ROMANS 7B I DO & I DO NOT

ROMANS 7B I DO & I DO NOT
ROMANS 7:1-25

Introduction:   
Have congregation stand.
Read the opening to a wedding ceremony.  “We are gathered together….
Open the ceremony in prayer.
Have congregation be seated.
Read the “I Do” vows.
Questions about our keeping of our vows.
Gentlemen, How many of you have kept every single vow completely?
Ladies, How many of you have kept every single vow completely?
How many of you would be honest enough to say that there are times that you do what you don’t want to do and there are times that what you want to do you don’t end up doing?
I am sure that is true with most of us.
We are in Romans 7 today.
Paul references marriage here as an example.
He also gets into the “I Dos” and the “I Do Nots“. 
It is the I Dos and the I do nots that I want to focus on this morning.

I.    Briefly highlight Paul’s comments about marriage.  Verses 1-3

A.    By law a married woman is bound to her husband.
If her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.

B.    An adulteress is one who is married to another while still under the law of marriage.

C.    Application
Paul is using this comment about marriage as an example to get a greater point across concerning law and grace and our marriage to the law being broken by our death to the law and our new life in grace.
Man was bound by the law.
Man is set free from the law by grace.
This freedom came through Christ.
This freedom came through our dying to the old man and coming alive to the new.
Paul is still talking about this law and grace issue.
He is still talking about dying to sin and living in it no longer.
But living a new in Christ.
He is telling us today that it is not as easy as it might seem to be.
Was it easy to complete to a T every vow that you made on your wedding day?
The same is true even more so in our walk with God.
One of the commentators that I used breaks this inward conflict of the Christian heart down this way.
Desire and Delight
Conflict and Captivity
Trial and Triumph

II.    Desire and Delight, vs. 21,22

A.     A desire to do the good.
When I want to do good.
Paul has a desire to do what is right and good.
That is great to have that desire.
I believe many people have that desire.
Paul had more than a desire or a want.

B.    Paul had a delight
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. “
I don’t think he is talking about the OT law there.
I am thinking his delight is in the heart of God.
Many have a desire to do good. 
There is not as many who delight in the Word, the commands of God.
The Word shows us the desires, the delights, the will of God.

C.    I challenge you today to desire the things of God and to delight in the things that God delights in. 
But a desire and a delight is not enough we need to carry through.
There is often times conflict to get to the triumph.

III.    Conflict and Captivity,  vs. 23

A.    Under the captivity of sin, 
vs. 14
vs. 17
The believer is not, nor can not be under the captivity of sin.
Only an unbeliever can be under the captivity of sin.

B.    The conflict with sin.
vs. 15
Sinless perfection is impossible in this life.
I believe that the closer we draw to God the more we realize that we are imperfect and that there is a struggle within us.
I am sure that we all want to do good. 
But sin has a way of sitting on our other shoulder speaking into our other ear. 

C.    This conflict even for the believer is real.
Romans 8:13
Galatians 5:16-18  So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We need to get beyond this conflict and trial to triumph.

IV.    Trial and Triumph

A.    What a wretched man I am?
Paul is saying that this conflict makes me feel like such a wretched man.
I hate sin.
I wish I was never tempted to sin.
I wish that we would never ever yield to temptation. 
The closer we get to God the more awful we feel about sin in our lives, even the smallest of sin.

B.    What are you feelings about sin?
Do you think one little one won’t hurt?
Do you hate and feel guilty every time you slip?
Do you think that grace will wash it away so its ok?
We need to loath, to hate sin and do our best to avoid it.
We need to see sin as the abominable thing that God hates.

C.    Who will rescue me?
Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:   
Lessons for us to learn.
We need to watch and pray that we do not fall into temptation.
We need to do our best to think on the right and the good.   “Whatsoever… think on these things.”     Philippians 4:8   Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
This is a lesson on humility as well. 
This should teach us love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness toward others that slip and fall. 
This should teach us to even more rely on the Spirit of the Lord to help us.
This passage could be looked at from 2 sides.
It could be looked at from the standpoint of a non Christian trying to do good or right.
It could be looked at as a Christian struggling with continually doing what is good and right.
There are those that say it is from one or the other standpoint.  
I have been looking at it today from the standpoint of a Christian hearing two voices and doing his or her best to listen to the right voice. 
Verse 14 however makes it clearly sound like its application is to a non Christian because a believer can not be a slave to sin.
If you are a slave to sin you need to turn to the Lord and be set free.
If you are a believer struggling from time to time with sin then we need to let the Spirit of God help us overcome that conflict.
Chapter 8 gives us some great help to move beyond this struggle.