Sermon Tone Analysis

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*“Striving in Grace”*
*Romans 7*
* *
I want to present two points to you by introducing two different scenarios.
First, I find it interesting that people often have a misunderstanding of what it means to be right with God.
Maybe you’ve had this experience also.
But isn’t it true that when you talk to people about their eternal destiny, the usual response you get has something to do with being a “good” person.
Some may even tell you about how they volunteer at the soup kitchen, coach underprivileged kids or even attend church faithfully.
People seem to think that they can somehow earn good favor with God and this is often based on being better than a neighbor or coworker.
They all have some sort of artificial and fabricated standard by which they weigh good works over bad, or good person versus a “bad” person.
We are looking at Romans 7 this morning.
I invite you to turn there with me.
The book was written by the apostle Paul and it is a rich theological letter.
Romans 7 is situated between chapters 6 and 8 (obviously) and really serves as the tension between the two.
Romans 6 indicates our position in Christ and elaborates on how sin is no longer has mastery over the believer.
Romans 8 speaks of the empowerment of the Spirit in living a life pleasing to God.
To me, Romans 7 really holds the two in balance.
It is here that we see themes of law, sin, and grace.
And it is here that we see the “behind the scenes” of Paul’s conversion.
We already know the narrative of Paul (then Saul) how he was confronted by the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Paul was a guy that, before coming to Christ, was probably one who could and did boast of his striving after righteousness.
But then he was confronted.
We know he was confronted by the Lord.
But he was also confronted with the law.
What I want us to see is that righteousness cannot be attained by our striving after it.
We cannot earn it.
*It is not what you do, but what Christ did.
*It’s not what you do because what you do is not enough for eternal life.
Though many people think so.
*  *
            In Romans 7, Paul writes to the church that because of Christ, they were freed from the condemnation and rule of the Law.
But because the church at Rome held the Law in high regard, he had to proceed carefully and meticulously to prove to them the necessity of being freed from it.
Read with me starting from verse 5 (to v. 6).
As Paul continues, he writes as if he is anticipating a response to this statement.
He offers the questions, “What shall we say, then?
Is the law sin?”
He goes on and emphasizes the fact that the law was good, but rather it was our own sinfulness that condemned us.
The point that Paul makes is that the Law provided us with the consciousness of sin.
He continues in verse 7 by saying “Yet if it had not been for the law, *I would not have known sin*.
For I would not have known *what it is to covet* if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Again, in verse 9, “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.”
He was not aware of his sinfulness until he was confronted with the Law.
This does not mean that he had no concept of right and wrong because he wrote in chapter 2 about how all have conscience that accuses us.
But what is not understood is the nature of sin and its implications regarding our relationship to God.
Paul says that he was alive apart from the law.
When you are unaware of your sinfulness, you don’t recognize the problem.
And so you need to die before you can experience new spiritual life.
The law demonstrates our depravity and inability to earn our righteousness.
This is what he means when he says that when the commandment came, or when he was confronted with it, it caused him to understand this.
And so he can conclude in verse 12 that this same law is holy, righteous, and good because he understood more clearly his need for a Savior.
One commentator notes, “Since the law is God’s law, it must of necessity reflect the nature of God.
The law of a holy God must be consistent with his holy nature (Isa 6:3).
A righteous God decrees commandments that are righteous.
They are fair and make no unreasonable demands.
The law is “good” because it intends the very best for people.
In this entire discussion Paul was not depreciating law as such.
His point had been that law has been used by sin as an unwilling accomplice to bring about death.
This is crucial for understanding the Gospel, or the “good news.”
I think I’ve said this before.
But if I approached you and told you the good news of how I have the cure for your serious illness, you would probably inquire of the illness first.
And so it is with the Gospel.
If people don’t understand their condition apart from Christ, the gospel makes no sense.
If you rightly declare that “Jesus died for sins,” without defining sin and their need of a remedy, it may not connect.
This is one of the things that I particularly appreciate about the Way of the Master evangelism training that we’ve done.
It is a simple and biblical approach to sharing the gospel.
By asking simple questions, we are able to show people that our artificial standards of “good” are not good.
We can point them to God’s standard and lead them to see their need for a Savior.
It appeals to the conscience within and shows them the problem of their condition and the good news of Jesus Christ.
The problem with many preachers and evangelists today is that they never introduce the condition but paint an inaccurate picture of what Christianity is about.
It is not about health and wealth, or about finding your purpose ultimately.
It is about seeing the need of a Savior and embracing the grace that is available to those who repent and believe.
It is our responsibility to make sure that we understand and communicate the gospel accurately and effectively.
God uses our imperfect presentations, but doesn’t excuse us from trying to get it right.
Next Paul points out that that the law produced a desire within us to sin.
He writes in verse 8, “But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.”
/Illus.
- The Flagship Hotel in Galveston, Texas, is built next to the water.
Large plate-glass windows adorn the ground-level dining room.
Occasionally, guests used to come up with the “brilliant” idea of fishing from their balconies, located directly above the dining room./
/Using heavy sinkers, they would cast their hook and bait into the water.
Unfortunately, the lines were sometimes too short and the leaded sinkers would swing down, shattering the $600 windows.
After spending large sums without solving the problem, the hotel management finally stumbled on a simple solution.
They removed the “No Fishing from Balcony” signs from the rooms!/
I think we can all identify with this.
At least I know that I can.
When I was younger especially.
How many times did our parents tell us not to touch something or hang out with somebody?
And isn’t it true that this sparks our curiosity and prompts the rebel in us to do just that - because they said something?
Augustine tells the story of how he used to go into a field and steal pears.
Not for the sake of eating them, but just for the pleasure of breaking a law.
We are rebels by our very nature.
Because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, we are born this way.
Now it’s important to notice in the text that the law is not to blame, but rather our sin.
For he says in verse 8 that sin produced this desire.
Not only did the Law show us our sin, arouse our desire to sin, but it also shows us the magnitude of our sin.
We read further in verse 13, |Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?
By no means!
It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
The force behind the phrase “utterly sinful” is better understood as being “sinful in the extreme.”
Pretty heavy language.
Can you imagine if there was such a thing as an x-ray that could detect your sin.
This machine could penetrate your physical body and into your most inner being.
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