Text
3. Righteousness
apart from the law 7:1-25
a. Death to
law 7:1-6
Chapter
7
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to
those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person
as long as he lives?
2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband
while he is living;
but if her husband dies1,
she is released from the law concerning the husband.
3 So then if, while her husband is living2,
she is joined to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress;
but if her husband dies,
she is free
from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined
to another
man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you
also were made to die to the Law through
the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who
was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.
5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions,
which were aroused
by the Law, were at work in the members of
our body to bear fruit for death.
6 But now
we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we
were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in
oldness of the letter.
b. Delivered from
law’s inward struggle 7:7-25
1.) Nature and
purpose of the law 7:7-14a
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never
be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know
sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting
if the Law had not said, "You shall not
covet."
8 But sin, taking opportunity
through the commandment, produced in me
coveting of every kind; for apart
from the Law sin is dead.
- And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died;
- and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;
11 for sin, taking opportunity
through the commandment, deceived me, and
through it killed me.
12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy
and righteous and good.
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of
death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it
might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is
good,
that through the commandment sin might become utterly
sinful.
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual;
but I
am of flesh,
sold into bondage to sin.
2.) The power of
sin 7:14b-23
15 For that which I am doing, I do not
understand; for I am not practicing what I
would like
to
do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not
wish to do, I agree with the Law,
confessing that it is good.
17 So
now,
no longer am I
the one doing it, but sin which indwells me.
18 For I know that nothing good
dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me,
but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good
that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very
evil that I do not wish.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I
do not wish,
I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me,
the one who wishes to do good.
22 For
I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of
the law of sin which is in my members.
3.) The power of
Christ sets free 7:24-25
24 Wretched
man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this
death?
- Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Thought
questions for chapter 7
a. What were your greatest frustrations
and your greatest breakthroughs this week?
Both these are at work and are related to solving chemical and
political problems.
- The theme of death is developed further in this chapter (verses 4, 6). Why is death so important, anyway?
Many people try to LIVE by rules and therefore fail. Christians LIVE
by grace. Although they might sin, it is unwittingly, and because
they LIVE by grace, they will be forgiven.
- What might lead some to say that the end of verse 7 refers to the law as actually being sin?
Why would God give me rules I can not obey? Therefore, the rule
(law) MUST be wrong (sin)! This is incorrect thinking, of course.
- From this chapter, would we conclude that our most important battle with sin is fought against specific sins, or against our sinful tendencies in general?
Tendencies.
- When Paul speaks of the authority of the Law, what does he mean?
The
Law is the means by which a person is justified.
For Further thought
Is this
Chapter referring to Paul’s pre-Christian or Christian life? Why?
Paul’s pre-Christian life. The absence of the
word Spirit being used and also the frequent use of the personal
pronoun “I”.
What kind of fruit is mentioned at the
end of verse 4?
Fruit of the Spirit see Gal 5:22f.
Are verses 13-25 about Paul’s
pre-Christian or Christian life?
The must be pre-Christian, although it is possible for Christians to
act this way (1 Cor 3:1-3; 5:1-2; 6:1-20)
How do Jesus and Paul describe the work
of the Holy Spirit (See Jn 16: 5-11)?
He is the helper, who affects our
conscience and aids us in overcoming sin.
Flesh
Weakness of 6:19; 8:3
Sinful 7:5, 18,25
Walk 8:4
Is death 8:6, 13
Hostile 8:7
Kinsman of 9:3, 5
Children of 9:8
Lustful 13:14
Forfather of 4:1
Nature
and purpose of the law
Nature
- not sin 7
- Holy
- Spiritual 14a
- Weak 8:3
Purpose
1. Manifest
the knowledge of sin 7
2. Makes
occasion for sin 8
3. Law
reveals the power of sin 9
4. Law
reveals the effect of sin 10
5. Law
reveals the deceitfulness of sin 11
6. Law
reveals the holiness of its maker 12
7. Law
reveals the sinfulness of sin 13
Is
this passage discussing pre Christian life or Christian life
Lenski - Christian
L.Deason Pre
Christian behavior
1. Past
tense 7-13 cf 13:11-13
2. Present
tense 14-23
Question: Be
imitators of me?
1. Carnal 14b
2. Sold
under sin 14b
- Working and practicing sin 15
- Indwelt in sin 17
- Captive of sin 23a
- Wretched man 24a
- Captive of the body of Christ 24a
Contradiction
if under sin
8:1-2;
Gal 5:17; 3:3; 1 Jn 2:1ff.
By way of
illustration
Sin
People
Magazine issued a lengthy questionnaire on Jan. 13, 1986 aimed at
defining just what, in the 80's, Americans regard as sinful. One
thousand responses were selected at random for analysis.
The
following list places the sins of the survey in rank from "guilty
to the max" to "blameless."
1.
Murder 18. Hypocrisy 35. Explicit rock
2.
Rape 19. Atheism lyrics
3.
Incest 20. Homosexuality 36. Idle gossip
4.
Child abuse 21. Abortion 37. Jealousy
5.
Spying against 22. Revenge 38. Laziness
your
country 23. Parking in 39. Tattling
6.
Drug dealing handicapped zone 40. Living together
7.
Embezzlement 24. Killing to protect without marriage
8.
Pederasty your property 41. Capital
9.
Spouse swapping 25. Greed punishment
10.
Adultery 26. Cheating on your 42. Premarital sex
11.
Industrial spying income tax 43. Lust in your
12.
Bigotry 27. Selfishness heart
13.
Suicide 28. Cutting into lines 44. Smoking
14.
Not helping 29. Mercy killing 45. Swearing
someone
in danger 30. Unwed parenthood 46. Telling a
15.
Sexual harassment 31. Calling in sick white lie
16.
Misrepresenting when you're not 47. Not voting
something
you're 32. Overeating 48. Masturbation
selling
33. Reading/Viewing 49. Drinking
17.
Taking drugs pornography alcohol
34. Divorce 50.
Nude sunbathing
51.
Taping off TV
or radio
In the winter of 1976,
John Jordan, together with three of his friends, decided to
photograph Niagara Falls. They went to Goat Island to enjoy the icy
beauty. While there Jordan and two others climbed the drifts that
covered protective railings, then fell into the ice along the shore
about 200 feet upstream from the falls. The other two scrambled back
to land, but Jordan was swept down to within fifteen feet of the
brink of the Horseshoe Falls. There, somehow, he was able to grasp
and cling to a chunk of ice. Patrolman James MacNeill was able to
rescue the young man.
Whenever we become
silent about God's protective railings, the moral laws of God, we
endanger the lives of those under our care. Right now, in the winter
time of the Church, little is said about the necessity of obeying
God's laws. But the wages of sin is still death. Let us rescue the
perishing and care for the dying; but let us preach, too, the
function of God's moral law.
A cartoon in the Hong
Kong Tattler showed Moses just come down from the top of the mountain
with the tablets in his hand. He's reporting to the children of
Israel and says, "It was hard bargaining--we get the milk and
honey, but the anti-adultery clause stays in.
--James S. Hewett,
Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc,
1988), p. 457.
1
Death
Called sleep Dt 31:16; Jn 11:11; Job
7:21; 14:12; Dan 12:2
Exempt from Enoch –Gen5:24, Elijah- 1 Ki 19:4; At the second
coming – saints 1 Cor 15:51; 1 Thess 4:15, 17
A judgment Gen 6:7; 19:12; 1 Chr 10:13-14
Of the wicked Prov 2:22; 10:25,27; prov 11:7,10; Psa 1; Prov 14:12;
Matt 7:13
Of the righteous Job 19:25; Psa 23; Psa 116:15; Jn 8:51; 1 cor
15:55-57; Eph 2:1-6; Rev 2:10
Second Matt 10:28; Matt 25:30, 41, 46; Mk 9:43f; Rom 6:16-23; 2
Thess 1:9; Rev 2:10; 19:20
2
THE CHRISTIAN WALK (LIFE)
A walk of faith 2 Cor 5:7
A walk of the Spirit Gal 5:16
A walk in the heavens Eph 4:1
A walk of love Eph 4:2
A wise walk Eph 4:2
A walk in light 1 Jn 1:7
A walk like Christ 1 Jn 2:6
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