SERMON TITLE: Dead Man Fighting
TEXT: Romans 7:1-6 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 10-19/20-19
It is great to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too.
For the past few months, we’ve been on a journey through the fifth and sixth chapters of Romans — and we’re now beginning the seventh chapter. This is going to be our last chapter in Romans for the year — but we’ll pick up the letter again next year — in a chapter I’ve been anticipating us getting to — chapter 8.
Back in chapter 5, we looked at justification — our being declared righteous before God. Where God declares us to not be guilty for our sins because of our faith in Jesus Christ and in what he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection.
Then in chapter 6 — we saw the implications of our justification. One implication being that we’re now free — not just from the penalty of our sin — we’re also free from the power of sin — from the reign and rule of sin — because that wicked slavemaster has been defeated by the One who came to set us captives free. And we’ve seen how our freedom comes with responsibility. That God — in setting his people free — now expects them to live in this freedom — to not turn back to that old tyrant they used to be ruled by — and instead — now being free — God’s people are to live in obedience to God — to grow in our sanctification — gradually progressing in our holiness.
But as we’ve seen — and as we’ll see in this final chapter — to live in freedom means we have to fight. Because there’s a war going on all around us — and we’re all in the fight — but are we all fighting? You see we have an enemy who isn’t happy that we’re free — and that other slaves are on the verge of being freed. Like Pharaoh chasing down the Israelites after he let them go (See the book of Exodus) — sin wants to reign us back in — sin wants us back under its power and control — and if we don’t fight — if we get too comfortable or complacent — we’ll end up a casualty of the war we’re in. We’ll still be on the side of victory — but will have experienced unnecessary pain and self-inflicted suffering because we weren’t fighting in the power that is ours in Christ.
Now — not everyone agrees — about this whole idea of there being a spiritual war going on — and that we should be fighting to live a new kind of life. Many believe that people should just accept others the way they are — which sounds pretty noble. A few years back — Bruno Mars had a popular song called “Just the Way You Are.” Not to be confused with Billy Joel’s song — from 1977 — also titled “Just the Way You Are.” Now — and this is pretty obvious — the lyrics of both songs are all about loving someone just they way they are — not wanting them to change.
Now there’s a lot that’s cliche about this kind of thinking — thus the irony that both songs have been popular at wedding receptions — am I right married folks? Wedding day — I love you just the way you are. The next day — the new bride to her husband — “Yeah — I’m going to need you to clean the toilet seat if you’re going to leave that kind of mess.” The guy — “But I thought you loved me just the way I am?”
The more I think about the lyrics, the more I wonder if they actually apply to any relationship? I mean are we really supposed to accept that special someone in our life — just the way they are — when you find out they’re a Michigan fan? Or a fanboy or gal of Tom Brady? Are you going to accept that kind of nonsense? I don’t think so.
But we move from cliche to dangerous territory when we push this same kind of thinking onto God. For example, for many people these days — if they have any kind of spiritual beliefs — often they’ll tend to believe that God accepts us just the way we are. Meaning a common view of God is where he so loves us — he’s so captivated by us — that it’s like he feels lucky to have us want him in the first place. So he’d never expect us to change for him — God likes us just the way we are.
But I often wonder — with all of our expecting of God to accept us as we are — I wonder what would happen if we accepted him as he is as revealed to us in the Bible? Meaning — are we wanting God to accept us as we are when we’re not willing to accept him as he is? I think — for many — this may be the case.
Now another way of thinking — in our day — is that you have to earn the acceptance of others. You wear that Michigan t-shirt because it’s the only way to make your boyfriend happy or you wear the Tom Brady jersey your girlfriend got you for Christmas — who am I kidding — you never wear the Tom Brady jersey. But this kind of thinking — that we can earn other people’s love by what we do — can be pushed onto God where — because of what we do — we either earn — or fail to earn — his love.
Now both of these views get something right and something wrong. What the first view gets right is its attempt to emphasize the unconditional nature of God’s love. There’s nothing we can do to earn God’s love — Christians can affirm that. The second view — emphasizes — the importance that how we live matters — Christians can affirm that as well.
But even though there’s some common ground — an issue the Christian faith has with the first way of thinking is that if God must accept us the way we are — if there’s nothing in us that needs to change — then why did Jesus have to come, live, experience the crucifixion, and be resurrected from the dead? All seems a bit much if God accepts us the way we are.
But — we can hear that — right — even acknowledge that it seems pretty extreme for Jesus to have to come and die — if God accepts us the way we are — we can agree with all of that — and yet — want God to cut us some slack. We want it to be true — don’t we — we want it to be true that God accepts us just the way we are. Why? Because who wants to change? Change is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It’s work.
Now the issue the Christian faith has with the second way of thinking — that we have to earn God’s love — is actually similar to its issue with the first. Who gets to determine what it is that we can do that God will accept? Well here’s the truth. When you’re trying to earn God’s love — we’re the ones who determine if what we’ve done is acceptable. Meaning we make the rules so God has to accept us based on what we do. And really this is no different than the first way of thinking — it’s just a different way of saying that God must accept us just the way we are.
Yet the Christian faith offers us an alternative — where — because of our sin — we’re not in and of ourselves acceptable to God. He doesn’t just accept us the way we are. And yet in his love for us, Jesus came to live and die in our place — making acceptable to God — all who put their faith and trust in him. And this is all a gift. The Christian faith teaches us that unconditional love from God is the only way we’re accepted and — yet — in being loved by God — a new life — a changed way of living — is expected. And this is why we’re to fight — fight to live the life that Jesus has given us.
So let’s turn to our passage for today and learn about this fight we’re in.
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Romans chapter 7. We’ll be looking at verses 1-6.
And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions that we answer on our weekly podcast. So if you have a question, you can text it in to the number printed on the bottom of the sermon notes sheet or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
Here are the words found in Romans 7. Beginning in verse 1.
“Or do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to those who know the law — that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:1-6 ESV)
Alright, how do we fight? That’s what we’re looking at. Well the way we learn to fight — from our verses — the way that we learn how to live the life that Jesus has made possible for us — is a phrase that I think will be familiar to you. Here’s how we fight. First, it’s out with the old. Second — if point one is “out with the old” point two is...
No!
Point two is an illustration interruption. Don’t blame me — blame Paul — he’s the one who interrupted things. But point three is where we find “in with the new.” Out with the old — an illustration interruption — and in with the new.
Let’s begin back in verse 1. “Or do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to those who know the law — that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?” (Romans 7:1 ESV)
Out with the old. OK — we’ve learned about our justification. We’ve learned about our freedom. And now we learn how to fight. A couple of observations about our text. Paul is asking the Christians in Rome a question that he expects them to know the answer to. And he says that he’s speaking to those who know the law — and the law — here — means the Law of Moses. So Paul is addressing Jewish background believers — Christians who were coming from a Jewish background.
And Paul’s point — here — is that through their faith in Christ — these Jewish background believers have been liberated from the law. Earlier — in chapter 6 — Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:1-5 ESV)
Now when we looked at this text — a little over a month ago — we focused on our death to sin. That when a person believes in Jesus — their old, sinful, rebellious self — died. That person isn’t who you are anymore — you’re a new person. Now — in chapter 7 — we’re looking at how we’re to fight to live as this new person that God has raised us up from the spiritual grave to be. But — in our verses — Paul shows us another nuance to our death with Christ. Meaning there’s more to our having died with Christ than just our death to sin.
For Paul tells these Jewish background believers that they also died to the law. Where do I get this? From what Paul’s question in verse 1 implies — and what he will say in a later verse — but in verse 1 he asks, “Do you not know...that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?” The implication being that the law is not binding on a person who has died. And these Christians have died — as we saw in Romans chapter 6.
But before we get to the implications of their death — we have a brief illustration interruption. Verse 2.
“For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.” (Romans 7:2-3 ESV)
So Paul uses a law — to illustrate how the law — is not binding on a person who’s dead. It’s pretty straightforward — so we’ll keep it simple. If you’re married — and your spouse is alive — be faithful to your spouse. Don’t commit adultery. Keep the marriage bed pure. The law against adultery applies to you when you and your spouse are both alive.
However, if you’re married and your spouse dies — well then it’s not adultery if you marry someone else. Why not? Because the adultery law only applies when you’re married and you and your spouse are both alive. But — if your spouse dies — the law of adultery is no longer valid.
Now a brief interruption to Paul’s brief interruption. In our day and age — with so much sexual confusion — I find it necessary to be clear that adultery isn’t the only sexual sin mentioned in the Bible. So the widow — in Paul’s illustration — can still break the law when it comes to other kinds of sexual sin — even though she can’t break the law when it comes to the sin of adultery when she marries someone else.
Now back to our regularly scheduled interruption.
The point of Paul’s illustration is that marriage regulations and laws only apply to a couple when both are alive — duh, right — so far so good, Paul. So it’s easy to imagine the recipients of this letter all nodding their heads, “Yeah, this all makes total sense, Paul.”
But the confusing part is how Paul applies his illustration.
Look with me in verse 4. “Likewise (“In the same way” — “similarly” — “what I’m about to say is connected to what I just said”...Likewise), my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ (Now we’ve already talked about this. We didn’t just die to sin — we died to the law. But why is our death to the law a big deal? Well you died to the law...), so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:4-6 ESV)
Out with the old — in with the new. So let me say that Paul’s illustration — which creates this analogy of our death with Christ somehow also being a death to the law — this analogy has confused, confounded, and resulted in all kinds of misunderstandings about what Paul was meaning. So I’m going to talk us through what I think he’s meaning and what he’s not meaning. Let’s begin with what Paul isn’t meaning.
I don’t think Paul means that the law is unimportant for the Christian — the law plays a critical role in the life of a Christian. A typical question asked is something like “What is the purpose of the law?” Here’s an answer. “To show us the holy nature of God, the sinful nature of our hearts, and thus our need of a Savior.” (From the New City Catechism)
So the law shows us how holy and righteous God is. It shows us the standard that we’ve failed to meet — the sinful nature of our hearts. And the law shows us that we cannot save ourselves — thus revealing our need of a Savior.
Maybe you can relate to how the law works in this way. You look back and are horrified at who you were before your faith in Christ. Be thankful that the law revealed this to you. But — if this is you — don’t let the law beat you up. Don’t keep looking back at who you were — living in the past — as if God hasn’t forgiven you of all that. He has — if you believe. Instead, look to the present and to who you are now in the resurrected life — the new life of the Spirit — and look to the future — who you are becoming and will forever be — look to the person God says you are — holy, righteous, untainted by sin, a child of God.
The law shows us the standard we’ve failed to meet — thus revealing our need of a Savior. But it also shows God’s people how they’re supposed to live in the freedom that Jesus has given them. And what this shows us — is that the belief we talked about earlier — that God accepts us just the way we are — that God doesn’t desire us to change — that this just isn’t true. You’d have to throw out the law completely to believe that — which — is what many people do to clear their conscience — they throw out the law so they’re comfortable with believing the lie that God accepts them just the way they are.
So I don’t think Paul’s intending for us to think that the law no longer applies to us in any way — I think Paul is meaning something else when it comes to our death to the law.
So what do I think Paul is talking about? Well I think he’s thinking way way back to the covenant of works that God made with Adam. Adam was a central figure in Romans chapter 5 — the chapter on our justification — being declared righteous before God. And — then — chapter 6 focused on our freedom from the reign and rule of sin that Adam brought into the world — the freedom we now live in where we can grow in our sanctification — our holiness.
So the law that we’ve died to — I think — is the law of works. What’s that? This is where God told Adam to work and live and enjoy the Garden, but not to eat from one tree. Where Adam’s relationship with God was conditionally based on his obedience. But he failed — Adam broke his end of the covenant of works — and Romans 5 and 6 have been highlighting what Adam’s failure has brought upon all of us — the reign and rule of death and sin.
But the covenant of grace was enacted by the Father, Son, and Spirit. Where God made a promise that he would do all that is necessary to rescue his people from their sins. Where his work — not ours — would be the means by which we’re justified, saved, and given a right standing before God.
But what our sinful nature longs to do is to be its own savior. What we humans long to be is so independent that we don’t need someone to save us — we want to be the hero of our story. So even though the covenant of grace is where salvation is found — and let me say that the covenant of grace has always been where salvation is found — for the people in the Old and New Testaments — so even though the covenant of grace is where salvation is found — people enslave themselves under the covenant of works. This is what most of Paul’s opponents were confused about — and they were teaching their confusion to others. This is most often what Paul is trying to clear up in his letters — the law doesn’t save — God’s grace is what saves — always has — always will. So the law — that Christians have died to — when they’re united to Christ by faith — is the law of works — the law where what you do will be what saves you. Where you can earn God’s love — and keep God’s love by what you do. Where God will accept you because of what you’ve done.
So our death to the law — is the death we died with Christ who fulfilled the covenant of works on our behalf. And then — in having been raised from death with Christ — we’re liberated from the law. And now we’re free to obey the law — not to try and earn God’s love — we’re free to obey because we are loved by God.
And our resurrection with Christ — our liberation from the law — has three implications.
First, out with the old and in with the new means we belong to another — we see this in verse 4. “We belong to him who has been raised from the dead” — that’s Jesus. You belong to Jesus — if you believe. You’re his. He’s got you. And that’s a good thing! Nothing to be feared here when the One who eternally loves you — and gave his life for you — has got you. No better person to be gotten by than Jesus.
Second, out with the old and in with the new means we’re to bear fruit for God. The “may” — in verse 4 — “may bear fruit” implies that — now that you’ve died and have experienced a resurrection — you can now do something that you couldn’t do before. There was no bearing fruit to God — in your life — before this death to sin and the law occurred. Paul says that only fruit you were bearing before you died to sin and the law was fruit for death.
And — honestly — this can be a struggle for many as they fight. Where we know that we’ve been set free to bear fruit for God, but we keep sliding back into behaviors and patterns that produce nothing but death. So — and I know this may sound way to simple — but if you struggle with this — first…
Finally, out with the old and in with the new means we’re to serve in the new way of the Spirit — this is in verse 6 — and I think this is an underappreciated part of the “in with the new.”
Under the old — our relationship was with the law. Now think about the law. It’s rigid, right? It’s written on stone tablets. It’s not a person — it feels like that binder full of policies at your workplace, right? It doesn’t give you thoughts of butterflies and skipping in the meadow or a fun afternoon in the park, does it? It’s more like doing your taxes — by hand — without a calculator — which for some of you may sound like a great time — and — if that’s you — Pastor Robert has got some openings on his calendar and would like to begin counseling immediately — because — obviously you’ve got a demon.
But look at what — or better — look at who comes with the new? God’s Spirit. A person. Now we’re talking about a relationship that’s got life to it. No stone tablets now — instead the third person of the Trinity — the Holy Spirit — the One who awakened your heart and gave you new life — the One who baptized you with his presence and gave you new desires, and passions, and priorities. The Spirit who leads, guides, and directs you in what it means to live in a way that bears fruit for God — no binder on your shelf full of policies and regulations — we’re talking about a friend who loves you and is always with you.
And I understand that — for many — it can be hard to accept these truths — especially when you’re in a difficult situation.
So if this is you — know that it’s understandable — even as a Christian — it’s understandable that the new doesn’t always feel so great — after all — we are in a fight. And sometimes life feels like the longest day of doing your taxes ever. In this fight — life isn’t always frolicking in the meadow or sunny days in the park. But even on the hardest of days — in this fight — Jesus is with you. God’s Spirit is present. They offer you joy — even as you do your taxes — not because taxes are fun — but because Jesus can satisfy your soul on the longest and hardest of days in this fight that we’re all in.
And for all of us who believe — if we take seriously how our faith in Christ means out with the old and in with the new — out with the old bearing fruit for death person we used to be — and in with the new bearing fruit for God by the power of the Holy Spirit person we now are — our marriages, and families, and workplaces, and dorms, and neighborhoods, and cities, and — I don’t want to be too optimistic here — but I think that even our country and world — would feel the effects of us being the new people that God says we already are. Where — if we would be “alive by the Spirit of God men and women — boys and girls” — fighting to live out the truth of who we are — not giving into sin — not bearing fruit for death — but being people of righteousness — people bearing fruit for God — well I think the world would notice. And many — who are tired of the stench of death filling up their lives — would be curious about the aroma of life — the aroma of Christ — that fills our lives.
Dear Christian — you are dead to the law — rest in all that Christ has done for you. And now fight to live for him who loves you and has done for you what you could never do for yourself. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for enabling us to do something — through our faith in Jesus — that we could not do prior to our faith. We can now bear fruit for you. Help us — your people — to live new lives by the power of your Spirit.
Spirit, help anyone here who doesn’t believe in Jesus to believe in him. Help us all to trust that you know what’s best for us. Give us comfort in knowing that no one loves us more than Jesus does. Help us to believe — in the depth of who we are — that Jesus is always faithful to fulfill his promises to us. Help us — no matter what we’re going through — to believe that Jesus is as good, and loving, and kind to us as he’s promised to be.
And Jesus we thank you for not being satisfied to love us just the way we once were. But you so love us that you came to give your life on a cross so that we would know that your love for us isn’t cheap — it’s not empty — it’s love bought in your blood — it’s love that cost you your life. Help us to live in response to your love for us by loving you and others in return. We pray all of these things in your name. Amen.
May you go bearing fruit for God — having been made alive by the Spirit. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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