Message

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THE GROWTH OF FAITH

Romans 7:1-25

Key Verse: 7:25a  “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

  Last week we studied about a new direction for new life since we are justified by faith. We are not slaves to sin any longer because we died to sin with Christ Jesus,  and we are born anew with him through his resurrection.  As those who are alive in Christ, we should offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness even more. Last Thursday with God’s favor we had a Bible school at Wash U. I thank God for our co-workers’ partnership and their struggles to serve the Lord. Ben West delivered a good message despite his sickness and his busy school schedule. Missionary Isaiah Lim and Andrew ran here and there to arrange a room for the meeting. Msn. Monica drove a long distance to bring her Bible student, and Msn. Luke Yang diligently invited students to the meeting. All members participated in one way or another. I really thanked God for those who offered themselves as instruments of righteousness. I believe, according to the Apostle Paul, that the benefit we reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life (6:22) Amen.

  Romans 7:1-6 is an extension of the previous lesson. Through an illustration from marriage Paul explains that we are no longer under the law, but under God’s grace. In 7:7-25 Paul honestly expresses his inner struggles between God’s nature and his sinful nature. Finally he concludes that victory is given to us through Jesus Christ. Let us pray that God may give us wisdom to understand this spiritual lesson today.

First, we are under God’s grace (1-6). Look at verse 1. “Do you not know, brothers-for I am speaking to men who know the law-that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?” Since we died to sin, we are no longer slaves to sin. We are not under the law, but under God’s grace through Jesus Christ. In order to illustrate this Paul shows an example from marriage. Look at verses 2,3. “For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.” A newlywed couple takes a marriage vow during their wedding ceremony. A husband and a wife take a vow under God and before people to commit to each other. They are bound to each other under the marriage vow during their lifetime. However, if one of them dies, the marriage vow loses its authority and power. The marriage vow is valid only when both are alive.

  In the past, the Apostle Paul got married to Mrs. Law. He thought that he would be really happy if he satisfied Mrs. Law. So he worked hard to please Mrs. Law and obeyed whatever she demanded. But Mrs. Law was never satisfied with him and continuously demanded that Paul observe whatever she commanded every time. Soon Paul was exhausted and frustrated because it was impossible for him to satisfy Mrs. Law with his own willpower and effort. He was very sorrowful when he found himself as a slave, not a spouse to Mrs. Law. But, now Paul died to Mrs. Law since he accepted Christ Jesus as his Lord and Savior. No longer does Mrs. Law exercise mastery over Paul, who died to sin. Paul is now freed from Mrs. Law and lives with his new master Jesus Christ, who is full of grace and truth.

  Look at verse 4. “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ Jesus, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.” As a newlywed couple has children as the fruit of their marriage, those who start new life with Christ also bear spiritual fruit. In the past, when Paul was under Mrs. Law, he bore the fruits of death such as hatred, jealousy, bitterness, anger, pride, condemnation, frustration, and so on. But now since he got married to Mrs. Grace, he bears fruits of life such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22,23)  In the same way, we also bear fruits of life through our Lord Jesus Christ since we are his pure bride.  There was a young man who easily gave up before even little trials. But since he accepted Christ Jesus as his master, he never gives up. He bears fruits of faithfulness and patience through Jesus Christ.  In the past one of our young disciples became anxious before her exam. She was tempted to ignore the Sabbath day. But since she accepted Christ Jesus, she is born again. Now she bears the fruits of peace which comes from faith. Let us read verses 5,6.

Second, let us struggle with sin. (7-20). In the previous part, Mrs. Law was considered as a harsh and merciless tyrant. Is, then, the law sin? Is the law evil? Not at all! Look at verse 7. “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” Paul said that the law itself is good and spiritual because it made him conscious of his sin. It is not the law which is bad and unspiritual, but sin which produced in him every kind of covetous desire.(8) It is not the law, but sin which deceived Paul and put him to death.(9) In verse 10 Paul says, “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” In verse 14 he continues, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.”

  People often complain that there are too many highway patrols on highway 55. There is a higher probability of being caught speeding on this highway. However, to those who keep the speed limit and obey other traffic rules, it does not matter how many highway patrols are working. What I want to say is that law is good and sin is bad. Law is beneficial and law breakers are evil. Look at verse 13. “Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” In this verse Paul explains that sin uses the law which is a holy thing for an unholy end, which is death. It leads Paul into a deep dilemma. This is Paul’s agony and our agony, too.

  Look at verses 14,15. “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” We understand what Paul says here because we also often do what we do not want to do and do not do what we want to do. For example, in the past I did not know that sexual immorality was sin. I thought that it was obedience to my physical thirst and demand. However, since I came to know God, I learned that my improper relationship with my girl friend was sin and I was totally sinful. So, I decided to quit my improper relationship with my girl friend and to live a new life in Christ Jesus. However, even though I decided to live a new life with Christ, I was frequently tempted to go back to my sinful life. Sometimes I found myself doing what I did not want to do. I was deeply frustrated and despaired of my sinfulness. Someone might have asked, “What’s wrong with you , Paul?” “You’re washed up and no good.” 

How did the Apostle Paul justify himself? Where did he find answers to his spiritual dilemma? Look at verses 16-20. “And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. 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.” Paul said that it is not Paul himself, but sin itself which makes Paul do what he hates. In fact, the person Paul was already dead after he accepted Christ Jesus. He was crucified with Christ Jesus and Paul himself no longer lives in him. (Gal 2:20). The sin which remains in Paul’s old dead body tempts and works. So if you do what you hate to do, remember that it is not you, but sin in you. You have already died to sin. You are divorced from sin and live a new life with Christ Jesus. Let us read 6:11, 12. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”

Third, victory through Jesus Christ our Lord (21-25). In his letters to the believers, Paul frequently compares the life of faith to a battle - a spiritual battle. In his first letter to Timothy, his spiritual son, he said, “Fight the good fight of the faith.” (1Ti 6:12) In his second letter to him Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2Ti 4:7) In Ephesians 6:10-12 he said, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers…, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Why does Paul compare our life of faith to a battle? It is because in us there are two forces which have constant conflicts. One is the force of light which comes from God’s nature and the other is the force of darkness which comes from our sinful nature. We have no peace in our hearts as long as these two forces are fighting.

  In verses 21-24, Paul expresses his agony of this spiritual battle in himself. “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” In his book “Confession,” St. Augustine confessed that he enjoyed immoral imaginations even during the worship service. What an honest confession! While we are reading and studying the Bible, sinful desire is right there with us. We know that the wages of sin is death, but we frequently become slave to our sinful desires. What’s wrong with us? How can we overcome this sinful desire? Who will rescue us from this body of death?

  How did Paul answer us? Let us read verse 25a. “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  In 1 Corinthians 15:57 Paul gives us a more precise answer, which says, “But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Deliverance comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. His deliverance will be complete when we are liberated from this sinful body and resurrected with a glorious resurrection body. Before the redemption of this body, what we must do is to struggle with our sinful nature continuously until we master our sinful desire. We must fight a good fight until we win the spiritual victory over the power of sin. The game is over, but the battle is still going on. The spiritual game is over when Jesus Christ crushed the head of Satan and conquered the grave. Still, the battle is going on in our body.  This battle will continue until we are clothed with our glorious resurrection body which comes from our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor 15: 54).

  To fight this spiritual battle is not easy. It is definitely costly. However, in this spiritual battle against sin and death, our faith grows. In the middle of fierce spiritual warfare our inner man becomes strong and holy.  Through constant self-denial and obedience to God’s holiness, our inner self become being molded into the image of Christ Jesus. Dr. Water A. Henrichsen said, “Disciples are made, not born.” He meant that in order to grow into the image of Christ, we need constant spiritual training, discipline and struggles. Once I had a chance to watch a slow motion of a plant’s growth through video. When a plant grows, it does not move straight, but in a spiral. Even plants twist and struggle as they grow. How much more must we human beings struggle against our sinful nature in order to grow as holy children of God?  

  Our Lord Jesus Christ showed a good example. Hebrews 5:8,9 says, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became in the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. In order to obey the will of God, Jesus spent all night in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed until his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Lk 22:44). We are challenged in Hebrews 12:4, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Is there anyone who has struggled against sin until he or she sheds blood?  Let us struggle with sin until we shed our blood, at least until our sweat is falling to the ground. Let us struggle against our sinful nature until we master it. Let us render glory to God when Jesus Christ gives us victory in this spiritual battle. Amen.

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