A Gift to Groaning and Growing Christians
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Speaker: Matt Carter
Scripture: Romans 7:14-25
October 23, 2022
Romans 7:14-25: For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 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.
Sermon Outline
1. Paul discusses the biggest barrier to our Christian growth
We believe God's standards are very good
We grieve as we recognize how far short we fall of those standards
2. Paul is talking about himself as a Christian in this passage
How Paul describes his pre-Christian life is different from how he describes himself here
Paul expresses genuine delight in God's law throughout this passage
Paul uses the present tense when describing his conflict with sin
3. The gift in the passage
Every Christian experiences conviction over their sin
4. The struggle with our sinful nature
We delight in the nourishment we get from scripture
As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we begin rejecting what he despises
As scripture reveals the depths of our sin, we grieve our revealed predicament
Christ's sacrifice on the cross is enough to atone for all our sins, not just the sins we're currently aware of
Through Christ's sacrifice, we are made righteous. Our sinful nature is now foreign to us
Benediction
And now, may the love of God the Father who sent his Son so that you could be made perfect in him. May the love of Jesus Christ, who's cross is sufficient to cover every failure: past, present, and future. And may the sweep presence of the Holy Spirit who takes these things and makes them fully yours be with you all. Amen
