Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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In case you've been asleep for the last few months, we have a State election coming up.
And the fun and games have started already, and you know, then it all boils down to it, this election, just like the last one, will be all about one thing.
How to make VIC a better place.
Law and Order.
Education.
Health.
Everything needs fixing.
And whoever you listen to, all of them will promise to fix it.
Because all of 'em reckon the way to make VIC a better place is to have the right policies.
To spend more money.
To build more schools.
To make stricter laws.
But in the end, they can change all the laws they want and make them as tough as they like, and it won't be a solution to the real problem.
That people are greedy.
That people are jealous.
That people are selfish.
People, by nature, are full of self-interest.
That people are dishonest.
That people are sexually immoral.
That people in high places will take any opportunity they can for corruption.
And no matter how many new laws you have, none of those things will change.
The Law can't change you.
When it comes to the Christian life, it's much the same.
Don't rely even 1 per cent on the Law to change you: cry daily for the gracious work of the indwelling Spirit of God.
Paul writes to ensure we grasp that it was never the purpose of the Law to make bad people good; only the gospel can ever do that.
And a church that does not understand this will not persevere in living under grace and in harmony.
1.
Where are we up to:
In chapter 6, Paul dealt with the view which says that because we are saved by what God has done, it matters little what we do.
In fact, we have a free license to do all we please because God is gracious.
Which Paul has said.
No.
You are dead to sin, so live for God.
But in chapter 7, Paul deals with the view that says, "yes, we are indeed saved by what God has done, but we must also live under His Law."
It says we can become holy and pleasing to God by obeying laws.
It measures spirituality by a list of dos and don'ts.
It believes that the Law can change you.
To which Paul says No.
You have failed to understand God's laws.
More than that, Paul wants us to be free from the kind of heartache this type of living produces.
So in Romans 7, he teaches us three lessons, which, if understood and applied, will deliver us from legalism.
2. The Authority of the Law (7:1-6):
So precisely what authority does the Law have in the Christian life?
Paul answers this question in verses 1-6.
In typical Paul style, he states his point in verse 1 and then illustrates this to help us see what he is getting at.
Paul's point is that the Law of Moses has no authority over a person when they die.
He then takes one part of the Law of Moses, the seventh commandment, and shows that death ends the woman's obligation to her husband.
Death ends the Law that governs her marriage relationship and frees her to enter another marriage relationship.
Then in verses 4-6, Paul applies this to us and tells us that Christians have a new relationship with the Law because of their union with Jesus.
So in verse 4, he says
Christians' die to the Law.'
So in a narrow sense, the Jewish believer was released from the obligation to keep the Law of Moses, including food laws, male circumcision, the Passover and other festivals.
But in a more profound sense, it means that all believers have been released from the Law's authority.
God did this through the body of Christ.
God did this, so Jesus' death ends our relationship with the Law and makes it possible to have a relationship with Him.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead, this new marriage will last forever.
God's goal was for you to bear fruit for God.
Then quite logically, Paul says
The Law has no authority over a dead person.
We have been released from the Law.
Released that we might serve God.
The Christian life is not one of independence and rebellion; we saw that in chapter 6, but nor is it one of law keeping.
It is a life of serving Christ and others.
But legalists spend so much of their time picking faults with others to be much used to God.
We need to understand that we are released from such lifestyles to be living sacrifices for Him that died for us.
We are to serve in the new way of the Spirit, chapter 8
2. The Ministry of the Law (7:7-13):
Given that Paul seems to have said so many negative things about the Law, we've got to wonder if he is rejecting it altogether.
But for Paul, the Law has an essential and practical function.
and Romans 3:20 read
What is the Law's function?
First, it is really good at showing you when you have got it wrong.
The Law exposes sin, shines the light of God's truth on sin, unmasks sin, strips off the deceptive veneer, and shows it up for its ugly rebellion.
Example: Part 1.
But is that all?
There is something in human nature that wants to rebel whenever a law is given.
Wet Paint Illustration.
But why?
Because
Our sinful nature does not want to submit to God's Law.
Christians who try to live by rules and regulations soon discover that their legalistic system only arouses more sin and creates more problems.
Then in verse 9, Paul draws a cartoon, telling a story with a few brushstrokes.
A man sits in a room tied to a sleeping monster called 'sin'.
In a precarious sense, he is 'alive' while the monster dozes.
But then 'the commandment' enters the room and shouts to the man that he must kill the monster' sin'.
What happens?
Surprise, the monster wakes and doesn't want to be killed!
If it's your life or mine, says the monster, that's an easy choice.
And so the man dies, killed by his own monster, awakened by the Law.
This is not the first time we've heard this from Paul.
The Law cannot give us life.
It can only show us our sins and convict us as guilty and worthy of condemnation.
People who seek to live by the Law do that, thinking it will bring them life, but it has the opposite effect.
That is why legalistic churches and Christians never grow; they live by laws that are killing them.
We need to live by the Holy Spirit if we want to grow.
We must live by His power rather than by the Law and its inability to give life.
So here is Paul's argument: 1: There is nothing wrong with the Law.
In fact, it is Holy.
2: But the Law reveals sin, arouses sin, and then sin destroys us.
3: See how sinful sin is when it can take something as good as the Law to produce such tragic results.
The problem is not with the Law but with our sinful natures.
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