1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,540 This is the last of a short series in Romans and chapter 7 in which we’re exploring the 2 00:00:05,540 –> 00:00:13,260 marvelous truth of the believers’ union with Jesus Christ, which Paul using an illustration 3 00:00:13,260 –> 00:00:18,260 says is like a second and very wonderful marriage. 4 00:00:18,260 –> 00:00:22,780 If you open your Bible at Romans and chapter 7 you will see as we galance back to where 5 00:00:22,780 –> 00:00:28,480 we began, that the first marriage, to use his analogy, is that by nature we are all 6 00:00:28,480 –> 00:00:31,120 bound to the law. 7 00:00:31,120 –> 00:00:37,099 That’s verse 1, the law is binding on a person as long as he or she lives. 8 00:00:37,099 –> 00:00:43,279 Till death us do part by nature we are bound to all of the requirements, all of the demands 9 00:00:43,279 –> 00:00:48,380 and by implication all of the penalties off the law of God. 10 00:00:48,380 –> 00:00:54,560 So being bound to the law, to use Paul’s illustration, is not a happy marriage. 11 00:00:55,040 –> 00:01:01,200 In fact, it is a relationship fraught with conflict, but the reason for the conflict 12 00:01:01,200 –> 00:01:04,379 is not that there is something wrong with the law. 13 00:01:04,379 –> 00:01:06,400 The law is holy and righteous and good. 14 00:01:06,400 –> 00:01:09,919 It is after all, the law of God, nothing wrong with the law. 15 00:01:09,919 –> 00:01:14,519 The reason that this marriage, this first marriage is fraught with conflict is that 16 00:01:14,519 –> 00:01:17,059 there is something that is wrong with us. 17 00:01:17,059 –> 00:01:23,559 We looked at that in our second session in Romans and chapter 7 last week. 18 00:01:23,559 –> 00:01:29,699 We saw that what is wrong with us, the Bible calls sin, and that sin is more than a list 19 00:01:29,699 –> 00:01:31,279 of wrong actions. 20 00:01:31,279 –> 00:01:34,440 That it is more than doing bad things. 21 00:01:34,440 –> 00:01:35,800 That sin is actually a power. 22 00:01:35,800 –> 00:01:41,440 It is an impulse if you’d like, that by nature resides in our hearts. 23 00:01:41,440 –> 00:01:48,580 It is an impulse that gravitates towards that which God forbids. 24 00:01:48,580 –> 00:01:53,480 And so if it were the case that we were righteous, then marriage to the law would work out very 25 00:01:53,559 –> 00:01:54,900 well. 26 00:01:54,900 –> 00:01:59,180 The problem is that by nature we are not righteous, we are sinners. 27 00:01:59,180 –> 00:02:06,220 And sin pulls away from what God commands, and therefore being bound to the law for sinners 28 00:02:06,220 –> 00:02:10,559 is by definition going to be a miserable, miserable marriage. 29 00:02:10,559 –> 00:02:16,779 And I was trying to think, you know, what is this like, and I’m thinking, you could 30 00:02:16,779 –> 00:02:21,240 come up with your list of illustrations, but for a sinner to be bound to the law is kind 31 00:02:21,240 –> 00:02:26,339 of like a burglar being married to someone who’s a specialist in home security. 32 00:02:26,339 –> 00:02:31,000 I mean, the two just don’t go together, or you know, a computer hacker being married 33 00:02:31,000 –> 00:02:33,399 to someone who develops firewalls for a living. 34 00:02:33,399 –> 00:02:38,199 I mean, they’re just, a poacher being married to a game keeper, I suppose. 35 00:02:38,199 –> 00:02:42,820 The two are just moving in different directions, so it’s not going to work out. 36 00:02:42,820 –> 00:02:45,080 I mean, how can two walk together? 37 00:02:45,080 –> 00:02:48,419 The Bible says, unless they be agreed. 38 00:02:48,539 –> 00:02:54,259 Now, there is only one way out of this miserable marriage, and that is death. 39 00:02:54,259 –> 00:03:00,380 It is, till death us do part, and the law never dies. 40 00:03:00,380 –> 00:03:04,440 But the good news for the Christian that we have here in Romans and chapter 7, is that 41 00:03:04,440 –> 00:03:14,000 we have died, and we have died through a living union with Jesus Christ that is forged through 42 00:03:14,000 –> 00:03:16,460 the bond of faith. 43 00:03:16,539 –> 00:03:18,720 When Jesus died, we died with Him. 44 00:03:18,720 –> 00:03:21,279 When Jesus rose, we rose with Him. 45 00:03:21,279 –> 00:03:25,320 And this is verse 4 of Romans and chapter 7. 46 00:03:25,320 –> 00:03:31,119 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law. 47 00:03:31,119 –> 00:03:32,839 Say, how did that happen? 48 00:03:32,839 –> 00:03:35,839 Through the body of Christ. 49 00:03:35,839 –> 00:03:37,360 And why did it happen? 50 00:03:37,360 –> 00:03:43,559 So that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead in order 51 00:03:43,559 –> 00:03:46,240 that you may bear fruit. 52 00:03:46,240 –> 00:03:50,720 For God, you got out of the miserable first marriage because you died and rose with Christ. 53 00:03:50,720 –> 00:03:56,279 You’ve now been brought into this new and living union with Jesus, belonging to another, 54 00:03:56,279 –> 00:03:58,179 Him who was raised from the dead. 55 00:03:58,179 –> 00:04:03,279 And the result of that is that you may now bear fruit for God. 56 00:04:03,279 –> 00:04:10,320 Now our focus today is on verses 5 and 6 of Romans and chapter 7. 57 00:04:10,320 –> 00:04:17,119 And these verses really draw out for us the vast contrast that there is between the first 58 00:04:17,119 –> 00:04:19,320 and the second marriage. 59 00:04:19,320 –> 00:04:25,739 A radical difference between what we were when we were bound to the law and what we 60 00:04:25,739 –> 00:04:32,700 are now that we are united with Christ, having died and risen with Him in this new and living 61 00:04:32,700 –> 00:04:34,540 union with Jesus. 62 00:04:34,619 –> 00:04:39,619 So we’re going to draw out the difference between the first marriage and the second 63 00:04:39,619 –> 00:04:44,260 marriage, and then we’re going to look at some applications as we wrap up this series 64 00:04:44,260 –> 00:04:45,459 together. 65 00:04:45,459 –> 00:04:50,600 So let’s begin with the first marriage, which is described both in terms of being bound 66 00:04:50,600 –> 00:04:57,540 to the law and in terms of living in the flesh. 67 00:04:57,700 –> 00:05:07,880 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were 68 00:05:07,880 –> 00:05:13,140 at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 69 00:05:13,140 –> 00:05:26,899 But now, we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive. 70 00:05:27,160 –> 00:05:34,119 Chapter 7 and verse 5 of Romans is the first time in this book that Paul introduces the 71 00:05:34,119 –> 00:05:37,380 phrase living in the flesh. 72 00:05:37,380 –> 00:05:44,220 It occurs many times after this in Romans and it is really important to understand what 73 00:05:44,220 –> 00:05:50,100 he means by this phrase living in the flesh in Romans 7 and verse 5. 74 00:05:50,459 –> 00:05:56,519 Notice that living in the flesh is another way of describing in this verse the miserable 75 00:05:56,519 –> 00:06:00,940 marriage in which we are bound to the law. 76 00:06:00,940 –> 00:06:05,279 While we are living in the flesh we were bound to the law. 77 00:06:05,279 –> 00:06:09,640 Living in the flesh and being bound to the law in other words go hand in hand together. 78 00:06:09,640 –> 00:06:16,459 But now he says in this verse that we are released from the law and therefore no longer 79 00:06:16,459 –> 00:06:18,339 living in the flesh. 80 00:06:18,339 –> 00:06:22,579 These two they belong together and when you’re released from one you are therefore brought 81 00:06:22,579 –> 00:06:24,079 out of the other. 82 00:06:24,079 –> 00:06:25,959 That’s what he’s saying here. 83 00:06:25,959 –> 00:06:31,160 Which is exactly the same thing as he says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 9 where Paul 84 00:06:31,160 –> 00:06:39,220 says to Christian believers you are not in the flesh but in the spirit. 85 00:06:39,220 –> 00:06:42,420 In the flesh bound to the law is what you were. 86 00:06:42,420 –> 00:06:43,739 You’re not that now. 87 00:06:43,739 –> 00:06:46,380 You’re bound to Christ and you are in the spirit. 88 00:06:46,380 –> 00:06:47,980 These are completely different. 89 00:06:47,980 –> 00:06:54,779 The first and the second marriage and they never merge together. 90 00:06:54,779 –> 00:07:00,980 Now what then does Paul precisely mean by this phrase living in the flesh that was true 91 00:07:00,980 –> 00:07:05,200 of us in the past but is true of us no longer? 92 00:07:05,200 –> 00:07:12,679 Now this is actually confusing I think for this reason that the Bible uses the phrase 93 00:07:12,940 –> 00:07:18,279 flesh in different ways at different times. 94 00:07:18,279 –> 00:07:22,720 For example sometimes it simply means the body. 95 00:07:22,720 –> 00:07:26,260 Galatians chapter two and verse twenty a very well known verse where Paul says I’ve been 96 00:07:26,260 –> 00:07:31,339 crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me and then he says the 97 00:07:31,339 –> 00:07:34,920 life I live in the flesh. 98 00:07:34,920 –> 00:07:38,679 I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 99 00:07:38,679 –> 00:07:42,179 Now when he says in Galatians two twenty the life I live in the flesh. 100 00:07:42,179 –> 00:07:45,940 He simply means that the life I live in the body. 101 00:07:45,940 –> 00:07:49,600 Now think about this and please follow this with me. 102 00:07:49,600 –> 00:07:56,519 That cannot be the meaning here because Christians obviously still do live in the body. 103 00:07:56,519 –> 00:08:01,000 Romans chapter seven Paul is talking about living in the flesh. 104 00:08:01,000 –> 00:08:05,279 He says that is something that was true of us but it’s no longer true of us now… 105 00:08:05,279 –> 00:08:10,320 Clearly it doesn’t mean the body here because we are very much still living in the body, 106 00:08:11,059 –> 00:08:12,359 so you can’t mean that. 107 00:08:12,359 –> 00:08:21,600 There are other places where flesh is used to describe sensual desire, really the impulse 108 00:08:21,600 –> 00:08:23,299 of sin. 109 00:08:23,299 –> 00:08:28,720 For example in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 17 where Paul says the desires of the flesh 110 00:08:28,720 –> 00:08:34,520 are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. 111 00:08:34,619 –> 00:08:42,359 Again that cannot be what Paul means in Romans chapter 7 here because Christians clearly 112 00:08:42,359 –> 00:08:45,640 still experience the impulse to sin. 113 00:08:45,640 –> 00:08:52,919 We still know that, we are still tempted, the impulse to sin remains within us. 114 00:08:52,919 –> 00:08:57,640 So when Paul says we were in the flesh but we’re no longer – He can’t mean that we 115 00:08:57,640 –> 00:09:02,159 no longer experience the impulse to sin because self-evidently we do. 116 00:09:02,179 –> 00:09:05,960 We know that from our own experience. 117 00:09:05,960 –> 00:09:13,059 So here the Apostle Paul is using the word flesh in a different way and he is using it 118 00:09:13,059 –> 00:09:19,840 very simply to describe the life we were all born with. 119 00:09:19,840 –> 00:09:26,039 And here the Apostle uses the word flesh in precisely the same way as our Lord Jesus did 120 00:09:26,039 –> 00:09:28,500 when He spoke to Nicodemus. 121 00:09:28,500 –> 00:09:37,020 And you remember he said in John chapter 3, that which is born of flesh, is flesh. 122 00:09:37,020 –> 00:09:42,299 And that which is born of spirit, is spirit. 123 00:09:42,299 –> 00:09:49,820 And then by conclusion, Jesus said this to Nicodemus, therefore you must be born again. 124 00:09:49,820 –> 00:09:56,500 Now Paul is using the word flesh in the same way as Jesus did when He was speaking to Nicodemus 125 00:09:56,659 –> 00:09:58,940 to mean simply the life you were born with. 126 00:09:58,940 –> 00:10:01,000 That which is born of flesh, is flesh. 127 00:10:01,000 –> 00:10:02,760 This is the life you were born with. 128 00:10:02,760 –> 00:10:10,020 The position of every one of us, by nature, is that we are born to life in the flesh. 129 00:10:10,020 –> 00:10:17,700 And as long as we are in the flesh, as long as we are in the life that we were born with, 130 00:10:17,700 –> 00:10:19,320 we are bound to the law. 131 00:10:19,320 –> 00:10:24,500 And that is not a happy position for sinners like us to be in. 132 00:10:24,820 –> 00:10:31,179 Now just to fill this out before we move on, the apostle Paul continues with this same 133 00:10:31,179 –> 00:10:37,239 theme and this same great contrast between what we were and what we are as Christian 134 00:10:37,239 –> 00:10:42,200 believers, the first and the second marriage in Romans in chapter eight. 135 00:10:42,200 –> 00:10:47,380 And he draws out the radical difference between what we all were by nature, that is the life 136 00:10:47,380 –> 00:10:53,799 that we were born with, in the flesh, and what we are now in, Jesus Christ. 137 00:10:53,799 –> 00:11:00,320 Notice how Paul continues the contrast, he says, the mind that is set on the flesh is 138 00:11:00,320 –> 00:11:01,880 hostile to God. 139 00:11:01,880 –> 00:11:08,039 That’s Romans 8 and verse seven, it does not submit to God’s law, he says those who are 140 00:11:08,039 –> 00:11:12,760 in the flesh cannot please God. 141 00:11:12,760 –> 00:11:18,419 Now all of that is Paul unpacking what we were, that’s the life we were born with, we 142 00:11:18,780 –> 00:11:20,219 all started there. 143 00:11:20,219 –> 00:11:26,380 It’s the natural condition in which we are born, all human beings are born into the world. 144 00:11:26,380 –> 00:11:31,179 We were in the flesh, we were bound to the law, we have the impulse of sin that is working 145 00:11:31,179 –> 00:11:33,859 within us, producing, deceiving and killing. 146 00:11:33,859 –> 00:11:39,679 We were by nature hostile to God, unwilling to submit to God’s law, and unable to please 147 00:11:39,679 –> 00:11:40,679 him. 148 00:11:40,679 –> 00:11:44,380 That’s the human condition, that is what we need saving from. 149 00:11:44,580 –> 00:11:51,059 And the outcome of it, and you have this in both Romans 7 and in Romans 8, while we were 150 00:11:51,059 –> 00:11:55,340 living in the flesh, Romans 7, 5, our sinful passions are oused by the law, what at work 151 00:11:55,340 –> 00:11:59,900 in our members to bare fruit for death, that’s where it goes. 152 00:11:59,900 –> 00:12:05,659 That’s where the life that you are born with goes, unless something happens to radically 153 00:12:05,659 –> 00:12:09,080 change, and to bring you into the second marriage. 154 00:12:09,080 –> 00:12:14,239 And in Romans 8, 6, Paul says the same thing, to set the mind on the flesh is death. 155 00:12:14,239 –> 00:12:18,200 Now bowing to the law, living in the flesh, hostile to God, cannot submit to God’s law, 156 00:12:18,200 –> 00:12:22,119 cannot please God, bearing fruit for death and death, that is not a description of a 157 00:12:22,119 –> 00:12:24,400 Christian. 158 00:12:24,400 –> 00:12:27,979 That is not a description of a Christian. 159 00:12:27,979 –> 00:12:32,159 No, that is the description of the life we’re born with. 160 00:12:32,159 –> 00:12:37,039 That is the description of the natural condition of human beings, born into this world, in 161 00:12:37,700 –> 00:12:39,559 a miserable marriage to the law. 162 00:12:39,559 –> 00:12:46,760 It is a desperate position to be in, but if you are in Jesus Christ, you are no longer 163 00:12:46,760 –> 00:12:49,219 in that position. 164 00:12:49,219 –> 00:12:55,880 You are no longer in the first marriage, if you are made one with Jesus Christ through 165 00:12:55,880 –> 00:13:01,739 the bond of a living union that is forged by faith in the Son of God, who loved you 166 00:13:01,739 –> 00:13:03,280 and gave himself for you. 167 00:13:03,619 –> 00:13:09,159 So, let’s move on then to the second marriage, which is the focus of verse 6 of Romans and 168 00:13:09,159 –> 00:13:10,219 chapter 7. 169 00:13:10,539 –> 00:13:17,739 Notice, having talked about what we were in verse 5, while we were living in the flesh, 170 00:13:17,739 –> 00:13:19,320 He now moves on to what we are. 171 00:13:19,320 –> 00:13:21,159 He says, verse 6, 172 00:13:21,159 –> 00:13:25,479 but now, now, here’s what’s true of you in Christ now. 173 00:13:25,479 –> 00:13:34,039 We are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we 174 00:13:34,039 –> 00:13:40,000 serve in the new way of the Spirit. 175 00:13:40,000 –> 00:13:42,080 Capitol S, the Holy Spirit. 176 00:13:42,080 –> 00:13:46,820 So, what has happened to us to get us out of this miserable marriage, is that we have 177 00:13:46,820 –> 00:13:49,900 died to that which held us captive, that is the law. 178 00:13:49,900 –> 00:13:54,440 We got out of this miserable marriage, and by God’s grace we have been brought into a 179 00:13:54,440 –> 00:14:00,179 new and living union with Jesus Christ, in which we are bound to Him. 180 00:14:00,179 –> 00:14:04,960 And this wonderful new and living union is like a second marriage, to use His illustration. 181 00:14:04,960 –> 00:14:10,260 And it’s so different, because this is a marriage in which we are loved, and this is a marriage 182 00:14:10,260 –> 00:14:12,979 in which we are able therefore to grow and to thrive. 183 00:14:12,979 –> 00:14:15,119 It is just altogether different. 184 00:14:15,119 –> 00:14:19,020 We are able to flourish in this second marriage. 185 00:14:19,099 –> 00:14:24,880 And that is why he says that the fruit of this new living union with Jesus Christ is 186 00:14:24,880 –> 00:14:30,320 that we serve in the new way of the Spirit. 187 00:14:30,320 –> 00:14:38,239 And again, Paul takes this up in Romans chapter 8 and verses 9-11, where he describes the 188 00:14:38,239 –> 00:14:43,559 reality and the position of a Christian believer. 189 00:14:43,599 –> 00:14:49,820 And to communicate that what he’s speaking about is only true of Christian believers, 190 00:14:49,820 –> 00:14:56,640 he three times uses the word, if, and the sense of it is, assuming that you are a Christian, 191 00:14:56,640 –> 00:15:02,979 assuming that you are in Jesus Christ, Paul says, let me tell you what is true of you. 192 00:15:02,979 –> 00:15:06,039 If you’re in Jesus Christ, here’s what’s true of you. 193 00:15:06,039 –> 00:15:10,820 Number one, the spirit of God dwells in you. 194 00:15:11,599 –> 00:15:14,479 And that’s Romans chapter 8, and verse 9. 195 00:15:14,479 –> 00:15:17,419 More than that, Jesus Christ lives in you. 196 00:15:17,419 –> 00:15:20,820 That’s Romans chapter 8, and verse 10. 197 00:15:20,820 –> 00:15:28,099 And even more than that, to be a Christian means that through the Holy Spirit, both the 198 00:15:28,099 –> 00:15:34,179 father, and the son are present with you, because he says in verse 11, if the spirit 199 00:15:34,179 –> 00:15:39,820 of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. 200 00:15:39,820 –> 00:15:41,820 That’s the father. 201 00:15:41,820 –> 00:15:46,559 So, father and son, as Jesus said in John 14 and 23, come to be present with you by 202 00:15:46,559 –> 00:15:50,380 the Holy Spirit, who lives within you. 203 00:15:50,380 –> 00:15:53,619 This is an entirely different position. 204 00:15:53,619 –> 00:15:59,619 Now he’s describing a Christian, and this is an entirely different position being in 205 00:15:59,619 –> 00:16:06,099 the second marriage from the life that you were born with, living in the flesh, and this 206 00:16:06,099 –> 00:16:07,900 miserable marriage to the Lord. 207 00:16:07,979 –> 00:16:12,979 What’s the outcome of this new second marriage, this new and living union with Jesus Christ? 208 00:16:12,979 –> 00:16:17,140 Well, when we were in the flesh and bound to the law, we were bearing fruit for death. 209 00:16:17,140 –> 00:16:21,239 But now look at what he says, you died to the law through the body of Christ so that 210 00:16:21,239 –> 00:16:26,140 you may belong to another to him who’s been raised from the dead in order that you may 211 00:16:26,140 –> 00:16:27,640 bear fruit for God. 212 00:16:27,640 –> 00:16:29,760 That’s verse 4. 213 00:16:29,760 –> 00:16:31,880 Bear fruit for God. 214 00:16:31,880 –> 00:16:36,299 And similarly in Romans 8, Paul says something very similar again about the Christian believer 215 00:16:36,299 –> 00:16:41,059 that the outcome of this new and living union is life, not death. 216 00:16:41,059 –> 00:16:42,059 Life. 217 00:16:42,059 –> 00:16:43,059 And it is peace. 218 00:16:43,059 –> 00:16:46,440 Because you’re not bound to the law, you’re bound to Jesus Christ. 219 00:16:46,440 –> 00:16:49,419 You are no longer living with the life you were born with. 220 00:16:49,419 –> 00:16:51,619 That which is born of flesh is flesh. 221 00:16:51,619 –> 00:16:55,039 You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. 222 00:16:55,039 –> 00:16:58,979 And life eternal, therefore, lies ahead for you. 223 00:16:58,979 –> 00:17:03,400 So thank God, as we have it on the bottom line of the little screen here. 224 00:17:03,440 –> 00:17:09,219 And Paul is able in a summary to say, now look, you are not, if you’re in Christ, you 225 00:17:09,219 –> 00:17:14,079 are not in the flesh, that’s the left hand side of the screen, you’re in the spirit, 226 00:17:14,079 –> 00:17:22,819 you’re on the right hand side of the screen and don’t ever, ever, ever get the two confused. 227 00:17:22,819 –> 00:17:26,540 And remember that there’s only one way to move from being bound to the law to being 228 00:17:26,540 –> 00:17:31,939 bound to Christ, only one way out of the miserable marriage to the law and into this new and 229 00:17:32,140 –> 00:17:38,560 living union with Jesus, and that is to die and to rise with Jesus Christ. 230 00:17:38,560 –> 00:17:43,459 And death that moves us from one side to the other is an irreversible journey. 231 00:17:43,459 –> 00:17:46,859 When a person dies, they move forward, they go on. 232 00:17:46,859 –> 00:17:48,260 They do not come back. 233 00:17:48,260 –> 00:17:53,180 Death takes us one way, we don’t slide backwards and forwards in and out. 234 00:17:53,180 –> 00:17:59,420 It is irreversible, and when you have died, you never go back. 235 00:17:59,500 –> 00:18:04,239 Now friends, this is really important for this reason. 236 00:18:04,239 –> 00:18:11,420 You see, Paul’s words about being in the flesh and in the spirit have sometimes been 237 00:18:11,420 –> 00:18:18,819 understood, I would say misunderstood, to mean that when Christians are at their worst, 238 00:18:18,819 –> 00:18:22,280 we are sort of living in the flesh, and when Christians are at their best, we are sort 239 00:18:22,280 –> 00:18:28,199 of living in the spirit, as if somehow, we could slide backwards and forwards between 240 00:18:28,219 –> 00:18:29,459 the two. 241 00:18:29,939 –> 00:18:39,760 You know, today I really felt that I was in the spirit, but yesterday, ha, pretty much 242 00:18:39,760 –> 00:18:41,859 in the flesh. 243 00:18:41,859 –> 00:18:47,079 As if you could sort of slide between the one and the two. 244 00:18:47,079 –> 00:18:54,280 Now when you see that being in Christ involves a dying and a rising, you can’t move backwards 245 00:18:54,280 –> 00:18:57,260 and forwards between the two. 246 00:18:57,280 –> 00:19:02,099 And I’m convinced that that kind of view of the Christian life is a complete and utter 247 00:19:02,099 –> 00:19:08,979 and actually very damaging misunderstanding of Romans chapter 7 and Romans chapter 8. 248 00:19:08,979 –> 00:19:12,459 So please try and get this clear and settled in your mind. 249 00:19:12,459 –> 00:19:18,640 When Paul speaks about living in the flesh, Romans chapter 7 verse 5 he’s talking about 250 00:19:18,640 –> 00:19:24,439 what we were, he’s talking about what was true of us once but is true of us no longer. 251 00:19:24,719 –> 00:19:29,599 Well we were living in the flesh, but now we died and rose with Jesus Christ. 252 00:19:29,599 –> 00:19:34,560 Now having died to that which has held us captive, we’re in this new and second marriage. 253 00:19:34,560 –> 00:19:43,260 This living union with Jesus Christ so that we may be able to bear fruit for God. 254 00:19:43,260 –> 00:19:48,319 So Romans chapter 7 and indeed Romans chapter 8 is not about Christians at our best and 255 00:19:48,319 –> 00:19:49,319 about our worst. 256 00:19:49,319 –> 00:19:52,479 It’s about the difference between the life we’re born with and the life that we have 257 00:19:52,479 –> 00:19:54,920 now in Jesus Christ. 258 00:19:54,920 –> 00:20:00,160 It’s about the difference between the first marriage and the second marriage. 259 00:20:00,160 –> 00:20:04,540 It’s about the difference between life when you are bound to the law and life when you 260 00:20:04,540 –> 00:20:05,839 are bound to Christ. 261 00:20:05,839 –> 00:20:13,579 It’s about the difference between life simply in the flesh and life in the spirit. 262 00:20:13,579 –> 00:20:17,900 The Bible everywhere makes clear that there are two kinds of people in the world. 263 00:20:18,560 –> 00:20:21,000 Here the apostle is laying it out for us. 264 00:20:21,000 –> 00:20:24,300 There are people who are simply living in the flesh and there are people who are living 265 00:20:24,300 –> 00:20:26,219 in the spirit. 266 00:20:26,219 –> 00:20:28,619 All of us are either one or the other. 267 00:20:28,619 –> 00:20:31,699 None of us is both at the same time. 268 00:20:31,699 –> 00:20:34,939 We do not move backwards and forwards between the two. 269 00:20:34,939 –> 00:20:39,400 There is a movement in one direction and it happens by dying and rising, which is through 270 00:20:39,400 –> 00:20:44,500 the bond of faith that unites us to Jesus Christ. 271 00:20:45,500 –> 00:20:50,060 And to the Christian believer, therefore Paul says, summing it all up, Romans 8 and verse 272 00:20:50,060 –> 00:20:58,339 9, you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit. 273 00:20:58,719 –> 00:21:04,780 Now friends, this isn’t easy to get hold of, but it is important because it takes us 274 00:21:04,780 –> 00:21:10,500 to the heart of what it really means to be a Christian. 275 00:21:10,900 –> 00:21:14,859 A Christian is a person who is no longer in the flesh, no longer living the life that 276 00:21:14,859 –> 00:21:19,099 you were born with, that which is born of flesh is flesh. 277 00:21:19,099 –> 00:21:22,619 But a Christian is a person who is in the Spirit. 278 00:21:22,619 –> 00:21:27,640 A Christian is a person who is no longer bound to the law, but a person who is bound to Jesus 279 00:21:27,640 –> 00:21:28,640 Christ. 280 00:21:28,640 –> 00:21:33,079 A Christian is a person who no longer bears fruit for death, but a Christian is a person 281 00:21:33,079 –> 00:21:37,660 who serves in the new way of the Spirit. 282 00:21:37,680 –> 00:21:45,380 That is the little understood and critical truth that is taught to us, both in Romans 283 00:21:45,380 –> 00:21:49,300 chapter seven and in Romans chapter eight. 284 00:21:49,300 –> 00:21:52,280 Now, it’s time to come to some applications. 285 00:21:52,280 –> 00:21:54,479 And, I want to give simply three. 286 00:21:54,479 –> 00:21:55,479 Here’s the first. 287 00:21:55,479 –> 00:21:57,500 Why do we need Romans chapter seven? 288 00:21:57,500 –> 00:22:02,540 Why would we have spent three weeks in an era of truth that isn’t the easiest, not the 289 00:22:02,540 –> 00:22:03,540 most obvious? 290 00:22:03,540 –> 00:22:04,540 Why is it important? 291 00:22:04,540 –> 00:22:05,939 Why does it matter? 292 00:22:06,219 –> 00:22:14,040 Number one, we need the truth of Romans seven, because here we find the cure for perfectionism. 293 00:22:14,040 –> 00:22:16,479 The cure for perfectionism. 294 00:22:17,319 –> 00:22:24,479 Now, some of you live under a crushing burden in this regard. 295 00:22:24,479 –> 00:22:31,160 And, let me try and describe what it is like to you and then show you how what we’re learning 296 00:22:31,500 –> 00:22:38,699 in Romans chapter seven will be the truth that will set you free from the crushing burden 297 00:22:38,719 –> 00:22:41,140 of perfectionism. 298 00:22:41,140 –> 00:22:42,979 Here’s what it’s like. 299 00:22:42,979 –> 00:22:51,180 You say to yourself, now I’m a new creation in Jesus Christ, and I died and I rose with 300 00:22:51,180 –> 00:22:52,560 him. 301 00:22:52,560 –> 00:22:57,560 And I have a new life in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God lives within me, therefore 302 00:22:57,839 –> 00:23:03,780 I should be able to live a truly holy life. 303 00:23:03,780 –> 00:23:06,680 And so you set your mind to this task. 304 00:23:06,680 –> 00:23:12,359 You say, I’m going to get it right as a wife and as a mother. 305 00:23:12,359 –> 00:23:17,040 I’m going to get it right as a husband and as a father. 306 00:23:17,040 –> 00:23:24,099 I’m going to live as Jesus Christ calls me to live, and as the Holy Spirit empowers me 307 00:23:24,099 –> 00:23:26,540 to live, I’m going to get it right. 308 00:23:26,540 –> 00:23:29,280 And somehow you never do. 309 00:23:29,280 –> 00:23:31,400 You never do. 310 00:23:31,400 –> 00:23:35,979 You never get to that place where you say, I’ve got it, I’ve done it. 311 00:23:35,979 –> 00:23:40,800 And what actually happens is that you spend a great deal of time worrying when you should 312 00:23:40,800 –> 00:23:50,719 be trusting and you’re constantly frustrated by yourself for not being a better Christian. 313 00:23:50,719 –> 00:23:52,739 Why am I not a better Christian? 314 00:23:53,060 –> 00:23:57,579 And the longer your Christian life goes on, the more you beat yourself up over this. 315 00:23:57,579 –> 00:24:09,900 Now, all over this congregation, there are women and men who recognize this description. 316 00:24:09,900 –> 00:24:19,859 And the problem for the perfectionist is that she takes seriously the power of Jesus Christ 317 00:24:19,859 –> 00:24:29,040 but does not adequately consider the ongoing presence of sin, sin that remains in the life 318 00:24:29,040 –> 00:24:32,479 of a Christian believer. 319 00:24:32,479 –> 00:24:38,180 And the truth of Roman 7 that is so important therefore in regards to this problem of perfectionism 320 00:24:38,180 –> 00:24:43,540 is there is more to sin than wrong actions that you can put behind you when you’ve confessed 321 00:24:43,540 –> 00:24:47,040 them in being forgiven by the Lord. 322 00:24:47,040 –> 00:24:52,420 We are learning from Romans and chapter 7 that sin is a power, it is an impulse that 323 00:24:52,420 –> 00:24:58,680 resides in you and even though you are a Christian it remains in you and will remain in you as 324 00:24:58,680 –> 00:24:59,680 long as you’re in this world. 325 00:24:59,680 –> 00:25:03,939 You’ll only be freed from it when you’re finally brought into the presence of Jesus 326 00:25:03,939 –> 00:25:06,520 himself. 327 00:25:06,520 –> 00:25:13,920 As long as you are in this life you will never therefore be a perfect Christian. 328 00:25:13,920 –> 00:25:20,180 You will never get to the place not even in a single day where you can say, I did it, 329 00:25:20,180 –> 00:25:24,859 I lived this life that God has called me to live, and thank God that you will never get 330 00:25:24,859 –> 00:25:28,439 there for this reason because if you got there even once you would completely lose sight 331 00:25:28,439 –> 00:25:32,479 of your need of a savior. 332 00:25:32,479 –> 00:25:38,760 However far you progress in the Christian life you will be until your last breath in 333 00:25:38,760 –> 00:25:50,020 this life a sinner who depends wholly on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to save you 334 00:25:50,020 –> 00:25:59,280 and you need him on your best day as a Christian as much as you need him on your worst day 335 00:25:59,280 –> 00:26:01,819 as a Christian. 336 00:26:01,859 –> 00:26:02,859 And you know what? 337 00:26:02,859 –> 00:26:12,719 When you see that and when you start to believe it, you will be delivered from the crushing 338 00:26:12,719 –> 00:26:15,199 burden of perfectionism. 339 00:26:15,199 –> 00:26:17,280 This is the truth that sets you free. 340 00:26:17,280 –> 00:26:19,020 Jesus says the truth sets you free. 341 00:26:19,020 –> 00:26:23,979 You need to know what part of the truth sets you free from particular afflictions. 342 00:26:24,180 –> 00:26:30,359 And this is the truth that will set you free from the crushing and oppressive burden of 343 00:26:30,359 –> 00:26:32,780 perfectionism. 344 00:26:32,780 –> 00:26:41,660 Second, we need this truth of Romans in chapter 7 because it is also the answer to the opposite 345 00:26:41,660 –> 00:26:46,300 problem which is a kind of inverse of it, which is, I’m going to call it defeatism. 346 00:26:46,300 –> 00:26:53,000 And again let me try and describe this opposite problem and again to try and show you what 347 00:26:53,000 –> 00:26:59,099 we are learning from Romans in chapter 7 is the truth that will set you free. 348 00:26:59,099 –> 00:27:09,260 You say to yourself, I am profoundly aware of the power of sin within me. 349 00:27:09,260 –> 00:27:18,020 I sure know what it is to be drawn back again to the same sin that made me miserable before. 350 00:27:18,060 –> 00:27:24,660 I know only too well this impulse of sin that seems to be sometimes so, so strong in me. 351 00:27:24,660 –> 00:27:29,699 I’ve lost count of the times I’ve fallen into this temptation or that temptation. 352 00:27:29,699 –> 00:27:37,780 I live, therefore, with a constant sense of frustration and of defeat. 353 00:27:37,900 –> 00:27:48,739 And again, all over this congregation, there are men and women who recognize this description, 354 00:27:48,739 –> 00:27:53,599 and the problem for the defeatist is the flip side of the perfectionist. 355 00:27:53,599 –> 00:28:01,920 He takes seriously the power of sin, but he does not adequately consider the ongoing presence 356 00:28:01,920 –> 00:28:05,199 of Jesus Christ. 357 00:28:05,199 –> 00:28:10,959 So sure, it is true, as you know, brother, sister, that the battle with the impulse to 358 00:28:10,959 –> 00:28:13,719 sin will continue as long as you live. 359 00:28:13,719 –> 00:28:17,540 And sure it is true that you will fall many times in the battle. 360 00:28:17,540 –> 00:28:22,260 We all fall and fail in many, many ways. 361 00:28:22,260 –> 00:28:29,000 But Jesus Christ lives in you. 362 00:28:29,000 –> 00:28:33,359 That’s the great truth that you need to take into your heart and into your mind. 363 00:28:33,359 –> 00:28:39,040 You are in the second marriage, you have union with Jesus Christ, His power, His presence, 364 00:28:39,040 –> 00:28:40,060 His Holy Spirit. 365 00:28:40,060 –> 00:28:46,420 Sure, sin is always your enemy and sure it inflicts defeats on you, but it is no longer 366 00:28:46,420 –> 00:28:51,459 your master and your battle will not end in defeat. 367 00:28:51,459 –> 00:28:53,500 It cannot when Christ is in you. 368 00:28:53,500 –> 00:28:57,479 By the grace of God you can and you will make progress. 369 00:28:57,520 –> 00:29:05,819 There’s hope for you in Jesus Christ because He is present in the life of a Christian 370 00:29:05,819 –> 00:29:07,979 believer. 371 00:29:07,979 –> 00:29:15,780 However often you have fallen into sin, however recently, you have and you always have a Savior 372 00:29:15,780 –> 00:29:23,859 who stands with you, who binds Himself to you, whose Spirit is able to help you. 373 00:29:23,859 –> 00:29:26,359 And when you see that, you’re going to be delivered. 374 00:29:26,359 –> 00:29:31,619 When you see it and when you believe it, Christ is with me, Christ’s Spirit lives in me. 375 00:29:31,619 –> 00:29:35,560 When you see that and when you believe it, when you give weight to it, you are going 376 00:29:35,560 –> 00:29:43,800 to be delivered from the oppression and the hopelessness that comes with this overwhelming 377 00:29:43,800 –> 00:29:45,000 sense of defeat. 378 00:29:45,000 –> 00:29:46,599 This is the truth that will set you free. 379 00:29:46,599 –> 00:29:52,280 You need to know the particular truth to apply to this affliction, a feeling that there’s 380 00:29:52,300 –> 00:29:55,280 no hope for you. 381 00:29:55,280 –> 00:29:59,199 And it is this wonderful truth of union with Jesus Christ that is true of every Christian 382 00:29:59,199 –> 00:30:00,819 believer. 383 00:30:00,819 –> 00:30:06,920 So don’t go, Christian, through life saying, O wretched man that I am, from Romans 7 in 384 00:30:06,920 –> 00:30:07,920 24. 385 00:30:07,920 –> 00:30:14,280 When you feel your wretchedness, do what Paul did in verse 25, you say, Thanks be to God 386 00:30:14,280 –> 00:30:16,040 through Jesus Christ my Lord. 387 00:30:16,040 –> 00:30:21,699 I know who my deliverer is and I know where my hope is. 388 00:30:21,719 –> 00:30:29,800 And that’s one of the great blessings of being in Christ and of being a Christian believer. 389 00:30:29,800 –> 00:30:34,780 So, these truths in Romans and chapter seven that we’ve been learning, they’re the answer 390 00:30:34,780 –> 00:30:42,699 to two of the most common problems that stop Christian believers, perfectionism, defeatism, 391 00:30:42,699 –> 00:30:46,160 and actually if you think about it, they’re actually very close together, although they’re 392 00:30:46,160 –> 00:30:51,359 logically opposite because both of them, at the end of the day, are an effect of in our 393 00:30:51,459 –> 00:30:57,979 minds and hearts going back to measuring ourselves by the law, and forgetting that the fundamental 394 00:30:57,979 –> 00:31:05,420 reality of being a Christian is, I am now in Jesus Christ. 395 00:31:05,420 –> 00:31:12,579 Jerry Bridges captures this wonderful truth that we’ve been learning with such great clarity. 396 00:31:12,579 –> 00:31:19,319 He says, your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. 397 00:31:19,619 –> 00:31:25,140 There’s the word for the defeatist, the person who says, ah, there’s no hope for me. 398 00:31:25,140 –> 00:31:31,140 Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. 399 00:31:31,160 –> 00:31:32,900 And here’s the word for the perfectionist. 400 00:31:32,900 –> 00:31:41,680 Your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace. 401 00:31:41,680 –> 00:31:45,199 Now, here’s the last thing as we wrap this series up. 402 00:31:45,239 –> 00:31:51,000 These truths that we have been learning from Romans 7 are the cure for perfectionism, the 403 00:31:51,000 –> 00:32:00,280 answer to defeatism and lastly, they are the source of a Christian’s freedom and joy in 404 00:32:00,280 –> 00:32:02,560 Jesus Christ. 405 00:32:02,560 –> 00:32:13,560 Now, brothers and sisters, the biggest prayer that I have had in planning and preparing 406 00:32:13,640 –> 00:32:21,800 this series has been that all of us who are in Christ will taste more of the freedom and 407 00:32:21,800 –> 00:32:30,699 of the joy that comes from being in a living union with this wonderful Savior who is ours. 408 00:32:30,699 –> 00:32:38,380 Now, we are released from the law and having died to that which held us captive, we serve 409 00:2:38,380 –> 00:32:47,239 in the new way of the Spirit. There’s peace here, there’s joy here, there’s life here, 410 00:32:47,239 –> 00:32:54,979 and we are to savor the freedom and the joy of this new marriage to Jesus Christ, this 411 00:32:54,979 –> 00:33:01,719 living union with the Lord Jesus Christ that is this great gift of God to every Christian 412 00:33:01,719 –> 00:33:04,859 believer. And the reason why I’ve been praying for this 413 00:33:05,040 –> 00:33:11,800 so much for this series is that there is a diminished version of Christianity that is 414 00:33:11,800 –> 00:33:17,760 really quite common, especially among people who have not grasped this wonderful truth 415 00:33:17,760 –> 00:33:24,380 of union with Christ, and it’s a diminished version of Christianity that many of us will 416 00:33:24,380 –> 00:33:32,060 have been brought up with, and you might recognize it. It goes something like this, that Jesus 417 00:33:32,140 –> 00:33:41,599 forgives you when you mess up so that you will then be a good person who keeps the law. 418 00:33:42,339 –> 00:33:46,500 And I think many in our congregation were actually brought up with this, so what does 419 00:33:46,500 –> 00:33:51,380 Jesus do for me? He forgives me when I mess up. And what I’ve got to do then is knuckle 420 00:33:51,380 –> 00:34:00,540 down and be a better person as a result. I kind of owe him that. And what that produces, 421 00:34:00,660 –> 00:34:10,600 friends, is a kind of wooden, joyless attempt at discipleship, a saying my prayers and going 422 00:34:10,600 –> 00:34:20,939 to church and offering service in some way, without any real sense of intimacy with God 423 00:34:20,939 –> 00:34:30,219 and the freedom and joy that comes with it. And all the time in this diminished version 424 00:34:30,219 –> 00:34:36,040 of Christianity that really is a long way from the true gospel, you live with a sense 425 00:34:36,040 –> 00:34:44,379 that if I don’t get it right, that God has it in for me and that He will get me in the 426 00:34:44,379 –> 00:34:50,300 end. So, you know, it’s always humbling for a pastor when you preach for 40 minutes and 427 00:34:50,300 –> 00:34:55,600 then someone on the media team says in one sentence, better than all your best efforts. 428 00:34:55,600 –> 00:35:01,100 When that happened last night, a guy on the media team said to me, you know, Colin, I 429 00:35:01,100 –> 00:35:08,300 used to come to church, because I thought it was something I needed to do to be a good 430 00:35:08,300 –> 00:35:13,540 person. And, I said, so why do you come to church now? He said, because I love Jesus. 431 00:35:13,540 –> 00:35:17,340 He says all the difference in the world between these two things, the first was the first 432 00:35:17,340 –> 00:35:22,399 marriage, marriage to the law, this is what I need to do in order to be a good person, 433 00:35:22,560 –> 00:35:27,820 I need to pray to be a good person, I need to tell the truth to be a good person. That 434 00:35:27,820 –> 00:35:32,280 s the first marriage isn t it? Why do you come to church now? Why do you tell the truth 435 00:35:32,280 –> 00:35:39,199 now? Why would you pray now? Because I love Jesus. I m in the second marriage. There s 436 00:35:39,199 –> 00:35:45,560 love here. There s life here. There s freedom here. There s joy. There s all the difference 437 00:35:45,560 –> 00:35:47,459 in the world. 438 00:35:48,459 –> 00:35:52,780 Listen, Jesus Christ says something better to you today than 439 00:35:52,879 –> 00:36:01,020 I forgive you now, go do better next time. He says to you, I forgive you, and I bind 440 00:36:01,020 –> 00:36:10,020 myself to you. I will give you my spirit, and I will dwell with you. Listen, the law 441 00:36:10,419 –> 00:36:17,419 cannot love you. The law cannot give you strength. The law will never let you rest because of 442 00:36:17,840 –> 00:36:23,360 its constant demands. Therefore, you cannot ever come to peace. Perfection is defeated 443 00:36:23,360 –> 00:36:29,439 so long as you are measuring yourself against the law. But in Jesus Christ, there is strength, 444 00:36:29,439 –> 00:36:34,899 and there is joy, and there is life, and there is love, and there is peace. There’s all 445 00:36:34,899 –> 00:36:39,760 the difference in the world between the miserable first marriage, and the joy, and the freedom 446 00:36:39,760 –> 00:36:47,239 of the second marriage, union with Jesus Christ, the central truth that is so little grasped 447 00:36:47,239 –> 00:36:51,199 even by Christian believers. 448 00:36:51,199 –> 00:36:56,379 So let me end with a quotation here from William Stilt. It was his writings. I was reading 449 00:36:56,379 –> 00:37:01,600 them right at the beginning of the year, and that first got me thinking about this series 450 00:37:01,639 –> 00:37:05,919 in Romans, and this is how he puts it. 451 00:37:05,919 –> 00:37:18,439 Christ puts himself in the place of the law. He smiles at us, and he says, Look, you will 452 00:37:18,439 –> 00:37:26,760 never be good by following that finger that points to the law. You will never be good 453 00:37:26,780 –> 00:37:32,000 by following that finger that points to the law. The first marriage will never get you 454 00:37:32,000 –> 00:37:38,020 there, it will only leave you feeling more and more beaten up. But he says, Christ says 455 00:37:38,020 –> 00:37:53,560 to you, Look at me, smiling at you, loving you, caring for you, forgiving you. Look at 456 00:37:53,560 –> 00:38:05,159 me and I will save you. No wonder this Lord Jesus Christ says, Come to me, all you who 457 00:38:05,159 –> 00:38:11,739 are weary, all you who are heavy laden, all you who’ve been beating yourself up trying 458 00:38:11,739 –> 00:38:20,000 to be a better person, Come to me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. See 459 00:38:20,000 –> 00:38:27,899 what that image is? Bind yourself to me and I’ll bind myself to you, and you will find 460 00:38:27,899 –> 00:38:39,040 rest for your soul. And this Christ offers himself to each and every one of us today. 461 00:38:39,040 –> 00:38:45,760 Father, thank you that you have not left us in the flesh, bound in this miserable marriage 462 00:38:45,860 –> 00:38:52,020 into the law. But through Jesus Christ, in whom we die and rise because of his death 463 00:38:52,020 –> 00:38:59,639 and resurrection for us, you bring us into a new and living union with a Savior who is 464 00:38:59,639 –> 00:39:09,399 for us, with us, and in us. Teach us the freedom and joy of moving from duty to delight and 465 00:39:09,520 –> 00:39:16,739 finding our life in Christ for these things we ask, in Jesus’ name, and everyone together 466 00:39:16,739 –> 00:39:17,820 said, amen.