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ROMANS: Intro: Chap. 1 Chap. 2 Chap. 3 Chap.4 Chap.5 Chap.6 Chap.7 Chap.8 "In my own words" Ch 9 Chs.9-11 text
ROMANS: Intro: Chap. 1 Chap. 2 Chap. 3 Chap.4 Chap.5 Chap.6 Chap.7 Chap.8 "In my own words" Ch 9 Chs.9-11 text
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CHAPTER 7
1Know you not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2For the woman which has an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3So then if, while her husband lives, 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. 4Wherefore, my brethren, you 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. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. 7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. |
Chapter 7
This chapter is a little bit difficult to understand, not least because it seems to be out of order. Some might be tempted to think that it should really be around chapter two or three, with the bad news. However, it comes at the point where one has made the choice to serve God and righteousness and to cease from sinning. But the question is, Can we|? Living the Christian life is a bit like Jesus walking on the water. It is a miraculous walk. Of ourselves, that is in the flesh, we cannot do it. Our nature sins just like iron sinks. The sea could be likened in some ways to sin. Everyone sinks in it, no-one has conquered it. And significantly Revelation tells us that there is no sea in heaven, only rivers. Only Jesus walked on water. Being a Christian is as supernatural as that. So if you think you can walk on water, Here is a gale warning! You couldn’t stop sinning before you became a Christian, so what makes you think you can do it now. It’s not like giving up cigarettes or drink you know. It’s a bit more impossible. You overcome sin in your life only by faith and the power of the new Spirit in you. That Spirit starts at your new birth as a baby and has to grow by being, fed, breathing fresh air and being free to exercise. So may be at first you won’t be too strong, but that does not stop you being alive and God smiling on you with great pleasure, as his new baby. He delights as you chuckle in prayer and gurgle your first ‘‘Dadda’’. (Abba) However during that growth, the Spirit will teach you two things. 1. How Holy and wonderful the Lord Jesus is. 2. How unholy and worthless you are without Him Perhaps when you were unsaved, you thought you were quite a good person. Even when you came to the Lord for salvation you may have thought that you only needed a wash and brush up, or a dust down, to fit you for God. But that is not true. There is not an ounce of good in you, as God counts goodness, and you have the potential, given the circumstances and the environment to commit all the sins in the book, and even those hideous things you may have once read in the Sunday papers. At first you may not think this is true, but God wants to show you that you really did cost ‘the earth’, or rather ‘the heaven’, (for God sent his richest treasure from heaven) to save you. You were really that bad and hopeless. Because you now have a ‘‘holy’’ Spirit in you, you will become far more sensitive to things which are wrong. Many things you never ever thought were even questionable may now give you an uneasy feeling within. Consequently it is quite on the cards, yea probable, that you will be conscious of more sin after you become a Christian, than before. We soon get the feeling that anything in us that is unlike Christ is sin. Conviction
So what the Holy Spirit will do now when you sin, is to use your sin as a black board upon which he teaches you how clean and holy the life of Jesus is - The life you have by faith. It is impossible to see more and more of the righteousness and beauty of the character of Christ, as you get to know Him, and not at the same time see the utterly awful state of your own nature. So how should you cope when the Holy Spirit, opens your eyes to the comparison in whiteness between the righteousness of Jesus and the very grubby ‘‘whiteness ’’ of your own righteousness? There is every possibility that you will get quite depressed because you may start thinking that you cannot keep up to the standard you know that the Holy Spirit expects. Such thoughts come because you have forgotten who is in you and you are looking at yourself, and realising just how sinful you are in the flesh.
The aspirations which you have to please God are excellent and the power to do so will surely come in time not by your power but by the power of the Spirit. Under this new agreement you are a child of God by ‘‘being’’ rather than ‘‘doing”. Do not let your inability to keep the Law, get you down. The hymn writer wrote that as I stand before the cross, “ Two wonders I confess, The wonder of His matchless love, and my own worthlessness. In light of these things we can progress to understand a bit more of what Romans ch 7 really teaches us. Romans chapter seven seems to be a very depressing chapter in the Christian experience. It is however almost inevitable, because we start our christian life with such enthusiasm and full of new life zest. Then when that initial newness has worn a little we try to live the christian life in much the same way as we have tackled any task in the past. We try our hardest. However, no matter how hard you try under your own steam, which the bible calls “the flesh”, you will never succeed. You will set yourself goals, take note of what you see and feel, and draw your conclusions accordingly. So that when you sin, you will feel an utter failure. “O wretched man that I am” cries this great apostle Paul. So if he did the things he shouldn’t do and didn’t do the things he should have done- will it not be the same for you. Will you ever live without sinning? Answer; as long as the Law exists you will always fall short of its standard. What you have to remember is that you are dead to the Law and married to Christ. Don’t live in the flesh, judging yourself to be righteous by what you know, see and feel. Live in the spirit, by faith. Take God at His word. Why condemn yourself? God doesn’t - He justifies you. Jesus doesn’t – He died for you! Dying for a change.
To illustrate, let us suppose that the lady in the picture is married to a nit picking, nagging, fault-finding husband, who was impossible to please. That is like living under the law. You will never please it. The lady wants to marry that lovely man down the road who loves her, thinks she is wonderful and expects little from her.
How can she do it? Only if her husband dies, can she legally marry the nice chap. Her present happiness depends on whether she feels she is pleasing her husband or not. But she is never happy because she can never please the one she’s got, for he has too high a standard. The Law will never give you that pleasure either, you will never be happy trying to please the Law. You will never do it. The bad news is that the Law cannot die, it is eternal. But if the Law, is the husband and he cannot die, what you have to remember is that you have died and you also have eternal life. For you are now dead to the Law and married to Christ who finds no fault in you, whatsoever. Nor is there anyone who can accuse you justly before God. (See end of chapter 8.) So do not misjudge the work of the Holy Spirit. When He shows you your sin, it is not to condemn you, on the contrary it is to point you to your wonderful cleanness you have in Christ, and to make you dependent on it by faith. The more He works in you the more you will see your real self for what it is and the more you should rejoice in what you have by faith. (and can only obtain by faith.). There is a difference between the work of the Lord Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of Jesus has finished and the debt is paid. You have been justly counted righteous before God. But the work of the Holy Spirit is to help you in the battle between the flesh and the spirit, your old nature and the new nature. Often times the Holy Spirit will convict you and you will feel quite sore over something you have thought, said or done. Please mark the difference between Conviction and Condemnation. The latter brings death, through the Law, for it is the Law that condemns us. But Jesus took our condemnation so there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, but there will be Conviction from the Holy Spirit within us. In the days when children used to play Cowboys and Indians, they usually fell out when one participant who had been “shot”, refused to be ‘‘dead.’’ So remember, when the scriptures tell you, “you’re dead”, be dead and stay ‘‘dead’’ (Col.3:3.) Let's go a little deeper:
Having forewarned you about the difficulty of understanding this chapter as a new born child of God, lets try to understand something of the deeper meanings in this chapter. The first profound truth we should discover is that chapter 7 joins the last verse in chapter 6, to the first verse in chapter 8. How profound is that? However if you or any other christian, were to try to join these two verses I don’t think either would come up with anything remotely like chapter 7. In understanding the bible, one of the fundamental exercises is to try to grasp the thoughts process in the mind of the writer, when he had the blank piece of papyrus in front of Him. Such is the case here, if we are to understand Romans chapter 7. The last verse in Romans ch 6 says “The wages of sin is death” Let's consider that for a moment. When the Bible speaks about “LIFE” is referring to living in the world that God inhabits, and to enjoy His presence, where there is fullness of Joy and Life for evermore.” |
However, no sin can enter that realm. Sin is definitely locked out.
So it would seem that if I am to enjoy this “Life” and know God’s presence that one thing I must never do is Sin, otherwise I will be separated from “Life” and know “Death”. Surely then this will demand from me my utmost effort and concentration every minute of every hour and every hour of every day.
But can we do that? Can anyone do that? Will my “utmost for His highest” achieve constant communion with God on that basis of my effort. Sadly the answer is a definite “No”.
You see we are three-fold sinners by nature, habit and practice. We sin unintentionally. We sin almost automatically, we even sin unknowingly at times. Like an apple tree bears apples. We sin without knowing what we are doing is sin. Especially is this true in the realm of the mind. To have an unkind thought, or an impure thought is without question a Sin. But how often even at such Holy Places as a prayer meeting or a communion table can we be guilty of such quick sudden thoughts. On that basis we would never ever be able to know the presence of God on such sacred occasions. The preacher could be harbouring sinful thoughts while preaching- “ this seems to be going down well” or “ I wonder how much they will give me for my “expenses”.
Expand that thought problem into every day life and we have not only thought problems regarding sin, but heart problems and will problems. How possibly can we ever enjoy the presence of God if, even without knowing it at times we continually do things which are not convenient in terms of God’s will for His kingdom. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that since becoming a Christian our standards have risen immensely and things we once thought were quite permissible, we now know and feel that they are dishonouring to Jesus Christ. In fact everything I do which is unlike Christ, I could rightly regard as Sin.
If these things are true, then we have a serious problem.
So it would seem that if I am to enjoy this “Life” and know God’s presence that one thing I must never do is Sin, otherwise I will be separated from “Life” and know “Death”. Surely then this will demand from me my utmost effort and concentration every minute of every hour and every hour of every day.
But can we do that? Can anyone do that? Will my “utmost for His highest” achieve constant communion with God on that basis of my effort. Sadly the answer is a definite “No”.
You see we are three-fold sinners by nature, habit and practice. We sin unintentionally. We sin almost automatically, we even sin unknowingly at times. Like an apple tree bears apples. We sin without knowing what we are doing is sin. Especially is this true in the realm of the mind. To have an unkind thought, or an impure thought is without question a Sin. But how often even at such Holy Places as a prayer meeting or a communion table can we be guilty of such quick sudden thoughts. On that basis we would never ever be able to know the presence of God on such sacred occasions. The preacher could be harbouring sinful thoughts while preaching- “ this seems to be going down well” or “ I wonder how much they will give me for my “expenses”.
Expand that thought problem into every day life and we have not only thought problems regarding sin, but heart problems and will problems. How possibly can we ever enjoy the presence of God if, even without knowing it at times we continually do things which are not convenient in terms of God’s will for His kingdom. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that since becoming a Christian our standards have risen immensely and things we once thought were quite permissible, we now know and feel that they are dishonouring to Jesus Christ. In fact everything I do which is unlike Christ, I could rightly regard as Sin.
If these things are true, then we have a serious problem.
So come in chapter 7.
This chapter explains this predicament, and tells us some very interesting things about sin. It explains how it works to bring about death. Paul points out that though we are truly sinners, by birth, habit, and nature, we are nevertheless a separate entity from Sin. Sin is a parasite on us.
The Three main antagonists in this confusing dilemma are Sin, The Law and I- (ego)
If there was no law, then sin would have no power to bring condemnation of death to us. The question arises in this chapter, Is the law sin? Is it a bad thing, that it should result in death. Not at all for it is sin that brings the death, not the Law.
I would not have known Sin, if the Law hadn’t come. But I would still have had a guilty conscience which would have caused me to feel separated from God.
When the Law came, the Sin which was then a “benign” growth within me suddenly came to life and became a “malignant” growth. “Sin revived and I died” says Paul
The worse thing about this scenario is that The Law, though Holy Just and Good wasn’t able to help me to overcome sin, or remove its guilt.
Every attempt on my own to overcome sin proved fruitless in the long-run.
I found that even my best intentions to be good, failed. I found myself doing the things I didn’t want to do and not doing the good things I had every intention of doing. Sin reigned and does reign.
When the law came it not only identified Sin but also revealed that my human passions and desires from my heart were sinful. (verse 8.) Sin had not only penetrated my mind to believe lies , but it had so penetrated my heart that I wanted to sin. Furthermore it had penetrated my will so that even if I didn’t want to break God’s law I could not refrain from doing so. (v. 18)
What then is the answer? How can it be possible for me to be free from this law, that every time I sin, separates me from God. It is as sure a law as the law of gravity. It will not go away.
So we remind ourselves of our previous illustration. of the lady married to a nit-picking, over demanding husband.
In this scenario, it is as if we are “married to the Law, our ‘‘husband ’’ will never die. The Law cannot die for it is the perfect expression of the character of God. So if the law will never go away will we always be condemned? No, for though the law cannot die- God has devised a means whereby WE CAN.
When we ‘‘died in Christ’’, then by that death we are dead to the law and “married to Christ.” We died to sin and the law that identified it. We now live a new life which we get from dwelling by faith in Christ.
Suppose for a moment that you are an apple tree. By nature you can never bear anything else other than apples and you probably can’t stop producing apples either. So likewise we are sinners by nature (our flesh) and sin in us keeps producing its fruit from the soil of our flesh in good measure.
God has provided an answer, in the death of Christ, for in his death we died. We have been cut off from our old life and grafted into Christ.
Chapter 8 v 3 says ’’ he took the condemnation of sin in the flesh’’
The Body of death which is our unchangeable lot, was dealt with when God took a body just like ours.
Jesus became sin for us.
He who knew no sin, unconsciously or consciously, took sin in his own body, and bore the wages of sin and the condemnation of the law.
Note the difference between sin & sins.
Sins are the fruit and sin is the root
Our sins are dealt with by the blood of Jesus. They are washed away.
The parasite called sin that works in our nature is dealt with by the cross.
Jesus took our sin in his body and died. The parasite that lived on and in our body of sin that kept using the law to condemn us has died also.
Therefore, we are exhorted to live in the realm of the Spirit where all this is true. It is the realm where God dwells with his children.
Romans ch. 8 begins with “no condemnation,” and ends with “no separation.”
That is the power of the gospel. The power that saves habitual sinners. We don’t save ourselves, the gospel saves us while we believe it..
It deals with SIN as a separate entity to the sinner. Man was a child of God till he was deceived into choosing to allow SIN to enter. The Gospel kills the power of the unwanted lodger who pays no rent, and brings in Another who has paid in full with everlasting life. All we do is believe it.
Here are two parables which may bring more light on what this chapter is saying regarding sin, and the law.
Hopefully from these illustrations you will see that
1. Sin is a separate entity to yourself. Though sometimes you admit to wrong doing, it was really sin working through your members.
2. The law did not bring death, it is sin that brings death.
3. The law was sent to target sin, not us. Much more could be said and probably needs to be, to make it all clear, but time and space deny that possibility, but here are the parables;
Illustration No 1 shows how we did not know what sin was until the law came;
Suppose there was a law which said that people who keep tapping their fingers will have a book thrown at them. Now we are all probably familiar with people who have some nervous characteristic which they do without knowing that they do it. Let’s imagine this situation. A couple are watching T.V. The man is tapping away while his wife sits in another chair getting increasingly annoyed at the constant tapping. Sooner or later a request will be made for the tapping to be stopped. Inevitably there will come a note of surprise from the accused in asking ‘‘Who's tapping?’’ Even more surprised will they be when they are informed that they have been doing it for the past two years or more. The upshot of the conversation will usually be for the person in question to be offended in some way, either outwardly or inwardly. Some attempt might be made to stop the annoying habit, but more than likely it will be so inbred into the nervous system that only with constant effort of concentration can the tapping be controlled. Given the slightest relaxation and the tapping will begin. But what has happened is that the tapper has become conscious of condemnation, of doing something that offends and more than that sometimes they have to confess they can’t stop, because they do it without realising they are doing it. They may agree that it is a terrible habitual thing to do, and they themselves will no doubt be able to mention things that annoy them which other people do, but nevertheless they will find themselves still doing it. So it is no longer they themselves that do it but the very nervous system within them.
However whether it is the nervous system or the conscious effort, the book will probably still been thrown at them. ‘‘The penalty of the law must be carried out. ’’
This is what the Apostle Paul is telling us about sin. We obey it, and our actions can be sinful without our knowing it. It is within us as a result of the fall and is part of our nature, inherited from our “father the devil”. However when “the Law of God came”, sin seized the opportunity to bring death about in us by “coming to our full consciousness”, for immediately we knew we were condemned by the Law. It is this condemnation- the wages of sin- that Paul is dealing with.
Paul shows how he separates HIMSELF from the principle of SIN that works in his flesh.
Illustration No 2.
A lady takes up residence in a new house. She invites a lodger in called Mr. Sin in who at first is a good laugh and pleasant company. Eventually she marries him. More and more he takes over her life and the house.
The darker side of his character increases and eventually we have a bizarre situation where she is completely dominated. So much so that he buys everything, chooses everything, answers every door bell, sends away or pacifies every visitor who calls, reads every letter, answers every phone call, dominates, binds and generally turns the main house tenant into a henpecked brainwashed weak person who has lost all sense of identity or purpose. Eventually she loses any sense of identity, so much so that she would never dream of doing anything off her own bat, so to speak. Do you get the picture. She loses her identity so much so that she identifies herself with Sin enough to answer to the name Mrs. Sin.
God could be seen in this analogy as the original owner or builder. He saw the lady’s predicament, governed by Mr Sin. He saw the outside of the house neglected, the wiring inside all messed about with and the plumbing ruined with coal in the bath and toilets blocked. The place was only fit for demolition. So He sent them a letter (The Law), listing all the things wrong with the house, which of course were caused by Mr. Sin. The letter was intended that Mrs. Sin would see what was happening and kick him out, but she could not consider how she would live without Mr. Sin.
However, from what we learn in this chapter, we could say that when the letter came, i.e. when the law came, Sin intercepted the letter, Then he read out the list of all the things that the owner said were wrong with the house, so much so that it was now condemned. But he read it in such a way to make the lady think the owner was against her and that she was to blame for all the things wrong. ‘‘Ah! this says that the owner (God) is against you because your garden’s neglected and the house is never painted or maintained.’’
Of course the real culprit was Mr. Sin, but Mr. Sin had lived with the lady so long and dominated her life so much that she genuinely thought that she was indeed responsible for all these faults, having been the original person who rented the house off the builder
After the letter of the law came Mrs. Sin seem to stick closer to Mr. Sin than ever. He would always speak in terms of ‘‘we are in trouble’’ and ‘‘we should so do this’’ or ‘‘we should rebel, and please ourselves what we do in our house. (end of parable)
(It will all take a good deal of prayerful thought and meditation to understand these things clearly but if you are a young Christian you have many years no doubt to come to understand them fully. You can always keep returning to these notes for help.)
Romans chapter seven ends in a testimony of victory. “Tis true. I have discovered that in me there is no good that satisfies God. Yes! In my flesh I am a rotter. There is no good in me! but hallelujah my flesh is dead and that’s all finished, for now I live in Jesus, and He’s God’s beloved Son, and I am accepted in Him. If God accepts me and I can be alive to Him continuously in Christ then, that is all I need. As far as the flesh is concerned, I’m glad I don’t have to live in it, so it’s good riddance to bad rubbish”
This chapter explains this predicament, and tells us some very interesting things about sin. It explains how it works to bring about death. Paul points out that though we are truly sinners, by birth, habit, and nature, we are nevertheless a separate entity from Sin. Sin is a parasite on us.
The Three main antagonists in this confusing dilemma are Sin, The Law and I- (ego)
If there was no law, then sin would have no power to bring condemnation of death to us. The question arises in this chapter, Is the law sin? Is it a bad thing, that it should result in death. Not at all for it is sin that brings the death, not the Law.
I would not have known Sin, if the Law hadn’t come. But I would still have had a guilty conscience which would have caused me to feel separated from God.
When the Law came, the Sin which was then a “benign” growth within me suddenly came to life and became a “malignant” growth. “Sin revived and I died” says Paul
The worse thing about this scenario is that The Law, though Holy Just and Good wasn’t able to help me to overcome sin, or remove its guilt.
Every attempt on my own to overcome sin proved fruitless in the long-run.
I found that even my best intentions to be good, failed. I found myself doing the things I didn’t want to do and not doing the good things I had every intention of doing. Sin reigned and does reign.
When the law came it not only identified Sin but also revealed that my human passions and desires from my heart were sinful. (verse 8.) Sin had not only penetrated my mind to believe lies , but it had so penetrated my heart that I wanted to sin. Furthermore it had penetrated my will so that even if I didn’t want to break God’s law I could not refrain from doing so. (v. 18)
What then is the answer? How can it be possible for me to be free from this law, that every time I sin, separates me from God. It is as sure a law as the law of gravity. It will not go away.
So we remind ourselves of our previous illustration. of the lady married to a nit-picking, over demanding husband.
In this scenario, it is as if we are “married to the Law, our ‘‘husband ’’ will never die. The Law cannot die for it is the perfect expression of the character of God. So if the law will never go away will we always be condemned? No, for though the law cannot die- God has devised a means whereby WE CAN.
When we ‘‘died in Christ’’, then by that death we are dead to the law and “married to Christ.” We died to sin and the law that identified it. We now live a new life which we get from dwelling by faith in Christ.
Suppose for a moment that you are an apple tree. By nature you can never bear anything else other than apples and you probably can’t stop producing apples either. So likewise we are sinners by nature (our flesh) and sin in us keeps producing its fruit from the soil of our flesh in good measure.
God has provided an answer, in the death of Christ, for in his death we died. We have been cut off from our old life and grafted into Christ.
Chapter 8 v 3 says ’’ he took the condemnation of sin in the flesh’’
The Body of death which is our unchangeable lot, was dealt with when God took a body just like ours.
Jesus became sin for us.
He who knew no sin, unconsciously or consciously, took sin in his own body, and bore the wages of sin and the condemnation of the law.
Note the difference between sin & sins.
Sins are the fruit and sin is the root
Our sins are dealt with by the blood of Jesus. They are washed away.
The parasite called sin that works in our nature is dealt with by the cross.
Jesus took our sin in his body and died. The parasite that lived on and in our body of sin that kept using the law to condemn us has died also.
Therefore, we are exhorted to live in the realm of the Spirit where all this is true. It is the realm where God dwells with his children.
Romans ch. 8 begins with “no condemnation,” and ends with “no separation.”
That is the power of the gospel. The power that saves habitual sinners. We don’t save ourselves, the gospel saves us while we believe it..
It deals with SIN as a separate entity to the sinner. Man was a child of God till he was deceived into choosing to allow SIN to enter. The Gospel kills the power of the unwanted lodger who pays no rent, and brings in Another who has paid in full with everlasting life. All we do is believe it.
Here are two parables which may bring more light on what this chapter is saying regarding sin, and the law.
Hopefully from these illustrations you will see that
1. Sin is a separate entity to yourself. Though sometimes you admit to wrong doing, it was really sin working through your members.
2. The law did not bring death, it is sin that brings death.
3. The law was sent to target sin, not us. Much more could be said and probably needs to be, to make it all clear, but time and space deny that possibility, but here are the parables;
Illustration No 1 shows how we did not know what sin was until the law came;
Suppose there was a law which said that people who keep tapping their fingers will have a book thrown at them. Now we are all probably familiar with people who have some nervous characteristic which they do without knowing that they do it. Let’s imagine this situation. A couple are watching T.V. The man is tapping away while his wife sits in another chair getting increasingly annoyed at the constant tapping. Sooner or later a request will be made for the tapping to be stopped. Inevitably there will come a note of surprise from the accused in asking ‘‘Who's tapping?’’ Even more surprised will they be when they are informed that they have been doing it for the past two years or more. The upshot of the conversation will usually be for the person in question to be offended in some way, either outwardly or inwardly. Some attempt might be made to stop the annoying habit, but more than likely it will be so inbred into the nervous system that only with constant effort of concentration can the tapping be controlled. Given the slightest relaxation and the tapping will begin. But what has happened is that the tapper has become conscious of condemnation, of doing something that offends and more than that sometimes they have to confess they can’t stop, because they do it without realising they are doing it. They may agree that it is a terrible habitual thing to do, and they themselves will no doubt be able to mention things that annoy them which other people do, but nevertheless they will find themselves still doing it. So it is no longer they themselves that do it but the very nervous system within them.
However whether it is the nervous system or the conscious effort, the book will probably still been thrown at them. ‘‘The penalty of the law must be carried out. ’’
This is what the Apostle Paul is telling us about sin. We obey it, and our actions can be sinful without our knowing it. It is within us as a result of the fall and is part of our nature, inherited from our “father the devil”. However when “the Law of God came”, sin seized the opportunity to bring death about in us by “coming to our full consciousness”, for immediately we knew we were condemned by the Law. It is this condemnation- the wages of sin- that Paul is dealing with.
Paul shows how he separates HIMSELF from the principle of SIN that works in his flesh.
Illustration No 2.
A lady takes up residence in a new house. She invites a lodger in called Mr. Sin in who at first is a good laugh and pleasant company. Eventually she marries him. More and more he takes over her life and the house.
The darker side of his character increases and eventually we have a bizarre situation where she is completely dominated. So much so that he buys everything, chooses everything, answers every door bell, sends away or pacifies every visitor who calls, reads every letter, answers every phone call, dominates, binds and generally turns the main house tenant into a henpecked brainwashed weak person who has lost all sense of identity or purpose. Eventually she loses any sense of identity, so much so that she would never dream of doing anything off her own bat, so to speak. Do you get the picture. She loses her identity so much so that she identifies herself with Sin enough to answer to the name Mrs. Sin.
God could be seen in this analogy as the original owner or builder. He saw the lady’s predicament, governed by Mr Sin. He saw the outside of the house neglected, the wiring inside all messed about with and the plumbing ruined with coal in the bath and toilets blocked. The place was only fit for demolition. So He sent them a letter (The Law), listing all the things wrong with the house, which of course were caused by Mr. Sin. The letter was intended that Mrs. Sin would see what was happening and kick him out, but she could not consider how she would live without Mr. Sin.
However, from what we learn in this chapter, we could say that when the letter came, i.e. when the law came, Sin intercepted the letter, Then he read out the list of all the things that the owner said were wrong with the house, so much so that it was now condemned. But he read it in such a way to make the lady think the owner was against her and that she was to blame for all the things wrong. ‘‘Ah! this says that the owner (God) is against you because your garden’s neglected and the house is never painted or maintained.’’
Of course the real culprit was Mr. Sin, but Mr. Sin had lived with the lady so long and dominated her life so much that she genuinely thought that she was indeed responsible for all these faults, having been the original person who rented the house off the builder
After the letter of the law came Mrs. Sin seem to stick closer to Mr. Sin than ever. He would always speak in terms of ‘‘we are in trouble’’ and ‘‘we should so do this’’ or ‘‘we should rebel, and please ourselves what we do in our house. (end of parable)
(It will all take a good deal of prayerful thought and meditation to understand these things clearly but if you are a young Christian you have many years no doubt to come to understand them fully. You can always keep returning to these notes for help.)
Romans chapter seven ends in a testimony of victory. “Tis true. I have discovered that in me there is no good that satisfies God. Yes! In my flesh I am a rotter. There is no good in me! but hallelujah my flesh is dead and that’s all finished, for now I live in Jesus, and He’s God’s beloved Son, and I am accepted in Him. If God accepts me and I can be alive to Him continuously in Christ then, that is all I need. As far as the flesh is concerned, I’m glad I don’t have to live in it, so it’s good riddance to bad rubbish”
Comparing ch 1 with Ch 7.
How standards have changed !
No, that is not a remark of a granny observing a teenager buying contraceptives over the chemist’s counter, but a comparison between the sinner in chapter one and the sinner in chapter seven. The sinner in chapter one, has grown up in Christ to chapter seven. In chapter one he has a standard so low it is impossible to fall beneath it, and now in chapter seven, he recognises that there is no semblance of good in his fleshly nature. His only hope of peace from a guilty conscience is by faith in Christ.
No, that is not a remark of a granny observing a teenager buying contraceptives over the chemist’s counter, but a comparison between the sinner in chapter one and the sinner in chapter seven. The sinner in chapter one, has grown up in Christ to chapter seven. In chapter one he has a standard so low it is impossible to fall beneath it, and now in chapter seven, he recognises that there is no semblance of good in his fleshly nature. His only hope of peace from a guilty conscience is by faith in Christ.
Appendix.:
Confessing your sins
After our recent series on Romans, some new angles of thought have come concerning ch 7 and ch 8.
We made what seemed to be a light-hearted explanation of Ch 7 by saying that it filled the gap between chapters 6 and 8. We then saw how the last verse in ch 7, says “ the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”. In Paul’s mind he considered the fact that we will continue to sin as long as we have a sinful flesh, so he seeks to explain how sin works in us, and how dark is the human soul. However, he rejoices in the fact that there is a way where we can continually know God’s eternal life and never know the despair of being estranged from God because of our sin, which of course is spiritual death.
This led me to the thought that as Christians we are continually confessing our sins to God, and I asked myself the question, “Is that what God wants of his children- continually telling Him as our Father, how Satan has had victory over us.
However I now see that probably this is what Paul had in part of his mind, when he wrote ch 7, after ch 6:23.
So let’s consider a new line of thinking- (for me at least). Most Christians are not good learners as they tend to think they pretty well understand most spiritual truths. So we get very suspicious of anything we ourselves have not thought of or been taught. So keep an open mind as you read these first edition notes. Before any conclusions are drawn, please note two points
1. we have already dealt with the purpose of Grace and its abuse. (Gal. 2:21: Jude 1:4)
2. that we are dealing here with the work of Christ and not the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
Confessing you sins?
Most believing Christians would think that it is right to keep short accounts with God, and at the end of every day confess their sins, in accordance with 1 John ch 1 v.9., which says,
I Jn 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is endorsed in the next verse
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
But if we understand what and who we are by faith, is this daily habit necessary? Is it right?
In Romans ch 8 we are told that we live before God, by faith. Being children of God, we have continued fellowship with God.
But as we sin, (note- not “if we sin”) we have someone on our case continually. Namely the Righteous ONE, Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:1: My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
“Propitiation” means that God is satisfied. He has been paid in full, for the sins of the whole world. Everyone in the world could be forgiven if they would a, believe God’s Law, b, accept their just condemnation and c, believe that Jesus paid the penalty for breaking God’s law, by taking their punishment and dying in their place.
Ponder for a moment, on us having to endure such a punishment for sinning against God.
Who among us would like to be lashed with a whip, with thongs embedded with bone and ivory. Many a person would die under that beating alone, as their bowels would gush out. But if we were still alive we would then have to carry a wooden cross weighing a hundred or more pounds, up a hill, while being mocked and shamed by the watching crowds. Then we would be crucified on the cross, with nails through our hands and feet, and then left in the noonday sun to die in agony and thirst.
Could we possibly believe, after all that, that God loved us?
Did God love his own son? So if he did that to his own son, instead of giving us the punishment our sin deserves, in his judgement, then how much must he love us.
Surely if we consider these facts then we must see, not only, how much he loves us but how much God hates sin.
Obviously he loved us too much to give us what, by his righteous standards, we deserve. But that does not mean that our sin is any the less horrendous to a God who is Holy, Holy, Holy.
So we ought, therefore, to be constantly grateful, thankful, and indebted to Jesus for what he did for us.
We should remind ourselves continually of what he has done for us. It HAS BEEN DONE- Past- finished- caput – end of.
So now as God’s children by faith, are we exercising that faith by coming to God every day and asking forgiveness for sins?
If we profess to be “in Christ”, (in the Spirit) then do we come to God as his child or as a sinner?
Is “being in Christ” a kind of Sunday suit that we slip on by faith before we come to Him. Maybe it is? But surely it is possible to live in that suit continually, every moment of every day.
Although John wrote these words we have quoted, he later says just as dogmatically that “He that is born of God does not commit sin”
NIV translates the word “commit sin as “practise” sin.- but this is not the word John uses. Practise is another word which is “ prasso.” John uses the word “poieo” (poy-eh'-o); to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct):
If the scripture says that we are dead then how can we commit any sin, especially as it says that where there is no Law there is no transgression.
Surely this is the freedom that Paul writes about when he says “He that is dead if free from sin”
So if we come as a sinner to God, are we coming in the flesh, or in the spirit?
If we continue to endlessly confess our sins, what are we trying to achieve? Are we trying to seek forgiveness to make sure we are right with God?
But that can’t be right for sin no longer separates us from God. It will only do that if we stop believing that the debt has been paid once and for all. Are we not continually clothed with the robe of His righteousness? Does not N.T. scripture teach us that the antidote for sin is faith.
Also one has to ask, for what sins will we be asking for forgiveness? And those we mention, would that be the lot? Surely any unlikeness to Christ can be calculated to be falling short, which is sin. Then there are the sins of omission. Things we should have done but left undone. One would expect that the all seeing eye of a thrice holy God could easily find fault with us in this case, apart from the sins we are happy to confess.
Is it possible that God thinks it OK for his children to come grovelling for forgiveness, from sins which he has clearly said no longer exist. What are we to believe, the sins that our conscience and Moses Law confirm, or are we to believe that God justifies the ungodly. Are we in a state of interrupted spasmodic justification? Do we go back to God every day like Roman Catholics go to confession every day. Are we only justified for sins we confess each day?
Or is it true that when we are born of God, we are indeed God’s children. How can God’s children be anything but pure and holy all the time. The devil’s children might be, but not God’s. When we go confessing what the devil accuses us of, what do we suppose God thinks of our faith in the propitiation of Jesus. Sin gets it power from the Law. Paul says in Galatians ch. 2 that if we build again those things we have destroyed, we make ourselves a transgressor.- Note- WE MAKE OURSELVES a transgressor. Certainly, the gospel of grace seems too good to be true in that there is no Law to condemn us, because when we live by faith we have the righteousness of the law, lock stock and barrel, all day and every day. The gift is eternal life, is it not? Rom 6:36. Is it not this dilemma that Paul is dealing with by writing chapter 7? Surely he is saying that this life does not disappear every time we feel we have sinned, it is God’s life, given to us as a continual gift, because of Jesus.
Note the phrase underlined below.
Heb 9:26-28
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
If Christ has put sin away, what are we getting it out for? All we need do is surely, believe it is put away and praise and thank our Saviour every day for his continued intercession on our behalf. He ever lives to do so.!
What is the difference between what the high priest did on the day of atonement and what Christ did?
We read that what the priest did could not take away the guilt of the conscience.
Heb 9:14-17
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:24-28
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Heb 10:1-2
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
One would think that if we are continually confessing, then surely our guilt has never been dealt with, and the work of Christ has been non effective. Is it not time our faith reached the point of believing we are not guilty. We are blood washed, redeemed. spotless children of the Living God
All our sins are sins of the flesh, but as children of God we are not “in the flesh”.
As children of God, we do not sin, according to John (1 Jn 3:9: more later)
Rom 8:8-15
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
(is not our daily sin, in “the body of death” that Paul writes about in ch. 7?)
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, (reckon it to be dead) you shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
As far as God is concerned, was not our flesh cut off the day we believed that we died in Christ Jesus? – Our hearts were circumcised. This is the true mark of a child of Abraham.
Those who continue to come asking for forgiveness are surely still in the flesh, and acknowledging their condemnation under the Law,
I hope this message concerning the Work of Christ comes over clear and plain, before we move on to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, who is transforming us into the image of Christ as we grow spiritually, which is the whole point of us all being justified and sanctified.
Hebrew 10 tells us clearly that we are sanctified and it explains how it comes about. Perhaps, those who have not seen this truth of justification by faith, ought to read Hebrews chapter 10 until the Spirit reveals how they are also sanctified by faith, in the same way as they are justified by faith.
Neither being justified or sanctified is a spasmodic, intermittent experience depending on what we do or say.
Has Christ not been interceding for you all day? Has your advocate taken a holiday? Does the blood on the mercy seat have a habit of disappearing now and again?
Note finally what Paul writes in Galatians 2:17-19
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Do you feel guilty? Guilty of what?
May be you feel convicted. That is an entirely different thing. This is dealt with in chapter 7. As you grow as a child of God, you will constantly see Christ and should realise the Holy Spirit is conforming you to his image. One of the points made in chapter 7 notes is the fact that we will constantly see things wrong in our lives. We will become convicted of things which we never before thought of as sinful. Take for just one example, our deficiency of love, as portrayed in 1 Cor. ch. 13.
Such conviction should not be confused with the condemnation of conscience and the Law. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus Christ in us, and what He reveals to us is more to reveal Christ than to reveal our sinfulness. If our confession is on the basis that we have denied our conscience or broken the Law, then we are not confessing “in the Spirit”, or in “living by faith, because faith believes that the work is already done, or believing we already have what we would ask for. Before we call he has already answered. Those who live at the cross are continually washed in the crimson tide. His intercession is not spasmodic. Neither will be the light that the Holy Spirit will shed on our path each day, in which we should walk. (1 John 1:6-7) As there are over 450 commands from Romans to Jude in the New Testament, our daily readings should be enough light for a lifetime of obedience.
The children of God are born in heaven. The Word of God is written in the language of heaven for those living on earth. Like any new language being learnt, we learn it gradually and eventually we think in our new language. Most people will always contain a hint of an accent when speaking a foreign language. I suspect that it is in this region of Rom chs 7 and 8 that most Christians find difficulty speaking the language of heaven without an earthly accent being detected.
Finally, let’s look at John ch 13
At the end of each day, after walking the dusty roads of Palestine in sandals, everyone’s feet would be somewhat mucky. Feet are a symbol of our will (Head- Mind: Hands- Heart: and Feet- Will)
John 13:8-10
8 Peter said unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10 Jesus said to him, He that is washed need not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
Please ready and ponder on these verses.
Personally I like to think that I allow the Lord to wash my feet every day. As the disciples walked the hot dusty streets it was inevitable that each day brought the need to have their feet washed. Jesus knows that inevitably as we walk this world each day our feet, (our will), become tarnished. Surely our end of day fellowship with the Lord is no more and no less than that, in terms of cleansing, because as I am part of Christ, I am clean “every whit”. (as well as every Easter – sorry!) -every small part,- as a whole.
Keep learning the language- keep speaking it out. It may sound a bit hollow at the beginning as it operates in your mind, but eventually it should come naturally from your heart. Then you just need to refine the accent, bit by bit. (Matt 26: 73; Peter’s accent gave him away as a disciple)
Be a child of God, talk to your father in his language. Thrill him, cause him to delight in his children as he hears you saying new heavenly words and understanding their meaning, without even a hint of earthly fleshly accent.
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Confessing your sins
After our recent series on Romans, some new angles of thought have come concerning ch 7 and ch 8.
We made what seemed to be a light-hearted explanation of Ch 7 by saying that it filled the gap between chapters 6 and 8. We then saw how the last verse in ch 7, says “ the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”. In Paul’s mind he considered the fact that we will continue to sin as long as we have a sinful flesh, so he seeks to explain how sin works in us, and how dark is the human soul. However, he rejoices in the fact that there is a way where we can continually know God’s eternal life and never know the despair of being estranged from God because of our sin, which of course is spiritual death.
This led me to the thought that as Christians we are continually confessing our sins to God, and I asked myself the question, “Is that what God wants of his children- continually telling Him as our Father, how Satan has had victory over us.
However I now see that probably this is what Paul had in part of his mind, when he wrote ch 7, after ch 6:23.
So let’s consider a new line of thinking- (for me at least). Most Christians are not good learners as they tend to think they pretty well understand most spiritual truths. So we get very suspicious of anything we ourselves have not thought of or been taught. So keep an open mind as you read these first edition notes. Before any conclusions are drawn, please note two points
1. we have already dealt with the purpose of Grace and its abuse. (Gal. 2:21: Jude 1:4)
2. that we are dealing here with the work of Christ and not the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
Confessing you sins?
Most believing Christians would think that it is right to keep short accounts with God, and at the end of every day confess their sins, in accordance with 1 John ch 1 v.9., which says,
I Jn 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is endorsed in the next verse
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
But if we understand what and who we are by faith, is this daily habit necessary? Is it right?
In Romans ch 8 we are told that we live before God, by faith. Being children of God, we have continued fellowship with God.
But as we sin, (note- not “if we sin”) we have someone on our case continually. Namely the Righteous ONE, Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:1: My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
“Propitiation” means that God is satisfied. He has been paid in full, for the sins of the whole world. Everyone in the world could be forgiven if they would a, believe God’s Law, b, accept their just condemnation and c, believe that Jesus paid the penalty for breaking God’s law, by taking their punishment and dying in their place.
Ponder for a moment, on us having to endure such a punishment for sinning against God.
Who among us would like to be lashed with a whip, with thongs embedded with bone and ivory. Many a person would die under that beating alone, as their bowels would gush out. But if we were still alive we would then have to carry a wooden cross weighing a hundred or more pounds, up a hill, while being mocked and shamed by the watching crowds. Then we would be crucified on the cross, with nails through our hands and feet, and then left in the noonday sun to die in agony and thirst.
Could we possibly believe, after all that, that God loved us?
Did God love his own son? So if he did that to his own son, instead of giving us the punishment our sin deserves, in his judgement, then how much must he love us.
Surely if we consider these facts then we must see, not only, how much he loves us but how much God hates sin.
Obviously he loved us too much to give us what, by his righteous standards, we deserve. But that does not mean that our sin is any the less horrendous to a God who is Holy, Holy, Holy.
So we ought, therefore, to be constantly grateful, thankful, and indebted to Jesus for what he did for us.
We should remind ourselves continually of what he has done for us. It HAS BEEN DONE- Past- finished- caput – end of.
So now as God’s children by faith, are we exercising that faith by coming to God every day and asking forgiveness for sins?
If we profess to be “in Christ”, (in the Spirit) then do we come to God as his child or as a sinner?
Is “being in Christ” a kind of Sunday suit that we slip on by faith before we come to Him. Maybe it is? But surely it is possible to live in that suit continually, every moment of every day.
Although John wrote these words we have quoted, he later says just as dogmatically that “He that is born of God does not commit sin”
NIV translates the word “commit sin as “practise” sin.- but this is not the word John uses. Practise is another word which is “ prasso.” John uses the word “poieo” (poy-eh'-o); to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct):
If the scripture says that we are dead then how can we commit any sin, especially as it says that where there is no Law there is no transgression.
Surely this is the freedom that Paul writes about when he says “He that is dead if free from sin”
So if we come as a sinner to God, are we coming in the flesh, or in the spirit?
If we continue to endlessly confess our sins, what are we trying to achieve? Are we trying to seek forgiveness to make sure we are right with God?
But that can’t be right for sin no longer separates us from God. It will only do that if we stop believing that the debt has been paid once and for all. Are we not continually clothed with the robe of His righteousness? Does not N.T. scripture teach us that the antidote for sin is faith.
Also one has to ask, for what sins will we be asking for forgiveness? And those we mention, would that be the lot? Surely any unlikeness to Christ can be calculated to be falling short, which is sin. Then there are the sins of omission. Things we should have done but left undone. One would expect that the all seeing eye of a thrice holy God could easily find fault with us in this case, apart from the sins we are happy to confess.
Is it possible that God thinks it OK for his children to come grovelling for forgiveness, from sins which he has clearly said no longer exist. What are we to believe, the sins that our conscience and Moses Law confirm, or are we to believe that God justifies the ungodly. Are we in a state of interrupted spasmodic justification? Do we go back to God every day like Roman Catholics go to confession every day. Are we only justified for sins we confess each day?
Or is it true that when we are born of God, we are indeed God’s children. How can God’s children be anything but pure and holy all the time. The devil’s children might be, but not God’s. When we go confessing what the devil accuses us of, what do we suppose God thinks of our faith in the propitiation of Jesus. Sin gets it power from the Law. Paul says in Galatians ch. 2 that if we build again those things we have destroyed, we make ourselves a transgressor.- Note- WE MAKE OURSELVES a transgressor. Certainly, the gospel of grace seems too good to be true in that there is no Law to condemn us, because when we live by faith we have the righteousness of the law, lock stock and barrel, all day and every day. The gift is eternal life, is it not? Rom 6:36. Is it not this dilemma that Paul is dealing with by writing chapter 7? Surely he is saying that this life does not disappear every time we feel we have sinned, it is God’s life, given to us as a continual gift, because of Jesus.
Note the phrase underlined below.
Heb 9:26-28
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
If Christ has put sin away, what are we getting it out for? All we need do is surely, believe it is put away and praise and thank our Saviour every day for his continued intercession on our behalf. He ever lives to do so.!
What is the difference between what the high priest did on the day of atonement and what Christ did?
We read that what the priest did could not take away the guilt of the conscience.
Heb 9:14-17
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:24-28
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Heb 10:1-2
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
One would think that if we are continually confessing, then surely our guilt has never been dealt with, and the work of Christ has been non effective. Is it not time our faith reached the point of believing we are not guilty. We are blood washed, redeemed. spotless children of the Living God
All our sins are sins of the flesh, but as children of God we are not “in the flesh”.
As children of God, we do not sin, according to John (1 Jn 3:9: more later)
Rom 8:8-15
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
(is not our daily sin, in “the body of death” that Paul writes about in ch. 7?)
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, (reckon it to be dead) you shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
As far as God is concerned, was not our flesh cut off the day we believed that we died in Christ Jesus? – Our hearts were circumcised. This is the true mark of a child of Abraham.
Those who continue to come asking for forgiveness are surely still in the flesh, and acknowledging their condemnation under the Law,
I hope this message concerning the Work of Christ comes over clear and plain, before we move on to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, who is transforming us into the image of Christ as we grow spiritually, which is the whole point of us all being justified and sanctified.
Hebrew 10 tells us clearly that we are sanctified and it explains how it comes about. Perhaps, those who have not seen this truth of justification by faith, ought to read Hebrews chapter 10 until the Spirit reveals how they are also sanctified by faith, in the same way as they are justified by faith.
Neither being justified or sanctified is a spasmodic, intermittent experience depending on what we do or say.
Has Christ not been interceding for you all day? Has your advocate taken a holiday? Does the blood on the mercy seat have a habit of disappearing now and again?
Note finally what Paul writes in Galatians 2:17-19
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Do you feel guilty? Guilty of what?
May be you feel convicted. That is an entirely different thing. This is dealt with in chapter 7. As you grow as a child of God, you will constantly see Christ and should realise the Holy Spirit is conforming you to his image. One of the points made in chapter 7 notes is the fact that we will constantly see things wrong in our lives. We will become convicted of things which we never before thought of as sinful. Take for just one example, our deficiency of love, as portrayed in 1 Cor. ch. 13.
Such conviction should not be confused with the condemnation of conscience and the Law. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus Christ in us, and what He reveals to us is more to reveal Christ than to reveal our sinfulness. If our confession is on the basis that we have denied our conscience or broken the Law, then we are not confessing “in the Spirit”, or in “living by faith, because faith believes that the work is already done, or believing we already have what we would ask for. Before we call he has already answered. Those who live at the cross are continually washed in the crimson tide. His intercession is not spasmodic. Neither will be the light that the Holy Spirit will shed on our path each day, in which we should walk. (1 John 1:6-7) As there are over 450 commands from Romans to Jude in the New Testament, our daily readings should be enough light for a lifetime of obedience.
The children of God are born in heaven. The Word of God is written in the language of heaven for those living on earth. Like any new language being learnt, we learn it gradually and eventually we think in our new language. Most people will always contain a hint of an accent when speaking a foreign language. I suspect that it is in this region of Rom chs 7 and 8 that most Christians find difficulty speaking the language of heaven without an earthly accent being detected.
Finally, let’s look at John ch 13
At the end of each day, after walking the dusty roads of Palestine in sandals, everyone’s feet would be somewhat mucky. Feet are a symbol of our will (Head- Mind: Hands- Heart: and Feet- Will)
John 13:8-10
8 Peter said unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10 Jesus said to him, He that is washed need not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
Please ready and ponder on these verses.
Personally I like to think that I allow the Lord to wash my feet every day. As the disciples walked the hot dusty streets it was inevitable that each day brought the need to have their feet washed. Jesus knows that inevitably as we walk this world each day our feet, (our will), become tarnished. Surely our end of day fellowship with the Lord is no more and no less than that, in terms of cleansing, because as I am part of Christ, I am clean “every whit”. (as well as every Easter – sorry!) -every small part,- as a whole.
Keep learning the language- keep speaking it out. It may sound a bit hollow at the beginning as it operates in your mind, but eventually it should come naturally from your heart. Then you just need to refine the accent, bit by bit. (Matt 26: 73; Peter’s accent gave him away as a disciple)
Be a child of God, talk to your father in his language. Thrill him, cause him to delight in his children as he hears you saying new heavenly words and understanding their meaning, without even a hint of earthly fleshly accent.
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