March 1, 2013

Romans - Lesson 7


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.
  1. And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died;
  2. 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?
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.

  1. 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
  1. not sin 7
  2. Holy
  3. Spiritual 14a
  4. 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
  1. Working and practicing sin 15
  2. Indwelt in sin 17
  3. Captive of sin 23a
  4. Wretched man 24a
  5. 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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