Before getting started here, as it is Mother’s Day, I wanted to say a special word of encouragement and gratitude for all of you mothers out there.  It is really an incredible work that you do, such a special role that God has ordained for mothers and designed you for.  So, blessings to you.  May you have a sense of your high value on this day and every day.  And if you’re gonna be spending time with your mother today, enjoy that.

Well, it is indeed a joy to look into the word of God with you this morning.  We look forward to returning to Genesis soon with Andrew.  Do you find that to be a great blessing?  Yes.  Such a blessing those foundational truths open for us. 

But this morning we’ll be in one of the New Testament Epistles to look into a passage there that is a bit challenging, but one I trust will be helpful for us to spend some time in, helpful for us in our Christian growth.

The title of this message is “Saint and Sinner.”  Please open your Bibles to Romans, chapter 7, and we’ll be looking there at verses 14 to 25, the end of that chapter. 

And while you’re turning to Romans 7, let’s set up the context in the flow of this great letter, written by the apostle Paul to the church at Rome, this his grand exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And to set up that good news, he starts by demonstrating the bad news—the universal sinful condition of man, Jew and Gentile—in chapters, 1, 2, and into chapter 3.  None is righteous.  No, not one.  The whole world accountable to God for sin.

Then starting in chapter 3, verse 21, he explains the glorious good news that God has made a way for lost sinners to be made right with him, through Christ.

In chapter 4, he shows how Abraham himself, the forefather of the Jews, demonstrates that one is counted righteous—or justified—by faith and not by works of the law.

In chapter 5, Paul compares Adam to Christ.  We are born in Adam.  His sin spread to all of us.  In a sense, he represents us.  Jesus, on the other hand, represents a new humanity.  His righteousness credited to all who believe in him.

Then in chapter 6 we find that believers identify with Christ in his death.  There’s a spiritual death that’s occurred.  Our old man has died.  We’re made new, and the power of sin over us has been broken.

Chapter 7 then deals with the law, God’s law, revealed in the Old Testament most clearly through Moses in those first five books.  Now, much of that law we know has been fulfilled in Christ, and we don’t live in the theocracy of Old Testament Israel, but the law also shows us God’s standard of righteous living, how he would have us live.  Violating that, falling short of that, the Bible calls sin.  And the law reveals that.

Now, contrary to what many still think, the law by itself cannot save anyone.  It only reveals sin so as to condemn.  When we come to faith in Christ, we are released from the law, as in, no longer under its condemnation, and we don’t try to earn saving merit before God by our law keeping; Christ has earned that for us.  We now live empowered by the Holy Spirit who grows us more and more into a rightful obedience to God from a changed heart.  So as Christians, our relationship to the law has changed.

Then in verses 7 to 13 of chapter 7, Paul needs to clear something up.  He’s been talking about the law, relating it to sin and death.  Question comes up: is the law a bad thing?  Verse 7—is the law itself sin?  No.  Verse 12: “[T]he law is holy…righteous…and good.”  It reflects the character of God.  That’s a beautiful thing, right?  We see a goodness, beauty, and even glory in God’s law.  The law is not the problem for us.

Now, let’s pick it up at verse 14 of chapter 7.  He writes:

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Probably some of you know that the interpretation of this passage has over the years been somewhat controversial, commentators and scholars going in different directions here and generally lining up on two sides.  Here’s the issue: who is the “I” here?  Is Paul writing about himself presently, as a Christian?  Or is he speaking here as someone prior to conversion, before coming to faith?

Now, some pretty respected scholars have concluded that this cannot be the experience of a Christian.  And they can make a pretty good case.  Others have concluded, no, this is Christian experience, and they can make a good case.  Examining the case for both of those views can help us to start unlocking the meaning here.  So let’s take a look.

First, some of the main reasons some people think this passage must refer to an unbeliever, an unregenerate person, perhaps Paul before he was converted.

Number one, and perhaps the strongest reason, is the second part of verse 14.  “I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”  People look at that and say, this can’t be a Christian talking.  A Christian wouldn’t say that.  Christians are no longer slaves to sin, right?  We’ve been set free from sin.  We’ll look at that.

            Number two: He strongly associates himself with the flesh—as in, sinful flesh.  Verse 14:  “I am of the flesh.”  Verse 18:  “[N]othing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”  Verse 25:  “[W]ith my flesh I serve the law [or the principle] of sin.”  Again, could a Christian say that?

A third reason some think this is an unbeliever is the absence of the Holy Spirit in these verses.  He’s not mentioned here, at least not directly, whereas in the next chapter (chapter 8) he’s mentioned 19 times.  So sometimes you’ll hear people say, you need to get yourself out of chapter 7, become a Christian, and get into chapter 8.

And one more reason people think this is an unbeliever here, number four, is the sense of defeat portrayed.  Not just struggle, but defeat.  I am sold under sin.  Nothing good dwells in me.  I do not do the good I want.  I’m captive to the law of sin in me.  Wretched man that I am.  Can these really be the words of the apostle Paul as a Christian, who elsewhere writes, “Be imitators of me”?  These are some of the reasons people have concluded this is not a Christian.  Must be a non-Christian or maybe someone on their way to conversion, and we can see why people have thought that.

On the other hand, there are also strong reasons to interpret this as Paul’s present Christian experience.  Let’s look at a few of those.

First, perhaps most obvious, Paul appears to write this of himself in the present tense.  I am this way.  I do this.  I don’t do that.  I find this in me, as in, right now.  He doesn’t say, I used to do this.  I used to be that way before I became a Christian.  He doesn’t say that.  It’s present tense. 

Now the previous passage, verses 7 to 13, is past tense, speaking of himself there before conversion, but this is present.  Now some have said that this may be a literary device, that he’s writing in the present tense, but he’s really referring to his past.  Apparently some people in the ancient world sometimes did that.  The problem with that theory is that we just don’t see him doing that anywhere else.  And he wrote a lot of the New Testament, didn’t he?  Thirteen letters.

A second support for this being Christian experience is the distinction he makes between his true self, his deepest self, what he calls his inner man versus his sinful flesh.  He seems to separate these.  Do you notice that?

Look, for example, at verse 17.  “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”  Then in verse 18 he says, “[N]othing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”  Whereas in verse 22 he speaks of his inner man where he delights in the law of God.  He identifies these two entities in him, his inner man and his sinful flesh.  He is, in a sense, a divided man, isn’t he?

A third line of reasoning pointing to this being Christian experience is this: his affections and his desires.  What he delights in and what he wants.  I just mentioned verse 22—“I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,” my deepest self.  If this were a non-Christian or someone rejecting God and his word, we would expect a different response to God’s law, wouldn’t we?  Not delight.  Also note the second part of verse 18 says, “I have the desire to do what is right.”  He wants to obey God, honor him.

And number four, one more line of reasoning supporting this being a Christian, is simply experience.  And perhaps this will be clearer as we look further into it.

Now, I have read that throughout church history most interpreters see this passage as Paul’s present Christian experience, and the theologians that I have grown to respect the most, past and present, take that view.  And the more that I have studied this, the more I would tend to agree.  I think we can harmonize this text with the rest of Scripture and find that it does indeed line up with Christian experience.  And taking some time to consider the dilemma described here can be most helpful for us.  So let’s take a look at this again, one verse at a time.

But briefly before we do that, I want to speak to anyone here who is not a believer in Jesus Christ, not trusting in him for your salvation.  As I mentioned, this letter makes very clear that you cannot save yourself by trying harder to obey God’s law.  The law can’t save you. 

It’s so common to hear people say—do you hear this?—I’m just trying to be a good person.  I’m just trying my best.  If God’s a loving God, he’ll accept me, right?  Well, God is a loving God, and that is why he has made a way for you to have your sins forgiven and to be brought into a right relationship with him.  It’s by faith in Jesus Christ. 

The law is like a mirror; we look into it, and it shows us the way we really are.  It’s also like an x-ray, showing us what’s inside.  And the truth is, we have sin in us, and any sin—any—makes us guilty before a holy God.

Listen to Romans 3:20: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”  So the first purpose of the law is to show us our sin in order to drive us to Christ, who is the answer to dealing with that sin.  So embrace Christ.  Say yes to the gospel.  Talk with the leaders here if you have any questions about that.

Back to Romans 7, verse 14.  “For we know that the law is spiritual.”  Now, besides having to do with spiritual things, this may speak of the law’s source, the Holy Spirit.  Remember that the Spirit inspired, superintended, the writing of all Scripture including the law.  Peter tells us that God’s spokesmen were carried along by the Holy Spirit.  All scripture, including the law, is literally God-breathed.  That’s 2 Timothy 3:16.  So the law is spiritual.

Then Paul has this contrast, “the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh,” or carnal.  A very important term here, “flesh.”  It’s used two different ways in the New Testament.  The first speaks of our humanity, and that can mean our physical bodies.  Jesus at one point spoke of flesh and blood that way.  It can also include other elements of being human.  So John, writing of Jesus’ incarnation, says, “[T]he Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  God the Son came to earth, took on a real human body, human flesh, with a human nature.  So humanity, being human, is one sense of this term.

The other way “flesh” is used is to refer to our unredeemed fallen humanity in which sin dwells, so our sinful flesh.  Look at verse 18.  “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”

Now turn for a moment to Galatians chapter 5, Galatians 5 where we have “flesh” used in this second way, and you’ll also notice there is strong similarity to our passage in Romans 7, so this can help us.  Galatians chapter 5, starting in verse 16. 

He writes, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:16-17).  That sounds a lot like Romans 7, doesn’t it?  And consider Galatians is written to Christians.

Look at verse 19 there: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,” etc., etc., “and things like these.”  So “flesh” here is our remaining sinful element.  And that’s the way it’s used in Romans 7.  So think, tendency to sin, desire to sin.

Okay, back to Romans 7.  And it’s probably good to point something out here.  I think we would agree that sin is expressed through our physical bodies, right?  But let’s not fall into the error that some Greek philosophers got with this, the idea that anything physical is bad and only spirit is good, so that our ultimate goal is to be liberated from the physical.  Well, that’s called dualism; it’s part of something called gnosticism, and it’s an error.  It’s not biblical. 

Remember when Adam and Eve were created, their physical bodies were very good, right?  Then they became corrupted by sin.  And remember that Jesus himself had a real physical body, even after his resurrection.  Scripture tells us that our bodies will one day be resurrected and be transformed—not annihilated, not replaced—transformed to be like Christ’s glorified body.  That’s Philippians 3:21. 

So physical does not necessarily equal sinful, even though “flesh” used here has this association with sin.

Verse 14 goes on.  Besides being of the sinful flesh, he is “sold under sin.”  Now again, this is a challenge.  Would a Christian say that?  Sold under sin suggests bondage, slavery to sin.  But in the previous chapter, chapter 6, he’s made statements like these: we’ve died to sin.  We’ve been set free from sin.  Sin will have no dominion over you.  So what do we do with this?

Well, let me show you to places that go to help reconcile things here, and I have to credit Pastor John Piper for this.  By the way, if you’re interested, listen to his six-part sermon series on this passage.  It’s very helpful.

First, look at the previous chapter for a moment, chapter 6, verse 12 there.  I hear pages turning; not everybody has phones—that’s good. 

Remember he’s writing to Christians, and he says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Romans 6:12).  Now think about it.  Why does he need to tell them that?  Could it be because they sometimes do let sin reign and obey its passions?  Could it be they sometimes stumble?  They don’t live in automatic obedience or unbroken victory over sin?  Could anybody here relate to that?  And think about it.  Don’t let sin reign assumes that it’s still there, right?

And in Galatians 5:1, he writes these words, again to Christians: “[D]o not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” warning them there about legalism.  So he’s got slave language there, don’t go back into slavery.  Again, why does he need to tell them that?  Perhaps because they can fall back into slavery.

We Christians have been set free from sin in the sense that it no longer has the total dominating force it had over us.  We’re now free not to sin.  But that doesn’t mean that sin’s presence is completely gone in us. 

It might help to think about it this way.  Sin, for the Christian, is really a defeated foe, a defeated entity.  Jesus rendered a fatal blow to it on the cross.  But though it is dying, it can still do a lot of harm, a lot of damage to us, until it is fully eradicated after this life.

We have been born again.  We have a new nature, a new heart regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  At the same time, in this life we have in us remaining sinful flesh, what the Westminster Confession calls remaining corruption.  So perhaps Paul can speak here about being sold under sin, as he has yet to be fully liberated from it.

Now, some people who have said that a Christian could never be sold under sin, to any degree, have denied that the conflict described here exists at all for Christians, or have claimed that you can reach a point in this life where you have no more sin.

Looking at verses such as Romans 6:22—“you have been set free from sin”—some have concluded that they’ve actually reached a point where they’ve become sinless, perfect—as in, sin completely gone, perfect.  Throughout church history there have been people and groups who have claimed this perfectionism.  And some still do today.  Sometimes called entire sanctification.  Sometimes called the second blessing, where you can jump into this category of sinless perfection.

Earlier this year, my wife and I, Sandy, we found a video of a guy on YouTube—boy, you can find a lot on YouTube, can’t you?  Man, I would suggest don’t spend too much time there.  But this gentleman seemed to claim that he had such victory over sin that he just never sins, at all.  And he seemed to suggest that you can get there too if you just decide to.

1. C. Sproul has pointed out that if you could get rid of all of your sin for the rest of your life just by a one-time decision of your will, you would do that, wouldn’t you? But you haven’t done that. Because it doesn’t work that way, does it?  It’s not that easy. 

There’s some interesting history about perfectionist communities that were established in this country in the 1800s.  One example of this—I first learned about this from a Ligonier conference years ago—1840s.  A man named John Noyes set up communities, first in Vermont, later in Oneida in upstate New York, made up of hundreds of people who were supposedly sinless.  Noyes had been influenced by the teaching of revivalist Charles Finney, who taught that entire sanctification, or a state of Christian perfection, was attainable in this life. 

The Oneida community grew to over 300 people, seemed to flourish for over 30 years.  They were very industrious.  But over time, it became known that this community practiced what Noyes called complex marriage.  Now what that meant was, all of the women of the community were wives of all of the men.  And all of the men of the community were husbands of all of the women—as in, intimately, as long as there was mutual consent.  So, wow.  There goes your perfection, right?

At one point, Noyes was arrested for adultery.  He and a few of his companions moved to Canada.  The people who stayed behind abandoned the complex marriage—thankfully—reorganized the Oneida community which continued various industries, including the manufacture of silverware and plates.  And that company is still around; how many of you have heard of Oneida flatware?  You might think a little differently of that now.  I’m sure it’s great flatware.  Isn’t that something?  So a lot of people deceived together.

Mark Dever has said regarding this error of perfectionism, “Time tends to instruct a person out of it.”  He also said, “If you meet someone who claims to be sinless, step on their toe really hard and then step back and watch.”

Question: Is there biblical support to show that Christians still sin?  Is there?  Yes, there is.

1 John 1:8: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  James 3:2: “[W]e all stumble in many ways.”  How about Solomon, wisest man on the earth?  What’s his take on this?  1 Kings 8:46: “[T]here is no one who does not sin.”  Ecclesiastes 7:20: “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”  No one.

Of course we know that Jesus, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, was without sin.  He perfectly obeyed the law for us.  Other than that, as Romans 3:23 says, “all … fall short of the glory of God.”

And Paul himself in Philippians 3 tells us, as a Christian, he’s not arrived at perfection.  After speaking of knowing Christ, he writes, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on … toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way” (Philippians 3:12, 14-15).  So he’s moving toward perfection, but he’s not perfect.

And consider, does the Bible ever identify a person who’s arrived at sinless perfection?  Have any of you seen that in the Bible?  Something like, congratulations, all of you in Ephesus who have reached sinless perfection!  Way to go!  Hopefully more of you can join them.  No.  The biblical examples we do have continued to battle with sin, and sometimes they stumbled.

We remember the apostle Peter denied Christ, even after making that great confession at Caesarea Philippi.  Remember later, after that denial, he went out and wept bitterly and probably thought, wretched man that I am! 

Now, some might look at that and say, well, yeah, but that was before the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit empowered him for ministry.  But think about it.  Even years after Pentecost, he stumbled again, and we see that in Galatians chapter 2.  There we read that because he feared the legalistic Judaizers, he started to separate himself from the Gentiles, in a sense compromising the gospel.  His fear of man, his flesh, again got the upper hand, and Paul had to rebuke him publicly. 

Peter wasn’t entirely sanctified, and neither are we in this life.  So let’s dispense of this error of perfectionism, which tends to bring with it pride and hypocrisy.

Back to our text in Romans 7.  Let’s pick it up at verse 15.  “For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”  I don’t understand myself.  I have this desire to obey God, to please him.  I hate sin, and yet I find I still sin.  I do what I hate.

Verse 16:  “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.”  Again, he affirms the goodness of the law.  He’s made that point earlier.

Then in verse 17 he makes it clear where the real problem is coming from.  It’s not the law.  “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”  You hear about the doctrine of indwelling sin; this is where that comes from.  Sin that dwells within me.  Notice again, he separates his regenerate self—the real I—from his indwelling sin.  He is a divided man.

And notice, sin dwells in him, has taken up residence, lives in him.  Have you noticed that even as a Christian there is still sin that dwells in you?  Have you noticed that?

Now, if you read verse 17 in isolation—“it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me”—you might think that he’s trying to evade personal responsibility for his sin.  Hey, wasn’t me.  It was my sin. 

Many of you of a certain age will remember a comedian named Flip Wilson.  How many remember him?  A lot of you.  You millennials will not know who that is.  Do you remember a line of his that sounded a little bit like this?  Yeah.  “The devil made me do it.”

Well, we see elsewhere in this passage, no, Paul does take personal responsibility for his sin.  For example, verse 15—“I do the very thing I hate.”  Later, “Wretched man that I am,” etc.  He doesn’t evade responsibility.

Verse 18:  “For I know that nothing good dwells in me,” and then he qualifies that, “that is, in my flesh.”  And then we see just how powerful sin is.  “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”  Why, Paul?  What’s stopping you from doing the good you want to do?  His sinful flesh prevents the full expression of that.  He’s not perfect.  He falls short, and it grieves him.

Verse 19:  “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”  Sin persists in me.  Then in verse 20, again he identifies the source.  “Now if I do what I do not want [if I sin], it is no longer I who do it [it’s not my regenerate self, my inner man], but sin that dwells within me.”  That’s the source.  That’s the problem in me.

He goes on to further explain this dilemma in verse 21.  “So I find it to be a law [you could translate that, principle or demand] that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”  It’s right there.

Have you ever noticed you can be engaged in some good work, maybe even church ministry—you’re excited to do this, it’s gonna help people, it’s gonna honor God—and then you notice some sinful thought creeps into your thinking, maybe pride, maybe you don’t think you’re getting the credit you deserve, maybe you start treating somebody poorly, impatient, unkind … right in the midst of pursuing this good work?  Have you ever had that experience?

“[W]hen I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”  Think about it.  How often are our motives for anything 100% pure, as in, totally out of a perfect love for God?  How often?

I’ve had times where I’ll be walking down the hall at work, and all of a sudden there’s some sinful thought going on in my head, and I stop and think, where did that come from?  Have you ever had that happen?  It sounds like someone has.  Evil lies close at hand.

Verse 22:  “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,” literally my inner man.  This is wonderful.  If you are a Christian, your deepest self is a heart that has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, born again, born of the Spirit.  Your regenerate self loves God, loves his people, loves his word; you delight in it.  Like the Psalmist who says, “Oh how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).  Or Psalm 1, the man whose delight is the law of the Lord.

You don’t obey God because you have to, as a burden.  You obey God because you want to.  Your inner man echoes the words of Psalm 40, verse 8—“I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”  Thank God for a changed heart, amen?

Now notice the language of verse 23.  “[B]ut [but] I see in my members [the various parts of me] another law [another principle, demand] waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law [or the principle] of sin that dwells in my members.”  Wow, this is intense, isn’t it?  Waging war?  Making me captive?  This is military language.

Earlier we looked at Galatians 5:17, the conflict Christians live in between the sinful flesh and the Spirit.  Listen to this from 1 Peter 2:11, written to Christians.  “I urge you,” Peter says, “to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”  In this lifetime, folks, regardless of how much we’re aware of it, we are in a war against sin.  That battle goes on our entire life.  We fight it daily.

One pastor put it this way: “The battle against sin didn’t end when we became Christians; it began.”

As Paul here thinks of his remaining sin, it seems to grieve him, doesn’t it?  Causes him pain.  Look at verse 24 in the conclusion that he comes to here.  “Wretched man that I am!”  Wow, how do you think that title would sell in a Christian bookstore?  Wretched man that I am.  Probably not likely to sell a lot of copies.

It is a paradox, but the more we grow as Christians, the more we can see our remaining sin.  Have you noticed that?  You’re seeing things in you now that you wouldn’t have even thought about five years ago.  Part of the Spirit’s work in us is to show us that, and then to empower us to grow out of it more and more.  That’s sanctification.

I think verse 24 here is in honest humility from a very mature Christian, who yearns to be free of this conflict.

Now to see that, turn over to the next chapter for a moment, chapter 8, verse 22 and 23, where he writes, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”  So there’s a curse on creation because of sin, and it groans.

Verse 23:  “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption [as in, full redemption] of our bodies.”  So in this life we groan.

I meet occasionally with a friend for lunch, a guy who’s been through a lot of life experience.  And more than once he has told me that the thing that makes me really look forward to heaven is no more sin in me.  Would anyone else say amen to that?  So you can relate to this passage?

I’m so thankful that Paul did not stop with this lament of his wretchedness.  He cries out for relief.  “Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  There’s death in me because of sin.  Notice he knows he can’t deliver himself.  Is there anyone anywhere who will save me, rescue me, from this struggle?  Is there an answer?  Can anyone save him? 

Verse 25:  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  God through Christ will deliver me; he’s doing it now, and one day he will bring me all the way out of this war with sin.  I may lose some tactical battles along the way, but I know how this will end, praise God. 

But until that happens, he lives in this conflict.  He sums it up in the second half of verse 25.  “So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law [or the demand] of sin.”  I obey God from my deepest regenerate self, including a transformed mind, but at the same time, because of my remaining corruption, I still sin.  I don’t have unbroken victory.

Now, apparently all of the major theologians of the Reformation era agreed that this passage does indeed describe a Christian struggle with sin.  Martin Luther, for example, coined a Latin phrase to describe it—simul lustus et peccator—simultaneously just, or righteous because of Christ’s righteousness, and sinner.  At the same time saint and sinner.  As Christians, that’s us, right?  That’s us.

Earlier, we looked at the error of perfectionism.  There’s another set of errors we could fall into here—hopelessness, despair, or perhaps a passive resignation.  We could look at our sin and say, well, there’s just nothing I can do about it.  I’m just sinful.  I’m just wretched.  I’m a fleshly, carnal Christian.  There I go again.

We may be tempted to think, well, you know, that’s okay.  It’s all forgiven anyway.  I’ll just try to forget about it, deny it, ignore it.

Or we could sink into depression, despair.  I’m always defeated.  It’s never gonna change.  I’ll never have any victory over sin.  That’s not a good place to go.

So how should we respond to this dilemma?  What are we to do?  Well, Scripture certainly helps us to respond well.  The Bible has a lot to say about how we engage in this Romans 7 conflict.

Two things up front to mention.  First, God works in us to sanctify us, grow us out of our sin; and second, at the same time we are to actively pursue our sanctification with everything we’ve got.  Remember Paul?  I press on, I strain, toward the goal.  So let’s be like Paul.  Go after it.  Go after your sanctification.

Philippians 2:12 exhorts us, “[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).  So, God works, and he’s called us to work.

Considering our part, let’s wind this down with a few key action points.  Would you like to have more victory over your sin? 

First, we are to confess our sin.  Tell it to God.  He won’t be surprised, right?  Tell it to others as appropriate.  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  A beautiful promise.

We Christians can be tempted to put on a mask and say, hey, everything’s great.  I’ve got no struggles.  Maybe even suggest, I’ve got no sin.  Being honest with ourselves and others in the body of Christ will help us all to grow.

Second, repent of the sin, whatever it is.  Grieve over it.  Turn from it.  Read Psalm 51, David’s great prayer of repentance.  Turn from the sin.  Turn to God.

Third, the Bible tells us to kill, or mortify, our remaining sin.  That’s a process.  We need to keep doing that to the root.  Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”  He goes on to mention anger malice, slander, obscene talk.  Put it to death.  Put it away.  Put on Christ, but put those things to death.

Romans 8:15 mentions the Holy Spirit’s involvement in this.  It’s by him we put to death the sinful deeds of the body.  One reason he’s called the Holy Spirit is that he works in us to make us holy, sanctify us.  So walk, or live, by the Spirit and the Scripture that he’s inspired.  Yield to him.

And part of killing our sin is to not feed it.  Romans 13:14 tells us, “[M]ake no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  Just don’t feed it.  Consider the places you go, what you look at, what you think about.

Now, we’re not to isolate ourselves in this world; we need to know people and share the gospel with the lost, but we need to avoid taking in things that we know will feed our remaining sin.  Is there something in your life right now like that to deal with?

Another part of killing our sin is to pursue the various means of grace that God has given us including prayer, the word of God, and the local church.  Pray specifically about your sin.  Pray the Scripture, such as this from Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  That’s a beautiful thing to pray.

Expose yourself regularly to the word of God, in corporate settings like this, in small group, personal reading, listen to it read, taught well.  The Spirit of God uses the word of God to sanctify the people of God.

Participate in the local church.  Serve.  Pray for others.  Support the church.  Get to know some people that you can share your life with, including your struggle with sin—victories and defeats.  And because we all still have sin in us, we all need to pursue conflict resolution and forgiveness.  That should be just normal Christianity.  God grows us in community, right?  That’s his design.

And find someone who is further down the road to maturity and follow their example.  That’s discipleship, and their example can give you hope.  You can grow.  You can have more victory over your sin.

Pursuing these means of grace will help you as the Spirit works in you to kill your sin more and more, changing you in the direction of Christlikeness. 

In short, learn to live to the glory of God.  I love how one pastor put it: “Just aim your life at the glory of God.”  Wonderful thing to pray for.

Finally Christian, remember your future, where you are heading as a believer in Jesus Christ.  Think about it.  One day your sin will be gone, just gone.  Think about that.  You will be glorified.  You won’t be in this struggle that we’ve looked at this morning. 

But even before that, in this life, be encouraged.  God is protecting you, God is keeping you, God is working to grow you out of your sin and into the image of his Son.

2 Corinthians 3:18 is a wonderful verse to show this change, this progression, as we come to know Christ better.  It says this: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”  Can you hear the progression in that?  “For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

So Christian, take heart.  The Spirit of God sanctifies us, and we are heading for full and final victory in this war with sin, even if we do lose some tactical battles along the way.

Looking at this topic of remaining sin should make us a humble people, would you agree?  As John Piper has put it, “This passage in Romans 7 should bring us not to despair and not to a prideful perfectionism, but to a humble hopefulness.”  A humble hopefulness.  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

You know, it is fitting that the same man who wrote Romans 7:14-25 also wrote these words (Philippians 1:6): “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”  May God do that in us, amen?  Let’s pray.

Our Father, we ask that you would help us to see ourselves more accurately as we understand your word.  And help us in our conflict with our remaining sin.  We confess we cannot deliver ourselves out of it.  We are dependent on you.  Sanctify us by your Holy Spirit, we pray, using the truth of your word and the other means of grace that you’ve given to us.

And encourage us as we look to the future.  Keep us mindful of how this war with sin will end, mindful of whose we are and what he has done to save us.  And for these things we praise you and thank you, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.