The Book Of ROMANS.....A Systematic Teaching

Romans 7:17.............
"Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
Paul has written that even though he wants to do good, he ends up doing what he hates instead: he sins. His personal desire is to do the right thing, to obey God's law. Even in Paul's case, growing up as a devout Jewish person (Philippians 3:4–7), was not enough to keep him from disobeying God. The lure of sin won out over Paul's sincere interest in doing right.

Sound familiar?????

Paul says the problem is not with his intentions. Rather, it is the sin in him that overcomes his intentions and leads him to do what is wrong anyway.

Examining the Greek language used here makes it all but certain that Paul is speaking in a here-and-now, first-person sense.
Compared to other parts of Romans, Paul's choice of words and tenses makes this appear to be a very literal and personal account.

Those who believe Paul has constructed a framework to describe himself without Christ see this section as the definition of what it means to be a slave to sin, even as a Jewish person who lives under the law. They may sincerely want to obey God, but their slavery to sin overwhelms their good intentions. They just can't resist sin's power.

However, Bible scholars who believe Paul is describing the experience of one who is in Christ understand him to be talking about sin's powerful influence over even those who have been freed from sin's ultimate power and authority. The sin that remains in us is not our master, but it remains powerful and persuasive.
 
Romans 7:18..........
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."

Paul has learned TWO things in his struggle and they are what we need to learn as well.
1. In me, my old nature dwells no good thing!

You see it all the time in your life. Believers all around you, maybe even you, busy as a bee but not making any honey!!!!
People get on committees, chairmen of boards, try to run the church and think that they are pleasing God! Busy, busy doing nothing!
All of that is nothing but self gratification which is the flesh = PRIDE!
"In my old nature dwells NO good thing"!!!!

2. He found out that there is NO Power in the New Nature!
The New Nature wants to serve God but the carnal fleshly man is at enmity against God. It is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can it be.
 
Romans 7:19...............
"For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."
Now read that and tell me that you HAVE NOT experienced the very same thing.

Paul is describing the experience of all Christians struggling to stop sinning and to do the good they are capable of doing in the power of the Holy Spirit now that they are no longer slaves to sin. Both harmonize with the experience of believers and the information presented in the rest of the New Testament.

Based on analysis of the Greek language alone, it seems to me that Paul is speaking of his current experience as a believer.
 
Romans 7:20..............
"Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
It is that Old Sin nature that never goes away that causes us all of our problems. This sounds as if Paul is repeating himself and actually he is.

He describes his intentions as wanting to do good, to follow the law of Moses, to obey God. That's the "real him." The sin in him, though, wins out over his best inclinations.

It is very true that Non-Christians may very well have the desire to do the right thing, even obey God, but Paul has taught in Romans that without Christ we do not have the ability to keep ourselves from sinning. It's also true that Christians, while never under obligation to sin, often "catch themselves" in the act of doing the exact opposite of the good thing they set out to do. They continue, on some level, to feel divided between their desire to sin and their desire to serve God.
 
Romans 7:21............
"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me".

When you are attempting to serve God in the Spirit, have you discovered that the old nature is right there to bring in evil?

Maybe an evil thought will come into your mind. Every child of God, regardless of his sate, has to admit that in every act and in every moment evil is present with us!

Failure to recognize this fact will eventually lead to a disaster in any Christians life!
 
Romans 7:22...........
"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man".

"The Inward Man" = The New Nature!

In other words, this very small verse verifies the fact that Paul is speaking of his life AFTER he was saved. That is the only way he would know what the New Nature is! Those who believe this insist that only someone who is in Christ would delight in the law of God in his or her inner being. Paul is saying that he really, truly does love God's law and wants to follow it. This interpretation also seems to fit Paul's Greek grammar, which has shifted in this passage to a first-person, present-tense style.
 
Romans 7:23.............
"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

And this is the BATTLE that rages within all of us. We see right here the Bible fact that we do not get rid of the old sin nature. The problem is that there is NO power in the New Nature.

The Old Nature is at war against God because it wants to sin and man like his sin. This is why Paul made his cay in the next verse.
 
Romans 7:24.........
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

This is NOT an unsaved man who is crying out......"O WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM"!

This is a save man! WRETCHED carries with it the idea of exhaustion because of the struggle he is in.

"Who is going to deliver me"! = Helplessness!!!

His shoulders are pinned to the floor. He is down for the count. Just like Jacob he has been crippled. He is calling out for help from the outside.
 
Romans 7:25.................
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

This is the answer to his SOS! GOD CAN! Jesus did!

The Lord Jesus Christ provided the deliverance. This introduces chapter #8 in which Paul will give the details of the deliverance, both salvation and sanctification which came through Christ.
 
ROMANS CHAPTER # 8

This chapter brings us to the conclusion of sanctification. While my inadequacy has been on display all along the way through this book, especially here I feel incapable of dealing with the great truths presented here.

Chapter 8 is the high water mark in Romans. This is a fact which almost all Bible scholars agree upon. This chapter introduces us to the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification. He is mentioned NINETEEN times in chapter #8. So far He has only been mentioned TWICE (5:5 and 7:6).

8:1.............
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
This says that in spite of the failure that Paul experienced in chapter #7.......he did not lose his salvation! He was NOT Condemned!

The Greek words translated as "there is therefore now no," as in the ESV, are very emphatic. The literal phrasing is Ouden ara nyn katakrima, which accomplishes two things.

First, it ties this statement to the claim made in Romans 7:25, according to the word "therefore."

Second, it definitively states a permanent, present, and complete lack of "condemnation," from a Greek word meaning "a sentence" or "penalty."

In crystal-clear language, the Bible indicates there is absolutely no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. None. Zero. Paul's statement leaves no room for even a tiny bit of condemnation to sneak in.

However, he was not experiencing the Christian life, he admitted that he was a failure. and was a wretched man!

In short, if you are "in Christ Jesus," God will never, ever condemn you for any sin whatsoever. The condition of this statement, however, is crucial: salvation is for those who place their faith in Christ (Romans 3:23–26).
There is no other way (Acts 4:12), and those who reject this salvation will not be rescued from condemnation (John 3:18).

How can this be? Paul has already built the case in chapters 3—5 of this letter to the Romans. When we place our faith in Christ, God so closely identifies us with His Son that He gives us credit for Jesus' sinless, righteous life, and He accepts Jesus' death as payment for our death-deserving sin.

Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21: .........
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

So if God is judging us on the basis of Jesus' righteousness, how could we ever be condemned? God would never condemn Jesus, so He will never condemn those who are seen by God as being in Christ. And how do we come to be "in Christ"? Only by faith (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8–9).
 
Romans 8:2
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
The little word "for" appears 17 times in chapter #8. It is a word that acts like cement in that requires real mental effort.

There are TWO principles at work here.

The first principle is the Spirit of life. Put another way, the Spirit of God always gives or brings life. That notion has set Christians free only in Christ Jesus. Without faith in Christ, we will not be justified by God (Romans 5:1), and if we are not justified we will not receive the Spirit who brings life. Put positively, because we have faith in Christ, God has given to us His Spirit that brings life. That has set us free from the law or principle of sin and death.

That second law is just that sin always, always leads to death. It is the reason we were all condemned to eternal death and separation from God in the first place (Romans 3:23; 6:23). The only way to escape from the law of sin and death is to access the law of the Spirit of life through faith in Christ.

The Holy Spirit operates only on the New Nature which is where we are joined to Christ. The man in Roamns 7 who was joined to the body of the dead, is now joined to the living Christ also!
 
Romans 8:3..........
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh".

Here we have the whole crux of the matter! It was not possible for the Law to produce righteousness in man. That however is not the fault of the Law. The fault lay in man and the SIN in his flesh.

The Law was totally incapable of producing any good thing in man.

Romans 7:18...........
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."
If that is not the explanation of the TOTAL DEPRAVITY of man then would someone please tell me what it is!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul has built a clear case that the law of Moses cannot save those who live under it. Instead, the law simply shows that we cannot keep the law (Romans 7:7–12). We cannot escape our sinfulness and make ourselves acceptable to God. He had to step in to save us, and He did. He did what the law—truly, our inability to keep the law—could not do.

What did God do? He sent Jesus, His Son, to earth in a human body just like all the other human bodies. Except Jesus' body was not full of sin (Hebrews 4:15). He never sinned. God sent Jesus in a body so that He could condemn all sin through the punishment of that one sinless body.

This was God's way of getting at the roots of sin in our flesh, minds and spirit! He could condemn and execute sinful flesh on the cross so that it had no more rights in human being's.

God was able to deal with sin itself------Christ was identified with us! Sin has been condemned in these bodies of ours. IT HAS NOT BEEN REMOVED in spite of what some people will tell you.

As the following verse will show, God did this because it was necessary to fulfill the law's requirement of death for sin and life for righteousness.
 
Romans 8:4............
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Paul has just explained that We were stuck. We all sinned, and we were all condemned to die.

To change this, God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a man who had no sin Himself (Hebrews 4:15). He was sent for sin, to receive God's condemnation of death for sin once for all in His own sinless body (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now Paul explains that this was necessary in order to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. After all, the law of Moses was given by God. It is His law. He fulfilled the requirements of His law by paying out on His own Son the death we had earned with our sin so that justice was done. Sin was paid for.

This was not a universal action for all people as a group. He did not die for all of the Jews or all of the Americans or all of the Cubans.
His death for sin was personal. It was Jesus' death for our sin. The requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, individually. Our personal sin has been paid for by Jesus' personal death.

Now, Paul concludes, we are the people who no longer walk—or live—by the flesh. We are not self-propelled.
Christians walk and live by the Spirit. This does not mean that Christians never sin in our flesh (1 John 1:9–10). It means that we don't live that way (1 John 3:4–6). All of the life in us comes from God by His Spirit. To the extent that we live at all, we live in the Spirit's power.
 
Romans 8:5...........
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."
Have you ever heard a parent say....maybe even you that hen you call your child or tell him something, he does not do it and you hears this said....."That young man just wont MIND ne"!!!

What that means is ........."That child just will NOT OBEY ME"!

Paul sounds like that here when he says........"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh".
When we live habitually in the flesh and obey the flesh and the New Nature does not rebuke you or correct you, then you must not have a New Nature! When you are saved, you immediately receive a New Nature because you are born again. Now you can yeild yourself to that New Nature which is of God instead of the Old Nature which is of sin.

Have you heard about the little boy that was being beaten up by a bully at school. He was on the ground and the big bad bully was pounding away on the little fellow. Then the little boy looked up and he saw his BIG brother coming. The big brother grabbed the bully and beat him u for his little brother.

The believer has the Holy Spirit now to beat up his old sin nature and HE will take care of the sin bully.....IF we allow Him to do so!

Now folks..........it is humiliating but true to admit that we as a child of God retains our old Adamic nature of sin. We hate to admit that because it makes us look weak. In our hearts we want to be strong and Godly but in our flesh we are still weak as a kitten.

Those who live by the Spirit, Christians, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, who comes to live in and with Christians when they trust in Christ. The Spirit of God in us, not surprisingly, is thinking about godly things. Since we are now alive by the Spirit's power, we begin to think about godly things, too—things that reach beyond meeting our basic human wants and needs of the moment.

Does this mean the Christians never thinks of things of the flesh or that we never sin? No. Instead, it means our minds are set, pointed, elsewhere. Focus on the flesh, on our sinful, self-serving desires, is not who we are, even when we find ourselves drawn that way.
 
Romans 8:6............
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
"Carnally minded" = Separated from fellowship with God.

There is one thing for sure: You can not live in known sin and be in fellowship with God!!!!
Known sin = A Deliberate choice to rebel against what God has identified as sin!

Examples of Deliberate known sin..........
1. Adultery
2. Lying
3. Stealing
4. Murder
5. Homosexuality
6. Wrath
7. Envy
8. Pride
9. Greed

Deliberate known sin is specifically spoken of in Exodus 21:14, Numbers 15:30, Deuteronomy 1:43, 17:12, 17:13, 18:20, 18:22, Psalm 19:13, Luke 12:47-48, John 15:22 and Romans 7:7.

In Luke 12:47-48, Jesus drew a clear distinction between deliberate known sin and unintentional hidden sin: .........
“And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

May I say that A focus on our sinful, selfish desires—the flesh—leads to death. That's the law of sin and death from verse 2.
Sin always leads to death. Focusing on the things of the Spirit leads to life and peace. That's the law of the Spirit of life, also from verse 2.

Notice this:
The law of the Spirit of life is what frees us from the law of sin and death. Paul is showing here, though, that God does not intend for it to stop there. We have not just changed status from "death" to "life." We have changed roads from "the road to death" to "the path of life." The idea is that we will keep going down this road. That's what Christians do. They keep their minds focused on the Spirit's things because that's the way we're going. That's who we are now. We have left the death-way behind.
 
Romans 8:7.............
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
This tells us how hopelessly and utterly destitute the flesh we live in actually is. It is a spiritual anarchist!

This one Scripture right here literally destroys the liberal and modern thinking that there is a "spark of divinity" in all of us.
The Bible truth is that man is the enemy of God. He is dead in sin and in rebellion to God. He is not seeking to find God, he is running away from God.

Do you realize, or maybe you have never thought about this, but if man was taken to heaven in his natural condition, he would start a revolution in heaven and he would have a protest meeting before the sun went down! This is a terrible report of humanity but you know full well that it is an accurate one!

It's important to be clear. Paul's teaching here does not allow for the possibility that a Christian might live in the Spirit sometimes and in the flesh at other times. Christians live in the Spirit. Period. Even when we are diverted or distracted by sin (1 John 1:9–10), that's not because it is who we are. That's not the path we're on—sin is a deviation from who we are in Christ (1 John 3:4–6).
 
Romans 8:8........
"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.:
That means you can not look at Playboy magazine on Saturday and go to church on Sunday like nothing happened.

It's important to remember two things here.

#1. Christians are no longer people who are "in the flesh." Our status has been changed through faith in Christ to "in the Spirit."
#2. When Paul talks about the "flesh" in Romans, he is not just talking about sexual sin, or greed. That's often how we think of sins of the flesh. The flesh includes all self-serving sins.

Paul also introduces into the conversation the idea of how God feels about people. He is pleased with those who are in Christ because He is pleased with Christ (Matthew 17:5). Our identity with Christ makes all the difference. He is not pleased with those who are only in themselves with their sinful focus on themselves.

We want to be careful here. It is true that God loves the world (John 3:16), but He has expressed that love by sending His Son to make it possible for all who believe to be included in His family. God is pleased by human faith in Him. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). God's holiness does not allow for those who reject Him and His Son (John 3:18) to be part of this salvation (John 14:6)
 
Romans 8:9........
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

The true mark of a born again believer and a real Christain is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Christians live by the Spirit, even if we are sometimes distracted by sin. Paul has been saying all along that A true believer in Christ can sin but sin is not the normal pattern of behavior for someone who is in Christ. Non-Christians live by the flesh, serving themselves.

Now Paul makes it clear to his readers, Christians living in Rome, that he understands them to be in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Paul identifies them as Christians, with a stipulation: this is true "if" the Spirit of God lives in you. In modern English, we tend to assume that the word "if" implies doubt, when sometimes it simply connects two ideas. This phrase might be better read as a condition which is assumed to be true. In other words, "You are in the Spirit since the Spirit of God dwells in you."

The reverse is also true: If someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he or she does not belong to Christ. Paul leaves no room for Christians who do not have God's Spirit with them. God gives His Holy Spirit to every Christian. Without the Spirit, we are not Christians.

Notice that this verse very much supports the idea of the Trinity. God is three persons in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit here is referred to both as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, though it is the same being. In addition, the Spirit of God is said to live in Christians in this verse and Christ is said to be "in you" in the following verse. This corresponds to the idea of three different persons in one Godhead.
 
Romans 8:10.........
"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."
He is saying here that YOU and I are in Christ. That means we IDENTIFY with Christ and since we have done that, when He died we died.

On the one hand, the body is dead because of sin. This likely means that our human, physical, temporary body is dying and will eventually die as the result of sin in us and in the world. Our bodies are not yet renewed—though they will be according to 1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

On the other hand, the Spirit is life—or gives life—because of righteousness. This phrase is a little trickier to translate. Some Bible teachers understand the Greek word for Spirit here, pneuma, as a reference to our human spirits. In that case, this verse would read that our spirits are alive. Others translate pneuma here as God's Spirit once more, meaning that that the Spirit gives us life. In the original Greek, there was no punctuation, and no lowercase letters—meaning there is no quick-and-easy way to know the writer's intent. Context is key.

In either case, the idea is that having Christ in us means that we are spiritually alive, in the Spirit, even though our sin-ridden bodies are still dying because of sin. Without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually dead. There is no spiritual life in us. The fact that there is spiritual life in us is because of righteousness. That does not mean it is because we are righteous. It means that we have been given credit for Christ's righteousness (Romans 5:21).
 
Romans 8:11..........
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
These bodies that you and I have will one day be placed in the ground. However, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us is our assurance that our bodies will be raised from the dead one day in the future. That is referred to in the Bible as the "Resurrection unto Life" or the First Resurrection.

Because Christ was raised from the dead we shall also be raised from the dead. The Holy Spirit will deliver us from the body of his death....the Old Nature.!

The Bible tells us that there will be TWO (2) Resurrections.

There are several "Stages" in the First Resurrection and it concerns only believers.

#1. Jesus Christ Himself (the “first fruits,” 1 Corth. 15:20), paved the way for the resurrection of all who believe in Him.
#2. There will be the resurrection of “the dead in Christ” at the Lord’s return (1 Thess. 4:16) = Rapture.
#3. The resurrection of martyrs at the end of the tribulation & The Old Testament saints will also be raised at the end of the tribulation.

The Second resurrection, then, is the raising of all unbelievers; the second resurrection is connected to the second death. It corresponds with Jesus’ teaching of the “resurrection of damnation” and in Revelation 20:4 it is called the Great White Throne Judgment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top