SERMON TITLE: The Fight Within (pt2)
TEXT: Romans 7:21-25 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 11-16/17-19
It’s 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.
We’re finishing up our time in the book of Romans for this year. For the past few months we’ve been on a journey through the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome.
Back in chapter 5, we looked at justification — our being declared righteous before God. Where God declares us to be not guilty for our sins because of our faith in Jesus Christ.
And in chapter 6 — we saw implications of our justification. One implication being that we’re 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. And we’ve seen how our freedom comes with responsibility. That God — in setting his people free — expects them to live in this freedom — to live in obedience — to grow in our sanctification — gradually progressing in our holiness.
But as we’ve seen in this seventh chapter — to live in freedom means we have to fight. Because there’s a war going on all around us — even in us. And we have an enemy who isn’t happy that we’re free — and that other slaves are on the verge of being freed.
Now one way that we can fight — and this is somewhat counterintuitive — but you’ll want this in your arsenal if you’re a Christian — but a key way to fight is by knowing where to find delight.
Now think about what we’re told when it comes to finding delight. The main message broadcast in our culture is that delight is found in things that are easy, things that give immediate pleasure, and these are things you get to choose. Meaning, we’ve been told to resist the idea that delight can be found by obeying instructions and rules or by meeting the expectations of someone else — even God. A God who gives us laws to obey is not wanting us to find delight — or so the thinking goes.
And this is because — when we hear words like law or rules — many of us think of something burdensome. A rule is something you have to do — not necessarily something you want to do. A law is the thing that — if you don’t follow it — well you get in trouble. So the idea of law and rules can come across as irritating, a nuisance, something you have to put up with not something you find delight in. And — oh by the way — our culture highly values the idea of finding delight.
And this value of finding delight — has much we can appreciate. For starters, delight is a positive emotion and feeling. And the Christian faith is pro-delight because discovering things that give you delight — and having experiences that give you delight — are very much part of what it means to be human.
But a point of departure — that the Christian faith has with our culture’s understanding of delight — is the idea where delight is found only in things we choose. Meaning — and I’m not sure we’re willing to flat out say it like this — but our culture teaches us that selfishness is key when it comes to finding delight. Because others tend to impose on our delighting — other people restrict our options. They inhibit our ability to chase after the next experience that promises us delight. So other people — even family members and close friends — can become obstacles to overcome in our pursuit of finding delight.
Now — an alternative to this — is to see delight — not in a selfish way — where others are an obstacle — but to see that delight is actually found in a person. It’s found in the One who came to set us free from this world of despair so our joy can be found in him. And in finding our delight in him — the him being Jesus by the way — in finding our delight in Jesus — we then view his instructions and commands and advice on how to live — not as obstacles obstructing our delight — but as wise counsel because the One we delight in is leading us towards even deeper and wider and higher and more expansive delight as we follow him and his counsel to us. And when we live this way — by finding delight in Jesus and his words to us — we find ourselves fighting against sin by our delighting in him.
So let’s turn to our passage for today and see how our delighting in him is the best way for us to fight against sin.
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Romans chapter 7. We’ll be looking at verses 21-25.
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 chapter 7. Beginning in verse 21.
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:21-25 ESV)
OK. So before we look at the text more closely, I want to highlight what I think is the verse that many of us can relate to in some way. It’s verse 24 where Paul writes, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 ESV)
Another Bible translation says, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (NLT) And another says, “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me?” (The Message)
As someone has said, “Paul’s cry for deliverance from ‘the body of death’ express[es] his longing, as a Christian, for [a] physical resurrection...” (Douglas Moo, Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 466.) It’s like he’s exhausted by the fight he’s in. And maybe you can relate to what Paul’s going through. Where you’re at the end of your rope — exhausted — longing for the fight to be over because of sin’s influence in your life.
You feel the weight of sin in your life. You’ve tried everything you can to beat that addiction or to fix your marriage or to change your attitude and nothing’s helped. You’re in the fight and you’re getting punched more than you’re able to throw punches back.
And — it’s common in these moments — to wonder if even God can help because you’ve asked him to remove whatever’s tripping you up — whatever’s beating you down — and yet — it’s still there taking swings at you. And — for many — this can make you think, “Well if God can’t help me beat this thing, maybe I just have to accept the fact that I’m never going to beat this.” And this leads some to bargain with God. Where when the fight against sin feels like a constant defeat — we tell God something like, “God, we both know that I’m going to look at porn today — the temptation is just too much — I can’t fight it — but I promise I’ll volunteer at church this weekend and — maybe even tithe — to make up for it all.” But our relationship with God isn’t based on bargaining. And this kind of thinking makes what Paul said earlier — that we’re from sin’s power — to not be true — but it is true! You have God’s Spirit in you — if you believe in Jesus — and the Spirit of God has given you all that you need to fight against sin. But you’ve got to use the weapons that God has given you.
So let’s look at this powerful weapon in our arsenal — the weapon of delight.
But before we delight, we encounter the disharmony of evil. In verse 21 Paul writes, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:21 ESV)
This is the war. This is the fight we find ourselves in. Disharmony in our lives — when we want to do right — evil is close by.
Earlier I talked to folks who are at the end of their rope in their fight against sin. But maybe that’s not you. Not everyone feels the weight of their sin. A young man (Illustration from John MacArthur’s sermon from March 13, 1983.) asked a preacher in a mocking fashion, “You say that unsaved people carry a great weight of sin. Frankly,” he said, “I feel nothing. How heavy is sin? Ten pounds? Fifty pounds? Eighty pounds? A hundred pounds?” The preacher thought for a moment and gently replied, “If you laid a four-hundred pound weight on a corpse, would it feel the load?” The young man was quick to say, “Of course not, it’s dead.” To which the preacher replied, “The spirit that knows not Christ is equally dead. And though the load [of sin] is great, he feels none of it.” Maybe the reason you don’t feel the weight of your sin has something to do with the state of your soul.
Or maybe you know someone like this — and it baffles you because they once were disturbed by evil — but not now — now they’re comfortable with it. Maybe that someone is you — you do know that evil lies close at hand — and you’re comfortable with it. And if this is you — it would be unloving of me to not warn you. The road you’re on leads not to delight — but to damnation. When you turn from Christ — when you reject him — you turn towards death. This is the disharmony of evil. It influences you to choose things you don’t actually want — death instead of life. Damnation instead of delight.
But let’s look at how delight is a weapon in this fight. Verse 22.
“For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being...” (Romans 7:22 ESV)
Paul delights in the law of God. Delight — the word means a high degree of pleasure in something. To experience joy in connection with something. To feel satisfaction. And this is an inward, deep seated fulfillment of pleasure, satisfaction, and joy.
And Paul’s words — about delighting in the law of God — which is another way of saying delighting in the Word of God — this idea is found throughout the Bible. Here are a couple of examples.
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (Psalm 1:1-3, NLT) Delighting in the law of the Lord leads to joy and prosperity.
““Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”” (Joshua 1:7-9, NIV) Keeping the law on our lips — not turning from it — leads to courage and strength and success.
And “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Psalm 119:97, NIV)
Now all of that sounds great, doesn’t it? Prosperity, success, delight, courage, joy — it all sounds great, but we live in a world that’s a mess — which can make those verses seem like nothing more than wishful thinking. No matter your news feed of choice, daily we’re bombarded with examples of pain and suffering and evil — and just because you follow Jesus doesn’t mean you’re immune from experiencing — or being the cause of such things. Again — we’re in a war — this is a fight.
And — for some Christians — the fact that we’re still in a fight — against sin — seems to negate the fact that they’ve been raised to new life and that sin no longer has power over them. I mean, you wish it was true — but it just seems like wishful thinking. Others — hear those words — that Christians have been raised to new life — that sin no longer has power over them — and they sincerely believe that they no longer struggle with sin — they think they’re no longer in a fight. And they’re living in the clouds. The apostle John says that believing you don’t struggle with sin is the ultimate self-deception. (See 1 John 1:8)
So where does this leave us? Let’s read Paul’s words one last time beginning in verse 21.
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:21-25 ESV)
So our struggle is to grasp the idea that we’re free — in Christ — from the power of sin. And the reason why this is a struggle is because we give into sin all the time. And this can make it feel like a hopeless cycle for many Christians — sin and repent, sin and repent, sin and repent — things just don’t seem to get any better — sin and repent, sin and repent. No one said this fight would be easy — definitely not Jesus. But an illustration may help us understand why this fight is so hard and why our delighting is so key.
In fact, while we’ve been in Romans — it wouldn’t surprise me if many of you may have wondered, “Well which is it really Josh? Am I free from sin or not? You say I’m free, but it doesn’t feel like I’m free.” But what Paul — and other New Testament authors teach — is that it’s like we’re living in two worlds at the same time. We live in the world of the Flesh and in the world of the Spirit. This is why — in another of his letters — Paul writes, “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace...The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, MSG)
Paul says on the outside — our flesh — our sinful nature — is wasting away. But on the inside — the Spirit of God is making new life by his grace. This means there’s more going on than what we can see with our eyes. And if we can’t see what’s happening with our eyes, maybe we need to try using another one of our senses to help us understand what Paul’s been teaching us. So how about a musical illustration — maybe our sense of hearing will help us understand what Paul has been teaching us?
Many of you know that I was a music major in college — a jazz saxophone performance major to be exact — parents — colleges will let you pay for whatever ridiculous degree your kid wants — take that as a warning. And I know that many of you have been waiting for the day when I’d whip out a saxophone and play a song for you. Well...today’s not that day.
But what Paul’s been teaching us can be better understood with music — and our sense of hearing — than with our eyes and our sense of seeing.
So let’s see if this will work. This song will represent the music of the flesh — think of this song as sin’s influence in your life.
[FLESH MUSIC ONLY]
[STOP MUSIC]
And this song will represent the music of the Spirit — so this song represents our being free from the power of sin.
[SPIRIT SONG ONLY]
[STOP MUSIC]
So we’ve got two different songs — one represents the world of sin and flesh and the other represents the world of the Spirit and our being free from the reign and rule and power of sin.
Everyone good? Do we all understand what the two songs represent? OK.
Now here’s what the life of someone who doesn’t follow Jesus sounds like.
[FLESH SONG ONLY]
Which song do you hear? The song of the flesh.
[STOP MUSIC]
Now — something you may have not thought about — is that the volume of the music isn’t the same for every unbeliever. They’re all listening to the same music, but how intense — or loud the music is — varies from person to person. This is why you can meet a very polite, cordial, or moral unbeliever — maybe the music of the flesh is playing fairly soft in their life — but then you meet another unbeliever who’s impolite, unbelievably rude, and immoral — the music of the flesh is cranked up pretty loud in their life. But they’re both unbelievers.
So that’s the unbeliever — someone not following Jesus. But what about the Christian? What does the music sound like in the life of a Christian?
Well unlike the music in the unbeliever’s life, the Christian actually has two songs playing at the same time. The song of sin and the song of the Spirit are both playing. Here’s what it sounds like.
[PLAY SPIRIT AND FLESH SONGS TOGETHER; EQUAL VOLUME]
Can you hear the two songs? They’re both playing at the same volume so it’s probably making your head spin. Which is why it feels like your head is spinning — at times — when you’re trying to follow Jesus. You’ve got two songs playing in your life.
[STOP MUSIC]
But here’s the good news about this muddled music. You have two songs playing — not just the song of the flesh! When you come to faith in Christ you have a second song to listen to now — a new song to sing along with — the song of the Spirit.
Now here’s why music is helpful as an illustration. What’s the goal for the Christian when it comes to these two songs playing in their life? Many Christians think — and this is why some feel defeated — many think that the goal is to get rid of the song of the flesh completely — to get the song of sin to stop playing in your life. But you can’t do that. That comes in glory — in eternity — in Heaven — but you won’t get the song of sin to stop playing in this life.
So the fight we’re in isn’t to get rid of the song of sin — the fight we’re in — the freedom we now have — is to crank up the volume of the song of the Spirit and to turn down the volume of the song of sin in our lives so that it sounds something like this.
[PLAY TOGETHER; SPIRIT SONG LOUDER; flesh song softer; BUT MAKE SURE BOTH CAN BE HEARD]
Can you hear the song of the Spirit? Sure you can. What about the song of sin? Listen closely. Do you hear it? It’s still playing — it’s just much softer — it’s much less of an influence in your life at this volume — but it’s still there.
[STOP MUSIC]
But — sometimes in this fight — we give into sin — we resist the Spirit of God — and the volumes get reversed. And some Christians are living with this kind of thing going on in their life.
[PLAY TOGETHER; FLESH SONG LOUDER; spirit song softer; BUT MAKE SURE BOTH CAN BE HEARD]
Can you hear the song of the flesh? Sure you can. What about the song of the Spirit? Listen closely. It’s still playing — it’s just much softer — it’s having less of an influence on you at this volume — but it’s still there — God hasn’t abandoned you or anything — you’re still a Christian.
[STOP MUSIC]
So here’s the question — how do we increase the volume of the Spirit and decrease the volume of sin’s influence in our lives? It’s all about where we find out delight. And none of this is revolutionary — it’s all quite simple — but often it’s the simple things that have the most impact on our lives.
The Bible is a great way to increase the volume of the Spirit and decrease the volume of sin in your life. What do I mean? Well commit to regularly read the Bible. Every day is best — but don’t quit because you miss a day or two or ten.
And study the Bible. Get a good study Bible — like an ESV, NIV, or NLT study Bible. Get a grasp of the history going on, why a particular book of the Bible was written, and what the different books in the Bible teach on a particular subject.
And memorize parts of the Bible. Pick a verse that sticks out to you and memorize it. Pick a short psalm or the Lord’s Prayer. Or — if you dare — pick an entire section of the Bible — like the Sermon on the Mount — or an entire book.
Then meditate on what you’ve memorized and studied. Journal your thoughts about it. Earlier we read some passages that mention meditating on God’s Word as being a source of delight and joy.
And then apply what you’re reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on. Use the Bible to turn up the volume of the Spirit’s influence in your life and turn down the volume of sin’s influence.
Prayer is another way to increase the volume of the Spirit and decrease the volume of sin in your life. Do you have a regular prayer time? I know you can pray any time, but we prioritize the things that matter most to us and often — those who don’t plan to pray — end up not praying. Pray as an individual and pray with others. I know it’s weird — praying out loud with others when you first start doing it — but your Life Group is a great place to get comfortable praying out loud with friends. Maybe you think that praying out loud is way uncomfortable. But isn’t that weird — that you can talk out loud with the same people about anything else — isn’t it odd how — we Christians — can talk to one another about all kinds of things — but we can’t pray together? This bleeds into our marriages. Husbands and wives not praying together is pretty common. Do we want the Spirit to be leading our marriages? Then we need to be praying together as couples. And as families. Teach your kids how to pray by...praying! Let them hear your voice. Let them model your prayers. Take a Bible verse and use it to pray out loud.
Here’s a quick example so you know what I mean. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That’s the verse. Here’s a prayer. “God thank you for loving the people of the world. Including me. And thank you for not just saying that you love me but showing me your love by sending Jesus to come and live and die for me. What an example of love — what a costly love. And, finally, thank you that eternal life is guaranteed to all who believe in Jesus. You don’t go back on what you’ve guaranteed. Your faithfulness is hard to fathom. Your goodness towards me leaves me speechless. Amen.” Use prayer to turn up the volume of the Spirit’s influence in your life and turn down the volume of sin’s influence.
Finally, gathering with God’s people for corporate worship is another way to increase the volume of the Spirit and decrease the volume of sin in your life. When God’s people gather together to sing and praise the One who has set them free — the volume of the Spirit gets cranked up in their lives. But it’s possible to gather with us and stand like a curmudgeon with your coffee cup in hand and your mouth closed while everyone else is praising God. And we all know you can sing and praise because you do so for your kids and grandkids at their soccer game, or for the Browns — well not so much this year. But we sing, we raise our hands, we praise for all kinds of things — don’t we — but then — sort of like with prayer — we actually turn down the volume of our praise when we gather with God’s people to worship God. How weird is that? Use corporate worship to turn up the volume of the Spirit’s influence in your life and turn down the volume of sin’s influence.
And — ultimately — being engaged with the Bible, and prayer, and corporate worship are all leading us towards greater delight in Jesus. And what we delight in — we invest our time, energy, and resources in. We give our attention to what gives us delight. And a weapon that we’ve been given in this fight — this fight to live in the freedom that Jesus has made possible for us to live in — is the weapon of delight. Where Jesus is our joy. Where God’s law — God’s word to us — is a source of triumph in this battle. Where we fight against sin with glee as we praise the One who has set us free from sin’s power, rule, and reign.
Joy in the Lord is a powerful weapon that gives us victory in this fight. Do you find joy in Jesus? For delighting in him is the best way to fight against sin. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, increase our joy in your Son — for delighting in him is the best way for us to fight against sin. Spirit we want your song of influence to be cranked up in our lives — turn up the volume of your influence so we more faithfully, and obediently, and joyfully follow Jesus.
And — Jesus — for anyone who only has one song playing in their life right now — one influence — the reign and rule of sin — I humbly ask you to set them free. Open their eyes to see you — give them the gift of faith so they turn from their sin and turn to you — press the play button on their life so the Spirit’s song of freedom begins playing in their soul.
And God — help us all to fight. Not in our own strength and power — but to fight in your strength and power. To fight in the hope, life, peace, and joy that you’ve given to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Help us to fight against sin — by delighting in him. It’s in his name that we pray. Amen.
May you go with great joy in Jesus — for delighting in him is the best way to fight against sin. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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