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[0:00] All right. Good to see everyone here tonight. I don't feel too bad in here. I'm going to shed the coat.

[0:11] It's warm enough, I think. Take your Bibles tonight and open them to Romans chapter 7 and find verse 14.

[0:22] While you're looking for that, I need to make sure I announce to you a second time that we will have business meeting next Sunday night called business meeting for the purpose of deacon elections.

[0:35] So keep that in mind. That'll be next Sunday night. All right. Romans 7. Now you've had time to find it. I still hear the pages. That's OK. Pastors like to hear pages, thumbing of pages in the Bible.

[0:54] Verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal or fleshly, sold under sin.

[1:07] For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do.

[1:22] If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

[1:34] For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find.

[1:48] For the good that I will to do, that I will to do, I do not do. But the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

[2:07] I find then a law that evil is present with me. The one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

[2:21] 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. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

[2:37] I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind, I find myself serve. I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.

[2:51] All right. It's an interesting passage. And by the way, I think you probably noticed, even in a more modern version, it's difficult to read.

[3:04] Now, if you have a King James out there, it's even more difficult to read because it's kind of choppy, kind of difficult. And it is, in a sense, difficult to understand as well.

[3:20] And not one of those real easy passages. And it is also one of those passages in the Bible, kind of like the one that I started us looking at this morning, 1 Peter.

[3:31] It's one of those passages that has some controversy about it. Well, I don't know if you would call it controversy in this particular passage, but rather some differing views.

[3:42] And we'll cover some of that here in just a minute. But having read the passage, then, let me open it with this. Did you know that right here tonight, there are two people seated right there in your seat?

[4:00] Two people right there. And you're thinking, I wondered why it was so uncomfortable. But that may highlight a different issue other than what I'm going to get at here.

[4:14] Of course, I'm not sitting, so a little easier to stand up when you're a little tight in the britches. But I don't know why I went that direction.

[4:24] Let me get back to what I said. There are two people there, right there seated where you are. There are two people there. And that is if you're a believer, if you're a born-again believer.

[4:35] If you're not, then there's just one person there. Now, I'm going to make a point here, so don't get impatient. If you are a believer in Christ, there are two people sitting right there in your seat.

[4:51] And those two people are the new you. The new you. You that are in Christ. The new you that is in Christ. And the old you is still there.

[5:06] The old you. You. The you. You were. Now, I was complaining about the way Paul wrote it. Now I'm complaining about the way I'm trying to word this.

[5:17] The new you is there and the old you is there. The new you. You. The one who is for Christ. The one in Christ. And the old you. You were. Before you met Christ.

[5:31] The old you. You were. For sin. And for self. Now, they are present there. And that presence or that, that, the fact that there are two there represents a conflict.

[5:48] A conflict that is very real, by the way. And you know it is, don't you? Because you've experienced it. It's a conflict. And therefore, it is a conflict that we all need to understand.

[6:00] And we all need to find victory in. And I think that is the point of this passage here. But now, before we look at it, look at the text itself.

[6:12] And I don't know if we're going to get all the way through this tonight or not, because it's quite a big chunk of Scripture. Before we really get into what it is that Paul is saying here to us, I need to spend just a little time talking about the debate that is centered on this passage.

[6:30] And the question, or maybe questions that need first to be answered, are, number one, what kind of person is Paul speaking of here?

[6:40] What kind of person is he talking about here? A non-Christian? Or a Christian? Do we have here in the latter verses, these verses I read a moment ago, the life of an unbeliever being described?

[6:58] Or a believer? That's the first question we need to answer. Second, when Paul uses the first person singular, and he does throughout the text, is he referring to himself?

[7:14] Is he? Or is he, as some have supposed, is he using some kind of special device, a literary device, kind of a special method that sometimes writers use to personalize the principles that are being taught here?

[7:34] And then finally, and we can answer this question, and hopefully we'll be able to. If Paul is writing about himself here, then is he speaking of his condition prior to conversion?

[7:52] Or after his conversion? After salvation? As a saved man? Now those are good questions, and I submit to you that we really need to answer those questions before we can begin to understand the point that Paul's making here.

[8:08] All right, so let's deal with question number one. Is Paul speaking here about Christians or non-Christians? Well, Paul does mention here, and you might have remembered as I read the text, he mentions a person who is carnal, doesn't he?

[8:25] Or some versions, and I think more accurately say the flesh. Someone who's of the flesh. Carnal. Carnal. And if that isn't bad enough, he says he qualifies this person as someone sold under sin.

[8:40] There in verse 14. And he does say something about being there being no good thing. No good thing dwelling in him. In this person here.

[8:52] Verse 18. And there is that part, you know, there in verse 24 about, you know, a wretched man. You know, oh, wretched man that I am.

[9:04] Someone who's trapped in a body of death. There in verse 24. Now, you know, all that kind of sounds like a description of non-Christian, doesn't it? Now, you think about it, if you just take those out of the text, just as they are, without any attempt to explain what he means by these particular concepts, then you might come to the conclusion he's talking about an unsaved man.

[9:30] Well, I believe that Paul is talking about a Christian. Talking about a believer here. And here's why. First of all, the person Paul describes here in the passage has a deep desire to obey God.

[9:46] I mean, sure, we find some of these phrases that sound like a description of a lost person. But you'll find in verse 15, he's talking about what I will to do. And that's, you know, the implication is what I desire, the good that I desire to do.

[10:00] In verse 19, he even uses the word good, the good that I will to do. That is my desire to do. I desire to do good. Verse 21, the one who wills to do good.

[10:14] I mean, you find that in the text as a description of this person that Paul is apparently speaking of, whether it's of himself or someone else.

[10:25] And so, you know, I believe he's talking about a Christian because this person has a deep desire to obey God and do good, do right. That's not a desire of a lost person.

[10:37] Second, there is a humility. You kind of pick up on a humility about this person that really, I think, in no way is indicative of a nonbeliever.

[10:48] Not in this sense. In verse 18, for example, he says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells for to will is present with me.

[10:58] But how to perform what is good, I do not find. This is this. These are marks or words or expressions of humility. That seems to describe a believer to me.

[11:12] Third, this person recognizes that sin is in him. I mean, you can't miss that in the text over and over again. This is what Paul is saying.

[11:23] He recognizes sin in him, but that is not all that he recognizes is in him. Verse 17. I mean, you have both things there, but now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

[11:38] You have side by side a desire to do good and the dwelling of sin. Both things exist there. And this person recognizes that.

[11:49] I don't believe that a nonbeliever would ever truly recognize that. That there is actually the good, the desire to do good, that that is in me also.

[12:01] Nor would an unbeliever recognize and even admit that there is indwelling sin in me. And, you know, another example would be in verse 20.

[12:13] Now, if I do what I will to do, will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Both both things are side by side there. And we're going to look at that in a little more detail a little bit later.

[12:26] And so as we see in this passage, only true believers, you see, I think have existing in them these two potentials to do good and to do evil.

[12:39] Yeah. Yeah. That potential is in you even as a believer. The second question, then, is if Paul uses the personal pronoun I, does he use it in reference to himself?

[12:57] Do we have here a testimonial, a personal testimonial of the Apostle Paul? That's a big question. Or, again, is this just a technique to make what he says here very personalized?

[13:10] Well, I believe Paul is referring to himself here. And we could spend a lot of time tonight going through the why and wherefores of that conclusion.

[13:24] And some of it's, well, just boring, actually. You get into some of the nooks and crannies of the grammar and such and other references. But and I have looked at all of that and there are a number of ideas.

[13:36] But I really think that Paul's referring to himself here. And that's why he uses the personal pronoun here. And but at the same time, he is making it personal in the sense that Paul is saying this is not just my testimony.

[13:54] I mean, this is my testimony of my journey. But it is also yours. Because he's not only giving us his personal testimony, he's also expounding a principle truth that is true of all believers.

[14:10] OK. And so there is a difference. And then we don't have time to go back and look at the verses that come before. But there's a difference between the first part of this this text, the larger text, which starts in verse seven.

[14:27] There's a difference between verses seven through 13 and verse 14 to the end of the chapter. And the difference comes in the tenses that he uses in the verses, the passage seven to 13.

[14:43] Paul uses almost exclusively the past tense. It's all past tense in his verbs. And what is the point then?

[14:53] The point is that that indicates that Paul was speaking of his life prior to conversion. That is from verses seven to 13. But then beginning with verse four, we have not only the constant use of the personal pronoun, the first person singular personal pronoun.

[15:13] And he uses it, by the way, 46 times in verses in these verses. But we also have him shifting from the past tense to now the present tense.

[15:24] He's speaking in the present tense. And so what is he doing? He's now describing his life as a Christian. That's very interesting, isn't it? Now, Paul speaking here then about the Christian experience.

[15:39] And what's more, Paul is very obviously speaking of what is true of his personal Christian experience. And so then we get to that third question and it's automatically answered.

[15:51] I think do these verses describe Paul's after conversion experience? And I say, yes, yes. And I guess that leads us to another question, really, that needs to be answered.

[16:05] And maybe the question has come to your mind. What kind of Christian is Paul describing? Is he describing a what some have called a carnal Christian?

[16:17] I think probably better understood as a baby Christian. Immature Christian. A Christian that is struggling in his or her faith or maybe even, you know, not just immature, but but struggling with sin in their lives.

[16:35] You're talking about a carnal Christian or is he referring to a spirit filled Christian? A mature Christian. Well, let me ask you a question.

[16:46] If Paul, as I've just explained from the personal pronoun, if he's speaking about his own life. Then is Paul talking about a spiritual Christian?

[16:59] Well, what kind of Christian was the Apostle Paul? I would say spiritual man. I, you know, I think he probably was one of the most spirit filled Christians who ever walked this planet.

[17:12] It possible. I have some sense of that from Scripture, don't you? Now, Paul, of course, didn't think that of himself. He said he was the chief center, chief of centers. And the way he describes himself here.

[17:23] And yet he was a spiritual man, spirit filled Christian. And if that's true and it'd be really a tall order to try to prove otherwise from Scripture, then how could then Paul say what he said in these passages about himself?

[17:39] He said, I'm carnal, sold under sin. In me, no good thing dwells. Or when I would do good, evil is present with me.

[17:51] Oh, wretched man. This is what Paul is saying. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death. And so do these sound like the words of a spirit filled Christian that's living in victory and living in joy?

[18:05] And most would say, not really. Let me go back to the question. Is Paul describing himself? Yes. And so Paul is not describing a carnal Christian.

[18:19] Not here. He's not. And so I submit to you that a carnal Christian, if there is such an animal. Would never, ever admit the things that Paul is admitting about himself.

[18:35] You see, Paul is describing here for us his experience, his journey as a believer and the experience and at the same time, the experience of all spirit filled Christians who, the more they measure themselves against God's standards of holiness and righteousness, the more they realize how much they fall short.

[18:59] In fact, that is one of the proofs that Paul is speaking of a mature believer. Believer here. Because the immature believer would not have come to these conclusions.

[19:14] Because the immature believer is not close. Close to God and not not in in in in perfect fellowship with him, because the closer we are to him, the more we realize the things that Paul described here in this passage.

[19:31] Do you understand? Do you understand? The closer we get to God, the more we see our own sin. Don't we know that to be true? And the more clearly and completely we see God's holiness and understand his holiness and come in the presence of his holiness and his goodness, the more we recognize our unholiness.

[19:49] And the more we grieve over our own sinfulness. All right. So this is Paul giving his personal testimony. And and but it's for us, for us to understand and also see in our own lives.

[20:05] Let's look at the text itself. And that's a long introduction, but needed to deal with that question or those questions. First thing I want us to see here and to consider in the text is the presence of indwelling sin.

[20:22] That's point number one. The presence of indwelling sin. This is something we didn't understand, need to understand about our lives as believers. The presence of indwelling sin.

[20:34] And he says something about that really in three places here. As a matter of fact, this is what makes the text a little difficult to preach because Paul is actually saying the same thing three times.

[20:51] And it really, I guess you could technically call this three sermons. One, two, three side by side. Three sermons. They have three points.

[21:02] And he has three sermons. They all have the same three points. And so that's why we're going to kind of skip around a little bit, because when one draw from this portion of the passage, this truth, that there is the presence of indwelling sin in all of us.

[21:19] And so Paul says, for we know. So this is something we know. All believers are in agreement for. We know. What do we know? We know that the law is spiritual. He says in verse 14, you see that the law is spiritual.

[21:31] We know this. We know the law is spiritual. And that is, as I really have already said, the law of God is not the problem. OK, it's not the problem. The evil is not in the law.

[21:43] The evil is in us. The law is spiritual and it's good and it's holy. It was given by the Holy Spirit. And so we don't eliminate the sin by changing or eliminating the law.

[21:58] We can't do that, although a lot of people are trying to do that. Let's go on. Paul says the law is spiritual. But then he says, and this is the way it's rendered in the King James and New King James.

[22:08] He says, but I am carnal. I'm carnal. Or literally, I am still of the flesh. I still have the flesh.

[22:20] Or maybe we could put it this way. And I don't think it's an oversimplification. The law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual. And Paul's talking about the presence of indwelling sin.

[22:32] Now, he's not talking about our flesh and bones, body in a sense, in the physical sense. It's the flesh. It's that unredeemed part of us that he's speaking of here.

[22:44] And it is dominated by the sinful nature or the indwelling sin. Now, one of these days, the flesh will also be redeemed at our resurrection and we'll no longer have this problem.

[22:59] But for now, we have the flesh and it is indwelt or maybe I think the better word is polluted by sin. It's indwelling sin.

[23:10] Those are Paul's words and they're good enough. So I guess we'll have to use them. Paul is talking about that part of us that is, in a sense, separate from the Holy Spirit.

[23:21] The old nature, the sin nature that is still there. And you see, among all believers, there is the reality of indwelling sin, even among the most spiritual of us.

[23:41] And no believer is so advanced in holiness. I don't know, there might be someone here who is quite holy, but no believer has arrived to that place of holiness.

[23:56] That, you know, that somehow we no longer have any indwelling sin. That just is not the case. And so indwelling sin is in every one of us.

[24:08] But then Paul says something that sounds, I think, very strange. He says in verse 14, but I'm carnal. And then he says, sold under sin. And here's part of the problem in translating and understanding the meaning.

[24:24] What does he mean by that? Sold under sin. Now, surely Paul is not talking about himself here, is he? I've already said he is. I think he is, but it's a little difficult to see how.

[24:37] Much less to see how he could be speaking of any Christian in this way. And yet he is. You see, there is a slavery to sin from which every believer has been redeemed.

[24:50] Praise the Lord. But there's another kind of slavery that we deal with every single day. Now, our former slavery prior to our salvation was slavery to sin.

[25:03] And sin was our master. And we were devoted to sin as our master. But praise God, through God's grace, through salvation, we were redeemed from that kind of slavery.

[25:20] And we were redeemed, how? By the precious blood of Jesus Christ. But there's another kind of slavery of which every believer should be aware.

[25:30] I think you are aware. And to describe that slavery, let me quote Charles Hodge. I like Charles Hodge. And listen to what he said. He said, a man or woman.

[25:42] He didn't say or woman, but I had to add that to be politically correct. But he said, a man or woman may be subject to a power which of himself or herself he cannot effectually resist.

[25:57] Against which he may and does struggle. And from which he earnestly desires to be free. But which asserts itself its authority.

[26:12] Now, what's he talking about there? See, there is a power in me. And in you. And it asserts its authority in my life.

[26:25] And I cannot totally and completely resist it. Or I could somehow become sinless. And I struggle with it.

[26:36] Now, I'm using the personal pronoun there because that's my testimony. But it ought to be yours and must be yours as well. Because we desire to be free of it.

[26:48] But we can't be. Not totally. And so in that sense, it is a slavery. And yes, even the Apostle Paul struggled with it. Hodge continues to say, this is precisely the bondage of sin of which every believer is conscious.

[27:07] This is what Paul said, too. As you know, it's there. And you know that it's something you deal with every day. And what is it? Well, Paul has told us, and this is the way Hodge put it, it is the law of sin.

[27:21] That's the slavery. The law of sin. And listen to what he says here and see if you can relate to this. He said the believer's distrust of God.

[27:35] His hardness of heart. He's talking about believers here. You say, well, that's not me. Really? You ever distrust God?

[27:48] The believer's hardness of heart. His love of the world. Oh, yes. We still have a love for the world.

[28:00] Love of the world and of self. His pride. In short, his indwelling sin. That's how he's describing it. His indwelling sin. Is a real power from which he longs to be free.

[28:13] Against which he struggles. But from which he cannot emancipate himself. Or herself. See, this, I believe, is the slavery Paul is talking about here.

[28:26] It is an inescapable presence in our flesh. In us. The presence of indwelling sin. And we deal with it every single day of our lives.

[28:37] And throughout the day. Every day of our lives. Now, we're talking about the presence of indwelling sin. The reality of it. The true condition. Of every born again believer.

[28:49] And then Paul reveals the reality of this even more clearly in verse 18. He says, for I know. That is, there's no doubt about it.

[28:59] For I know. That in me. That is in my flesh. You see what he's saying here? I know.

[29:10] That in me. That is in my flesh. That is my spiritual nature. Nothing good. Dwells. Nothing good dwells.

[29:21] That's pretty serious. And Paul knows this about himself. And we must know this about ourselves. The word for. Like I explained this morning in this case.

[29:33] Is a reference back. Back. To verse 17. As a matter of fact. Where he said, sin that dwells in me. This is what I know. Paul says about myself.

[29:45] Now, did Paul have sin indwelling him? Yeah. Do you? Yes. Yes.

[29:55] And we need to recognize that. In fact. It is such a universal reality among believers. That Paul referred to it as a law. It's a law. It's a law that we deal with.

[30:06] Verse 21. I find then. You see. I find then a law. He's talking about a law that's operating. Not the law of God. He's not talking about that here. But there's a law.

[30:17] That's operating. The law that when I would do good. And I'm quoting the King James. Because I like the way it's worded there. A little bit better. I find then a law.

[30:28] That when I would do good. Evil is present with me. And so what is the law? The law is. Evil is present with me. That's the law.

[30:39] That is. It's a. An abiding principle. That we cannot escape. It is operating in every one of us. It's indwelling sin. Which comes from the old sin nature.

[30:52] In us. That still lingers. And it does battle with us. And we do battle with it. Every single day. Does battle against every good thing. That we desire to do. Every good thought.

[31:03] Every motive. Every good word. Every good deed. Everything. It does battle against those things. And it is continually operating. A continually operating spiritual principle.

[31:14] It's a law. And so Paul's point is this. The more you know God. The more you desire to serve him with your whole heart. This is Paul's testimony. And then.

[31:25] And ought to be ours. And therefore. The more you desire to abide in Christ. And therefore. The more sensitive you become. To the fact of indwelling sin.

[31:35] That's how Paul. Or why Paul comes to the. Kind of the. The climax. Of his discussion. Oh wretched. Man that I am. So there is the presence of indwelling sin.

[31:49] Second. There's the proof. Of indwelling sin. And this is rather interesting. I think the proof. Is the struggle.

[32:02] The fact that we struggle. Is the proof that it's there. Verse 15. Again. For what I am doing.

[32:15] I do not understand. For what I will to do. That. I do not practice. But what I hate.

[32:28] Doing. That I do. Now that is a. Clear. Crystal clear. Description of the struggle. In.

[32:41] Whose life. That baby Christian's life. That's. Just been saved. And struggling. Well yeah. It's there too. But he's describing. His own life. It's the struggle.

[32:53] And it's the struggle. That proves. Proves. The existence. Of indwelling sin. And I mentioned before. That there are two people. Sitting in your seat. There are. Two yous.

[33:04] Only Paul. Says. There are two eyes. Two eyes. In fact. You can see them. Side by side. And I know it's. Confusing. A little bit. In the grammar. Or in. Just the way it reads.

[33:16] But. He says in verse. 15. For what I am doing. And that eye. Is referring to his. The spiritual man. For what I am doing. I do not understand.

[33:28] That is. The other eye. In him. Just can't. Just can't abide by it. And then he says. For what I. Will to do. That's the spiritual man.

[33:40] That I do not practice. Who's the eye there? The unspiritual. The fleshy part of him. But what I hate. That's the spiritual.

[33:51] That I do. See. The two Pauls are there. And there's that struggle. Now. Where it's not. He's not a split. Some split personality here.

[34:03] That is. That there's actually. Two people living in him. You know. Kind of like the idea. Of the devil on this shoulder. And the angel on this side. And the debate that goes on. Now. There's not a split there.

[34:14] But there is that struggle. In us. Because of the flesh. That is still there. And. It's indwelling sin. And the very struggle itself. Proves.

[34:25] That it exists in us. And just when we think. That we have. Conquered it. It raises its ugly head again. You know. In.

[34:36] In so many different ways. Paul's conscience. By the way. If you don't read in here. Or. Come to a conclusion. That Paul. His conscience.

[34:46] Was bothering him. You know. In this passage. That he was just really struggling. Just felt bad. He's not talking about. Maybe some. Sin. In his life. That he got off.

[34:57] In some kind of. Gross. Morality. That's not the idea. Here. Paul's not. Revealing. Some. Failure. To. To follow the Lord. He followed the Lord. And he did good.

[35:08] And so forth. And don't get the idea. That Paul is saying. That he was never able. To do anything. Good for the Lord. Because he did a lot of things. Good for the Lord. And we. Can too. That does not.

[35:18] Dismiss. The reality. Of that struggle. That's in us. That. Indwelling sin. Paul was mightily used. By God. But he admitted. It was a wretched man.

[35:30] Because of that struggle. That. That. That. That. That. That. That flesh in him. And he's. Describing that inner. Flop. Conflict. And that conflict.

[35:41] That struggle. Again. Is the proof. Verse 16. Look at verse 16. If then I do. What I will not to do. I agree with the law.

[35:53] That it is good. Paul's saying. The law. Again. The law is not the problem. He agreed with the law. But then look at verse 17. But now. It is no longer.

[36:04] I. Who do it. But sin. That dwells. In me. Now. Paul's not trying to escape. Personal responsibility. Here. For his sin.

[36:14] He's not. Saying the devil. Made me do it. That's. Not the point here. But. He is again. Just pointing out. The reality. Of this. Kind of. Dual. Dual.

[36:24] Nature. In a sense. Or the two natures. The new nature. Which is. Which is Christ. Which by the way. Cannot sin. And the old. Lingering nature.

[36:34] Which is indwelling. Sin. Which desires. Only to sin. And then. Verse 18. Let me just. Read a few verses here. For I know.

[36:45] That in me. That is in my flesh. Nothing good dwells. For to will. Is present with me. But how to perform. What is good. I do not find it. For the good.

[36:55] That I will. To do. I. Do. Not do. But the evil. I will not. Will not. To do. That I practice. Now if I do.

[37:06] What I will. Not to do. It is no longer. I who do it. But sin. That dwells in me. So I find. In a law. That evil. Is present with me. The one who wills.

[37:17] To do good. The evil. Wills. To do good. Paul. Is being very. Repetitious. I mean. This really is. Quite repetition. But he is describing. This struggle. And it is.

[37:28] It is. It is a kind of slavery. In fact. Paul. Called it a slavery. And. And. It. And. It will go on. As long as. We live in these bodies.

[37:40] Until. We die. Until. We are resurrected. And we will never. Ever. Be able. To completely. Break loose. From it. And it is real. Very real.

[37:50] Paul says. Literally. I have a desire. To do what is good. And I just. Cannot. Carry it out. Now. I know. What he is talking about.

[38:01] Do you? I know. This experience. Surely. You do too. And it is. The proof. Of indwelling sin.

[38:12] Now. Perhaps. The most. Poignant. Statement. That Paul makes. About this struggle. Is found. In verse 24. I have already. Quoted it. A couple of times. Oh. Wretched man.

[38:23] That I am. And. You know. He is. Groaning. In a sense. Groaning. Under this.

[38:34] Struggle. By the way. The word. Wretched. Carries. The idea. Of being. Stressed. Or. Really. Exhausted. He is exhausted. Paul's.

[38:45] Shoulders. Are pinned to the ground. Over this issue. And he cries out. Who will deliver me. From this body of death. And that is an interesting. Phrase.

[38:55] I. Highly recommend. If you are looking for a commentary. On Romans. Donald Gray Barnhouse. And. His set on Romans. Very good.

[39:06] And. Donald Gray Barnhouse. In his commentary. He. He gave. Some. Grizzly. Background. For this phrase. Body of death. I don't know.

[39:17] If he's right about this. But it's interesting. And it seems. Reasonable. To me. Near. Tarsus. Back in. Paul's day. And by the way. Paul was from.

[39:28] Tarsus. There lived. A tribe. Of people. Who. Had. As. Part of their law. A. A certain. Penalty. A very severe. Penalty.

[39:38] For murderers. I may have. Shared this with you. Before. This is what they would do. They would take. The. Convicted. Murderer. And then they would.

[39:49] Strap. To his body. The dead body. Of his victim. Can you imagine that? Now. It would be.

[40:00] The back. Back. To back. Head. Neck. Shoulders. Back. To back. Thigh. To thigh. Arm. To arm. They would.

[40:11] Strap. That dead body. To the convicted. Murderer. And then they would. Cast out. The killer. From their community. And the bonds. Were. Were so strong.

[40:22] And so tight. Unless he had help. And nobody would help him. Nobody would come near him. There was no way. That he could break free. From this dead body.

[40:34] Strapped to his body. And eventually. Of course. That corpse. Would begin to. To decay. And.

[40:46] Putrefy. And. The putrefaction. Of the body. Would begin to. Creep into. That murderer's body.

[40:57] And it would eventually. Kill him. No matter what he did. No matter where he went. He could not get away. From that. Body. Of death. Body.

[41:08] Death. How terrible. Now. Paul was from Tarsus. Probably had full knowledge. Of this particular group. Of people. That had this law. And maybe he was using that.

[41:19] I don't know. If he had that in mind. He didn't say so. But how descriptive. See. Paul. So. Desired.

[41:30] To serve God. And we all. Ought to have the same desire. The same zeal. That the apostle Paul. Did. Paul. Paul. And. And you. And me.

[41:40] We should not be any different. We all should have that same zeal. That same desire. To serve God. And to honor God. And to live for God. With.

[41:51] All of our hearts. And. And with. Our lives. Have that desire. Father. But he could never. Quite. Do it. All the way.

[42:05] And it grieved him. And it ought to grieve us too. Not that we are just always in the doldrums. And always woe is me. I'm such a worm.

[42:17] And. He's not talking about that. I don't think we ought to read chapter 7. And this testimony from Paul. And come away thinking that Paul just always lived there.

[42:29] I don't think so. Especially when you get into chapter 8. You know he didn't always live here. And yet we. Do experience these times. And understand.

[42:41] And we struggle. And we grieve. Over our sinfulness. Our inability to serve God in a pure way. And to worship him. In a pure way. And to love him.

[42:52] In a pure way. Grieve Paul. And ought to grieve us. And he just could not ever. And we cannot ever. Ever. Get completely away. From that body of death.

[43:04] It's just always there. It's attached to us. It's. It's there everywhere we go. He can never get free. So there's the presence of. Indwelling sin.

[43:14] The proof of it. Is the struggle. And then finally. And praise God. The power of indwelling. Power over indwelling sin. And we'll just read the. Remaining verses.

[43:25] And I'll be finished. In fact. I'll need to go on into verse. Chapter 8. But in verse 24. He said. Oh wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death.

[43:37] And here's the answer. I thank God. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. There's the answer. So then. With the mind. I myself serve the law of God.

[43:48] But with the flesh. The law of sin. And then we'll go on into. First couple of verses of chapter 8. There's therefore now. No condemnation. To those who are in Christ Jesus.

[43:59] Do not walk according to the flesh. But how do they walk. According to the spirit. There's the answer. For the law. Of the spirit of life.

[44:10] In Christ Jesus. Has made me free. From what? The law of sin. And death. There's the answer. It is Jesus Christ.

[44:20] It's redemption. And salvation. In him. But the ongoing answer. Is. The indwelling. Spirit. The Holy Spirit. And our yieldedness.

[44:32] To the power. And control. And leadership. Of the Holy Spirit. Of God. That also. Indwells us. And so. Every day. The answer.

[44:42] To that body. Of death. It's always there. The answer. To indwelling. Sin. That we struggle with. Every moment. Throughout the day. The answer to it. Is the indwelling. Holy Spirit.

[44:53] It's God. It's to. Turn to him. And to run to him. And to rely upon him. And when we blow it. And that indwelling. Sin. Gets the best of us. And we.

[45:03] Are tempted. And we. Succumb to it. Then we run. To Jesus. And we. Confess our sin. And he's faithful. And just. To forgive us.

[45:14] But every day. We start our day. Asking the spirit. To give us strength. And we might live. With his strength.

[45:25] And in. The wisdom of God. And according to his word. It's the Holy Spirit. That is the power. Over indwelling sin. And praise the Lord.

[45:35] One of these days. When this life is over. And. We. Go to be with our Lord.

[45:45] And Savior. In heaven. We will never. Ever. Again. Have to deal. With indwelling sin. For. Our bodies. Then.

[45:56] Will also. Be renewed. Be glorified. And will be removed. From even the very presence. Of sin. Thank you.