#30   HCBC  7-15-07  AM

Are You Struggling with Sin?

Romans 7:7-13

The stock market had a big week.

Our Youth Missions Team went to Bangor.

The Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain.

“Running with the Bulls”

Each day from July 7 to 14 a dozen bulls turned loose @ 8:00 AM to run 825 meters thru the streets ( ½ mile) to the bullring for the afternoon bullfights.

People get in front of these bulls to run ahead of them to the bullring.

The idea is to run ahead of the bulls and to avoid allowing them to gore you or trample you

The normal = 2 min. but this year on Thursday = 6 min. 9 sec.

13 people seriously injured:

          7 gored

          6 head injuries

3 not expected to live

We say;  “What is wrong with these people?  I would no more do that than…

But there is something in this “running with the bulls” that draws these people and makes them want to do it!

Isn’t this like sin?

We may look at one particular sin and say:  “What is wrong with these people? 

I would no more do that than…

But there is something in that sin that draws these people and makes them want to do it!

Are You Struggling with Sin?

In our study of Romans, Paul has been teaching about being made righteous apart from the law by receiving the gift of righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul has made it clear that the law is unable to justify us and the law is unable to sanctify us.

So, as he comes to verse 7 of chapter 7, he asks a probing question.

If we are not justified by the law

and if we are not sanctified by the law,

“What shall we say, then?  Is the law sin?   Certainly not!    God forbid!    May it never be!

What is the relationship between the law and sin?

Or, what good is the law, if it cannot justify us and it cannot sanctify us?

In Romans 7:7-13, Paul points out three good things the law does and challenges us to think about our own struggle with sin.

I.  The Law Reveals Sin as Sin                   vs 7

          If left to themselves, people do not naturally think they are sinners. 

          If God says the thoughts and intents of man’s heart is only evil all the time,

                   Who really believes that?

          Unless the Holy Spirit illuminates their heart, no one believes that.

          If God says there is no one righteous, not even one;

there is no one who understands, No one who seeks God. 

All have turned away, they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good, not even one,

no one naturally believes that unless God reveals it to the person.

          On Bible scholar says:  Even if, by some means, we are able to admit that we have

done bad things, we are never able to recognize those things as “sin” unless

we can also be shown that they transgress the law of God. 

          If we do things against the law of nature, or disregard standards of fair play,

                   Or other moral criteria most people acknowledge, we may recognize those

acts to be “wrong.”  We may violate the code of the country in which we live

and recognize our acts to be “criminal.”

          But we do not call either the morally wrong behavior or the criminal acts “sin”

                   unless we see that these also violate God’s law.

          Because of the nature of sin, people do not naturally see themselves as sinners!

          But the law reveals sin as sin.

          Leon Morris:

          “People without God’s law do not see wrongdoing as it really is… It takes the law to

                   show wrongdoing as it really is.”

          Verse 7       Paul and the law.

II.  The Law Provokes Sin                vs 8

          The presence of the law provides sin an opportunity to spring to life within us.

                   The rebellion was there within us all along because we were born with a sin

problem.

                   But the law “do not covet” gave that sin an opportunity to express itself.

                   Adam and Eve would not have had an opportunity to sin, if God had not said:

                             “Do not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden.”

          The law provides sin an opportunity to create a surge of rebellion in our hearts.

The young men who went into the apple orchard to steal apples did not go because they were hungry and needed something to eat, they went to steal.

          In telling us not to do something, the law actually sets us to thinking about it,

and because we are sinful people we soon find ourselves wanting to do that

very thing.

          The fire cracker!

          The law provokes wickedness.

          The law shows us how wrong sin is and the law shows us how strong sin is!

III.  The Law Brings Us to the End of Ourselves           vs 9 - 11

          There was a time in his life when Paul thought he was in good standing before God.

          Php 3:6 “…as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”

          He was alive in the sense that he had never been put to death as a result of a

confrontation with the law of God.

          But when God touched his heart, he came to understand his sin in breaking the law

                   and he died.

          He realized that the law condemned him.

          When the law finally began to get through to Paul to do its proper work,

                   He that he was guilty of having broken it and

                             That his nature was such that, instead of wanting to keep it,

                                      He actually wanted to break it.

          Instead of driving sin out, the law awakened sin.

          And sin deceived him!

          Sin deceives us:

                   Sin gets us to misuse the law, convincing us that as long as we don’t sin

visibly we are all right.

                   Sin tells us that everything is hopeless and we night as well keep on sinning.

                   Sin tells us it doesn’t matter whether or not we are holy.

                   Sin gets us to believe that the law is unreasonable, impossible and unjust.

                   Sin makes us think very highly of ourselves.

                   Sin makes righteousness look drab and unattractive.

                   Sin causes us to discount the consequences of willful disobedience.

          Paul said that sin deceived him!

          But that was a good thing! 

          As long as Paul thought he was doing alright, he was on his way to everlasting

destruction!

          It was only when he learned he was lost that he was ready to hear God’s words

about the Savior.

          When we hear and understand the law, we come to the end of ourselves.

Are you struggling with sin?

          We might expect to hear no as the right answer to the question.

          But isn’t it a good thing to struggle with sin!

          If we are not struggling with sin, we are enjoying it or we have given up the

struggle!

What does the law say that you need to hear that you might avoid be deceived into sin?

          You shall have no other gods before me.

          You shall not make for yourself an idol.

          You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

          You shall remember the Sabbath.

          Honor your father and your mother.

          You shall not murder.

          You shall not commit adultery.

          You shall not steal.

          You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

          You shall not covet.