Getting to Know the Romans 7 Man

, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 7. Romans 7, 2 weeks ago we preached on the triumphal entry. And last week we preached on the triumphal exit of Christ from the tomb. Where do you go after that?

You go to Romans 7. We are to the agonies of frustration and defeat, which in part is what we find in these verses. if you want to, we're doing a series through Romans 567, and 8. We've been away from it, for a few weeks, but we're coming back today.

to pick up where we left off, and we're just going to be here today. Next week is Mother's Day, I believe. And then after that, Carlos Cues preaching. So, this is a fake landing.

And then we'll be taken back off again, doing some other things, but we'll, we'll be coming back. but for today, we'll spend our time in Romans chapter 7, verse 14. And try to look all the way through verse 25. This is not going to be a detailed verse by verse exposition.

It'll be something of an overview of these verses. And if you want to give a title to the message, it would be Getting to Know the Romans seven man. Getting to know the Romans 7 men. I would encourage you, if you have not done so recently, to read through all of Romans 7, but especially verses 14 through 25.

These are some of the most remarkable verses that we find on the pages of scripture. and these verses, we, witness one of the most forthright, one of the most amazingly searching and honest. and, and transparent self-examinations anywhere in scripture and anywhere in any form of literature whatsoever throughout history. We observe a man in profound and deep confession, strong feeling.

His confessions in these verses are thorough. They are repetitive, and they are deep. And we do well to open our hearts to Paul, as he opens his heart in a remarkable way to us and gives us a glimpse of what's going on inside. These verses that we're going to come to are profoundly personal.

In fact, we're going to observe the first person pronoun I observing or occurring in one of its forms I, me, or my 37 times in verses 14 through 25. 24 times we see the word I and 7 times we see the word me and 6 times we observe the word my, at least in the new American standard. And so this is a very personal section. of Romans, where Paul is baring his soul, and giving his heart to us with strong feeling.

And because this passage is so profoundly personal as it is, basically, every commentator that, that I read in over the last, month or two in preparing for Our study through the second half of Romans 7, just about every commentator starts his commentary on this section by asking the question, who is the I? In these verses, who is he? And most would say, well, the I obviously is the apostle Paul, and I believe that would be correct. But that raises the deeper question, and that is, OK, if it is the apostle Paul, Where on the timeline of his spiritual history, is he locating himself as he speaks, the confessions that we find in verses 14 through 25?

Where on that timeline is he situating himself, and then speaking to us, the things that he shares here. And there's a number of different directions that people who have studied this passage go, people way smarter than, than I am. Let me give you a, a quick overview of some of the directions that people go. There are some who would say it's the apostle Paul speaking, but he is positioning himself back at a time period before he was a regenerate or saved or converted man.

And he is speaking what he was experiencing back then. So what we find in verses 14 to 25 is the testimony and the agonies of an unsaved, unregenerate man. And then there are others who say this is more accurately described as a partially regenerate man, if there is such a thing. Martin Lloyd Jones is one who advocates this point of view where what we observe in verses 14 to 25 is the agonizing testimony of a man who is not wholly regenerated yet, but he's also not altogether unregenerated.

He's a man in the weeks or months prior to embracing Christ and experiencing true conversion. His conscience has been awakened. to the reality of sin, the beauty of the law. He's trying to keep the law, and this is the last gasping throes of the struggle before he hurls himself upon Christ.

So this is an unregenerate man or an unsafe man who's maybe in the weeks or months prior to his actual conversion. And then there are others like John Stott, who would say Paul is simply representing the Old Testament saint. As he vocalizes the confessions that we find in verses 14 through 25, and then there are others who would say, well, our, our view is different. We believe that it is the apostle Paul, but we believe that it's Paul situating himself at a point in time after his regeneration or after his conversion.

But among those who would say this is post-conversion confessions, there are some who would say this is perhaps Paul in the weeks or months just after his conversion. Paul is representing here a believer, who is truly saved, but he is immature. He's uninformed of the glories that, that actually belong to him in the gospel. He has not yet understood the workings of the Spirit of God, and the role that gospel truth can play in enabling him to live very differently than what's expressed in Romans 7.

So Romans 7, 2nd half of the chapter is an immature believer who needs to go a lot further in his understanding. And then there are others who would say, no, no, this is the apostle Paul. He uses the present tense. He's a very mature believer at the time that he's writing this, and Paul, as a very mature Christian, very well informed of the gospel, is giving expression to the agonies and the groanings and the frustrations of the very matures of believers.

So, here's been my frustration over the last month. When I read the, the, the arguments for each of these points of view, I find every one of them compelling. I like every one of them, and yet not one of them is 100% satisfying either, and that's been a major frustration for me. And so I, I wonder if something deeper is going on.

And perhaps Paul is writing this in a way that he wants everyone wherever they are on their timeline of their spiritual journey to find something of themselves in these verses. And I've actually observed that to be the case. There are people that read these verses, like Carlos Limtiaco, one of our pastors here, and he would say, this, this very well represents what I was going through in the weeks leading up to my actual conversion. John Bunyan would say something very similar to that.

He went through a spell where it was very much like Romans 7 prior to his conversion. And then there are others who would say, man, this represents a lot of what I was feeling and thinking early in my walk with the Lord before I came to an understanding of other things regarding the spirit and the gospel and what have you. And then there are exceedingly mature believers that that I just have a ton of respect for who read these verses and say, Yeah, this is a mature believer talking.

And when I hear a mature Christian very well along in their understanding and in their walk with the Lord, finding themselves in these verses, I put my hand over my mouth and fall silent with respect.

And I began to realize, what, I cannot say to a person like that, a mature believer like that, like, no, no, no, that, that's not a mature believer. And I know it's not because I studied this for a whole month. I can't do that. It may take me decades to confidently answer the question of where Paul is in his timeline of his spiritual history, and I'm, I'm frankly, OK with that.

What I want to do today is simply set aside that issue and focus more on just hearing the heart of this man. And getting to know this man without, at every statement he makes, trying to fit him into a category. This is so personal, and I, honestly, a part of me has been actually running from these verses. I've, I've almost been afraid to look at them honestly.

but imagine Paul being in your office and you're there with some other expert colleagues on theology, and Paul is sitting there and he's just confessing very deep, agonizing confessions to you. And what would you do? Would you, after every statement, stop him and say, well, what do you guys think? how do we categorize this guy?

Is he a Christian? Is he a non-Christian? Is he regenerate, unregenerate? Maybe he's unregenerate, but not altogether unregenerate.

What do you guys think? Paul would say, hey, just stop. Put your pens away. Stop your discussion and just listen to me.

Just listen. I'm trying to share something very deep and very personal with you. And if there's any spirit to this message, that's the spirit that I want to characterize how we listen to this man who is speaking in these verses. And as we listen to him, we will try to make 9 observations about this man that we observe in Romans 7:14 through 25, 9 observations, and I honestly think that like these 9 observations are practically irre irresistible to me.

I think we all will have to say, well, yeah, we agree, we might have different points of view of where Paul is on the timeline. of a spiritual journey, but I think these 9 observations, we would all say those are being fairly derived from the text of scripture here. So let's try to do that and rally around that, and then we'll seek to build our understanding from there in the coming weeks. So 7 or 9 observations that we'll make about this man who is speaking these confessions in In the second half of Romans 7, observation number 1.

OK, here's the first thing we can know about this man. And by the way, as we go through these observations, I think you're going to like this person. There's a lot to like and respect and love about this person. The first thing we observe is that whoever he is, and wherever he is in his spiritual journey, he knows and agrees with and affirms the law of God.

All right. He knows and agrees with and affirms the law of God. Verse 14, I know he says that the law is spiritual. Verse 16, I agree with the law.

Verse 16B, I confess that the law is good. So whosever's speaking, he obviously knows the law enough to be able to agree with it. And so he's studied the law, he knows the law, he knows the 10 Commandments, and as he's gone through the 10 Commandments, I have no other gods before me, he's like, I agree with that. I should not have any gods before the one true God.

Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't commit adultery. I agree with that, no problem there.

Mentally I give assent to the integrity of these commands. I agree with them. And I even confess with my mouth that agreement. This person is someone who would defend the law from its detractors.

He would speak on behalf of the law to those who would find fault with the law of God. So he knows the law. He agrees with the law, and he affirms the law of God. Now, not everybody who comes in contact with the law of God would agree with the law, right?

There's a lot of people that they, they've got their problems with the law, and they critique the law of God rather than allowing the law of God to critique them. How many of you have heard of Christopher Hitchens? he is a very passionate anti-theist. He's not just an atheist.

An atheist is, I don't believe that there is a God, and I see no evidence for there being a God. I might wish that there was a God, but I just don't see any evidence that there is a God, so I don't believe in a God. So I'm an atheist. Christopher Hitchens calls himself an anti-theist.

What he, what he would say is, I don't believe there's a God because I don't see evidence for a God, and I'm quite relieved to know that there is no God because I don't want there to be a God. That's an anti-theist. That's his position, and he's quite transparent about that. But a couple of years ago he was on a radio, Christian radio program.

Of all things, and the interviewer, Todd Friel, was walking him through the 10 Commandments and just saying, hey, let's just play a game. We know you don't believe in a God, but imagine there is a God, and imagine that he gave 10 Commandments and let's just see how you would fare up against those 10 Commandments. And as he tried to go through the 10 Commandments, Christopher Hitchens began to critique the 10 Commandments and find fault with them. Listen to some of what he said.

He says on the initial three commandments, no gods before me, no graven images, don't use my name in vain, he says, on the initial three, which are all about God's jealousy and envy and his self-esteem and how one has to respect that, nix on those. I don't care for those. I don't obey them and never have tried to. I don't think anyone should.

Murder, theft, perjury, which are among the 10 Commandments, I know without being told that those are not kosher. Honor thy father and mother, which is one of the 10 Commandments. Well, it depends on how they behave towards me. And the last commandment, you shall not covet, he says, as for coveting, coveting is a good thing because it leads to emulation and innovation.

So God says don't covet, but I disagree with that. I think I actually should covet. Coveting is a good thing, in fact. So Christopher Hitchens would be an example of someone who encounters the law and does not agree with the law.

He finds fault with the law, but this man in Romans 7, he knows the law inside and out, and he agrees with the law and affirm. Affirms the law of God. He would speak to a Christopher Hitchens and speak on behalf of the law in defense of its integrity. There's a second thing to observe about this man as he speaks, and that is wherever he is on the timeline of his spiritual journey, he delights in the law of God, and he hates evil.

So now he's, we learned something not just about his thoughts and his intellect and his opinions, but we learn something now about his passions. He doesn't just agree with the law, but it says here in verse 22, he says, I joyfully concur with the law of God. This literally means I rejoice with the law of God. Which means two things.

It means I rejoice in the law of God. It pleasures me. I find delight in it. So I love the law of God, but also it means I rejoice with the law of God.

Whatever the law of God rejoices in, I rejoice with the law. OK. Whatever the law is passionate against, I'm passionate against that. My emotions are tethered to the law itself.

So I delight in the law. I love the law of God. I'm passionate about the law of God. Because it comes from God.

And when it comes to evil, I hate evil as much as I love God's law. He says, I hate evil, and he uses the word hate. He doesn't just believe evil is wrong, he despises evil. So here's a man who knows, agrees with, and affirms the law of God, and he's passionate, and his delight in the law of God, and he's passionate in his hatred of evil, or disobedience to the law of God.

There's a 3rd thing that we observe about this man, and that is that he longs to do good and does not want to do evil. He longs to do good and does not want to do evil. He says, not only do I agree with the law of God, and defend the law of God and confess that it is good and spiritual. and not only do I delight in the law of God and hate evil, but when it comes to how I want to live my life from day to day, here's how I want to live my life.

I want to, I long to do good. I long to obey the law. And I do not want to, I do not desire to do evil. And he communicates this to the point of being redundant.

Verse 18, the desire to keep the law is present in me. Verse 19, I want to do good. Verse 19, I do not want to do evil. Verse 20, I do not want to do evil.

Verse 21, I want to do good. Hopefully that's clear. What I'm picking up is that he wanted to obey the law of God, and desperately did not want to do evil. So there's a lot to love here.

In fact, by the way, a Jew bringing up their child would, would believe that they are an absolutely successful parent, if their child would say these three things that this person has said thus far. A Jewish parent listening to their child saying, I know the law. I've studied the law. I know it, I've memorized it.

I agree with it. I affirm it with my mouth and with my intellect, and I love it. I'm passionate about it. I delight in it.

And I, and I hate evil. I hate disobedience to the law. And here's what I want to do with my life, Mom and Dad. I long to obey the law every day of my life.

And I do not want to do evil or anything that's a violation of the law. A Jewish parent would listen to their child say that and say, I've been a success as a parent. What more could a parent want from a child? And you might think, well, someone who knows the law, they've studied it, they've got it memorized, they agree with it, they affirm it, they defend it, they delight in it, they hate evil, and they have a strong, passionate desire to obey it and to never disobey it, you would think that's all the makings for a successful life of obedience to the law.

Well, that leads us to the 4th observation about This Man, and that is that wherever he is in his journey, He finds himself failing to do good. And actually doing evil instead. This is unavoidable looking fairly at the passage, he finds himself, in spite of his understanding and agreement with the law. In spite of his passion for the law and against evil, in spite of his best intentions, he still finds himself failing to do good and finds himself actually doing evil instead.

Look what he says in verse 15. He says, I'm not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. Verse 16. I do the very thing I do not want to do.

Verse 19, the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Verse 20, I am doing the very thing I do not want. Hopefully that's clear. He's expressing here that he is falling short woefully in his desire to live up to the righteous standard that is presented to him in the law.

This is an extreme frustration for him. He takes the law of God and he's armed with the law of God in his heart and mind. And he's got an understanding of it. He agrees with it.

He's passionate for it. And he's got the best intentions, and he puts all that together thinking, surely I will be a success. And yet armed only with those things, he falls short and is defeated. showing us that the law itself, and our best intentions, and even our strongest, noblest passions, and an understanding of things spiritual, of the law are not enough to make us holy, and they're not enough to make This man holy or obedient either, so he finds himself failing to do good and actually finds himself doing evil instead.

Now when somebody reaches this point in their journey, they can do several things. There are some who would say, well, they observe themselves falling short of the standard. And so what some do is they lower the standard. And they reinterpret the law and bring it down to the level of their behavior, and they're like, look, I'm obeying the law.

and that's exactly what the Pharisees did, or they take their evil behavior, and they will Look at that evil behavior and try to make it into a good thing. As if they're keeping the law, and there were a lot of gymnastics that some of the Jews went through back in Jesus' day, and he faults them for this, for actually taking selfishness and disrespect to parents, and they would couch that under some provision that's in the law to where it made them feel like they're obeying the law when in fact they're violating hugely the very spirit of the law that they're claiming to keep.

Or a person can just observe that and not go very deep with that and just ignore it. Or a person can observe that and go, man, why am I falling short?

I, I love the law. I'm passionate for the law. I want to do good. I don't want to do evil.

I've memorized all of this. And this is my passion and desire and my goal in life. Why am I falling short? I know.

And then they look outside themselves. it's my parents' fault. It's my wife's fault. It's my husband's fault.

It's my children's fault. I would be better behaved if it were not for my children doing this or that or the other, and they look outside themselves for the cause. But all of those wrong approaches, this man in Romans 7 doesn't fall prey to any of them. He does the right thing with this.

And this is the 5th observation we make about this man. And that is that he has come to a deep understanding of the reality of indwelling sin. He has come to a deep understanding of the reality of indwelling sin. In fact, what's interesting, guys, what, what makes the man of Romans 7 a little hard to pin down in terms of the timeline of his spiritual history is the fact that he's not staying in the same spot throughout all of these confessions.

He's actually moving. And the man who's speaking in verse 15 is speaking from a slightly different vantage point than the man who's speaking several verses later. In verse 15, he's saying, I don't understand what's happening. But by verse 18, he's saying, I know.

I know what's happening. Verse 21. I find verse 23. I see there's, there's progress that's being made.

There's a journey. There's a pilgrimage towards deeper and deeper insight as this man looks where he needs to look to observe what the real problem is and sets a wonderful example for us of not looking outside of ourselves but actually looking at ourselves. in the mirror, and he, as a result of his willingness to do that, has come to a deep understanding of the reality of indwelling sin. Look at how he expresses this again, to the point of being almost overly repetitive, some might think, but he's not.

He's trying to pound this point home. Verse 14, he says, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh sold under sin. When he refers to himself as being of flesh, what he means by that at the very least, is I possess a thing called the flesh. And in saying that, he's not saying I'm a flesh in the sense that I'm a physical being.

What he's saying is I possess an entity inside of me, a rebel entity inside of me called the flesh that resides inside of me. We're going to be defining flesh in the coming weeks, especially as we get into Romans 8, but for now, I want us to understand that the flesh. that is in all of us, is that part of our being, that is not our bodies, but it's woven into our physicality in some mysterious way. It's attached to our physicality.

It's that part of our being, it's a rebel part of our being that always and persistently wants to do the exact opposite of whatever it is that God wants us to do. Whatever God wants, this flesh that is in us, this part of us, this rebel part of us that is affiliated with our physicality always wants to do the opposite of anything that God wants. And he says the law is spiritual. I see nothing wrong with the law.

But the problem is with me that I am a flesh. I possess this thing called the flesh. And he also says, I'm sold under sin. I'm under this, this reign of sin, as it were.

Some transaction has occurred, a purchase has been made long before it seemed like I was even aware of what was going on, and we know that this actually happened in Adam. But before I knew what was going on, I was already in this state. Of sin. The mortgage had already closed and the transaction had already taken place, and I have a sin problem.

Verse 15, he says, for what I'm doing, I don't understand, for I'm not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law confessing that the law is good. So now no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. You might say, well, it sounds like he's copping out there.

Well, it's not really me, it's the sin inside of me. So kids, you get your kids together and say, Daddy wants to apologize on behalf of the sin inside of him that yelled at you today and got angry. I, I did not do that, but the sin that was in me did. That's not what Paul is doing.

What he's doing is he's, he's, he's pointing deep within him. He, he's saying these, these misbehaviors are not just me on a bad day when I'm not being myself. This is a reflection of something very deep. Very profound and very ancient, that is wrong with my being in this fallen world.

There's sin that dwells in me. Verse 18, he says, for I know that nothing good dwells in me. I, I look, he says, that is in my flesh. I look at my flesh, this entity, and he says, there's nothing at all good in there.

There's no positive good that desires to please God in this part of my being called the flesh. flesh, for the willing is present in me, but the doing of good is not for the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I'm doing the very evil, or the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. You say, well, we just read that we did, but he's saying it again.

Verse 21, I am finding then, here's, man, are you willing to really examine yourself as carefully as this man is? I am finding then, so he didn't understand, but then he came to know, and he continued gazing. And then he says in verse 21, I find And then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. I'm observing something about myself.

And that is that inside of my being, there is evil that is present inside of me. And he's not even content with that verse 22, for I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I am seeing, so he's willing to look. Setting a great example for us, but I am seeing a different law in the members of my body. Notice he's not faulting his body or the members of his body, but he's faulting a law that is in the members of his body.

An enemy within an enemy that has taken up residence. Its base of operations is in the members of his physical being. I see a different law in the members of my body that is constantly waging war against the law of my mind, which is a side reference to the law of God and his mind's best intentions to keep that law, and making me a prisoner to the law of sin. Which is in My members So he is clearly looking at himself honestly and he's observing there's something within that is the problem here.

And look how, look how he repeatedly affirms this verse 17, Sin dwells in me. Verse 18, the doing of good is not in me. Verse 20, sin dwells in me. Verse 21, evil is present in me.

Verse 23, a different law in the members of my body waging war and making me a prisoner. Verse 23, the law of sin in my members. He's clearly observing that inside of his being. Something that's separate from him, but it's taken up residence in him, creating problems.

And it's called sin. It's a sin principle, a law that operates. It is a flesh. It is indwelling sin, and he expresses this reality.

In different ways. And as a result of this indwelling sin and the frustration that it causes, look at the 6th observation we make about this man, and that is that he sees himself as a wretched man because of the way sin operates within him. It's then as he rehearses this, that it wages war against the law of my mind, making me a prisoner to the law of sin, which is in my members, and then he exclaims, O wretched man that I am. The word wretched means afflicted, it means troubled.

It means profoundly unfortunate. It means enduring heavy labor and hardships and distress, enduring toils and troubles and frustrations. And as he comes to this realization about himself, he's, he's very disturbed by what he sees as he looks in the mirror, what he observes and comes to conclude is operating inside of him, he has this sin, cancer, as it were. And all of his best efforts, his under the law, his understanding of the law, his passion for the law, and his best intentions, he has summoned all of those and put those four things in league with one another, and sought to do his best to obey the law of God.

And yet every time indwelling sin always wins, always wins. If you take the law of God, in whatever resources of your mind, and your best passions, your noblest passions, and your best of intentions, and you put those together, and you allow them in league with one another to compete against indwelling sin, guess who wins that battle? If that's all you bring to the battle, indwelling sin will always win. Always win.

And the speaker here is bemoaning the presence of sin within. later in chapter 8, he's going to speak of how even we as believers grown within ourselves waiting for the redemption or the deliverance of our bodies. And here he's groaning. At whatever point he is on the timeline of a spiritual journey, he's groaning over this deep, profound realization of his sin problem.

And he sees himself in desperate need of a savior. In fact, that's the 7th observation we can make about him. And this is, this is sheer genius, guys. He recognizes this man recognizes his need for someone outside of himself to deliver him from his sin affected body.

He says in verse 24, Who will deliver me from out of the body of this death? Who's going to deliver me? But see what a wonderful moment this is, is the speaker, wherever he is in his journey, has come to realize that my best intentions, my noblest passions, my, the focus of my intellect and the law of God, all those things combined cannot save me, cannot deliver me. So I cannot deliver myself and the law won't deliver me.

So who will deliver me? This is a critical moment for him, and he recognizes his need for someone outside of himself to deliver him from this frustration. And from this conflict when he says, Who will deliver me from out of the body of this death? he at the very least is referring to the future day like who's going to deliver me from this body?

I can't wait for the day that I can lay this body aside and sin along with it and never have to deal with the hassle or the conflict or the warfare that is involved because of this indwelling sin. I know John MacArthur said a number of years ago one of the things he looks forward to most about heaven is the absence of a sinful flesh, just being able to lay that aside and have a glorified body that's perfect in every way. And one of the ways that's perfect is there's a complete absence of indwelling sin.

There's a complete absence of this flesh principle that is in constant opposition.

And warfare against God. That is not who we are, but it is affiliated with our physicality. This dying body that is on its way to the grave is housing this rebel entity, creating the frustration that we experience. But he's recognizing, I need something besides my intellect, besides the law, besides my noblest passions, besides my best intentions.

I need something beyond that. And what guys, so many things you go on PBS and you listen to the seminars that are, that are out there talking about, your intentions and so forth. All of them are pointing inside of you. Just look inside yourself, get focused and And the power of intention just with a laser-like focus, you can get things done.

You can be the person that you want to be. And this man is saying, with the best of my intentions, my noblest passions, all the weight of my intellect, and even the law of God, I put those 4 things together, and I set about trying to be holy and sanctified and achieve my vision for my life of being a holy person in obedience to the law. And I lose that battle, because there is a rebel entity inside of me. And this man is recognizing his need for someone outside of himself to deliver him from this, from the sin affected body.

And that leads to an 8th observation. And this is intriguing. Whoever this man is, and wherever he is. On his pilgrimage.

He is thankful for the fact that his deliverance will come from God through Jesus Christ, who is his Lord. If we're going to be honest and fair with the text, and, and say that it's the same man speaking in all of these verses, we have to add this observation. And that is that this man is thankful for the fact that his deliverance that he longs for will come from God through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of this man. He says, Who will deliver me from the body of this death?

Verse 25, thanks be to God. what he means by that? Who's going to deliver me? Thanks be to God.

God's the one who's going to deliver me. And what will be the means that he accomplishes that deliverance of me through Jesus Christ, God will not deliver me through my intellect, through my intentions, or, or through my, my passions. He's not going to deliver me through the law. He will deliver me and he will deliver me through the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

And then look what he says, our Lord, whoever the speaker is, he considers himself among the number of those who call Jesus Lord. Are we being fair? With the text. I think we are So he's thankful.

This, this ultimate deliverance one day, I'll be delivered out of this body and be done with this body. And this warfare, this conflict, it's going to come through Jesus, who is my Lord. And even now there's a deliverance that Paul's going to open up for us in Romans 8. That comes through Jesus.

And that leads to a 9th and final observation about this man, and that is that he finds, having said what he just said, I'm a wretched man, who's going to deliver me, God's going to deliver me, he's going to do it through Jesus, who is my Lord. Having said that, we would almost think, guys, that that should be the end of the chapter. I think most of us, if we were helping Paul write chapter 7, in fact, if he were dictating it to us, And then he started to speak the very end of verse 25, we would say, Whoa, wait a minute, that's very anticlimactic.

Don't say that.

Just go right into Romans 8. Look what he does in verse 25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, and we're expecting some great sentiment.

So then, on the one hand, I myself with my mind, I'm serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin. Wow, this, the last part of verse 25 so troubles some commentators that they say, this last statement of verse 25 doesn't belong here. It belongs in front of verse 24. And they'll put it there and there's suggested translations, even though there's not one Greek manuscript, there's not one ancient translation that even remotely hints at that, but they're troubled by this.

This is an odd place to go after this climactic. exaltation of thanksgiving, that deliverance will come from God through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord. So what is he doing here? Well, what he's observing, and again we're just trying to stay tethered to the text, this man, wherever he is in his journey, is finding that even with Jesus as his Lord and His deliverance coming through Jesus, he still finds that his mind and his flesh are in perpetual conflict with one another.

OK. Now, that's not the end of the story. In fact, it perfectly sets the stage for what's to come in chapter 8, showing what to do about that conflict and how we can actually triumph in that conflict. Romans 8 is not about living life free of conflict.

It's about being a conqueror in the conflict. And so he's setting the stage, there is a conflict that does exist in the lives of those who call Jesus Lord. He says, with my mind, I am serving the law of God, but my flesh, this rebel entity, is serving a rival power, and that is sin. And there is a conflict that rages, and I feel that conflict.

I experience that conflict. As two parts of me are serving rival powers. What do I do with that? Well, Paul then begins to open up the solution to that, the path forward in that conflict, that there's no condemnation in Christ.

He talks about mortifying the deeds. Of the flesh and begins to give wisdom and insight about where we set our minds on the things of the spirit, not the things of the flesh, and he brings the spirit into the equation. The Holy Spirit is never mentioned in verses 14 to 25, not one time. And yet we come into chapter 8.

The Spirit, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 21 times. He's going to like, I'd like to introduce you to someone, and we're going to enter him into the equation. So the law, my best intentions, my passions, my desires against indwelling sins and always wins. Who's going to deliver me?

God comes to the rescue through Jesus Christ in the gospel, providing His Holy Spirit, and Paul in chapter 8 is going to explain the mechanics of how victory and triumph can be ours in Christ. Well, our agenda today was simply to get to know this man and to be fair with the text. And I think we're all the richer for getting to know this man. And I, I, I think if we're honest with ourselves, if we're honest, wherever you are in your journey, most of us would be able to see much in what this man says that resonates with us.

As I see what he's confessing here, there are things that he's expressing here that I'm like, this is so me, so me. And then there are other things he says, it's like, I don't know that I understand that. but there's things I still don't understand. But I think the more time we spend just evaluating how much of ourselves, how much of our own story he's telling, The better position we will be to get the most out of Romans 8.

These verses in Romans 7 are not some necessary evil. Let's just rush through it and get to Romans 8. I believe you won't get Romans 8, unless you walk through this valley of Romans 7. Spend time here, because it'll set you up to have an understanding of why the truths of Romans 8 are so amazing and so powerful.

And may God give us the grace to do that. Let's bow our heads. We're going to take up an offering in just a moment. We would encourage you to give as the Lord leads you to give.

In the offering this morning, You're here today and just frustrated, you've been trying to please God and earn your way to God. And obey the law and you've been frustrated, just, man, follow Paul's example and run to Jesus, run to Jesus. But if you're a believer and you find yourself On a number of levels in Romans 7 experiences, run to Jesus. The solution is the same.

There's no condemnation in Christ, and there is provision to help us see our way through the conflict that rages. Let's pray together, Lord. I just pray for all of us here in this church that You would help us to To see our need for Jesus. To see the heights of the glories of the gospel and to see the depths of our need, that we would be searchingly honest and transparent, that we would not live in denial, but willing to go deep and willing to understand the depth of our need and, and the depth of our sin problems so that we can then against the backdrop of that, really understand the magnificent panorama of gospel grace, gospel truth, and gospel provision in Jesus Christ.

Take us as a church where you want us to go and do a deeper understanding of these things, Lord, and thank you for the opportunity to give of our offerings to you, receive these funds and do much with them for the glory of Jesus. We ask these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said,