Home
Bible Study
Established
November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
43
Thank
you for taking the time to be here, and thank you for being involved in a Bible
study. I intend to cover a lot of ground
in this lesson so for the sake of time and to keep things moving forward I’m
going to pick up right where we left off in the last lesson.
Please
open your Bible to Romans chapter 7; we’ll drop in at verse 7.
Helpful
Hint: it’s a good idea to review the
previous lesson before starting the new one. For one: it refreshes the memory. A lot happened since the last time you were
here. We all live busy lives. I know my memory isn’t what it used to
be. Ask my wife…
Another reason for review is this; repetition - it’s the key to
learning. The more you observe the
material, read it, study it, etc. the more likely you’ll remember it.
Overview:
Romans
7:7-8 – By the Law is the knowledge of sin
Romans
7:9-11 – But the Law gives no power over sin
Romans
7:12 – Yet, the Law is holy, just, and good
The
Apostle Paul, in chapter 6, has shown the converted Gentiles the “obligations”
they were under – to live a holy
life. The word holy means: set apart for God’s purpose.
In
chapter 7, Paul addresses the Jewish population of this congregation who might
be hesitant to embrace the gospel “fully;” in fear that by doing so they would
in turn renounce the Mosaic Law. In the eyes of a Jew, demonstrating allegiance
to the gospel might appear to them to be an outright denial of their allegiance
to God.
At
one time, the Israelites rested in the Mosaic Law. They believed it to be sufficient for both
justification and sanctification. Their
contention was the Law came from the LORD God…how could it not be perfect…?
Paul is preaching that God never intended The Law to be a permanent solution to their sin problem (Genesis 3:15; Romans 10:4).
Paul
proved that the Law was insufficient for their justification in chapters 3, 4,
and 5; he now proves that it is insufficient for their sanctification in Romans
7.
(See
Hebrews 7:19).
Let’s
begin.
The
Apostle Paul, addressing the Jews in Rome, wrote in the previous verse, “But now we (Jews) have been released from the
Law (because we have believed in Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness), having died to that by which we were bound,”
Paul’s
message: the Law is powerless to save or
sanctify you. The Law can only condemn
and kill. That legalistic system, which
kills, has ceased to bind us; thanks be to God.
Jesus Christ is the end of the
Law. Selah
Having
communicated this point to the Jewish segment of this church, Paul expected to
hear an objection. This is why chapter 7
begins with a question.
Romans 7
7: What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to
know sin except through the Law (Romans 3:20); for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not
said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”
“I would not have come to know sin
except through the Law;” – Paul wrote.
Paul
admits that he became aware of his own sinful state by searching the Law and
discovering that he “fell short” of the righteous standards of God. Both God and the Law required perfection (see
Jesus Christ as a living example).
Apart
from Jesus Christ and God’s grace mankind is incapable of such a holy standard.
Paul
wrote at Romans 7:5 the Law isn’t sin. Due
to our sinful nature the Law aroused our carnal passions; but this does
not equate to the Law being sin! Allow
me to explain.
When
you were little, did your mother ever tell you that you could not have a cookie
before supper? If so, your mother instituted
this rule with love and for good reason.
But what happened when you heard the “cookie command?” Your “desire” for that cookie didn’t go
away. You still wanted the cookie and
human nature being what it is the fact that you were told you couldn’t have it increased
your desire for it. This doesn’t mean
the cookie command was wrong or made you sin.
You snatched the cookie from the jar and ate it, hiding somewhere in the house, because of your sinful nature. The cookie command aroused (stimulated) your sinful nature.
The
speed limit is another example. The law
exists to protect personal property and lives.
Every licensed driver is expected to observe the posted speed limit. It’s the law.
However,
the majority of the motorists I’ve observed usually add 5 to 10 mph to the
posted speed limit and they are breaking the law in doing so. But this doesn’t mean the law is sinful. This law simply “stimulated” or aroused their
sinful nature. They are in effect
“rebelling” against authority – no different than the child who snatched the
cookie and ran. Are you still with me?
This
leads me into the next teaching segment where the Apostle Paul cites, “I would not have known about coveting
if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”
(Romans
7:7)
Why
did Paul choose the sin of coveting as his one and only example?
Before
I answer this question I need to introduce you first to what is known as “The Biblical Law of First Mention.” In testing Scripture by Scripture, it is
important to look for the place in the Bible that a subject, attitude, or
principle is mentioned for the first time and see what it meant there. Usually, the place of first mention is in the
book of Genesis but not always. At the
place of first mention, Scripture gives the most complete and accurate meaning.
Paul
focuses on the commandment of “coveting” so let’s return to the place of first
mention and there I believe we will find the answer to the question at hand and
learn an important lesson. Please turn
to Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis 3
1: Now the serpent
was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had
made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed,
has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?” (Satan, the father
of lies, has planted the seed of doubt in the woman’s mind. The deception process has begun.)
2: The woman said to the serpent, “From the
fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3: but from the
fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said,
‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4: The serpent said
to the woman, “You surely will not die!
5: For God knows
that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.”
6: (Read carefully) When the woman (did what) saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was (now
watch this) desirable to make
one wise (as God), she took from its fruit and ate;
What
brought the woman to disobey God’s one and only command in the garden?
The
woman was deceived (1 Timothy 2:14). She
succumbed to Satan’s lie and an overwhelming selfish desire to “be like God.”
This
suggestion appealed to the woman and so she entertained the thought.
Why
would she think about such an idea? Consider
she had the ideal husband/wife relationship, lived in Eden, and she shared an
abiding personal relationship with the Creator God, yet she desired something
more…
The
woman measured the serpent’s words, and the possibilities. And this book says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight for the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she
took from it and ate.”
She acted on this
covetous desire.
The
point I’m making is this before she disobeyed God’s command (do not eat from
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) she first coveted the idea that she would be like God. Are you still with me?
God
knows we are weak and a covetous bunch - for we are all
sinners.
We
aren’t sinners because we break God’s commandments.
We
break God’s Commandments because we’re sinners.
You
probably learned about coveting from your parents, your Sunday school teacher,
or via the Ten Commandments. But it is
one of the Big Ten -- #10 to be exact.
Have
you ever considered this truth: you
can’t disobey one of God’s Commandments without first breaking this one - “YOU SHALL NOT COVET (Exodus 20:17).”
The
sin of coveting is the first sin you disobey before you lie, steal, commit
adultery, take someone’s life, dishonor your parents, or when you opt to destroy
someone’s character by spreading gossip (bear false witness).
You
can’t break any of God’s Ten Commandments with coveting first!
Every
committed sin begins in your mind with a covetous desire.
When
you consider all the facts, the sin of coveting is really about selfishness.
What
does this book say?
Philippians 2
3: (This is a command)
Do nothing from selfishness (coveting)
or empty conceit, but with
humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4: do not merely look out for your own personal
interests, but also for the interests of others.
In
one word, what would you call a person who “desires” their neighbor’s wife,
their home, their car, their property, or their big-screen T.V.? You’d call them selfish!
What
word would you use to describe a person who was “delighted” to know their neighbor
had achieved success, could afford a new home, a new car, married a beautiful
woman, owned property, and a large T.V.?
You would call this person unselfish.
Therefore,
the tenth commandment forbids coveting (or selfishness) in all its forms: envy, covetousness, discontent, ingratitude, etc. When a person displays any form of
selfishness, in effect that individual is breaking God’s command to “love one
another.”
They
are also revealing an unthankful heart to God who gave us His one and only
Son.
Think
about this. Can you name one sin that is
not rooted in selfishness (coveting)?
Idolatry,
fornication, lying, the love of money, theft, adultery, etc, every sin
committed stems from loving yourself more than God or others.
You
want to know another word for coveting?
It’s greed.
Why
is the world in such financial turmoil today?
Can you say, “Greed?”
Why
are there so many broken homes and destroyed marriages - Greed.
Why
does America abort approximately 7000,000 unborn children yearly - Greed.
Why,
after all these years, is the U.S. still unable to convince the PLO that they
need to recognize the nation of Israel’s right to exist - Greed.
Why
did Putin invade and annex the Crimean peninsula - Greed.
Why
are Russian soldiers gathering on Ukraine’s border right now - Greed.
Why
is the political system in America broken - Greed.
Why
do the majority continue to walk in “darkness,” rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ
and His Word outright – Greed.
Coveting
and Greed are one and the same. Are you
with me?
Let’s
go to the next verse.
Romans 7
8: But sin, taking
opportunity through the commandment, produced in me (what) coveting
of (what kind) every kind (we
just looked at this concept); for apart
from the Law sin is dead.
Paul, like
everyone else, had covetous desires, and the law told him that his desires,
although normal, were sinful. Paul, like
many of his countrymen could keep the external rules of Judaism for the most part
(i.e. he remembered to pray on schedule, remembered to fast, Paul remembered to
honor the feast days, etc.), but he couldn’t prevent himself from coveting,
and the Law taught him that this was sin.
Paul is saying
that the law, by defining sin, told his sinful nature how to sin more.
Our sinful
nature wants to violate laws. If
you give it a rule, it wants to break it, to assert its authority and independence.
So the law, by prohibiting certain
things, made people desire to do those things even more, and this works because
of our Adamic nature.
Romans 7
9:
I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment
came, sin became alive and I died;
What does
Paul mean when he says, “I was alive
once apart from the Law”?
Remembering
Paul’s teaching from Romans 5:13, from Adam to Moses people were not charged
with breaking God’s Law. The reason for
this is because during that time there was no law to break. Sin is not “imputed,” or sin is not charged
to one’s account, when there is no law.
People
sinned and died, of course they did. But
this is due to sin and death being passed down to all people from Adam (Romans
5:14). The thing is, none of these
people before Moses actually broke any commandment from God, for none had been
given, so they did not sin in the manner that Adam did. Adam broke God’s command.
In short,
people were sinning, but these people can’t be charged with breaking God’s
commandments (laws) if there aren’t any on record or if they are unaware of them.
This is what
Paul is saying.
Have you
ever heard of anyone being charged with the crime of owning more than 10 books
- probably not, because no such law exists.
People can’t break a law that doesn’t exist, and if a law doesn’t exist,
they cannot be charged with breaking it.
Are you
still with me?
Let’s move
on.
Romans 7
10: and this commandment,
which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;
Paul said,
“I discovered that the very commandment meant to bring life actually brought
death.” (See Romans 4:15). However, God never intended for the Law to
bring life or to rid humanity of their sin problem. Please turn to Galatians, chapter 3.
Galatians 3
19: Why the law then? It was added because of the
transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a
mediator, until the seed (Genesis 3:15) would
come to whom the promise had been made (See Abraham - Genesis 12;
15).
Paul says
“the law” was “added because of the transgressions.”
The Mosaic
Law was given some 430 years after the calling of Abram.
The word
“added” implies that the law was not a central theme in God’s redemptive plan,
which is what we have learned. It was an
additional plan and secondary to the everlasting covenant God made with
Abraham. How do we know this? Note the wording in the verse. As the word “added” marks the beginning of the Mosaic Law, the word “until” marks its end. Jesus Christ, the promised seed, is the end
of the Law.
Paul said
the law is related to transgressions. A
transgression is a violation of a standard.
God’s Law provides the standard by which violations are measured.
In order for
sinners to know how sinful they really are, how far they deviate from God’s
standards, God gave the Law. We know
from Paul’s teaching at Romans 5:13 people sinned. But after the Law was given, sin could be measured
and specified (see Romans 3:30, 4:15, 7:7).
Skip to
verse 21.
21: Is the Law then contrary to the
promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to
impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.
22: But the Scripture has
shut up (silenced) everyone under sin (meaning all of us), so that the promise by faith in
Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23: But before faith came, we were
kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be
revealed.
24: Therefore, the Law has become our
tutor to lead us to Christ, so
that we may be justified by (what) faith.
25: But now that faith has come, we
are no longer under a tutor.
26: For you are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus.
Let’s return
to Romans.
Romans 7
11: for sin, taking an opportunity
through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
The
Jews incorrectly assumed that the law, with their effort, would give them life.
But
“Sin” deceived me…says Paul. The Law permitted
sin to trick me, and I got death when I was striving for life. But this doesn’t mean that the Law is sin.
Paul follows
up on this truth in the following verse.
Romans 7
12:
So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and
righteous and good.
The
Law and the commandment are holy but no matter how hard we try neither one of
these can make us holy. There is nothing
improper or imperfect in the Law (see Psalms 19:8; Psalms 112:1-2; Psalm 119;
Proverbs 2:1-5).
“The
Law,” meant to regulate the individual’s conduct is holy, and the
“commandment,” THOU SHALL NOT COVET,
meant to regulate the heart, it also is holy, righteous, and good. But neither pardons the sinner or purifies
the heart.
“Through
faith in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross, making atonement for sin, we get a
perfect standing before God. That is justification, and it puts us, in God's
sight, back in Eden before sin entered.
God looks upon us and treats us as if we had never sinned.” A.C. Dixon
(To
be continued)
© Copyright
2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All Rights
Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment