Grace Community Church of Ramona Podcast

In chapter 7 Paul teaches that God's law cannot sanctify us. 7:7-12 affirms that God's law is not the problem. Sin is the problem. God's law is holy, righteous and good. The problem is that sin is aroused by God's law. Rather than subduing sin, God's law actually stirs it up. Sin sabotages the good purposes of the law. In 7:13-25 Paul demonstrates through his own life experience that believers cannot fulfill the righteous requirements of God's law by their effort alone.

In Romans 7 Paul teaches us that the Law, by itself, cannot transform us into the likeness of Christ. But, even though that is the case, the Law is not the problem. God’s Law is holy, righteous and good. The real problem is the treacherous nature of sin that still resides in us. As we come to Romans 7:7-12 keep in mind Paul is dealing with sanctification. He is answering the question, "What is the process by which our lives are transformed to become like Jesus?"

In Romans 7:1-6, Paul’s main point is that the law does not have the power make us right with God, and it also does not have the power to make us more like Jesus. As Christians, we will not bear spiritual fruit by striving to following the law. It is through our union with Christ, having died to the law, that we are now free to bear fruit for God in the Spirit.

Though the Apostle Paul did not know about neuroplasticity, he did understand its practical outworking: whatever we give our minds and bodies to eventually controls us. As we’ve just seen, whatever we think about over and over again strengthens the neural pathways involved with that thought process.

Deliverance from the penalty of sin we call justification. Deliverance from the practice of sin we call sanctification.

In Christ we are part of a new reality. We are no longer "sinners". In Adam we were “sinners”. In Christ we are the justified; the redeemed; the righteous.

Mother's Day 2018

Since chapter one of Romans we have been focused on justification. When a sinner trusts in the blood of Jesus to pay the penalty of their sins, God declares that sinner righteous. But like adoption, justification is not the end of God's saving us; it's just the beginning. Justification opens the way to a whole new life.

Our words often imply that people in the Old Testament were saved by the Law. We say people in the Old Testament were "under the Law," but we are "under grace." It is easy to see how we can misunderstand. God's means of salvation has always been by faith. Justification by faith is not a New Testament thing. This is the message of Romans 3:27-4:25.

In Romans 1:18 - 3:20 Paul shows that we are all sinners under God’s wrath. None is righteous, no, not one. No one does good. He further shows we cannot improve our condition; for by works of the law no human being will be declared righteous in his sight. Paul has driven us to the edge of the cliff. There is nothing we can do. We cannot make ourselves right with God. Left to ourselves we are hopeless.