Romans Chapter 7
God is about to use the example of marriage and divorce, as it relates to the Church and her Husband, the LORD Jesus Christ. More specifically, the law of divroce as it relates to death ending a marriage only, like death being involved in our salvation, resurrection, etc.
(Romans 7:1)Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
- "A man" is a natural man, not a saved man-and Paul is talking to saved Jews here who know the law
- We are no longer under the law as Christians, but the world is
- Paul is talking to them, not about them
- That law is binding on the lost until they die physically or die to self and get saved.
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
- Because marriage was created by God before the Law, it is universal to all of mankind, and binding
- "Until death do us part" is not a suggestion, but a natural result of the command in Genesis 2
(Genesis 2:18-24)
¶ And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
So then if, while her husband liveth, 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.
- God takes the marriage vows seriously, being the Creator and origin of it
- God hates divorce, and marriage on earth ends with death, not divorce, in God's eyes
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. (Romans 7:4)
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
- As in the death of the spouse ending the marriage, we die to the law when we become a Christian-death ends marriage, death of self ends the Law in and to us
- We divorce that law, the law of death, the law that leads to death, and become the bride of Christ
- We are betrothed to another, that is Christ and, since God does not dwell in time, we are already, in God's eyes, dwelling in the heavenlies
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
For 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.
(Romans 7:5)
For 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.
- Everything we did before getting saved dug us into a deeper hole with God, as our religion, works
- It was not neutral, useless-it's job was to cause death in us, and would have if we never got saved
(Isaiah 64:6)
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
But 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.
- Dead to the law, alive in Christ.
- Dead to the Law, alive in grace
- Dead to the Law, alive in the Spirit-the Spirit of the law, not the letter of the Law
What 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, Thou shalt not covet.
- People confuse the Law with the sin
- The Law is a pointer to sin
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
- Without God saying to do or not do something (He is the Ultimate, Final Authority), there is nothing "wrong" to do
- The Law itself, written in man's heart, is the very proof of God's existence
- Concupiscence is lusting and coveting
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
- Before the age of accountability, we are alive without the Law
- Adam and Eve were alive without the Law once, that one law
- Their breaking of that one law killed them and all of us throughout history
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
- Either this ordination means that the purpose was the good of mankind, for the good life, or ordained to show us Christ who is life
- The purpose works, but to a lost sinner who finds life, it is death to follow
- The lost who never get saved will find it is death when they are judged by it also
- Without the Law and under Grace sin is dead and we are alive. With the Law, we are dead and sin is alive, killing us daily
- Properly, to set; to establish in a particular office or order; hence, to invest with a ministerial function or sacerdotal power; to introduce and establish or settle in the pastoral office with the customary forms and solemnities; as, to ordain a minister of the gospel. In America, men are ordained over a particular church and congregation, or as evangelists without the charge of a particular church, or as deacons in the episcopal church.
- To appoint; to decree. Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month. 1 Ki 12.
As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed.
Acts 13. - To set; to establish; to institute; to constitute.
Mulmutius ordained our laws. - To set apart for an office; to appoint.
Jesus ordained twelve that they should be with him. Mark 3. - To appoint; to prepare.
For Tophet is ordained of old. Isa 30.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
- Sin is in and is the subtlety of the serpent, whose venom strikes suddenly, judiciously, strategically on time
- "Taking occasion" is like "the opportune time"
- Judas and the enemy waited for the right occasion to take Jesus Himself
And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
(Luke 22:6)
And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
(Romans 7:12)
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
- Because the Law kills, it is perfect, and we are imperfect
- Because the Law kills, it is just, and we are unjust
- Because the Law kills, it is holy, and we are unholy
- Because the Law kills, it is good, and we are wicked, evil in our flesh
- Because the Law kills, our sin killed thee Saviour, so we could live
Was 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.
- "That which is good" is the law here, from the context
- It does not become bad because of its power to kill...we become bad by not keeping it perfectly
- We become good again by Jesus Christ and not by keeping the letter of the Law, but the spirit of the Law by the Holy Spirit
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
- None of the Law of mankind is manmade; all of it is spiritually created for mankind
- None of us unsaved is spiritual, but carnal, the exact opposite of spiritual
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
- I tell myself when I sin that it is not right, but do it anyways
- I tell myself when I sin that it is right, but do not it
- I tell myself sin that it is what I hate, but do it anyways
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
- Again, our knowledge of right and wrong is proof of God, with the Law written in our hearts
- Our knowledge of right and wrong is spiritual, not carnal, God-made, not manmade, because man left, to his own devices, would never conclude that anything is wrong in his flesh, on his own
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
- We are in our flesh incapable of keeping the Law and not sinning
- Sin dwells in our mortal bodies, in our flesh, in our carnality
- It is suppressed by walking in the spirit, but lives in us until our death
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
- This is repeating a theme of Scripture given since Genesis chapter three, that there is no such thing as a "good person" before God in their flesh. PERIOD.
- Wanting not to sin does not prevent us from sinning at all, but our flesh is incapable on our own of not sinning, in the fleshly state
- Only submission to the Holy Spirit of the living Saviour can stop us from sinning
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
- We do the opposite in our flesh of what we know is correct, just, right
- The word" evil" is not often used of badness in our world today
- To knowingly not do good is the same as doing evil
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
(Romans 7:20)
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
- It is our nature in us, from birth, manifesting itself, naturally
- "In us", "in me" means all three parts of us are in us and closely tied together and inseparable, working together or working against.
- "It's only natural" has special meaning to us, in our flesh-because it is
- When sin dwells in us, it is resident, not temporary housing, not renting, it is the house owner when we let it be
- We are Triune beings of body, soul and spirit, so therefore...
- ...both the Holy Ghost and the enemy cannot dwell together in our body, therefore a believer cannot be possessed of a devil, but the sin nature can remain in our flesh, even as the Holy Ghost dwells in our spirit
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
- The spirit and the flesh are at war, and that battle is never ending until we go home
- There appears to be a law of evil in us, countering God's Law and laws
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
- We want to do good, because we know it is good to do
- Reading God's Word tells us that we need to do good- and that we need to read God's Word
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
(Romans 7:23)
But 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.
- But...there is the flesh, right there along side the spirit, which enslaves us
- The "members" are hands and feet, fingers and toes, our neck and head (mind)
- We need to renew our minds in order not to sin, which involves knowing and memorizing Scripture
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
(Psalms 119:9-11)
BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
- This war makes us a mess of a person, in our fleshly bodies
- The "I Am" in Scripture refers to God
- The "I AM" man likes to use for himself trying to make himself God is hijacked
- But the true "I AM" of mankind is "O wretched man that I am!"
- This is the problem of problems, in need of a solution
I 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.
- Jesus Christ our LORD-the solution!
