On December 19, 2013, Ontario was hit with a huge ice storm that in effect shut down the whole province. Driving was impossible and for days many were trapped in their homes. Many had to abandon their homes and go live in warm shelters for days. Tragically, in the GTA, 27 people died because of the storm. Such was the devastating effect of the power shortage.

Today we are going to look at Romans 7, a chapter that describes a power shortage, not a physical one due to an ice storm, but a spiritual one that happens in our hearts and can bring us to our knees. Then we will look at God’s provision so that we can overcome it.

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

On December 19, 2013, Ontario was hit with a huge ice storm that in effect shut down the whole province. Driving was impossible and for days many were trapped in their homes. Do you remember all the trees that snapped due to the weight of the ice? We lived in a rural home at the time and many of the power lines out there came down as well. For 5 days we lived without electricity. Fortunately, we had a back up generator which afforded us lights but no furnace heat. So, we huddled around our wood burning fireplace in the den to stay warm. Finally, on Christmas Day, the power got restored. It was a difficult time for us, but for others it was far worse. Many had to abandon their homes and go live in warm shelters for days. Tragically, in the GTA, 27 people died because of the storm. Such was the devastating effect of the power shortage.

Today we are going to look at Romans 7, a chapter that describes a power shortage, not a physical one due to an ice storm, but a spiritual one that happens in our hearts and can bring us to our knees. Then we will look at God’s provision so that we can overcome it.

Before we look at this passage in detail, we must ask ourselves a big question. Is Paul talking about unbelievers in this chapter or is he talking about believers? It is true that unbelievers have a big power shortage when it comes to dealing with sin and its effects in their lives. Many unbelievers do struggle with the moral issues of life. How can I be a good person? How can I keep the law and behave myself? How can I overcome temptations to do wrong and get rid of the bad habits of my life? So, this internal struggle for goodness described here might reflect the plight of an unsaved person. So, which is it? A believer or an unbeliever? My understanding is that it is describing a believer who is experiencing a moral dilemma and seeking to work through it. And one big clue is context.

So, let’s consider what has already been presented in Romans. Romans is a book about salvation. In fact, it is the premier book in the scriptures on the subject. It is all about the gospel of God being presented to us, the good news of God’s salvation. It forms a timeline of how a person comes to Jesus, gets saved and goes on from there. That’s where he starts in chapter 1.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes—For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 1:17

From there, it is a timeline continues. What I need to know next is why I need to be saved, and from what. We are introduced to a holy God who is angry at sin and will judge it. He has revealed himself in nature and in his law and so men are without excuse. We get these powerful words in 3:20

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Romans 3:20

This is bad news indeed. We are under judgment and we can’t save ourselves by keeping the law. Then comes the grand declaration of what Jesus has done to save us.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ Jesus to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.

Romans 3:21–25

Believe that my dear friends, and you are saved.

God justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:26

Romans 5:1 further states this wonderful fact.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through who we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

Romans 5:1

Here is the glorious truth. In Romans 1–4 we get saved. Then comes Romans 5 where there is a change from looking at the past to the future, from what has already happened to what will happen.

We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:2

The truth is that believers in Jesus have a glorious future. We are heading for heaven and the Lord is not only preparing a place for us there, but he is also preparing us for that place. So, he is busy transforming our character. This hope of glory is nothing less than the hope of spiritual maturity, and he warns us that there will be some difficult times before that happens, but we at this point are so happy to be saved, we think little of the possibility of future troubles.

Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3

Romans 5 goes on to describe that Jesus not only died as our substitute to pay for our sins, he died as us. He took our place and although sinless himself, he died as a sinner, so that we could enter all the fullness of this new life called eternal life.

Now that we are saved, the next step is to be baptized, and that happens in Romans 6. In baptism, we acknowledge that Christ died for us and so we commit to the death of our old life, our sinful self, in order that the new life in Christ may shine through. We show our commitment by not offering our body to sin but by offering our bodies to God. We offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.

In Romans 7: 1-6, we hear more good news. We are dead to the law. Paul uses a word picture to describe this truth.

Just as a married woman is no longer bound to her dead spouse, so we are also told that Christ’s death has effectively severed our old relationship with the law because now we belong to Christ, we are in his body. A dead person is beyond the judgment of the law. There are no arrests in the cemetery. So the law is no longer able to exact its judgment on us. We answer to Christ, not the law.

So, what do we have? We are saved by grace, we are baptized. We are dead to sin and now dead to the law because we belong to Christ. It should be easy sailing from now on, right? The clear answer is no, as you may have learned yourself. This is when Christians start to hit a struggle, a mighty struggle, as we seek to live for Jesus. Lo and behold, the old self is not as dead as we hoped it would be. Paul goes to some length to describe the sinful nature within us, and he uses three word pictures to help us understand. The old nature is like a deadly lion, a dark lord, and an enslaving law.

First, the sin nature is like a deadly lion.

It is the beast within. Let’s read Romans 7:7–14. Verse 7: The law is not the problem. It is holy and good. It is me that is the problem. The law brings the knowledge of my sin and that is a good thing. I can’t deal with a problem when I don’t know that it exists. Here Paul switches to talking in the first person and he does so for the rest of the chapter. He uses the personal pronouns “I, me, and myself” about 50 times I these verses so we get the intensely personal aspect of Paul’s struggle. He talks about his struggle with the tenth commandment, Do not covet. Who would have thought? The great apostle struggled with envy. Does that surprise you that Paul could have any sin that he struggled with? If so, you have not yet learned the truth that Christians are still sinners, just forgiven sinners learning to be godly, but not perfect yet.

When I share my spiritual struggles from time to time with my patients, they say, “What? Not you, Dr. Rennie?” And I reply, “Yes, me.” For years I struggled with my anger. My brother’s bloody nose was a testament to that. There is a beast within. And only by the grace of God have I learned self-control.

In the next verses we learn that the law and my old sinful self are not a good mixture on two accounts. The combination beguiles me and it also blinds me. Verse 8, “But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.” Sin is seen here as having a life of its own with power to corrupt me. It is like a lion stalking its prey, just waiting for the right time to pounce.

I remember a story about a photographer who was out in the game park in Africa getting shots of game. He and his wife came upon a pride of lions and got out of the car to better photograph them. What they didn’t realize is that one of the lions was lying in wait behind them. The lion waited until they were involved with their work and then he pounced on the man, killing him. Sin is like that. As soon as I seek to keep the law, it is there to powerfully influence me to break it. It is the Lord himself who used this language to instruct Cain in the garden of Eden when he was angry with his brother Abel.

Sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.

Genesis 4:7

The beast is ready to pounce. The lion is about to get you. It also says, “For apart from the law sin is dead.” Sin lacks full power to entice when there is no law. But when I am told not to do something, the sinful self gets the urge to rebel and the desire to do it becomes even greater. If you want to get someone to do something, just tell them they can’t do it. Immediately our rebellious self jumps into action and we seek to do that very thing that is prohibited. How many of us obey the 100 Km/h speed limit on the QEW? I won’t ask for a show of hands.

Verse 9, “I was once alive apart from the law.” When was this? I submit to you that this was the honeymoon period in Paul’s life after his conversion. What a wonderful experience, those first days with Jesus when I am walking in the sunshine of his love, and the freedom of his grace. Sin is far from my mind. Then the old enemy strikes. I realize that I am still breaking God’s law in one way or another.

Sin sprang to life, and I died. The sin that is still in me, that is my old sin nature, entices me once again to covet or to some other sin, and down I go. Sins springs to life, like that lion waiting to pounce. What does it mean, ‘I died’? Paul is using a literary device called hyperbole, which is an over-exaggeration to prove a point. A student at school might say, “That exam just killed me.” It means I failed. Christians fail, but they do not lose their life in Christ. That life is eternal. However, there is a sense that sin in a believer does steal life. In my sin, there is a loss of time and energy that could have been used for God but is now lost and dead.

Verse 11, “For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.” Sin not only entices me to sin, it also blinds me to the truth. It justifies itself. It forgets God. I develop a self-righteous attitude.

Verse 13–14 Once again, the problem is not with the law. It is me.

Next Paul likens the sinful nature to a dark Lord.

Let’s read verses 15–20.

Now the battle lines are clear. I finally realize that there are two natures alive in me and one of them is a dark lord, a tyrant and a dictator, a controlling bully who likes to get his way every time, and do the evil that is in his heart. There is me, the me that is alive in Christ and there is the sin living inside of me, my old sinful self, this dark lord I want to do good, but I end up doing bad. I want to avoid evil, but that is the very thing I end up doing.

A statement is repeated almost verbatim in verse 17 and 20. “As it is, it is no longer I my self who do it, but it is sin living in me.” By this statement, Paul is not excusing himself from his sin. Rather, he is recognizing that he has a divided heart. There is a battle raging between the two parts of him. Remember, this is the life story of Paul, and this is the life story of every believer. For those believers caught in sin, this should be an encouragement.

No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man.

1 Corinthians 10:13

However, it is still dismaying and discouraging. We indeed have a split personality. By the way, it is also discouraging for secular counsellors or doctors to help a believer with their personal problems. They do not understand this battle within the believer. If you ever talk to a counsellor, why not help him or her understand by just telling them this: “By the way, I am a Christian and I have a split personality.”

Finally, we see that Paul likens the old nature to an enslaving law.

Read verses 21–25.

Verse 22, Paul sees that he is being ruled by a law only it is not the law of God. By the way, you can tell this person speaking is a believer because it says they delight in the law of God. But Paul recognizes this other law, this law of evil.

In verse 23 he calls it the law of sin at work in the members of his body. Actually, it is more like a principle of life, or a power, but he it is called a law because it acts with certainty. A good example of this is the law of gravity. The power of gravity holds me down on the earth. I try to jump, and I quickly come down again. It is a certainty. Some can jump higher than others, but this law of gravity affects us all and brings us all down quickly. In the past, mankind would look at the birds who fly and wonder at their ability to overcome this law of gravity. But, for them it was impossible. The law of God lacks the power to lift us up from the powerful influence of the law of sin. The law tells us about the law of sin and brings judgment for yielding to the law of sin but lacks ability to help us overcome the law of sin. It has no power. In fact, as we have already seen, it makes the situation worse.

Verse 24, “What a wretched man I am? Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Paul finally hits the wall of despair He has come to the end of his endurance. Like a man being beaten in the boxing ring, he is prepared to throw in the towel. In effect, he is saying, “I’m a dead man walking.” But then, when it seems all hope is lost, he reaches out to Jesus and gets the help he needs.

Verse 25, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Remember I said that the pronouns “I, me, and myself’ are mentioned some 50 times. This was the problem. Paul was trying to find the answer within himself. He was trying to win the battle by self effort and had failed. Next to our sin, the biggest problem we have is ourselves, our self reliance. Some of us, like the apostle Paul, are strongly self reliant. We are like the Israelites, who when they hear the law spoken by God at Mt. Sinai said, “We will do everything you have said.” If they had been wise, they would have said, “We can’t do it God, so please help us.”

Now in Christ the help has come, the power to overcome is given.

Read Romans 8:1–4.

Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

What a breath of fresh air for the distressed and despondent apostle who was labouring under the weight of condemnation. He reminds him that Jesus took all the condemnation all the judgment for our sins on the cross. After reminding us that there is no longer any condemnation by the law for those who are in Christ Jesus, he reveals a glorious truth, the solution to our power shortage.

The chapter division here is somewhat unfortunate because he is still talking about this issue of the law of sin and death and how we can get freedom from it. We likened the law of sin to the law of gravity, a law that holds us down and, like gravity, keeps us from moving in the air above us. Now, in verse 2, he introduces a new law, not the law of God, but the law of the Spirit of life. To illustrate, let’s continue with our analogy of the law of gravity.

For hundreds of years mankind tried to fly like the birds, but to no avail, so strong was this law of gravity. They would attach bird like wings to themselves and then jump off cliffs. Didn’t work! Then, only 120 years ago, in 1903, the Wright brothers made their engine powered flying machine and it worked. Mankind entered the age of flight. When a jet goes over my head, I still look up in awe at how tons of metal can soar through the air like that. What is the secret? The law of gravity is still there, but there is another law called the law of aerodynamics in play. Enough powerful thrust forward and enough lift and people can fly. It is not that we abolish the law of gravity, but rather we overcome it by the law of aerodynamics.

In the spiritual realm the law that overcomes the law of sin and death is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It is the law that enables us to fly spiritually. This is the freedom that is mentioned in verse 2. True freedom is not the right to do anything you want to do, rather it is the power to do what you ought to do. No longer is there a power shortage when we trust the power of God within us. Such a gift of grace from God!

But how do we tap into this wonderful power?

First, it is reserved for those who belong to Jesus. Second, it is reserved for those committed to follow Jesus, to renounce sin and seek holiness. Third, it is for those who in faith and humility renounce self effort and call on the Lord to supply the power to overcome sin and live holy lives.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

Luke 11:13

The power shortage comes when we lack any or all these requisites. And Christians need to keep on doing these things. So, it turns out that the righteous do need to live by faith, as Paul said in Romans 1, not just faith to become a child of God but faith to live the Christian life. Christians who stop being committed to holy living and who stop trusting the Lord for spiritual power will inevitably fall back into powerlessness and sinful ways.

We have heard recently of some Christian leaders who got caught in sin. What happened, you might ask? They seemed so strong an successful in the Christian life. When a jet runs out of fuel, it falls from the sky. They were not continuing to rely on the Lord for moral strength to resist sin and they fell prey to that beast within. All of us fail when we don’t choose to walk in obedience to the Lord and trust the Spirit to empower us. And we can have that power every day. We can walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18

The verb in this verse is in the continuous tense. Therefore, it is saying ‘be being filled with the Spirit’. Being filled is not a once for all experience but is meant to be a daily experience in the Christian life. May God help us to be those who live in that fullness because we trust and obey. Then we will walk in freedom and victory.

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