The Book of Romans ~ Lesson Fourteen

"Doing It Right"

Romans 7:1-6 (NLT) Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
   So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

Paul is teaching that the Law opened mankind's eyes to how we sin against God. With the Law there was now no excuse for behaving badly against God and His requirements of us. There was no way to be totally redeemed through the Law. But when Christ came and paid the penalty for our sins, He fulfilled the requirement of the Law and made a way, in fact, the only way, to God. Until we die to ourselves we are bound by this Law. When we give ourselves to Jesus and His death, we too die and are raised to a new life. In this redeemed life there is freedom from the Law. However, this doesn't mean that we should continue sinning. No, we have died to that sin and are raised like Jesus and must live as He lives. We live by His grace and forgiveness.

Romans 7:7-25 (NLT) 7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
   But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
   So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
   And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
   I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

The Law doesn't cause me to sin. Sin takes the Law and distorts it. Sin compromises what God created me to be. When I go against the Law that reveals God's holiness it causes separation from Him. Jesus bridges that gap. Through Him alone can I reach God. There is no other way. Without Jesus there is nothing good within me. Look at the following verse:

Romans 8:14-20 (NLT) So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
   And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

This is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. It's misquoted and confusing. I'm going to try to explain what I understand it to mean by using the following equations:

The Law + A Sinner = Failure.

Christ + A Repentant Sinner = A life restored.

When we try to be good on our own, we will fail. No matter how hard we try we can't redeem ourselves. It is only through Jesus living and leading within us that we can reach the Father and be found blameless in His sight. Without Him the Law only points out our inadequacies to reach God and commune with Him.

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT) I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Life lived in Christ and through Christ is a life filled with the fruit of salvation. This fruit is what is produced when we live according to His will for our lives. It is walking in obedience to Him. When we walk with Him we grow in His knowledge and understanding. We are in a perpetual classroom sitting at the feet of the Rabbi. He teaches us as we go through life and our ignorance about the mysteries found in Christ is removed. Every day we walk with Him and commune with Him, we grow. We never become stagnant in our faith when we walk and learn with the Savior. We know what to do and by faith in Him, we can do it right.

I'll leave you with this scripture. It is my prayer for all of us who have chosen to follow Jesus. Be blessed.

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NLT) And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.