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Introduction:
“I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin” (Romans
7:14). However, I desperately desire to conquer sin. What
is someone like me to do? Sadly, the gospel message of victory
over sin and Satan has often been distorted whether purposely or
inadvertently. Two mistaken concepts have vehemently warred
against each other and God’s straight and narrow way has too
often gotten lost in the commotion. Discussion: I.
The Failure of the Pharisees. A.
In Romans
7:14-23, Paul revealed his approach to dealing with sin
before coming to Christ. Considering Philippians
3:4-6, Paul’s approach represents the best of the Pharisees. He knew
God’s law, agreed with God’s law and was committed to God’s
law. But he kept on sinning. B.
We could, no doubt, spend an entire lesson on the fallacies
of Pharisaism. The Pharisees began with great intentions around
the time of the Maccabean revolt as an attempt to combat the
worldliness, materialism and Hellenism of culturally compromising
Jews. However, over time, their initial desire was marred by a
mistaken foundation. Notice the common thread in Romans
7:14-23. 31 times in 10 verses Paul says,
“I…me...my…” The heart of the Pharisees’ approach, even
from the best among them, was a trust in self. The parable of the
Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke
18:9ff was told to the Pharisees who “trusted in
themselves that they were righteous.” I will overcome. I am
strong enough. I am committed and I will be obedient. I will win
the victory over this sin. This ruggedly individualistic American
Christianity is destined for failure. C.
Do we see this attempt at overcoming sin today? I fear we
do. When we say we expect heaven because of what we have done, we
are making this same mistake. When we teach that our biggest
defense against temptation, sin and Satan is our determination to
obey God, we are making this mistake. When our biggest piece of
advice to people is just buck up and do what they are told, we are
making this mistake. When our concept of helping people be holy
means drawing lines, dotting i’s and crossing t’s for their
every decision, we are making this mistake. D.
With this mindset, our approach to sinners has been,
“Quit your sinning.” No doubt, some hypocrites need to hear
that message. However, a whole lot of people are just like Paul,
just like me and just like you. You don’t have to tell them to
quit sinning; they have already told themselves that a hundred
times. They have committed themselves to quit repeatedly, but
repeatedly they found the law of sin and death governing their
members. These ended up doing one of two things. They either gave
up because they figured they must not have what it takes to be a
Christian or they made the second mistake about dealing with sins;
they sold out with the Gnostics. II.
The Sellout of the Gnostics. A.
In I
Timothy 6:20-21, Paul opposed Gnosticism saying, “O
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly
and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely
called ‘knowledge’—which some have professed and thus gone
astray from the faith.” Gnosticism taught the flesh was utterly
evil. When redeemed by Christ, only our spirit is redeemed. The
Christian will continue to sin because flesh is evil. Don’t
worry; Jesus died to redeem us from our sinful flesh if we know
His will. Some Gnostics even said the more our flesh sins the
better because God’s grace increases as our sins increase. No
doubt, Gnostics would happily twist Paul’s statements in Romans
7. To do so, however, they had to ignore Romans
6. B.
Romans
6:1-2
shuts down this approach to dealing with our bondage to sin. When
we enter Christ, we die to sin. We are not to live any longer in
it. Read all of Romans
6. Jesus did not die to forgive our sins but leave us in
bondage to them. Rather, He died so we might die to sin. He was
raised so we might be raised to walk in newness of life. We were
slaves to sin, we are now slaves to righteousness. Grace does not
let us continue sin but redeems us from it. C.
Paul wrote of this again in Ephesians
4:17-24. Now that we are in Christ, we are to be renewed
in the spirit of our mind and put on the new self. Even Ephesians
2:8-10, one of the most well-known passages teaching
salvation by grace, points out when we become Christians we are
created to walk in God’s good works. God has not bestowed His
grace to let us continue in sin but to help us walk in His good
works, delivered from our bondage to sin. D.
Do we see this attempt at overcoming sin still today?
Absolutely. Whenever we justify our sins by saying we are only
human, we are taking this approach. Whenever we allow ourselves to
continue sinning because, “Well, that’s why Jesus died,
isn’t it?” we are taking this approach. When we start to
believe once saved, always saved, we are taking this approach.
Whenever we overlook our sins because God overlooks them through
His grace, we are taking this approach. E.
With this mindset, serving and glorifying God is not about
becoming more like Him. Rather, we become satisfied to be just a
little better than the world or even just like the world but think
we are glorifying God because His grace will be bestowed. With
this mindset, worshipping God ceases to be about worshipping God,
but about having an experience that makes us feel good even though
we know we are still sinning. Jesus didn’t die for us to remain
in sin. III.
Overwhelmingly Conquer through Christ. A.
Romans
7:14-23
demonstrates we cannot overcome sin. We cannot white knuckle it.
We cannot commit enough to overcome. That is doomed to failure.
Let’s face it, if Paul could not pull that off, we won’t
either. Romans
6:1-23, however, demonstrates God will not just let us
stay in our sins. It also teaches we are responsible. God will not
simply flip all the switches in our heart to immediately quit
everything into which we have been sold into bondage. Where is the
victory? B.
Romans
8:37
provides the answer. “But in all these things we overwhelmingly
conquer through Him who loved us.” No matter what Satan hurls at
us, we will overcome through Jesus Christ. Jesus will not present
us to the Father as holy and blameless, if we are complacent in
our sins. However, neither has he left us to battle sin on our
own. We have noticed Paul’s victory before in Philippians
4:13. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens
me.” C.
Paul had said earlier in Philippians
2:12-13, “So then , my beloved…work out your salvation
with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both
to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Too often we argue
the two halves of this statement against each other. Instead,
let’s take them together. We must work. We must work in fear and
trembling, lest being complacent we fall from the living God (Hebrews
3:12-13). However, we can keep up this work in confidence
and boldness because we are not working alone. God is working
within us to will and to work for His good pleasure. We are too
weak to win, but God is not (Ephesians
3:20). D.
No doubt, the next two questions are, “Exactly what are
we to do?” and “How is God working exactly?” I don’t know.
I would like to present a sermon that contains all the answers to
these questions, but I simply don’t know them. Maybe in several
years I can present that sermon, but right now I can’t. However,
while we are studying, remember that as we step onto the
battlefield against Satan and his minions each day (see Ephesians
6:12), we are like David stepping on to the battlefield
against Goliath. In I
Samuel 17, did David know exactly what he was supposed to
do all the way along? Did he know exactly what God was going to
do? When it was done, did he know exactly what God had done? David
knew this, “The Lord…will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine…You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin,
but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts…This day the
Lord will deliver you up into my hands …” (I
Samuel 17:37, 45-46). Satan has defied God and God’s
people. If we will step out onto the battlefield, our slings in
hand, God will deliver us from the hand of Satan and will deliver
him into our hands. We will win because that is how powerful our
God is. Conclusion: I’m sorry I cannot answer all our questions. You will have to do what I am doing, delve into God’s word. I do know this. I know where the process of deliverance begins. Mark 16:16 says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Acts 2:38 says, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In Romans 6:3-4, as Paul began talking about all we have studied today, he wrote, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” I don’t know everything you are going to have to do for the rest of your life. But I do know where it begins. Do you realize you are a sinner in need of a Savior? Then step on to the battlefield today by submitting to Jesus in baptism for the remission of your sins. Be baptized into Christ’s death so you may walk in the newness of life.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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