Is God’s Law Friend or Foe?

14 July 2013 AM – Romans 7:1-13 – Scott Childs

Introduction: When someone knocks on your door late at night, if you are like most people, before you open the door you will ask “Who’s there?” You want to know if the person on the other side is friend or foe.

Christians since the first century have often wondered if God’s law is friend or foe. Is the Old Testament law our friend or our enemy? That is a good question. Paul answers that question in the first half of Romans 7. Some of his arguments are complex so listen carefully and pray that God will help me make them understandable.

Transition: This morning we are going to examine three facts about God’s law that will help us answer the question, “Is God’s law Friend or Foe?”

I.              The Law Rules Sinners Until Death (1-6)

A.     God’s law has a lifelong dominion over man (1-3)

1.      Only death can end the law’s dominion (1).

2.      Paul used marriage to illustrate this fact (2-3).

a)      According to God’s law, marriage is for life.

b)      The woman is bound to her husband until her husband dies.

c)      If she is marries another man while her husband is yet alive, she is an adulteress.

d)      Only if her husband dies is she free to marry another man.

3.      Paul did not intend for this illustration to be a sermon on marriage, but it does reveal God’s heart on the subject.

a)      During Jesus’ life on earth He said,

Matthew 19:5-6  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

b)      If you have been divorced and remarried, what should you do now?

(1)    Agree with God that it was wrong.

(2)    Confess your sin and accept God’s forgiveness.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(3)    Seek the forgiveness of your former spouse, your present spouse, and your children.

(4)    Be faithful to your present spouse and live the rest of your life to please and glorify the Lord.

4.      Just as only death can end a marriage, so only death can end the authority of God’s law over the human race.

B.     Dying with Christ ends the law’s dominion (4-6)

1.      We learned back in Romans 6:2-6 that when a person places his trust in Christ to save him from hell, he dies with Christ. His sinful inner spirit dies and God gives him new life in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

2.      That death with Christ is also a death to the law (4). When we died with Christ our marriage to the law ended. Believers are no longer under the law. They are now married to Christ who raised from the dead.

3.      In other words, Paul is telling us that when we trusted Christ for salvation, we died with Him and this fulfilled the demands of God’s law. Now for the first time we can bring forth fruit unto God. We can now please God with our lives.

a)      (v.5) When we were in the flesh (unsaved), the motions (passions) of sins, irritated by God’s law, worked in our members (body parts) to produce fruit unto death. Sin brings death – eternal death!

b)      (v.6) Now we are delivered from the law. The law no longer holds us in its threat – do or die.

(1)    Christians now serve God in newness of spirit. We obey God (not because the law demands it) but because our new spirit wants to please God.

A person who has no desire to obey God and live to please Him, has great reason to question whether God has truly saved him.

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(2)    We no longer serve in oldness of the letter (i.e., in fear of the law’s demands).

II.            The Law Rouses Sinful Rebellion (7-11)

A.     The law is not sin. It is a sign (7).

1.      The law identifies our sin. We would not know what was right or wrong if God had not given us His law.

For example: If you read a sign that says “DANGER, DO NOT ENTER”, the sign is not dangerous, but it warns you of danger. When God’s law says, “DO NOT LIE”, the law is not bad, it is simply a sign to tell us that lying is wrong.

2.      Notice Paul’s reasoning in the end of Romans 7:7.

B.     The law rouses or irritates sin (8-11)

1.      Sin sees the law’s sign and takes occasion (opportunity) by the commandment (which said don’t) and does it anyway. I other words, our sinful nature is irritated when the law says “no” and it wants all the more to do it. It rebels against the law and fulfils all kinds of concupiscence (lusts).

If you are in a museum and a sign says, “Do not touch the exhibit” what is your sinful nature’s response? You want to touch it.

2.      Without the law, sin was dead (inactive), we were ignorant. The law does not cause us to sin. It simply made us aware of our sin.

3.      If you lied, but did not know that lying was a sin, you still sinned, but you were ignorant of your sin.

4.      Verse 9 describes a person who is unaware of the true demands of the law. They self-righteously think they are alive and doing fine. However, when the law becomes clear to them, sin revives and they die. They see their true guilt.

The law is like a mirror. If you have no mirror, you may think your dirty face is clean, but once you look in a mirror, you see the truth. The dirt is exposed and you know have a dirty face.

5.      Verse 10 The commandment tells us God’s perfect demands if we are to earn eternal life. However, instead of the law giving life, it brings death because we cannot perfectly keep the law.

6.      Verse 11 tells us that sin rebels against the commandment, deceives us, and then kills (dooms) us.

III.           The Law Reveals Sin’s Wickedness (12-13)

A.     We must not blame God’s law (12).

1.      The law is not evil.

2.      The law is from God.

a)      It is holy. It is clean and separate from all evil.

b)      It is just. It is right. It is faultless.

c)      It is good. It is excellent. It is pleasant.

B.     Sin is to be blamed (13).

1.      God’s holy, just, and good law does not cause us to die. It only reveals sin and sin’s consequences.

2.      Sin is to blame. Sin causes death in us by getting us to disobey God’s holy, just, and good law.

3.      God’s commandment only reveals sin’s wickedness.

a)      Sin was always wicked, but before we knew God’s law, we did not know it was wicked.

b)      God’s law reveals God’s perfect standard and this reveals just how terribly wicked our sin is.

1 Timothy 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Conclusion: So, is God’s law friend or foe? At first, it appears to be our foe, but in reality it is our friend. It is our friend even though our sin nature does not like it. It is our friend because it reveals the wickedness of our sin. It is our friend because it reveals our need of Christ who alone can set us free from the judgment of the law. The law demands that we do right or die. Christ took our judgment for us. If we trust His payment, and receive His cleansing, our debt to the law is paid in full.

We should now bring forth fruit unto God. Live to glorify God with your life. Instead of keeping the law out of fear of judgment, we do right to please and honour Him.

Song: Amazing Grace – 236