Devotional talk #4 given on July 22, 2010 in a series of 5 talks on the book of Romans given July 19-23, 2010 at the Community Hospital of SDA in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

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Norman McNulty

The Man of Romans 7

I've been enjoying sharing on the book of Romans all week.

So we have covered some high points thus far.

We covered the power of the gospel the first day from Romans chapter 1 and what it means for the just to live by faith.

The next day, on Tuesday, we covered the faith of Abraham in Romans chapter 4, showing that here is an example of a just man who lived by faith, and that it's not just for him alone, it's for us also, if we believe the same way Abraham believed.

Yesterday, we talked about the justified life, what it means to be justified by faith, And Romans 6 shows us that when we are justified by faith, we are dead to sin.

We have been raised up to walk in newness of life, the way Christ was raised up from the dead.

So that is what we have seen thus far in our studies.

And before we get into our study for today, let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, thank you for this day and for this opportunity to study from your word.

Bless us now as we study from the end of Romans 6 and Romans chapter 7.

So on the basis of what I've said so far, when we come to the end of Romans chapter 6, what we see is that you have 2 options.

Because what Paul has presented in the book of Romans through the first half of Romans chapter 6 is the concept of justification by faith.

Once he has laid the foundation for justification by faith, He shows that you are either a servant to sin or a servant to God and righteousness.

Now the Greek word for servant, as translated in the King James Version, is actually slave.

So your option is either to be a slave to sin or a slave to God and His righteousness.

Now, being a slave to God is not a hardship.

Scripture says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Now Satan tries to make it appear that being a slave to him is the easy way out and the fun way to go.

Did you realize that he's really a hard task master?

Do you realize that He is the 1 that causes the pain and suffering in this world?

And so many times God gets blamed for what Satan does.

It's true that God allows things to happen, but Satan is the 1 who causes pain and suffering in this world.

So as we look at the end of Romans 6, starting in verse 16, it says, know ye not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness." Now notice this, if you are a slave to sin, the end result is death.

But if we are dead to sin and we obey the Lord, that is righteousness.

And continuing on in Romans 6.18, It says, being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.

Now, for those of you who were here yesterday, do you remember what being free from sin can also be translated as in Romans chapter 6, verse 7?

In Romans chapter 6 verse 7, when you read the marginal reading for freed from sin, it actually means justified.

So in Romans 6, 18, when it says, being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness, What he's saying is when you are justified by faith, you are the servants of righteousness.

Therefore, if you are justified by faith, you live a righteous life.

And then he continues on, verse 20, for when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.

In other words, when you were sinning, you didn't live a righteous life because you were a slave to sin.

And then notice again verse 22, but now being made free from sin, and again that means to be justified, being made free from sin and become servants to God or slaves to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.

So notice this, When you are free from sin, you are justified, which means you live a holy life, and the end result is everlasting life because of what Christ has done for us.

And then, the famous verse in Romans 6, 23 that we all know, but now we understand the context better.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When you are a slave to sin, you get paid, and your wages are death.

How is it that Satan has deceived so many of us to think that what he has to offer is so much better than God, when his pay scale is death?

It doesn't matter what end of the pay scale you're on with him, it's all the same.

He actually gives us a gift because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

However, we've studied that we must surrender our lives completely to the Lord and be crucified with Christ.

When that happens, God gives us a free gift.

And when you consider what God has given up by sending Jesus to this earth, He's not asking a whole lot for us to surrender our lives to him.

In fact, he's doing us a huge favor because he knows that if we don't surrender our lives to God the devil's going to give us a pay scale at the end of our lives and that payment is death and the Lord doesn't want us to die so he says let me give you a free gift.

The only condition is complete surrender to me.

And that's what we're going to look at now in Romans 7.

Romans chapter 7, which as I said yesterday, is probably 1 of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible.

And we're going to look at it from a biblical perspective.

And what we're going to see is that Romans 7 does not contradict Romans 6.

A lot of times people read Romans 6 and say, oh, being dead to sin, we don't live any longer therein.

That's nice, but you have to understand that based on the context of Romans 7.

Well, let's see what Paul's really saying in Romans 7, because obviously God, speaking through Paul, does not contradict himself.

So let's start in Romans chapter 7, verse 1.

Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth." Now Paul is writing to the Jews at Rome primarily, and he's speaking to them who know the 10 Commandments.

And he says, the law has dominion over you as long as you live.

If you sin, the law is going to point out your sin.

And notice the illustration he uses starting here in verse 2.

He says, for the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth, that if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

Now he's speaking of the law of marriage here.

And of course the fifth commandment, or sorry the seventh commandment, says thou shall not commit adultery.

But what he's speaking here is when you are married, and he uses the illustration of a woman and he does this for a very specific reason which you're going to see.

A woman marries a man and now that man becomes her husband.

As long as her husband is alive, she is bound by the law of marriage according to scripture to stay married to him.

And Paul is using this as an illustration.

And he's actually not trying to give a sermon here about faithfulness in marriage, although that's a side point, and it's important.

And too many people today don't regard the sanctity of the marriage vow.

But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

So as long as he's alive, she's bound to be married to him.

But if he dies, she can marry someone else.

Notice what he says in verse 3, so then if while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.

But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Why is Paul using the law of marriage as an illustration here in Romans 7?

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God." What's Paul saying here?

Do you remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 6 verse 6?

When he said, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin?

Do you realize that when we are sinners, following after sin, being slaves to sin, we are married to the old man of sin.

And the only way to be delivered from the slavery of sin is for the old man to be crucified.

When that old man is crucified, Paul is teaching here, spiritually speaking, we become married to Christ.

Christ does not commit adultery, spiritually speaking.

If the old man is still alive, Christ will not come into your life because Christ respects the law of marriage.

But if the old man is alive, Christ isn't going to marry you because 3 people are too crowded for a marriage.

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The Man of Romans 7

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