1 Romans Paul’s Exposition of “Salvation by Grace Through Faith” Lesson 10a V. God’s Righteousness: Overcoming The Curse Of The Law Romans 7:1-25 Page 73

2 These sections are completed.... I. God’s Righteousness: Revealed in the Gospel (1:1-17) II. God’s Righteousness: Needed by All (1:18-3:20) III. God’s Righteousness: Given through Faith (3:21-4:25) IV. God’s Righteousness: Solving the Problem of Sin (5:1-6:23)

3 Now we will study.... V. God’s Righteousness: Overcoming the Curse of the Law (7:1-25)

4 A. Deliverance From the Law Is Through Death Romans 7:1-6 1.Any law binds only the living (1) a.Paul returns to his point already made that they were not under law but under grace (6;14) b.Just as a man is not under (civil) law after he dies, the law (religious) no longer has dominion over them because they are dead to the law (1)

5 2.The marriage law is an example of this principle (2,3) a.All people understand this example, human relationships end when life ends (2) b.Death ends our obligations to any law! c.Paul reminds them of the law of adultery -- how it illustrates the truth about the law of the gospel and another law (Law of Moses), you can’t have both ways! (3) A. Deliverance From the Law Is Through Death Romans 7:1-6

6 3.Death to the Law of Moses allows marriage to Christ (4) a.So, Paul explains, you have become dead to the law of Moses through the death of Christ (4) b.Being dead to the law, they were free to “marry” Christ without the guilt of spiritual adultery (4) c.This marriage can bear fruit to God (4) A. Deliverance From the Law Is Through Death Romans 7:1-6

7 4.Service under the Law resulted in spiritual death (5) a.Before the union with Christ, they practiced the “works of the flesh” (5) b.They were under the control of sinful passions (5) c.The bore fruit to death (5) A. Deliverance From the Law Is Through Death Romans 1:1-6

8 5.Death to the Law permits a new service to God (6) a.But now, being delivered from the law, having died to the law, they serve God in the newness of the Spirit, not the oldness of the letter (6) b.A new law (Rom. 8:14) has been revealed to sinners by the Holy Spirit in the gospel (1:16,17) A. Deliverance From the Law Is Through Death Romans 7:1-6

9 B. Sin Used the Law To Accomplish Satan’s Goal Romans 7: The Law identified sinful behavior in man (7) a.Some might think that law causes sin (7) b.Law was designed to control sin, not encourage it! c.Paul used the example of covetousness (7) d.It was sin, not the law against sin, that caused Paul to covet (7)

10 2.Sin used the commandments to entangle men in disobedience (8) a.But sin produced in Paul all manner of evil desires (8) b.Before he came under the law (in childhood), sin was dead to him (8) B. Sin Used the Law To Accomplish Satan’s Goal Romans 7:7-12

11 3.Breaking the commandments results in spiritual death (9-11) a.When he came under the commandment (in adulthood), sin came alive and he died spiritually (9) b.It is significant that Paul was “alive” as a child and then “died” because of his own sin (10) c.It was not the law that caused his death, but sin is what killed Paul’s spirit (11) d.Sin is deceptive (11) B. Sin Used the Law To Accomplish Satan’s Goal Romans 7:7-12

12 4.Man, not the Law, is responsible for man’s plight (12) a.Therefore, the law was holy, just, and good (12) b.Man is the problem when he yields to the wicked devices of Satan B. Sin Used the Law To Accomplish Satan’s Goal Romans 7:7-12

13 End of Lesson 10a

14 Romans Paul’s Exposition of “Salvation by Grace Through Faith” Lesson 10b V. God’s Righteousness: Overcoming The Curse Of The Law Romans 7:1-25 Page 78

15 C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7: Sin’s nature is exposed through God’s Law (13) a.This is the setting in Chapter 7: b.Paul continues to cast himself as a personal example of man’s plight under law without forgiveness c.This concept will last throughout this chapter -- Paul’s feelings prior to knowing Christ d.What had happened to Paul was precisely what happens to everyone else

16 C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7: Sin’s nature is exposed through God’s Law (13) (continued) c.The good law made sin known to Paul causing him to see it in his life (13) d.Sin became exceedingly sinful because it was producing death in him (13) e.It was not the law that caused his death, but sin f.God’s laws are only righteous and lead to righteousness in the obedient

17 2.The Law was given to provide spiritual guidance (14) a.He knew that the law was spiritual b.But, “I am carnal, sold under sin” -- his state before he obeyed the gospel (14) c.There were conflicting attractions battling each other within the apostle prior to his conversion d.The same warring factions exist in every human being C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7:13-23

18 3.Man sins despite knowledge of the Law’s standards (15-20) a.Paul is depicting himself as a man without Christ who is trying to follow a law as well as he can (15-24) b.He wants to do right, but God’s law is spiritual [directed to the spiritual nature of man] and the sinner without Christ is carnal [governed by the lusts of the flesh] c.A carnal man cannot expect to give perfect obedience to a spiritual law C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7:13-23

19 3.Man sins despite knowledge of the Law’s standards (15-20) a.He wants to do right, but he doesn’t. Those things he hates, he does (15) b.He does not understand why he does what he does (15) c.Weakness drives us to do something bad that we “hate” d.If I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good so the fault is not with the law (16) C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7:13-23

20 3.Man sins despite knowledge of the Law’s standards (15-20) (continued) e.It is not “I” but “sin” [Satan] who decides what I do (17) f.I can desire to do what is right, but I cannot do it (18) g.When I want to do good, I don’t. When I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway (19) h.If I am doing what I don’t want to do, it is not I that does it, but sin that has control of me (20) C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7:13-23

21 4.Both spiritual and fleshly impulses war within sinners (21-23) a.Then, I find a law that when I want to do what is right (good), evil is always present with me (21) b.I delight in the law of God (old law) in my inward man (22) c.But, I see another law (flesh) in myself that wars against the law of my mind making me a captive of sin within my body (23) C. The Unsaved Man Struggles With the Pressures of Sin Romans 7:13-23

22 D. Christ Alone Offers Victory Over The Curse of the Law Romans 7;24,25 1.Total defeat is certain for the man under the Law (24) a.Paul is imitating a man under the law that has not found Christ -- a wretched man b.He cries out hopelessly in his lost condition and under a law he cannot keep (24) c.He considers himself in a “body of death” and cries out for rescue -- who will deliver me from it? (24)

23 D. Christ Alone Offers Victory Over The Curse of the Law Romans 7;24,25 2.Jesus Christ is God’s remedy for sin and death (25) a.Paul answers the question, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (25) b.With his rational mind he serves the law of God, but with his flesh he serves the law of sin (25) c.Christ has made it possible to be saved from the body of death by forgiveness of the fleshly sins

24 End of Lesson 10a