Romans 7:13-25 "Victory After Defeat"

1:11And so this morning in Romans 7, we're going to get a very sobering reminder that we are, in fact, at war. Specifically, that we are at war with our flesh and the sin that dwells in the Of us, even those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ. Last week we covered Romans 7:7 through 12, where Paul addressed the potential misunderstanding that he believed that the law was sin. He responded by teaching that the law is holy and righteous and good.

1:57But the law is also powerless to help us because of our sin. It promises life, but it leads to death. And that's because of the sin that dwells inside of us. We cannot keep God's commands perfectly. So the law proves to be death to us, but it also points us to Jesus Christ. And that's where we ended last week, seeing how the law and our inability to keep the law because of our sin points us to our need for the Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, today in verses 13 through 25, Paul is going to expand upon that truth. And he is going to get very personal in the passage. As you heard through the scripture reading, more than 40 times in this section, Paul uses the word I or me more than 40 times. He has been so Speaking up to this point in the past tense. The verbs are past tense, but now, starting in verse 13, the verbs are present tense.

3:10And that is because Paul is open and honest about his current personal battle with sin. And he shows how sin produces death in him through the law over and over. And so, friends, I hope that this passage today will be a great encouragement in your own personal battle with sin. If pastoral ministry has shown me anything, it is that all of us are battling sin. And many of us are battling the same sin or the same few sins over and over.

3:56We have lost a lot of battles to that one sin or to those few sins, and we continue to lose some of those battles. It's left a lot of us confused and frustrated and discouraged. And so, here's what we're going to see today from Romans chapter 7. Sometimes sin defeats us and takes us captive, but Jesus rescues us and wins the war. Isn't that good news? And I want to show you how we're going to get there today. Here's the outline for where we're going. First, Christians agree that the law is good and sin is evil. Second, Christians have a war raging inside of them.

4:51And then, third, Christians look to Jesus who rescues us and wins the war. So let's look together at Romans 7:13, where we'll see that Christians agree that the law is good and sin is evil. 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.

5:33Now, if you look back one verse to verse 12, the last verse in the previous section, you'll see that Paul concludes by saying that the law is holy and righteous and good. And at the beginning of verse 13, Paul reiterates that the law is good. He repeats that in the middle of the verse that we just read. Now, look at verse 14. Paul says, For we know that the law is spiritual. Go down to the end of verse 16.

6:05Paul declares, I agree with the law that it is good. Go all the way down to verse 22. Paul says, for I delight in the law of God in my inner being. Friends, Paul believed that God's law is good. Christians believe that God's law is good. Paul delighted in God's law. Christians delight in God's law. The law does not bring death to us, which is another way of saying the law is not to blame. What brings death to us?

6:51Paul told us in verse 13, once again, it was sin producing death in me. So the law is not to blame for our spiritual death or our eventual physical death. It is sin. Sin is to blame. And so, what does the law show us about sin then? The law shows us that it is exceedingly sinful. Look what Paul says at the end of verse 13. He says, in such memorable language, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through The commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

7:34Other translations say the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Isn't that great language? The exceeding sinfulness of sin. What's Paul talking about? Well, back in Romans 7, verses 7 and 8, Paul used the example of coveting. He quoted the 10th commandment, you shall not covet, and he showed how sin seized an opportunity through that commandment and produced in him all kinds of covetousness. The fact that God's law said, don't covet your neighbor's house or your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's animals, awakened those very desires in Paul and in everybody else who has ever read the law.

8:17So, in a twisted way, everyone who reads the law is now more tempted to covet their neighbor's house, their neighbor's wife, their neighbor's animals, anything that belongs to your neighbor. And so, from the law, we not only realize that coveting is sinful, but we see just how sinful coveting is. It is sinful beyond measure. It is exceedingly sinful because we are coveting in spite of the fact that God has commanded us not to do it. And another way that we could say that sin is sinful beyond measure is we could say that sin. Sin is evil.

9:03Sin is evil. And that's exactly what Paul calls it in this passage. If you take a look at verse 19, Paul says, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Go down to verse 21. He says, So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. Sin is evil. And sometimes we don't use the most accurate words when we're talking about things, right?

9:46When we're in a culture that says, like, a hamburger is awesome, it's very apparent that we don't use words accurately all the time. God is awesome. The hamburger is good, right? And so when we're talking about our sin, we don't often call it evil. We say that we've made some mistakes. We say that we have some bad habits. We've made some errors in judgment. Maybe we even go so far as to call our sin deplorable, but we often stop short of calling sin what it really is, which is evil. Sin is evil. It's the exact opposite of God's law, which is holy and righteous. And good, and that's how Paul describes it. But that's what sin is: sin is evil. And sin is evil because it is rebellion against our creator and sustainer.

10:43It is telling God, we do not want to submit to you, even though you have created us for a specific purpose to worship you, to live for your glory, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. You've created us to do those things, but we've said, no, I don't want to do that. I want to be the God of my own life. I want to decide what is right and wrong, what is good and evil. I want to be able to live the way that I want to live. And so, instead of loving God, we exchange His worship for the worship of created things for idols. Instead of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, we use and abuse people to get ahead, to get what we want, to get what we desire.

11:30Sin is evil. And friends, Christians agree that God's law is good, and sin is evil. But let me be clear: you don't have to be a Christian to agree that God's law is good. The Pharisees agreed that God's law is good. You don't have to be a Christian to agree that God's law is good. But if you don't agree that God's law is good, You are not a Christian. If you can read God's law and say, I don't think that's good, you are not a Christian no matter what you think about yourself.

12:11And in the same way, you don't have to be a Christian to agree that sin is evil. Lots of people view murder and stealing and lying and adultery as evil. Lots of people view oppression and injustice and racism as evil. You don't have to be a Christian to agree that sin is evil. But if you don't agree that sin is evil, you aren't a Christian, no matter what you think about yourself. Because Christians agree that God's law is good and sin is evil.

12:54But that sets up the entire challenge of the passage and the entire challenge that you and I face every day of our lives. And that is this. Christians have a war raging inside them between good and evil. So let's pick up here in verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

14:06Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

14:43Friends, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a war raging inside of you. You've had a war raging inside of you since the day you came to faith in Christ. You know exactly. What Paul is talking about in these verses. Look again at verse 15. Paul asks, or he says rather, for I do not understand my own actions. Have you ever thought that before? I think it lots of times every day. I do not understand my own actions. Why do I do the stuff that I do? Why do I say the stuff that I say? Why do I think the thoughts that I think? Why am I like this? I don't get it.

15:36Look at the second half of verse 15. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. So you call up your friend or you pull your coworker into the break room and you start gossiping about somebody that you both know. You know it's wrong, you know it's sin, you know it's evil, but you do it anyway. And you keep on doing it. Like a dog that returns to its vomit, the scripture says.

16:15Go down to verse 18. Look at the second sentence in verse 18. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. So, you know that anger is a problem for you. You keep on blowing up at your spouse, losing it with your children, getting angry with your roommates over and over again, and you don't seem to be able to stop yourself from losing it. Or maybe you and your boyfriend, you and your girlfriend, you've had that same conversation so many times. You know the conversation I'm talking about.

17:02And you've said, This time we're going to set these boundaries. This time we're going to establish these rules. This is not going to happen again. But you don't seem to have the ability to do what is right. Look at verse 19. Paul says, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Over the years, I've had countless conversations with people who have told me, I'm addicted to pornography.

17:40I know that it's evil. I know that it exploits, exploits women and children and men. I understand that 99% of these people are trafficked and they are not having. Fun, no matter what it looks like. I understand that they have to look like that in these pictures and in these videos because they will get in trouble with their traffickers if they don't. I understand all of that, but I cannot stop looking at it. I know it's destroying my heart, my soul, my mind, but I keep on doing it. The evil that you do not want, you keep on doing.

18:30Look at verse 22. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. And finally, look at the last sentence in this section, the second half of verse 25. So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

19:08Friends, for Paul and for the Christian, this whole passage, I mean, you feel the weight of it. This is the situation. Paul says in verse 22, we delight, Christians delight in God's law in their inner being. Like he says in verse 25, we serve the law of God with our minds. And that's because God has given us new hearts and new minds when we came to faith in Christ, when he caused us to be born again. God has done that. He has made us into new creations. He's fulfilled his promises through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Look at what he says in Jeremiah chapter 31.

19:51For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Look what God promises in Ezekiel 36. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

20:28Church, just as God promised, God gave us new hearts. He put his law inside of our hearts and our minds when we came to faith in Christ. He put his spirit within us, and through his spirit, he gives us the ability to walk in his statutes. But as Paul teaches here in Romans 7, there is another law at work in the members of our body. There is another law. And that is what the New Testament authors often refer to as the flesh.

21:06That law wages war against God's law that he put within our hearts and minds. Our hearts and minds, which have been made new in Christ, are at war with our flesh. And sometimes we lose battles with our flesh, don't we? You may have lost one last week or last night or even on the way to worship this morning. And when we lose those battles, sin in that moment takes us captive as a prisoner of war and makes us do its will.

21:49We believe that God's law is good. We delight in it in our inner being, but at all times, evil lies close at hand because sin is still dwelling in us, in our flesh. Apart from God's law, God's grace rather, and God's Spirit, we don't have the ability to keep God's commands, to do the good that we really want to do. Friends, this is the Christian's reality. Through faith in Jesus, we've already been declared righteous. When God looks at you, when God looks at me, he sees us as men and women and children who are just as righteous. As Christ, because his righteousness has been credited to us through faith.

22:37But although we've been declared righteous, we have not yet been actually made righteous. That's not going to happen until Jesus returns and we receive our new perfect resurrection bodies that have no indwelling sin left in them. Until that day, there's going to be a war raging inside of us between good and evil, between the desire to obey God and the desire to gratify sin and gratify the flesh. I know you feel it. I feel it. Paul felt it too.

23:20And for our good, the Holy Spirit inspired him to share openly and honestly about that internal war so that we could come to this passage and find hope in the midst of our own battle with sin. That is why this is here. I think this passage is so important, particularly for those of you who are tempted to doubt your salvation. You sin, or you sin in the same way that you've sinned many times before, the evil that You don't want to do, you keep on doing.

24:05And Satan comes and he accuses you. Some Christian, you are. An ambassador for Christ, huh? You're a hypocrite. You're a phony. Christians don't sin like you do. Christians don't keep battling with the same sin over and over again. Satan comes and he accuses you. You ever had those thoughts? I believe many of us have. Perhaps even many people in the room have had those thoughts at some point. Brothers and sisters, I don't want you giving in to those thoughts. God does not want you giving in to those thoughts. He does not want you living a life where every day you are wondering, am I really a Christian? Am I really saved? Just because you're battling sin or because you're battling the same sin over and over again. Now listen, Paul has been clear in Romans and the entire Bible is clear that we must not go on living in sin. Do you remember Romans 6, 12? Look at this on the screen. Paul says, let not sin. Sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.

25:37Christians do not live in sin. Period. End of sentence. Christians don't make peace with their sin. Non-Christians make peace with their sin. Christians declare war on their sin. And we make war on our sin every single day. The very fact that you are at war with your sin is a piece of evidence that you are a Christian. But friends, in war, you lose some battles, sometimes to the same enemy. I mean, you think about the Continental Army. They lost over and over again to the same army until they finally strung some victories together and ultimately won the War of Independence.

26:36The Union Army took a lot of losses in the early years before they finally started winning and ultimately won the Civil War. The Allies lost multiple battles before D-Day, before they finally strung all those victories together and ultimately won World War II. You see, when you and I give into our fight, Flesh and we sin, or we sin in the same way we've sinned many times before, we lose another battle. In that moment, sin has defeated us and it has taken us captive as a prisoner of war.

27:17And what do prisoners of war do? They cry out for rescue, they long for their army to win the war and set them free. And in the same way, when we lose a spiritual battle and we have been taken captive, we cry out with Paul, wretched person that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Look at verse 25. Look at this glorious answer. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. What hope does the defeated prisoner of war really have? That he could escape?

28:05I mean, sure, some prisoners of war, by their strength and their wit and their willpower, they have escaped. They've set themselves free and they've rejoined their army and helped win the war. But friends, we can't do that. We can't rescue ourselves from sin's power. As Paul says, I have the desire to do what is right, but I don't have the ability to do it. To carry it out, we cannot rescue ourselves from sin's power. On our own, we will lose every battle. And when you lose every battle, you lose the war. That's how that works.

28:47Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Every person has sinned, so every person is going to die. You lose every battle, you lose the war. And on our own, that is exactly what's going to happen. We will lose every battle with sin, so we will lose the war with sin. But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He comes and he rescues us, and he wins the war. Friends, Jesus took the fight straight to Satan and battled him head to head in the wilderness to rescue us from sin's power. He won every battle that we have lost and every battle that we will lose. And because that is true, he can rescue us from sin's power. Look on the screen at Hebrews 4.

29:50What a great reminder. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are. Yet without sin. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Who will deliver us from sin's power? Jesus can, and Jesus will. He's won every battle with sin, and he can help us win our battles with sin. Jesus rescues us from sin's power. All we need to do is draw near. Friends, when you draw near to God, what do you expect to find?

30:40Do you expect to find him scowling at you, angry, ready to berate you? No, God's word says, come, draw near with confidence, because what you're going to find is mercy. Come and receive that mercy. You will know what you functionally believe about the gospel based on what you do after your sin. Do you run from God or do you run to God? The person who understands the gospel runs to God in confidence, knowing that we are going to receive mercy and find grace. Jesus rescues us. From sin's power.

31:34And you see, because Jesus won every battle, he also won the war. The wages of sin is death, and Jesus died in our place for our sin. But he rose from the grave, defeating sin by defeating the penalty of sin. Look on the screen at 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says, For as by a man came death, by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

32:11Who will deliver us from sin's penalty? Jesus can, and Jesus will. He has won the war with sin, and through faith, his victory becomes our victory. Jesus rescues us from sin's penalty. All we need to do is trust him. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Brothers and sisters, I hope that every time you read Romans 7, you will find hope. Maybe every time you've ever read this passage before, you were just confused. You were just going, I don't understand what this is about. I don't know who Paul's talking about. I don't know what's going on here. I hope that in some way I have been used as an instrument of God to show you this morning the hope that is here for you in the midst of your sin, that you can come here to Romans 7 and find hope in the battle.

33:19Even the Apostle Paul saw his sin and was left confused and frustrated and discouraged. But he also understood that the problem was sin dwelling inside of him. He was living in the already and not yetness of the Christian life. He understood that through faith he was already a new creation. He had already been given a new heart and a new spirit. He had already been adopted into God's family. But he also understood that he was not yet actually righteous, not yet fully holy, as Jesus is holy. He understood that sin was still dwelling in him, that there was a part of him that would continue to wage war against God's law and God's Spirit inside of him. And so he looked to Jesus, the one who he knew would rescue him and win the war.

34:23Christians, we must never make peace with our sin. We must declare war on It and we must make war on it every single day. But when we lose a battle with sin, even if it's the same battle over and over, we must look to Christ for rescue and for victory. And if you are here this morning, and as we walked through Romans 7, you realize that you've got things that you do or that you keep on doing that you hate.

35:01Things that you want to stop doing, but you don't seem to have the ability to do that. You have the desire, but not the power to quit doing evil. My friend, whether you realize it or not, you are agreeing with God's law that it is good. Isn't that what Paul said in the passage? Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it's good. So when you gossip and you feel bad about it, you're agreeing with God's law. When you lose your temper and you feel bad about it, you're agreeing with God's law. When you say, I'm going to quit committing adultery, I'm going to quit looking at pornography, you're agreeing with God's law. In all of these instances and many more, you are saying, God, your law is good and right. But here's the thing: you have good desires and good intentions, but you do not have any power. You do not have any To stop doing these bad things and start doing good things.

36:04If you are a very disciplined person, you might be able to stop doing that stuff for a while, even for a long time. But you will never be able to stop doing that thing and start doing all of the right things perfectly from a completely pure heart every day of your life. And that is what God requires. He's not asking you to get a little bit better, he's asking for perfection. And if you can't be perfect, then you need Jesus.

36:39And so, this is the morning. Friends, this is the morning that you need to recognize that you have been playing games with sin, that you want to be delivered from it, but you're not. That you've been trying to make yourself righteous, but you can't. Today needs to be the day that you say, Lord, apart from you, I cannot stop doing the things that I hate. Apart from you, I will keep on doing evil. Will you rescue me? Will you win the victory for me? Turn to Christ, the one who defeated sin and defeated death for you in his life and death and resurrection. Receive his forgiveness this morning and tell somebody about it.

37:30Do not leave today until you have done business with God. Do not leave today until you have made a decision for or against Christ. Don't spend another moment on the fence. Let today be the day. Jesus promises that he will not cast out anyone who comes to him. So come to him this morning, the one who will rescue you and win your war with sin. Let's pray. Father, we acknowledge that this is a hard and heavy passage for all of us.

38:49It is so tough to think about the ways that we have sinned against you and other people. Maybe once, but... Probably over and over in a lot of the same ways. And so, God, I pray that you would meet every Christian here this morning with the reassuring presence and love and grace of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. I pray that we would draw near both with confidence and with all of our sin and failure. That we would draw near to the throne of grace and say, Lord, we need mercy.

39:40We need grace because we do, and you promise to give it to us. You don't promise a lecture, a berating, a spanking. You promise mercy and grace if we come. And so, I pray that we would come yet again. Say, Lord, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for the ways that I have failed, that I have done evil. Would you rescue me again? Would you win my battles again? And God, for those who are not yet believers in Jesus Christ, I pray that you meet them right where they are in the Seat this morning.

40:33I pray that you would give them grace to turn to Jesus Christ in faith. I pray that they would no longer trust in themselves, but in you and in you alone and what you've done. I pray that there would be freedom, Lord, for every one of us from the sins that have plagued us and plagued those in our lives for far too long. We look to you, Lord. Where does our help come from? Only from you.

41:06Only from you. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.