Romans 7:9-13
9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
2 points about the law -
Romans 7:14-23
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
Change in tense
Speaking of himself as a Christian Now
Paul’s shift from the paste tense to the present in verse 14 has no natural explanation save that he now moves on from talking about his experience with God’s law in his pre-Christian days to talking about his experience as it was at the time of writing.”
-J.I. Packer
Sanctification is a Lifetime of Struggle - No SILVER BULLET
James Montgomery Boice in his Commentary on Romans:
“The mature Christian knows that he is always in Romans 7 apart from the holy spirit. Moreover he knows that dependence on the Holy Spirit is not something that is attained once for all but is the result of a daily struggle and a constantly renewed commitment.
He goes on to say….
What is sanctification? Is it an awareness of how good we are becoming? Or is it a growing sense of how sinful we really are, so we will constantly turn to and depend upon Jesus Christ? If we are mature in Christ, we know it is the latter.”
Isaiah 6:5
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
2 Traps we fall into in this sanctification:
Bootstraps vs Passive Avoidance
Bootstraps Mentality
But this is exactly what the Galatian church has done.
3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by[a] the flesh?
“The essence of the Galatian heresy is the teaching that you begin the Christian life by faith, and then you grow in the Christian life by works, that is, by drawing on powers in yourself to make your contribution to salvation.” –John Piper
Hebrews 12:1-4
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
“be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
-John Owen
We are to never quit in this great battle against sin. We are to fight it with every ounce of energy in our bodies and with our final breath. Only then, when we have finished the race, having kept the course, may we rest from warfare.
-James Montgomery Boice
Romans 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Yahweh- Nissi
Small Group Questions
1. Opening:
• What stood out to you from the sermon?
2. The Law & Sin (7:7-13)
• How does the law expose sin? Why is that good?
• Can you think of examples where sin twists something good?
• How does this passage show our need for Jesus?
3. The Struggle with Sin (7:14-23)
• Paul says, “What I want to do, I do not do.” (v.15) – Can you relate?
• Why is sanctification a lifelong struggle?
• How do we avoid both trying harder by our own power and giving up in the battle against sin?
4. The Victory in Christ (7:24-25)
• Why is recognizing our need for rescue key to spiritual growth?
• What does it mean to rely on Jesus as our banner and victory?
5. Application & Prayer:
• Where do you feel the battle between your old self and new life in Christ?
• How can you grow in daily dependence on the Holy Spirit?
• Pray for strength in the fight against sin and trust in Christ’s victory.