he's explaining 00:02:37.780 --> 00:02:42.520 that we also died to the law. Some people think, 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.360 yes, we are saved by grace, but we must live 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:50.240 by the law in order to please God. But here Paul 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.740 makes it plain that believers are dead to the 00:02:52.740 --> 00:02:56.159 law, for we no longer live by a list of rules. 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:59.759 and our actions do not make us right with God. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.800 We are not free from the law so we can live selfish 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:09.120 and carnal lives. We are free so we can be united 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:13.879 with Jesus and bear spiritual fruit. Picking 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:26.719 up in verse 5, that produced a harvest of sinful 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:31.379 deeds resulting in death. So, when we try to 00:03:31.379 --> 00:03:33.979 live under the law, we cannot bear spiritual 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:38.580 fruit. And instead, we reap sin that leads to 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:42.759 death. Because the law arouses the passions of 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.500 sin that are within us. So, living under the 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:50.819 law keeps us constantly focused on ourself. We're 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:54.509 self -focused. And we can only bear spiritual 00:03:54.509 --> 00:03:57.889 fruit when we live under grace, and that's when 00:03:57.889 --> 00:04:03.050 we are free from the law. Verse 6, But now we 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:06.250 have been released from the law, for we died 00:04:06.250 --> 00:04:09.289 to it and are no longer captive to its power. 00:04:10.409 --> 00:04:15.069 Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying 00:04:15.069 --> 00:04:18.410 the letter of the law, but in the new way of 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:22.129 living in the Spirit. So we see here that because 00:04:22.129 --> 00:04:25.810 we died with Jesus at Calvary, we are dead to 00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:28.750 the law and delivered from its dominion over 00:04:28.750 --> 00:04:32.389 us as a principle of justification and sanctification. 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:37.329 So let me explain. The law does not justify us, 00:04:37.509 --> 00:04:40.490 meaning that it does not make us right with God. 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:44.889 The law also does not sanctify us, meaning that 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:48.620 it does not take us deeper with God. or make 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:53.480 us more holy before Him. Our freedom is not given 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:56.959 so we can stop serving God, but so that we can 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:00.279 serve Him better under the newness of the Spirit 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:04.980 and not under the letter of the law. It is a 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:08.240 shame that many serve sin or legalism with more 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.939 devotion than those who serve God in newness 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:15.079 of the Spirit. And it's really unfortunate when 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:20.300 people choose the motivation of fear Verse 7. 00:05:25.459 --> 00:05:44.060 When Paul insists that we die to the law, It 00:05:44.060 --> 00:05:46.060 could cause some people to think that something 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:49.300 was wrong with the law. There's nothing wrong 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:52.819 with the law. Think of the law as an x -ray machine. 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:57.800 It reveals what is there, but is hidden. You 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:00.740 can't blame an x -ray for what it exposes on 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:05.819 the inside. The law sets the speed limit, so 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:09.449 we know exactly when we are going too fast. We 00:06:09.449 --> 00:06:12.110 would never know that we are sinning in many 00:06:12.110 --> 00:06:15.449 areas such as covetousness if the law did not 00:06:15.449 --> 00:06:21.230 show us specifically. Verse 8. But sin used this 00:06:21.230 --> 00:06:24.430 command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:29.610 within me. If there were no law, sin would not 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:34.189 have that power. Paul describes that the warning, 00:06:34.449 --> 00:06:38.779 don't do that, may become a call to action. because 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:42.399 of our sinful, rebellious hearts. It isn't the 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.500 fault of the commandment, but it is our fault. 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:49.180 All we have to do is tell a child not to do something 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:55.899 for them to want to do it. Verse 9. At one time, 00:06:55.899 --> 00:07:00.019 I lived without understanding the law. But when 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:03.199 I learned the command not to covet, for instance, 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:09.509 the power of sin came to life and I died. Once 00:07:09.509 --> 00:07:13.250 God draws a boundary for us, we are immediately 00:07:13.250 --> 00:07:17.569 enticed to cross that boundary, which is no fault 00:07:17.569 --> 00:07:22.129 of God or His boundary, but the fault of our 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:25.910 sinful hearts. Here's an illustration for you 00:07:25.910 --> 00:07:28.209 to consider. There was a waterfront hotel in 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:31.149 Florida, and they were concerned that people 00:07:31.149 --> 00:07:34.310 might try to fish from the balconies of the hotel. 00:07:34.730 --> 00:07:38.839 So they put up signs saying, No fishing from 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.300 the balcony. After that, they had constant problems 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:46.339 with people fishing from the balconies, with 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:49.139 lines and sinker weights breaking windows and 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:53.240 bothering people in rooms below. They finally 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:56.259 solved the problem by simply taking down the 00:07:56.259 --> 00:07:59.959 signs. And then no one thought to fish from the 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:04.600 balconies anymore. Sin can take something good 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:09.529 and holy like the law. and twist it to promote 00:08:09.529 --> 00:08:16.329 evil. Sin distorts love into lust. An honest 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:19.870 desire to provide for one's family turns into 00:08:19.870 --> 00:08:25.870 greed, and the law turns into a promoter of sin. 00:08:27.329 --> 00:08:30.569 Children are innocent before they know or understand 00:08:30.569 --> 00:08:35.049 what the law requires. Without ever knowing the 00:08:35.049 --> 00:08:38.309 law, People can sit secure in their house of 00:08:38.309 --> 00:08:42.009 ignorance like a person living on a volcano thinking 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:47.370 all is well. Ignorance may be bliss, but ignorance 00:08:47.370 --> 00:08:51.129 of the law is not an excuse or an acceptable 00:08:51.129 --> 00:08:57.929 defense. Verse 10. So I discovered that the law's 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:01.909 commands which were supposed to bring life brought 00:09:01.909 --> 00:09:06.559 spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:11.039 those commands and deceived me. It used the commands 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:17.419 to kill me. Sin, when followed, leads to death, 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:19.539 the Bible tells us. It doesn't lead to life, 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:22.740 it leads to death. And one of Satan's greatest 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:27.000 deceptions is to get us to think that sin is 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:31.539 something good, that an unpleasant God wants 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:36.370 to deprive us of. just like in the garden. When 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:40.210 God warns us away from sin, he is actually warning 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:43.429 us to stay away from something that will kill 00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:49.110 us. Verse 12. But still, the law itself is holy, 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:53.450 and its commands are holy and right and good. 00:09:54.929 --> 00:09:58.190 You see, Paul understands how someone might take 00:09:58.190 --> 00:10:02.250 him as saying that he is against the law. But, 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:06.220 He isn't at all. It's true that we must die to 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:10.440 sin, as it says in Romans 6 -2, and we must die 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:14.559 to the law, as it said in Romans 7 -4, but that 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.039 should not be taken to mean that Paul believes 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:21.279 that sin and law are in the same basket. The 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.840 problem is in us, not in the law. Nevertheless, 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:30.019 sin corrupts the effect of the law, so we must 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:35.620 die to both. Verse 13. But how can we do that? 00:10:35.940 --> 00:10:40.200 Did the law which is good cause my death? Of 00:10:40.200 --> 00:10:44.779 course not. Sin used what was good to bring about 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:48.919 my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:53.100 sin really is. It uses God's good commands for 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:56.700 its own evil purposes. So Paul is saying here 00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:01.149 that the law exposes and magnifies sin. And this 00:11:01.149 --> 00:11:04.889 magnification dramatically reveals our deep sinfulness. 00:11:05.590 --> 00:11:09.710 Instead of giving us power to overcome, the law 00:11:09.710 --> 00:11:22.990 actually draws out sin and corruption. He's saying 00:11:22.990 --> 00:11:26.299 here that the Ten Commandments are good. If everyone 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:28.879 followed them, there would be no evil. It would 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.120 be like the Garden of Eden before the fall. So 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:36.759 God's rules are actually for our good. Some people 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:39.059 think God is just trying to be a killjoy, but 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:42.860 that's not what Paul is saying here. Verse 14, 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:48.500 the trouble is with me, for I am all too human, 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:53.299 a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself. 00:11:54.250 --> 00:11:57.549 For I want to do what is right, but I don't do 00:11:57.549 --> 00:12:02.710 it. Instead, I do what I hate. So Paul is saying 00:12:02.710 --> 00:12:06.590 that the law, though it is spiritual, has no 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:10.549 answer for the carnal nature. A person in bondage 00:12:10.549 --> 00:12:14.549 to sin and living under the law is like a man 00:12:14.549 --> 00:12:18.230 arrested for a crime and thrown in jail. The 00:12:18.230 --> 00:12:22.440 law will only help him if he's innocent. But 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:26.720 if he is guilty, the law argues against him, 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:32.000 not for him. Verse 16. But if I know that what 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.779 I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:39.860 that the law is good. So I'm not the one doing 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:45.559 wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. And 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:49.360 I know that nothing good lives in me that is 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.080 in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:57.899 but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:01.759 don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:06.159 I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.580 to do, I am not really the one doing wrong. It 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:14.340 is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:18.080 this principle of life, that when I want to do 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:22.159 what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:26.399 I love God's law with all my heart, but there's 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.820 another power within me that is at war with my 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:34.399 mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:40.059 that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable 00:13:40.059 --> 00:13:45.120 person I am. Who will free me from this life 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:51.379 that is dominated by sin and... death in these 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:54.840 verses paul is giving a picture of someone who 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:58.940 is completely worn out and miserable a person 00:13:58.940 --> 00:14:03.879 overwhelmed with shame and condemnation they 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.100 just can't keep the list of rules found in the 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:12.500 law in the pit of our unsuccessful struggle against 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:18.259 sin we become entirely self -focused and self 00:14:18.259 --> 00:14:23.799 -obsessed. This is living under the law. A person 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:27.279 who looks to self and personal performance rather 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:35.320 than looking to Jesus. Verse 25. Thank God. The 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:39.600 answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:42.200 how it is? In my mind, I really want to obey 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:45.340 God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:50.159 am a slave to sin. Here Paul tells us the answer 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:55.919 is in Jesus. He's the one who has freed us from 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.179 a life dominated by sin and death. In him, we 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:03.059 have learned already in Romans, we are dead to 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:07.539 sin. Sin is no longer our master. And we've learned 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:11.980 that in him, in Christ, we live under grace instead 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:16.970 of law. See, Jesus didn't come and die just to 00:15:16.970 --> 00:15:22.149 give us more or better rules, but to live out 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:27.470 his victory in us. The message of the gospel 00:15:27.470 --> 00:15:31.450 is that there is victory over sin, hate, death, 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:36.389 and all evil as we surrender our lives to Jesus. 00:15:37.049 --> 00:15:39.470 See, you might have thought that the problem 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:42.960 was not being motivated. But the law came in 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:46.659 like a coach to encourage you on, to do what 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:51.179 you need to do, and you still didn't do it. You 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:53.899 don't need a coach or a motivational speaker. 00:15:54.620 --> 00:16:00.679 You need a Savior, and His name is Jesus. So 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:06.100 now there is no condemnation for those who belong 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:11.919 to Christ Jesus. The verdict is not less condemnation. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:15.539 That's where many believe they are, thinking 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:20.279 our standing has improved in Jesus. It has not 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:23.960 been improved. It has been completely transformed, 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:30.539 changed to a status of no condemnation. The declaration 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:35.100 of no condemnation comes to those who are in 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:39.139 Christ Jesus. Since God the Father does not condemn 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:43.659 Jesus, he does not condemn those who are in Jesus. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:48.679 See, because we are in Christ, we are not condemned. 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:52.899 We cannot be condemned, and we will never be 00:16:52.899 --> 00:16:57.419 condemned. This brings confidence and peace. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:01.240 That confidence and peace comes to replace the 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:05.609 guilt, shame, and condemnation. that we find 00:17:05.609 --> 00:17:09.970 in the end of Romans chapter 7. Paul now declares 00:17:09.970 --> 00:17:15.710 our standing in Jesus. We are no longer slaves 00:17:15.710 --> 00:17:19.690 to sin, and we are no longer living under the 00:17:19.690 --> 00:17:24.509 law. Verse 2, And because you belong to him, 00:17:24.670 --> 00:17:28.329 the power of the life -giving Spirit has freed 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:31.130 you from the power of sin that leads to death. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.819 We see that Romans 8 .1 tells us we are free 00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:39.440 from the guilt of sin, and verse 2 tells us we 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:43.339 are free from the power of sin. So sin and death 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:49.180 have no lasting power over us. Verse 3. The law 00:17:49.180 --> 00:17:51.920 of Moses was unable to save us because of the 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.779 weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what 00:17:55.779 --> 00:18:00.029 the law could not do. He sent His own Son. in 00:18:00.029 --> 00:18:03.390 a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in 00:18:03.390 --> 00:18:07.190 that body, God declared an end to sin's control 00:18:07.190 --> 00:18:11.230 over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for 00:18:11.230 --> 00:18:16.109 our sins. You see, in order to defeat sin, Jesus 00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:20.250 had to identify with those bound by it. So by 00:18:20.250 --> 00:18:23.829 adding humanity to his deity, this is what we 00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:28.269 refer to as the incarnation where God is becoming 00:18:28.269 --> 00:18:33.700 a man. The law could not defeat sin. It could 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:38.380 only detect sin. Only Jesus could defeat sin, 00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:43.299 which he did that on the cross. Only Jesus could 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:47.599 defeat death, and he did that at his resurrection. 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:52.519 And it's important to personalize this and remember 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:59.319 that he did both for us. Sin was condemned in 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:02.819 the flesh of Jesus as he bore the condemnation 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:07.539 we all deserved. Since we are in Christ, the 00:19:07.539 --> 00:19:10.640 condemnation we deserve was placed on Christ. 00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:17.400 Verse 4. He did this so that the just requirement 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:21.579 of the law would be fully satisfied for us who 00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:25.059 no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:29.700 follow the Spirit. So, because Jesus fulfilled 00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:32.920 the righteous requirement of the law, and because 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:37.200 we are in Christ, we fulfill the law. The righteous 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.339 requirement of the law was not fulfilled by us. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:46.799 It is fulfilled in us. Jesus became our substitute. 00:19:47.539 --> 00:19:52.380 Jesus was treated as a sinner so we can be treated 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:57.450 as righteous. Walking in the Spirit means that 00:19:57.450 --> 00:20:01.589 the course, the direction, the progress of your 00:20:01.589 --> 00:20:06.970 life is directed by the Holy Spirit. We no longer 00:20:06.970 --> 00:20:10.509 live under the law or yield to sin as our master. 00:20:10.910 --> 00:20:15.430 We yield to God, the Holy Spirit, and are led 00:20:15.430 --> 00:20:19.490 by Him. Thank you for joining us for Life Group. 00:20:19.630 --> 00:20:23.049 Allow God's Word to build your faith and transform 00:20:23.049 --> 00:20:23.730 your life.