Paul’s Presentation of Discernment.  Romans 7:5-13

5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

     7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

       13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

In Apostle Paul’s discussion about rules, regulations and righteousness he wants his readers to discern the differences. Paul tried very hard to be righteous by means of the rules and regulations. He thought he did a pretty good job. He would be one who didn’t pretend but put a lot of effort into being good as well as standing up for what he believed was right and honoring toward the Lord God Jehovah.  But found it was not good enough. That flies right in the face to those who think if we are just sincere then God will accept us. If you believe strongly it doesn’t make any difference what you believe God will honor that.  

I used the illustration of a medical exam last week to discern the difference between law and sin and righteousness. By initial examination of the world and people things don’t look very good. We are sick. The diagnosis of the Law shows sin. The prognosis of the problem is death. The cure is Jesus Christ and what He did by dying on the cross for sin. And the treatment was to accept Him as Lord and Savior by faith.  But they couldn’t accept the fact that you are now throw away the law and live as if there is no law.

           

Paul explains the purpose of the law. The first purpose is the law reveals sin (7) Without the law we would not know what sin is. He uses coveting, the desire that moves and tempts us to sin.

Mark 10:17-27 records Jesus’ story of the rich young man. He was a good person who never broke any of the rules. But the Jesus got to the heart of the issue; the man was covetous not wanting to give up his possessions. When Jesus called him out about it, he went away sad not willing to give up his stuff. This guy had not realized that he was in sin. Jesus did not use the law to save him; Jesus used the law to convict him of his sin
      

The second purpose of the law is to awaken us of our sin (8-9) Too often we want to know how far we can go before we sin. Do we have this constant desire to break rules? That was like the no fishing sign off balconies illustration. The sign that says no fishing from the balcony is a good law, but it cannot make you good. People didn’t think about it until it was posted.

One lady said the church should stop reciting the10 commandments it gives people too many new ideas.
           

The third purpose of the law is to show how bad sin is (12-13). People know that there is such a thing as sin. What we often fail to realize is the sinfulness of sin. We excuse sin as “mistakes” or “weaknesses” and do not take sin seriously
           

Louis Lotz, Sioux City, Iowa, Leadership journal told the story of a Boston court acquittal of Michael Tindall for flying illegal drugs into the United States. Tindall’s attorneys argued he was a victim of “action addict syndrome,” an emotional disorder that makes a person crave dangerous, thrilling situations. Their argument was that Tindall was not a drug dealer, merely a thrill seeker. Believe it or not he was excused.
           

An Oregon man was tried for attempting to kill his ex-wife. He was acquitted on the grounds that he suffered from “depression-suicide syndrome,” whose victims deliberately commit poorly planned crimes with the unconscious goal of being caught or killed.  He didn’t really want to shoot his wife; he really wanted the police to shoot him.
            

Then there’s the famous “Twinkie syndrome.” Attorneys for Dan White, who murdered San Francisco mayor George Moscone, blamed the crime on emotional stress linked to White’s junk food binges. White was acquitted of murder and convicted on a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Nowadays, nobody’s at fault for anything. We are a nation of victims.
 

It’s important to call sin “sin.” I listened to a sermon by Andy Stanley in which he made the point that most of us would rather use the word “mistake” instead of “sin” when we mess up: “If everything I do wrong can be dumbed down to where it’s just a mistake, that makes me a mistaker, which means I don’t have sin. If I don’t have sin, I’m not a sinner. If I’m not a sinner, I don’t have any need for a Savior. If you’re just a mistaker, then all you have to do is do better…Until you embrace the fact that you’re a sinner, you’re not open to embracing the fact that God sent you a Savior”

The purpose of the law is to point out a deeper heart problem. 

Verse 13 tells how sinful we are. The law was an important part of the plan of God.  It is good. The purpose of the law was never to save you but show you the need for salvation. It was to reveal sin. It was to declare your need. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees you will not see the kingdom of God. While the law is good, it can’t make you good –it can never remove sin. The law always points out what we’ve done wrong but never compliments us when we do things right.

           

When Jesus was teaching the Sermon on the Mount many people did not get the point. He was revealing the sinful heart by teaching if you think you are righteous by not committing adultery, but if you commit adultery in your heart, you have broken the law. In other words, it is not only your outward acts but the inward heart that needs changing so you will no longer want to hate your brother or go after other women or men. You need a new heart that only God can provide.

Dale