The following points are sermon highlights of the mp3 sermon posted below [square brackets, emboldening, underscoring, and orange letters are mine]:
- The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is able to set people free: Christ has come, died, risen again and has come into our hearts via His Spirit that we who believe might be free
- Freedom from self-centeredness, hostility, bitterness, anxiety, fears; the bondage of habits…that we might be the men and women God designed us to be in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation; to be shining lights in darkness
- In Romans 5 and 6 these things are stated as possibilities for us in Christ
- However, even though we’re Christians, we can err from this type of life in Christ in two ways: 1.) you may give way to sin for various reasons, such as the difficulty of the struggle; or the enjoyment of sin: antinomianism: against the law; “grace will forgive me”
- Romans 6:15-22 answers that err: sin will enslave you, shame you, limit you, defile you, spread corruption and death in your experience
- One cannot give way to sin without being enslaved by it
- Error 2: legalism: trying your best to obey God via will power, resolve, discipline, dedication, determination…
- One who is erring in this way will likely be defensive, self-righteous, critical of others, proud of his accomplishments, bored, dull, discouraged, depressed or even despairing as in Romans 7
- Those two errors are so because we are not under law, but grace
- Chapter 7: a woman and two husbands described: Adam/law; Christ/grace
- When resting in Christ, one is no longer under law
- What is the purpose of the law then? It is good, Mat 5:19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- It cannot deliver us from sin; but it exposes the sin in us and drives us back to Christ [to rest / rely upon Him and not ourselves, explained below]
- Verses 7:7-13 describe how the law exposes sin, how it works
- Verses 7:14-25 describe how we feel (our experience) of the law exposing sin and killing us
- When Paul encountered temptation, knowing the tenth commandment, it caused all kinds of sin to awaken in him, all kinds of covetousness
- The law, via waking up sin in him, caused death. Perhaps Paul had been raised in a godly home wherein temptation was very limited…and in new circumstances, temptation was greater and therefore aroused sin in him (explained fully by Stedman)
- Perhaps Paul had been externally righteous before, but now an internal type of sin was aroused by the tenth commandment: thoughts, imaginations, ambitions, desires and feelings
- That is, sin had been silently waiting inside him until the law awakened it via the tenth commandment
- The law is good because it enables us to recognize sin as exceedingly sinful; as an evil force
- Sin lies dormant in all of us, waiting for the right circumstance to spring into being and overpower our will, moving us to commit acts we never dreamt we’d do
- It deceives us in letting us think we can manage it, until we find ourselves helplessly under its control
- The law is designed to expose that sin and make us feel helpless [in our own strength]; that we might begin to understand just what this evil force is that we have inherited via Adam
- The law shows us that sin is exceedingly powerful and dangerous
- It has greater strength than our will power; it causes us to do things that we resolved not to do
- Verses 14;25: The law is spiritual and I am carnal (fleshly) (definition of carnality via this passage)
- By spiritual is meant that the law gets right to the heart of my being; Paul is carnal, sold as a slave to sin
- Distinguishes the difference between Paul’s use of slave in chapter 6 and chapter 7
- This passage describes what a Christian experiences when he tries to live by law; by dedication; by will power [in one’s own strength]
- Two Problems: 1.) I want to do right; I do not do it; 2.) what I hate, don’t want to do, I do
- Problem 2: an internal division, the “I” that wants to do what God requires; and the “sin” that dwells in me
- We have a spirit, soul and body distinct from one another
- The redeemed spirit (problem 1.) wants to do what God commands; the alien power, sin, [the “me”, or the “self” – whichever aspect that is controlling my hands, feet, eyes…] opposes
- I determine and resolve to do right, but when certain temptations are encountered, I do what I resolved not to do
- Why do I give in? Why am I so weak? “Oh what a wretched man I am, Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
- When our internal conflict brings us to this point, we are where the Lord Jesus Christ started the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:3, we are experiencing poverty of spirit
- To put it another way, the LAW has brought us to a place of discouragement, failure…because of the SIN that is within us
- We must then remind ourselves of the facts that are true of us in Christ, “We are no longer under the Law,” and therefore, have the power to say “no,” and walk away and be free in Christ
- [This is not a comfortable place, initially. We will not be absolutely certain that we will be able to endure the temptation. But by trying to put the burden, the temptation…in His hands, praying and surrendering to His Spirit because we already know by all of our previous failures, our inability to cope otherwise, trusting Him, –all of which are difficult because we are in a place of powerlessness / helplessness – He will sustain us. A sermon example was given that indicated these things.]
Raystedman.org Authentic Christianity
RELATED POINTS FROM OTHER POSTS IN THIS BLOG:
- It is a necessity to come to the point of experiencing poverty of spirit in your Christian walk
- To come to this point, one has to genuinely deal with his sin: that is, he must observe himself; truly acknowledge sin; confess it to God and to necessary humans; try to ascertain his motives; pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in devising a strategy / plan to deal with sin (recent posts in the category of Jonathan Edwards cite his manner of doing these things)
- Know with certainty, if one sweeps sin under the carpet; pretends to be holy, good…; then he is backsliding or is not born from above
- Dealing with sin causes one to feel bad, it is painful to own up to sinfulness, it hurts the pride… to be chastened…but like God says in Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood…Heb 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” Heb 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
- Finally, there are many places in the Bible where God calls nations and individuals to admit their sin, to repent and mourn their sin, for example: Isa 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- Here are some other references to poor in spirit: Mat_11:25, Mat_18:1-3; Lev_26:41-42; Deu_8:2; 2Ch_7:14, 2Ch_33:12, 2Ch_33:19, 2Ch_33:23, 2Ch_34:27; Job_42:6; Psa_34:18, Psa_51:17; Pro_16:19, Pro_29:23; Isa_57:15, Isa_61:1, Isa_66:2; Jer_31:18-20; Dan_5:21-22; Mic_6:8; Luk_4:18, Luk_6:20, Luk_18:14; Jas_1:10; Jas_4:9-10
- Some other references to mourning for sin: Psa_6:1-9, Psa_13:1-5, Psa_30:7-11, Psa_32:3-7, Psa_40:1-3, Psa_69:29-30, Psa_116:3-7; Psa_126:5-6; Isa_12:1, Isa_25:8, Isa_30:19, Isa_35:10, Isa_38:14-19, Isa_51:11-12, Isa_57:18; Isa_61:2-3, Isa_66:10; Jer_31:9-12, Jer_31:16-17; Eze_7:16, Eze_9:4; Zec_12:10-14; Zec_13:1; Luk_6:21, Luk_6:25, Luk_7:38, Luk_7:50, Luk_16:25; Joh_16:20-22; 2Co_1:4-7; 2Co_7:9-10; Jas_1:12; Rev_7:14-17, Rev_21:4