Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join
us in this verse -by -verse study through the
Word of God. In this lesson, we will be looking
at Romans 7 1 -8 4. In the previous chapter,
Romans 6 14, Paul let us know that we no longer
live under the requirements of the law, because
we now live under the freedom of God's grace.
Beginning with chapter 7, he continues to give
more detail and discusses this concept more completely,
how we no longer live under the law. So, in verse
1, You see here, law has dominion over people.
And Paul is not only talking about Mosaic law,
the original language suggests he is talking
about law in general. The Mosaic law and the
natural laws of creation, human laws, and even
the law of conscious. Verse 2. For example, when
a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband
as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws
of marriage no longer apply to her. So while
her husband is alive, she would be committing
adultery if she married another man. But if her
husband dies, she is free from that law and does
not commit adultery when she remarries. Here
Paul gives us an example and an illustration
to demonstrate his point. Law has dominion over
people as long as they are alive. are no longer
binding to that person. Verse 4, So, my dear
brothers and sisters, this is the point. You
died to the power of the law when you died with
Christ, and now you are united with the one who
was raised from the dead. As a result, we can
produce a harvest of good deeds for God. In Romans
6, 3 -8, Paul carefully explained that we died
with Jesus and we rose with him. Paul spoke of
our death to sin, but here now he's explaining
that we also died to the law. Some people think,
yes, we are saved by grace, but we must live
by the law in order to please God. But here Paul
makes it plain that believers are dead to the
law, for we no longer live by a list of rules.
and our actions do not make us right with God.
We are not free from the law so we can live selfish
and carnal lives. We are free so we can be united
with Jesus and bear spiritual fruit. Picking
up in verse 5, that produced a harvest of sinful
deeds resulting in death. So, when we try to
live under the law, we cannot bear spiritual
fruit. And instead, we reap sin that leads to
death. Because the law arouses the passions of
sin that are within us. So, living under the
law keeps us constantly focused on ourself. We're
self -focused. And we can only bear spiritual
fruit when we live under grace, and that's when
we are free from the law. Verse 6, But now we
have been released from the law, for we died
to it and are no longer captive to its power.
Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying
the letter of the law, but in the new way of
living in the Spirit. So we see here that because
we died with Jesus at Calvary, we are dead to
the law and delivered from its dominion over
us as a principle of justification and sanctification.
So let me explain. The law does not justify us,
meaning that it does not make us right with God.
The law also does not sanctify us, meaning that
it does not take us deeper with God. or make
us more holy before Him. Our freedom is not given
so we can stop serving God, but so that we can
serve Him better under the newness of the Spirit
and not under the letter of the law. It is a
shame that many serve sin or legalism with more
devotion than those who serve God in newness
of the Spirit. And it's really unfortunate when
people choose the motivation of fear Verse 7.
When Paul insists that we die to the law, It
could cause some people to think that something
was wrong with the law. There's nothing wrong
with the law. Think of the law as an x -ray machine.
It reveals what is there, but is hidden. You
can't blame an x -ray for what it exposes on
the inside. The law sets the speed limit, so
we know exactly when we are going too fast. We
would never know that we are sinning in many
areas such as covetousness if the law did not
show us specifically. Verse 8. But sin used this
command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires
within me. If there were no law, sin would not
have that power. Paul describes that the warning,
don't do that, may become a call to action. because
of our sinful, rebellious hearts. It isn't the
fault of the commandment, but it is our fault.
All we have to do is tell a child not to do something
for them to want to do it. Verse 9. At one time,
I lived without understanding the law. But when
I learned the command not to covet, for instance,
the power of sin came to life and I died. Once
God draws a boundary for us, we are immediately
enticed to cross that boundary, which is no fault
of God or His boundary, but the fault of our
sinful hearts. Here's an illustration for you
to consider. There was a waterfront hotel in
Florida, and they were concerned that people
might try to fish from the balconies of the hotel.
So they put up signs saying, No fishing from
the balcony. After that, they had constant problems
with people fishing from the balconies, with
lines and sinker weights breaking windows and
bothering people in rooms below. They finally
solved the problem by simply taking down the
signs. And then no one thought to fish from the
balconies anymore. Sin can take something good
and holy like the law. and twist it to promote
evil. Sin distorts love into lust. An honest
desire to provide for one's family turns into
greed, and the law turns into a promoter of sin.
Children are innocent before they know or understand
what the law requires. Without ever knowing the
law, People can sit secure in their house of
ignorance like a person living on a volcano thinking
all is well. Ignorance may be bliss, but ignorance
of the law is not an excuse or an acceptable
defense. Verse 10. So I discovered that the law's
commands which were supposed to bring life brought
spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of
those commands and deceived me. It used the commands
to kill me. Sin, when followed, leads to death,
the Bible tells us. It doesn't lead to life,
it leads to death. And one of Satan's greatest
deceptions is to get us to think that sin is
something good, that an unpleasant God wants
to deprive us of. just like in the garden. When
God warns us away from sin, he is actually warning
us to stay away from something that will kill
us. Verse 12. But still, the law itself is holy,
and its commands are holy and right and good.
You see, Paul understands how someone might take
him as saying that he is against the law. But,
He isn't at all. It's true that we must die to
sin, as it says in Romans 6 -2, and we must die
to the law, as it said in Romans 7 -4, but that
should not be taken to mean that Paul believes
that sin and law are in the same basket. The
problem is in us, not in the law. Nevertheless,
sin corrupts the effect of the law, so we must
die to both. Verse 13. But how can we do that?
Did the law which is good cause my death? Of
course not. Sin used what was good to bring about
my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible
sin really is. It uses God's good commands for
its own evil purposes. So Paul is saying here
that the law exposes and magnifies sin. And this
magnification dramatically reveals our deep sinfulness.
Instead of giving us power to overcome, the law
actually draws out sin and corruption. He's saying
here that the Ten Commandments are good. If everyone
followed them, there would be no evil. It would
be like the Garden of Eden before the fall. So
God's rules are actually for our good. Some people
think God is just trying to be a killjoy, but
that's not what Paul is saying here. Verse 14,
the trouble is with me, for I am all too human,
a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself.
For I want to do what is right, but I don't do
it. Instead, I do what I hate. So Paul is saying
that the law, though it is spiritual, has no
answer for the carnal nature. A person in bondage
to sin and living under the law is like a man
arrested for a crime and thrown in jail. The
law will only help him if he's innocent. But
if he is guilty, the law argues against him,
not for him. Verse 16. But if I know that what
I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree
that the law is good. So I'm not the one doing
wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. And
I know that nothing good lives in me that is
in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right,
but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I
don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but
I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want
to do, I am not really the one doing wrong. It
is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered
this principle of life, that when I want to do
what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
I love God's law with all my heart, but there's
another power within me that is at war with my
mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin
that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable
person I am. Who will free me from this life
that is dominated by sin and... death in these
verses paul is giving a picture of someone who
is completely worn out and miserable a person
overwhelmed with shame and condemnation they
just can't keep the list of rules found in the
law in the pit of our unsuccessful struggle against
sin we become entirely self -focused and self
-obsessed. This is living under the law. A person
who looks to self and personal performance rather
than looking to Jesus. Verse 25. Thank God. The
answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see
how it is? In my mind, I really want to obey
God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I
am a slave to sin. Here Paul tells us the answer
is in Jesus. He's the one who has freed us from
a life dominated by sin and death. In him, we
have learned already in Romans, we are dead to
sin. Sin is no longer our master. And we've learned
that in him, in Christ, we live under grace instead
of law. See, Jesus didn't come and die just to
give us more or better rules, but to live out
his victory in us. The message of the gospel
is that there is victory over sin, hate, death,
and all evil as we surrender our lives to Jesus.
See, you might have thought that the problem
was not being motivated. But the law came in
like a coach to encourage you on, to do what
you need to do, and you still didn't do it. You
don't need a coach or a motivational speaker.
You need a Savior, and His name is Jesus. So
now there is no condemnation for those who belong
to Christ Jesus. The verdict is not less condemnation.
That's where many believe they are, thinking
our standing has improved in Jesus. It has not
been improved. It has been completely transformed,
changed to a status of no condemnation. The declaration
of no condemnation comes to those who are in
Christ Jesus. Since God the Father does not condemn
Jesus, he does not condemn those who are in Jesus.
See, because we are in Christ, we are not condemned.
We cannot be condemned, and we will never be
condemned. This brings confidence and peace.
That confidence and peace comes to replace the
guilt, shame, and condemnation. that we find
in the end of Romans chapter 7. Paul now declares
our standing in Jesus. We are no longer slaves
to sin, and we are no longer living under the
law. Verse 2, And because you belong to him,
the power of the life -giving Spirit has freed
you from the power of sin that leads to death.
We see that Romans 8 .1 tells us we are free
from the guilt of sin, and verse 2 tells us we
are free from the power of sin. So sin and death
have no lasting power over us. Verse 3. The law
of Moses was unable to save us because of the
weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what
the law could not do. He sent His own Son. in
a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in
that body, God declared an end to sin's control
over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for
our sins. You see, in order to defeat sin, Jesus
had to identify with those bound by it. So by
adding humanity to his deity, this is what we
refer to as the incarnation where God is becoming
a man. The law could not defeat sin. It could
only detect sin. Only Jesus could defeat sin,
which he did that on the cross. Only Jesus could
defeat death, and he did that at his resurrection.
And it's important to personalize this and remember
that he did both for us. Sin was condemned in
the flesh of Jesus as he bore the condemnation
we all deserved. Since we are in Christ, the
condemnation we deserve was placed on Christ.
Verse 4. He did this so that the just requirement
of the law would be fully satisfied for us who
no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead
follow the Spirit. So, because Jesus fulfilled
the righteous requirement of the law, and because
we are in Christ, we fulfill the law. The righteous
requirement of the law was not fulfilled by us.
It is fulfilled in us. Jesus became our substitute.
Jesus was treated as a sinner so we can be treated
as righteous. Walking in the Spirit means that
the course, the direction, the progress of your
life is directed by the Holy Spirit. We no longer
live under the law or yield to sin as our master.
We yield to God, the Holy Spirit, and are led
by Him. Thank you for joining us for Life Group.
Allow God's Word to build your faith and transform
your life.