Power
POWER
Overview
Romans 6:1–14 was a pivotal passage in Paul’s letter. On the one hand it was the culmination of Paul’s presentation that those who are spiritually dead can have life—through union with Jesus! It was also the launching pad for another presentation: an affirmation of freedom to live a righteous life. Here, in brief, is the line of thought Paul has.
Not Under Law, But Under Grace (Rom. 6:14)
(Digression: are we then free to sin? [6:15–23])
How can we legally be freed from the Law? (7:1–3)
Why must we be freed from the Law? (7:4–6)
(Digression: if the Law is so closely linked to sin, is Law evil? [7:7–12])
What happens to a believer who tries to relate to God through Law? (7:13–25)
What happens to a believer who relates to God through the Holy Spirit? (8:1–8)
(What is the source of our victory experience? (8:9–17))
Keeping this simple line of thought in mind can help us understand the powerful teaching of this vital New Testament passage. We often picture Romans as a doctrinal book, full of deep and difficult truth. However, there are some who think the Book of Romans is totally practical. In seeking to understand the human condition, Paul simply looked around him, and saw people experience a daily demonstration of the reality of sin.
In seeking to explain faith, Paul simply went back to Abraham. He saw that for Abraham faith meant unwavering trust in God’s promise. And in turn his unwavering trust led Abraham to respond to God’s word. He was submitted. (Remember that word)
Another example of Paul’s practicality was when he turned his attention to how faith works in us to produce a righteous life. He explored how we find the freedom to be righteous. Oh, it is good to know that sin in his life (and ours) had for him and has been for us “rendered inoperative.” In other words, we no longer have to obey it.
But we do still feel its pull, don’t we?! At times when we honestly want to respond to God, we may find ourselves choosing the opposite way. So, you ask – What does it take for us to live victoriously? How do we experience the flow of the divine power?
Paul’s answer was simple, but surprising. “Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under Law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). We must be released from the Law to live a Christian life under grace and experience freedom. (Remember the word freedom.)
Chapters 7 and 8 in Roman’s hinge on this point. So, let’s look at some answers he provides.
How can we legally be free from the Law? (Rom. 7:1–3)
Paul turned to marriage for an illustration. A married couple is bound to each other under the Law until one of them dies. The death of a partner frees both, so that the living partner is free to remarry. Our union with Jesus is a real union too, so when He died, we were legally released from any obligation to the Law. God considers us to have “died to the Law through the body of Christ” (v. 4), and so to be free from any past obligation to live “under” it (6:14).
Why must we be freed from the Law? (Rom. 7:4-6)
This is an extremely significant question. It is, in fact, central to the Bible’s whole teaching on the Law and the believer. What Paul said here is that the old nature (our “sinful passions”) is aroused (literally “stimulated,” or “energized”) by the Law!
(v 8 Do not covet produced in me every kind of covetous desire.)
And the result of this stimulation is that we produce sin’s deadly fruit. But since we are “not under Law,” we can relate to God in a new way! This new way is by the Spirit, who speaks to us directly from within. And, while Law energized the old nature, the Spirit stimulates the new nature! The result of the Spirit’s ministry is that we produce the fruit of righteousness.
Scripture is clear about our two natures. The old nature and new nature blend to form my conscious self yet they are distinct.
The point is: The old and new natures are channels through which our lives are controlled, either by sin or by God
The problem I hope to address today is: How are these two channels opened? What can we do to experience God’s control?
We see the energizing principle at work everywhere. The child who is told, “Don’t touch the cookies, they’re for company,” finds his hunger for a cookie increased! The forbidden seems far more desirable. Those covetous desires Paul spoke about.
The believer has two natures. The Old with its focus on self. That nature is self-centered. It always focuses on MY way. That is sin dwelling in me. The New Nature with its focus on submitting to the Spirit. There’s that word submit again. The new nature is Spirit focused. The new nature looks to fulfill His way and results in a righteous life.
It is either MY way or HIS way. Can you trust Jesus to be everything you need enough to submit – and to let go of your own selfish desires to His loving control? Trust, Submission. Jesus is enough – let go of that issue. Trust Him with it!
When we approach life through the Law, all marked off by “do’s” and “don’ts,” our old sinful nature is charged with energy. That goes back to don’t eat the cookie.
But when we approach life in God’s new way, seeing each challenge as an opportunity to let God express Himself through us, we are on the way to victory!
What is the experience of the believer who places him (her) self under the Law? (Rom. 7:13–25)
I don’t understand my own actions. I don’t do what I want—I do the very thing I hate. Because I don’t want to do the things I do, it’s clear that I agree that what the Law says is good and right. I’m that much in harmony with God, anyway. But somehow, I’m not in control of my own actions! Some sinful force within me takes over and acts through my body. I know that nothing good exists in the old me. The sin nature is so warped that even when I desire good, I somehow can’t do it. Sin, dwelling in me, is to blame for this situation. It all seems hopeless! The fact is that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. In my inmost self I delight in God’s law. But another principle wars with the desire to obey and brings me as a captive to my knees before the principle of indwelling sin.
Romans 7:15–23 (author’s paraphrase) Lawrence Richards
Paul goes through all that just to say he cannot keep the law and we need to understand we can’t either.
Paul’s effort to keep the Law, with which he agreed, had failed. The sin nature kept enough control over him to make it plain that no matter how he tried to keep the Law, he fell far short of the holiness and goodness it reveals.
Paul found striving to keep the Law through self-effort resulted in keeping the sin nature activated That sounds so hopeless… so what are we to do?
What happens to a believer who relates to God through the Holy Spirit?
Romans 7 ended with a cry: “What a wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (v. 24) “Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” v 25
Victory answered. “There is now no condemnation … because through Christ Jesus the law [principle] of the Spirit of life set me free from the law [principle] of sin and death.”
Sin within is overcome by a new and powerful principle, that of “the Spirit of life.”
Put simply, Paul found his answer in realizing that even as a believer he could not keep the Law … but at this point in his life he was no longer trying!
Paul no longer felt any obligation to try! Paul had finally accepted himself as a sinner, with no hope of pleasing God IN HIMSELF. So, Paul turned his gaze back to the Cross, and found joy in the thought of “no condemnation.” We can do the same!
But then Paul made a greater discovery!
When he stopped trying, and instead relied on God to express His own divine life through Paul’s personality and giftedness, then “the righteous requirements of the Law” were “fully met” in him (v. 4). Yes, Sin lived in Paul and sin lives in us. But Christ lived in Paul and Christ lives is us too!!
Romans 5:17,
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one-man Jesus Christ.”
We reign with Jesus in this life. We are part of His Kingdom now! We are heirs with Jesus – we have everything we need. The hard part for us is to live in that fact. We keep striving for things we think we need and we already have it! Jesus really is all we need.
Let me compare Romans 7 and 8 to see the continued progression of Paul’s thoughts.
I struggle to keep the law vs I yield myself to Jesus.
If Paul concentrated on keeping the Law rather than on trusting Jesus, his old nature was stimulated, and he sinned. So is ours!
When Paul concentrated on trusting/ yielding/surrendering to Jesus, the Spirit energized his new nature and he found himself living a righteous life. So can you!
Paul realized the battlefield of self-effort can be replaced with Spirit Enablement.
We either battle with our minds and self-will or we rest in our relationship with Jesus. Our obligation, then, is not to the Law, but to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit (vs. 12, 14). The Law has been replaced by an intimate, personal relationship with God. (V 14 …those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God.) Personal!!
Trying to strive to be good results in sin. Walking in relationship with Jesus results in the requirements of the Law are fulfilled in you.
How can relationship be the key to moral victory? How does relationship produce righteousness? Paul showed us that as we deepen our relationship with the Lord, the Spirit of God gains more and more
control over our lives. Then the Spirit will “give life to your mortal bodies” (v. 11). Yes, in our mortality we are in the grip of sin. Let me be clear, sin is not our master. We do not have to obey it. You see the
resurrection of Jesus paid for that. It has always taken resurrection, life from the dead, for God to express Himself in human beings. And resurrection is exactly what God provides for those who “live in accordance with the Spirit” and “have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (v. 15).
Earlier in his letter, Paul says all men are spiritually dead; they desperately need righteousness and can only receive it as a gift. Then, in Romans 8, focusing on the Likeness of Jesus (Rom. 8:18–30). This is Paul’s explanation of how the Gospel produces righteousness in a believer. God has chosen to shape redeemed men in the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (v. 28). It is our destiny to be like Jesus!! God is committed to produce the fruit of the Spirit in us!
Let me remind you of what Paul said in Romans 6:22, “But since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God (that’s the submission which gives freedom), you have your fruit which results in sanctification – and the outcome is eternal life!”
God is committed to help us be like Jesus. He understands that takes time. Jesus asks us to let Him show us how to give up our selfish desires. That does not come naturally.
This divine commitment means ultimately the renewal and transformation of the whole creation. It means that one day sin will be demolished and that we will be “brought into the glorious freedom of the
children of God” (v. 21). It also means that we now have hope. In 2 Cor. 3:18 Paul spoke of a progressive transformation, of a growth in Christlikeness which we can expect to take place. “We … are being
(Passive – done by another) transformed into His likeness,” Paul wrote the Corinthians, “with ever-
increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). As the Spirit of God shapes the likeness of Jesus within us, we need never concern ourselves with Law. When we let go of the need to be in control the life of Jesus will overflow in spontaneous righteousness.
What the Law never was able to produce, the Spirit of God within us is producing, even now. Rest in Him! There is a Primary difference between life based in law and life in the Spirit. When you are focused on the law you work toward a personal code of conduct. That is contrary to the Gospel. We cannot save ourselves by self-effort.
The Gospel is that Jesus has already done what is necessary.
My encouragement to you is to let go of personal striving and let the Holy Spirit flow through your personality and giftedness.
Let me share with you a personal testimony that I trust will be helpful in explaining what this looks like…
My stated goal at work is to give glory to God. I love my job because it is a perfect fit for my Spiritual gifts. However, over the last couple of months I have not enjoyed going to work. I was making suggestions to help make the dining room more efficient, but no one was listening and making the changes I thought needed to be made. I was not getting the recognition, the respect, the glory I thought was due me.
Have you noticed how many times the word “I” was used in this illustration? Then through Scripture readings, and a book called Understanding People by Larry Crabb the Spirit got my attention.
While driving to work it became clear that I was not focusing on giving glory to God as I thought. My thinking had become selfish, and I wanted recognition. I was literally living this passage.
I repented of my selfish desires and began to praise God for the Spiritual gifts He has given. I asked the Holy Spirit to remind me of how God wants to move through me to bless others.
Are you ready to repent of your selfish desires? I know many of you have situations in your life in which you are fighting against the leading of the Spirit. Lately I have been asking myself am I, in this moment exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit? If the Spirit reveals to me I’m not I stop and repent. Sometimes that repentance is several times during the same conversation or situation.
I have also been reminded several times lately that we are to do everything without grumbling or complaining. I can do that inside my own head – it’s still wrong. I still must repent. So do you. Come as we sing.