Today's Sermon
Today's Study
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
November 28, 2021
Opening Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, make me worthy to understand the
profound mystery of your holy incarnation, which you have worked for our sake
and for our salvation. Truly there is nothing so great and wonderful as this,
that you, my God, who are the creator of all things, should become a creature,
so that we should become like God. You have humbled yourself and made yourself
small that we might be made mighty. You have taken the form of a servant, so
that you might confer upon us a royal and divine beauty. You, who are beyond
our understanding, have made yourself understandable to us in Jesus Christ.
You, who are the uncreated God, have made yourself a creature for us. You, who
are the untouchable One, have made yourself touchable to us. You, who are most
high, make us capable of understanding your amazing love and the wonderful
things you have done for us. Make us able to understand the mystery of your
incarnation, the mystery of your life, example, and doctrine, the mystery of
your cross and passion, the mystery of your resurrection and ascension. Blessed
are you, O Lord, for coming to earth as a man. Amen.[1]
Romans 7:15-20
15 For I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I
hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree
with the law, that it is good. 17 So
now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 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. 19 For
I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on
doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it
is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
v. 16
If I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is
good.
- He is not obeying the law, but he is agreeing with the law.
- What is this passage teaching us about our wrestling with sin?
v. 17-20
It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
- This distinction is important.
- It continues the spirit/flesh dichotomy.
- Me vs. sin within me
Nothing good dwells in me.
- He sees his sin for the hateful thing it is.
- The desire – but not the ability – to live the new life.
- To wish is present in me, but to do the good is not.
Desire and action.
- Facta Non Verba – 10th Mountain Div. 2-22 IN.
- “Practice what you preach!”
- We understand that it is a problem when our deeds and our words don’t match.
According to Romans, does God care about our actions?
Notice the frustration and futility!
- Is it okay to experience these things in the life of faith?
- This is a problem in modern Christianity. (maybe all Christianity)
Simil Justus et Peccator
- This is the tension of the human life.
- In our sinful self we are defiant and insist that nothing we do is wrong. We self-justify.
- In our renewed self we are repentant and recognize the sin we do is wrong. We are left to only trust in Jesus for our justification.
- Both are declared conditions:
o
Declared sinners by the Law.
o
Declared saints/justified by the Gospel.
It is no longer I who do it
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
- This is a confession of a reality we cannot see with our eyes.
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