Lessons From the Book of Romans (06/10/2001) | NOTE: Incomplete tape

You know sometimes especially around here we study Verse by verse word by word sometimes it seems comma by comma and today

I'd like to get more of an overview of a certain portion of the scriptures

Because it's very meaningful if we see the big picture on this one So we're gonna kind of fly over Romans chapter 5 6 7 8

And look down at all of it where we can see the whole thing at once This morning. I mean this afternoon and then we'll we'll be praying about which book we're gonna go to for Sunday evenings

Let's have a word of prayer and we'll begin father. We do pray for Travis now we thank you that the surgery went well.

We pray that you would Strengthen his body that he would heal quickly. We pray for Jenny that We would be able to find out what is wrong with her and that you would heal her and and Bring her back to full strength and Lord.

We thank you for this Bible study that we have this afternoon We ask you to bless it that we might rejoice in the great salvation and we pray in Jesus name.

Amen Romans chapter 5 talks about salvation

Romans chapter 6 talks about the power of Salvation the delivering power

Romans chapter 7 at least the the to me the gist of it is the weakness of the law and The flesh and I'll show you what

I mean by that as we get to it and the Romans chapter 8 is the power of walking in the spirit So that's kind of the overview.

Let's look at a couple of things about salvation in Romans chapter 5 let's start with verse 1

And we're gonna see four things that salvation is and Then right after that we're gonna see some things about how it works in the work

In other words God has revealed to us how he has saved us But first let's look at what it is

Therefore being justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also we have access by faith into his grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God now in that little short passage

We see four different aspects to salvation Look at the word justified therefore being justified

Notice that that's in the passive. It's something that's done to us.

It's not something we can do Justified by faith who can give me a good definition for what it means to be justified

Excuse me at one with God.

That's very good Just as if I'd never sinned and that's good.

That's a good Definition in a nutshell because what it is when when God justifies a person

Then God looks at that person as if he's never sinned and never will sin. He's sinless he's made just or right in the eyes of God and that is the

Probably not first in importance necessarily, but certainly first as we study salvation we studied in sequence

It actually happens all at once But we studied in sequence because we're in time and God teaches it to us that way

So that'd be the kind of the first when a Baptist says I got saved. He means I got justified

Because saved is a thing that's still happening and will happen until the day We're glorified and I suppose you could say it happens for all eternity.

He keeps us saved He won't let us go and if it were up to us we might lose it wouldn't we we would probably we would but he

Doesn't let us because he's the one that's has the power and he's the one who justified us and made it as if we have

Never sinned and that's by faith now We're going to get to a verse in just very shortly here

It's going to give us what I think is one of the best definitions of faith in the whole

Bible What kind of faith it is it that? That you have to have in order to be justified

But now let's go to the second thing we get that's a part of salvation Do you see the word peace you might want to circle that in verse 1?

Peace the doctrinal word for that might be called Propitiation because God is propitiated and so then we have peace with God Reconciliation Has to do with peace from our side propitiation is from God's side

Propitiation means that God had to be satisfied that his law was righteously Enforced and Isaiah chapter 53 is all about propitiation.

It says that Jesus Suffered for us and that God was satisfied and that's

Propitiation so we have peace with God now look at this. I love this word in verse 2 Look at the word access.

You might want to circle that word Lost people don't know this and they don't have a sense of it

But they have no access to God and when you get saved for the first time in your life you have access

To God access is unbelievable. The Old Testament Saint did not have access Because only once a year could only one of them the high priest go before Throne of God and have access to God and he could only do that once a year

And think about that and they were happy with what they had, but they didn't know any different We look back at that and say man, that's not hardly a walk

And yet we have people today who want to bring us back into the law Well, listen, that's not anything like what we have

In fact, we'll see a little bit the weakness of the law But we have access moment by moment all the time to the

Father by by Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ Mm -hmm

To to the first party. Mm -hmm. It's uh, what is it that Job called him the days men?

Oh that I had one who would come between me and God and he did have one he just was learning about it

And so we have we gain access because of Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ And then the last the fourth thing that I see here is this rejoicing in hope

So we have a joyful hope and remember always that the Bible word for hope doesn't have anything to do with what the modern

English word Means the modern English word means I hope I get it, but I probably won't but the

Bible word means joyful expectation of a certain event in The future and so we have this hope only once we're saved a lost person has no hope.

He's without hope He's without God in the world The Bible says so we see what salvation is there right at the very first of this passage as it gives us four great

Points of salvation now it begins to tell us a little bit about how salvation works. How is it that God saves us?

Look down at verse 6 No, I'm sorry look at verse

I'm gonna I want to look at verse 5 first verse 5 and hope Maketh not ashamed

Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the

Holy Ghost which is given unto Us and I I just added this I didn't didn't really have this in my notes until This morning when

I was looking over this This is added to the four points of salvation

This joy or this hope of glory We see down here in verse 5 that one of the great outstanding things about it is where it says hope maketh not ashamed

I think a lot of people misunderstand that phrase What this phrase means is that there will never be a possibility of us ever being ashamed of God If you lost your salvation you could be ashamed

Because God didn't come through he didn't keep his word to you But this me this says you will never be ashamed of your salvation the promises of God are sure now some of them are conditional and where we meet the conditions then the promises can take place if they're conditional some of them are non -conditional and but the point is a

Saved person will never have to be ashamed. God will take him through this life. He will cause him to grow.

He will bring Tribulation when necessary to cause the growth he'll bring chastisement when necessary as brother

Russell taught this week out of the book of James now let's go into Verse 6 in verse 8.

Let's start talking about how salvation works I think the most important little word in the Bible about salvation is the word for For Look at verse 6 for when we were yet without strength in due time

Christ died for The ungodly And look at verse 8, but God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners

Christ died for us Who is the us? That's the sheep now if you had a

Jewish friend that you wanted to witness to since they don't take a great deal of Confidence in the

New Testament go look at Isaiah 53 for a moment And you'll see this same word for again and again and again and this speaks of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ The finished work of Jesus Christ that work which we could never have done

That only he can do and then when he does it it is complete and finished and you cannot add to it

There's nothing that can be added to it Isaiah 53 starts off by saying who's gonna believe our report the

Jews have a problem with this in Believing that this is true, but it goes in and talks about the

Lord Jesus Christ all through this entire Chapter verse 3 says he is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows acquainted with grief

But starting with verse 4 we start to see this word for Either written out or implied surely he hath borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows yet. We did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted

But he was wounded now look at the word for for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes

We are healed all We like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us

Isn't that amazing? He's laid upon him the iniquity of us So we go back into Romans chapter 5 and we see what it means now when it says

Christ died for us So this word for speaks of a

Bible Doctrine called the doctrine of imputation and you only have to go back a few verses from chapter 5 to find it very clearly taught in chapter 4 this whole chapter

For the great part is about this doctrine of imputation look at chapter 4 verse 3 For what sayeth the scripture

Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness Imputation is an accounting term.

It's where God takes something out of someone's Account puts it in another and what it says right here

Is that God that Abraham believed and God counted it to him for righteousness. It doesn't say Abraham was righteous

Experientially it says God counted him to be righteous because of his faith now what's amazing is

God had given him the faith So God gave him the faith and then because he had the faith he counts him as righteous and this is all of God Now to him that worketh is there is the reward not reckoned of grace

So if somebody tries to be saved by keeping the law, then there's no grace involved there But of debt but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness and that's what imputation means

God takes the very faith of Jesus and the very righteousness and purity and Goodness of the

Lord Jesus and he places that upon the believer Now before that happens or at least the way we think of it to me it all happens at once But the way we teach it and think of it is that before that happened

He took our sins back and placed them in Christ while he was on the tree and that's imputation

You see he took our sins placed them on Jesus and made him to be sin for us who knew no sin

Now, let me ask you a question if you hadn't thought about this in a while But when Jesus was on that cross and he said my god my god, why has thou forsaken me?

Was he really a sinner No Did God see him as a sinner?

Yes And it's like I asked the young people. So what's more important what you are or how

God sees you? He saw him as a sinner therefore he killed him

There's no band that could have killed him And if you read Isaiah 53 very carefully, it says again and again the

Lord put him to grief The father is the one who did this

Why because he looked down at him and he saw him with you in him and he killed you and me

He looked down and he saw you He saw every sin you've ever done and he saw you in Christ and he killed you

He saw Christ as if he had your sins now, why did he do that? He did that so that once you're saved he can now look at you and see

Christ Let me ask you this. Are you really perfect? But does

God see you as if you're sinless and perfect yes, so what's more important how you really are or how he sees you

How he sees you is the difference between hell and heaven and this is imputation. It's an accounting process

God simply took every sin you would ever do away from your account and put it in Jesus's and killed him for it he paid the price for sin, and he took every bit of righteousness and goodness and purity and Everything that pleases the father from Jesus and place that within you at your point of salvation

And reality I did you know from God's viewpoint all happened at one time in our viewpoint.

You can see a sequence You can see almost 2 ,000 years in between the time when your sins were on his body and when his righteousness came to you

But in God's mind it all happened at once So when he sees you he sees you as if you're righteous and that's what justified means

There could be no justification without this doctrine of imputation and the doctrine of imputation is spoken of all through chapter 4 look at verse 11 and He received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had yet being uncircumcised

That he might be the father of all them that believe in other words Abraham received this before he was circumcised

So it's not just for the Jews It's for all who believe in verse 16 says therefore

It is a faith that it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed

Not to that only which is of the law But to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all notice

It makes a distinction between the law and the faith and that's what we'll talk about when we start talking about Dispensations when we're interpreting the

Bible Dispensations, there's a difference between the law Dispensation and the grace dispensation.

The truth is in the law Dispensation there was the grace of God or no one would have been saved in the grace.

There is the law of God So it doesn't mean you don't have both but it's just a different system or a different way in which

God deals with men And we'll see that very clearly. We know that very clearly We have it far greater.

We have access to God every moment. They had it. They did not have that So there are many differences many dispensational differences between the law and at the church age that we live in now

Well, look at verses 20 and following he staggered not at the promise now You're about to see the greatest definition of faith

He Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and here's your definition and Being fully persuaded that what

God had promised God was able to perform That's what faith is

Faith is believing that God does what he says he will do

Now only God can give you that because the natural man doesn't believe anything about God But when

God gives you faith what he does is he gives you a belief that he does what he says he'll do

Now you think about it. Is it really all that easy? Do you think if you walked up to a natural man out on the street today and you told him this you say look

Let me we draw you a picture. I'm gonna play like you're lost He's lost

And right now here's where time is part of God made everything God made everything

Come down here in time and right here at the focus of time is the cross of Jesus Christ And you see

God's up here. He's not bound by time I'm showing so God's up here.

He can look down and he can see the beginning of all things But he look out to see you here you are this little spot right here on the timeline is a black spot

You're an enemy of God But here you are So what

God wants to do is he's going to take all of your sins and place them on Jesus Even though he's doing it And he's gonna make him to be sin and see him as sinner and kill him to pay for your sin

Then he's gonna take Jesus's righteousness and goodness and put that on you So when he looks at you you're perfect you get to go to heaven isn't that great

I just don't know the gospel that you can't believe that Can't it's nonsense.

It's it's foolishness But to everybody sitting in this room just a few minutes ago when

I told it the first time it was power You're saying yeah, that's that's what happened

It's awesome That's why the second he does get saved if he does the second he gets saved all since it that's so strange

He said I just felt this great burden taking off my shoulders He doesn't know why but it's because there is a time warp

Where he doesn't even realize it but those sins were already on the body of Christ 2 ,000 years ago

And when he gets at the moment of salvation, he feels the weight removed Isn't that amazing?

And that's imputation and it's really not a remarkable doctrine and You look on down here see verse 21 where it says in being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able to perform that's the faith and look at verse 22 and therefore

Therefore it was imputed to him as or for righteousness,

I Mean it's not anything Abraham did that's why this natural man down here named

Virg can't believe it Virg if he's not saved, you know, he's sitting there thinking Sitting there.

Well, I that's not fair. I'm a bad guy. I hadn't done anything good Why would God save me and he's trying to figure all out how he can save himself by building a stairway to heaven and climbing

It and being very religious and he right now in his life. He's not want to be religious, you know and that's how he's thinking and that's why he'll reject it and The only way he can possibly be saved is if God just turned that light on like he did

Paul on that road like he did The rest of us and all of a sudden he sees it wasn't anything I could have done anyway

God imputed it to me for righteousness and He fortunately also imputed my sins to Jesus and they're all gone

They've been crucified imputation perhaps the deepest Aspect of salvation as far as the workings of it now

This Keyword over back into Romans 5 verses 6 and 8 is the word for I mean, that's the smallest word

You can bring it down to this doctrine of imputation. He died for me and There it is now as we

Go on and reread a little bit In chapter 5 verse 9 starts talking about some other aspects of salvation

Much more than being now justified by his blood We shall be saved from wrath through him or if when we were enemies were

Reconciled to God by the death of his son. So now we see two other things in addition to justification

We well one other thing we see this idea of reconciliation We were brought into a right relationship with God, but it's by the death of his son

In fact justification is by his blood. So it's also by the death of his son

Now what's fascinating is in verses 9 and 10 If you look at the a part of them the first part the first half of both those verses 9 and 10 you will see something that has happened because of the finished work of Jesus Christ Think about it on the cross.

His blood was shed. And so you've got justification first part of verse 10 his blood was shed so you had a possibility of having a right relationship with God a

Reconciliation but at part B of both verses you see something that is not the finished work of Christ You see something that has to do with his present work in The heavenlies on your behalf as your advocate and your intercessor, isn't that beautiful?

Look at verse 9 the second half. It says we shall be saved from wrath Through him through is a kind of a living

Working present tense kind of a word and in verse 10. The last part says

Yes, it is true that were reconciled by his death, but much more being reconciled.

We shall be saved by his life So we see the present work of Jesus at the last part of both both those verses the first part we see the finished work

It takes both for salvation And so we start to see he's showing us how he saves us

And it's by him. It is by his blood. It is by his death

It is as he died for us and it as he lives

For us and intercedes for us. It is all Jesus all Jesus all

Jesus and none of us And you go down it kind of sums it all up right towards the end of the chapter there in verse 18 verse 16

Look at all the different places that you see the word free gift Look all the way back at verse 15 free gift

Towards the end of verse 15 gift the first verse 16 gift the middle of verse 16 free gift

Towards the middle of verse 17 the gift of righteousness the middle end of verse 18 the free gift 19 as by one man's disobedience many are made sinners.

So By the obedience of one shall many be made to be righteous

How beautiful that is. Why is it free because it's all of him. We don't do anything to get it

And there is a great glimpse of the doctrine of salvation

Now if what you're talking about is justification I got saved I mean verse 5 really explains it but now you go into verse 6.

Here's the part of salvation that's left off entirely by the modern church and That's the aspect of deliverance

It's left out Today what's taught in the churches is be saved by faith pray a little prayer and you just talk about I got saved

And everybody says when and where well, I gotta say back, you know back in 1978 my car driving to them on the

Mahaya Road. It wasn't the Damascus Road It was on the road to Mahaya that I got saved boy Isn't that great and and I'm not gonna talk any bit about how

God saved me yesterday Or what God took me through today because I hadn't been walking with him lately and that's the modern salvation

There is no deliverance from the power of sin today. It's just like I got saved

In other words, I got delivered from hell and I'm gonna go to heaven someday. But right now I'm living for hell That doesn't make sense because what's happening is we're leaving out all of chapter 6 of Romans Look how it starts in verse 3

No, you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the

Father Even so we also should walk in newness of life This whole chapter then talks about walking in newness of life

It talks about the old man was crucified his past tense. He's dead Have you ever stopped think about this look back here at chapter 5 again?

I'm sorry chapter 4 and look at verse 21 What is belief? I? am fully persuaded that he

What he promised he is able to perform now look at chapter 6 in verse 6

Knowing this that our old man is crucified What did

God just tell you? He's telling you your old man is already dead.

Do you believe this if you don't you're not walking in faith Do you believe if Satan comes and says do you feel those urges from your flesh?

And then all of a sudden you feel them. Do you really do you know if the flesh is dead? How are you feeling that?

Because you're believing Satan you're believing a lie You see but faith is

I am fully persuaded that what he promised he's able to perform He's promised me that my my flesh has been crucified already with Christ almost 2 ,000 years ago if I choose to believe that this afternoon

I will not sin if I choose not to believe it. I will sin because I'll be walking in the flesh

Now the only way you can walk in the flesh is to believe it's alive and to do that You have to believe a lie from the enemy

Think about it It's the truth. It's the only way this can work. And so it's the total opposite of faith

We are not believing that God is able to perform what he promised We're not believing that the operation of God had to do with killing our flesh

So that we might walk in newness of life and we're not believing that so we walk in the flesh

We walk in it's just as magical as as Pharaoh's magicians when they made their rods turn into snakes

It's just as magical when you walk in the flesh you think about it. It's it's just you're practicing magic you're believing the wicked one the father of lies and You're not believing that God is able to perform what he has already performed

The crucifixion of your flesh in Christ Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed

That henceforth we should not serve sin Do you believe this for he that is dead is free from sin.

This is what we call deliverance You don't have to sin the only way you can sin is to not have faith and To believe

Satan rather than God for if we be dead with Christ We believe that we shall also live with him.

What is living other than being connected with him and If you're connected you're living abundant life because you're not sinning and if you sin

James says you've just severed that connection. And so then you walk in the you're in the flesh and and you have a death life

But verse 9 says knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him

For in that he died he died into sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto

God Likewise reckon. This is the faith word God's already said it's true

God has said your flesh is dead Verse 11 says have faith in it reckon it to be true

Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed. That means in fact

That means this is real. We're not talking hokey hocus -pocus here We're talking about a fact that God said is real your flesh your old man, and I'm talking about the fleshly principle

I'm not talking about your actual body, but the fleshly principle that dwells in your body. It is dead

Reckon it to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our

Lord Let not sin therefore rain in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lust thereof

Neither yield your your members as instruments of unrighteousness and to sin But yield yourselves unto

God as those that are alive from the dead. I did this with the young people What what if we let's take well birds left so I can really pick on him now

Let's let's play like we just lay verge out here and we kill him. Okay Marianne probably like to do that every once in a while So we lay him out here and we just absolutely we kill him and he stops breathing

And his heart stops beating and stays stopped like Rocky used to say for three seconds. He's out of here Okay.

Now we're gonna bring a great miss B's gonna bring the biggest Whatever brother

You think it works why You Go get the

Longview Rockets Or whatever those things the kicking girls were called.

He's beat all the football games and France. I'm all right by Virgin even gonna look at him.

He's dead Now look at this the

Bible says neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness and to sin, but yield yourselves unto

God as Those that are alive from the dead now when when verge dies

If he dies before the rapture then the Bible teaches us that body laying there's not him

Anyway that he gets a new body and he's with the Lord instantly Now if he came back that way and he's looking down he's seeing the old carcass over here and he's standing over here those things

Still wouldn't tempt him Because he's not bound by that old flesh principle. It's dead and That's what this says we are alive from the dead we have already died now we're alive from the dead

Nothing can tempt us Do you believe that? Well, if you do you won't sin if you don't you will it's a matter of faith, isn't it?

Amazing just as we're saved by faith. We must walk by faith Verse 14 for sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law, but under grace now

It goes on and continues to talk about this a little bit, but let's go into chapter 7 just for a moment

You see that teaches the verse 5 teaches salvation and how it works verse 6 teaches the power the delivering power of salvation in this life and How that works and how it's just as much a real part of salvation as saying

I got saved I should still be being saved. I'm saved by faith today because as I walk by faith

I am dead. My old flesh principle is absolutely dead and I'm living the resurrected life

And so I have power over sin because Christ of Christ in me

Now we go into verse 7 This is kind of an amazing thing because it starts talking about gives the illustration of a woman who's married and he talks about the

Law of a husband and he said as long as that husband's alive if she were to marry another she would commit adultery

But it says if that first husband dies She's free to remarry and not be committing adultery

And then it uses this physical example to teach us an amazing truth. Look at verse 4

Wherefore my brethren you also are become dead to the law By the body of Christ Do you realize that when

Jesus died on that cross you were in him? You were in him and you died and when you died you died to the law

And some people say well, that's you know, that's the moral law and the social law and so forth No, it's it's talks.

It's the 10th if you want to know what it is, look at verse verse Last part of verse 7

First part of verse 8 you see right here where it says Except the law had said thou shalt not covet now.

Tell me where that laws found That's one of the Ten Commandments, so we're talking about the law law we're talking about the actual

Ten Commandments Yeah, maybe we are talking about the the social laws of Israel may we're talking about the religious laws

But we're definitely talking about the Ten Commandments, too And this is all called the law here in this passage and what this

Bible tells me is that when I died in Christ I died to the law But when he raised from the dead

I was risen also and as I walk in newness of life I'm going to keep the law perfectly because the

Bible says over here way over here and verse 14 look at it for we know that the law is spiritual

You know, that's the problem with the law It's so spiritual. We can't keep it in the flesh so it's so ironic that those who try to bring the law back and Make a bunch of list of rules for us to keep here in the church are gonna get into more sin than any of the

Rest of us. They're just Satan is just gonna laugh at them because they're trying to revive the law Law is nothing more than a system whereby the flesh can attempt to please

God And it doesn't work. It's impossible chapter 8 teaches us. It's impossible to please

God in the flesh So we're trying to please him in the flesh by thinking of all the rules that we can find both in the

Old Testament And in the new and make a big list of them and we go about to try to set New Year's resolutions and then by the 15th of January where we have failed

Because the flesh just can't do it and look at this whole battle starting with verse 15 The whole thing is talking about the weakness of the law now

This is Paul speaking as a brand -new baby Christian who had come out of the law So naturally when he got saved, what do you think?

The first thing he tried to do for God was Man, I'm gonna keep the law perfect now because I love you so much

He tried to keep the law look what the result is for that which I do I allow not he says

I'm practicing things and I know we're wrong For what I would do the stuff I want to do.

I can't do that. But the stuff I hate that's what I do Now pardon my Texas paraphrase, but it'll help you get through this old

English verse 16 says if then I do that which I don't want to be doing I Consent to the law that it is good

Now then in verse 17, it is no more. I did the bad thing, but the sin that dwelleth in me

Why did he say that's not me? Because it's the old part of him that's been killed the new him

Doesn't do this stuff and doesn't even consent to it verse 18 for I know that in me that is in the old flesh

Principle dwells no good thing For to will is present with me.

I find myself wanting to live for God all the time now, but how to perform it I Don't find a way, you know why he was trying to do it in the flesh

He's trying to follow a set of rules that he had always had as a Jew Starting with the Ten Commandments going right through all of them

He was trying his best to live for God and he was failing verse 19 for the good that I wanted to do

I couldn't do and the evil which I did not want to do. That's what I found myself doing

Anybody ever lived here if you have it's because you haven't learned the spirit principle you haven't learned that if you'll just believe

God that your flesh is dead and quit listening to it and Just let your spirit be one with God's spirit

You don't even have to you don't have to worry about these laws because he's placed them in your heart Jesus isn't gonna sin and if you're connected with him, you're not going to sin

But if you spend your time and you say well I bet you know I don't want quite to have that relationship. I'd rather just have a list here and I'll just keep these

That's a lot easier than me opening my whole life up to God To have a relationship with and I don't have to do all the work that comes with a relationship

So I'll just do it that way It's the way I was trained to do Paul says for the good that I would

I can't do in verse 19 But the evil that I didn't want to do I find myself doing verse 20

Now if I do that, which I don't want to do it is no more I didn't do it, but sin that dwelleth in me doesn't even count that to be himself.

I Find in a law that when I want to do good Evil is right there present with me because I live in this body of flesh

And if I don't count it to be dead It's going to run me And then

I may still try to keep these rules because I know they're right But I don't find myself able to keep them boy

What a dilemma this man is in and this is the greatest Christian that ever lived But it's before he knew the power of chapter 8 the power of chapters 6 and the power of chapter 8

So this is a parentheses. This is looking back in his life Before before he wrote seven and eight

But he comes in here and look at look at this now verse 22 I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and Bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members

He's focusing on worldly things like the law He's focusing on Rules, he's focusing on trying in the flesh to try to live a good life

And he's failing and look where it brings him in verse 24. Oh wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Why is he so wretched because he is walking in the flesh in verse 14 tells us that the law is

Spiritual and so he can't keep it But he's struggling because he wants to keep it

And it's so ironic that those who want to please God by keeping the law are the very ones who cannot please

God If they're trying to do it themselves But if they will count that part of that whole part of them dead and they are now dead to the law

They're dead to the world. They're dead to the flesh. They're dead to the devil They're seated in the heavenlies with Jesus Christ and in that realm

You don't need to have the law exposing the exceedingly wickedness of your own sin

You don't need that because you're perfect And you're connected with Christ and the flesh has long since been burned off on the way up and changed in the air and it's gone

And you're supposed to live like that's already happened That's the whole key and that really is totally different than the law and a lot of people don't see that yet They they they still want to get caught up in doing this and doing that because I think

I'm pleasing God when in reality The only thing that pleases God is to be connected with him Now When that happens naturally, you're gonna keep the law because the law is spiritual

But you're not keeping it by trying to keep it You're keeping it by Your spirit and the

Holy Spirit being embraced. Oh Wretched man that I am who will deliver me from the body of this death.

I thank God Jesus Christ my Lord So from a practical viewpoint, how can you get there get in this book more?

Get you a friend get you a friend like like I have in Otis and and and Russell and Sometimes on Monday nights and brother

Bill and some of you folks that I am able to spend some time and talk about the scriptures Get you a friend like that and spend two three times a week have coffee and do this and it'll change your life because the more you get into the word of God the more it caused you to mind the things of the spirit as opposed to minding the things of the flesh and the more susceptible you are to Embracing the

Holy Spirit as you walk now, that's what chapter 7 it talks about the total failure of the law system

Because it's a spiritual book and we try to keep it in the flesh and go into chapter 8 It talks about therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit

So there is the key this talks about the spirit walk and since we discussed this in the sermon this morning

I won't go over it again but if you walk in the flesh, it says you die that means you you're separated you sever that relationship and Then Sometimes you'll try to keep the law and you fail and you get into this chapter 7 deal that rock that Paul was in as A baby

Christian and you've battled back and forth and you're miserable But then when you rejoin the relationship you find yourself walking with God almost effortlessly

So the whole battle to me Is in the realm of this relationship with the

Holy Spirit I mean, that's what you want to talk about. Well, what must we do? We must wake up and say that's where I'm gonna live today.

I'm living with you. I'm walking with you I count the flesh is dead The little voices and urges and things it's trying to put in my mind

I'm not gonna listen to it because it's not even real it's dead And I put it behind me it is crucified with Christ and I am resurrected and I'm already in my new body

Theoretically and And the truth is your mind is there? I mean, I have a theory that your new man since it's connected with the

Holy Spirit It's not only dwells within you, but it's also seated in the heavenlies So it's almost like you can be up there directing your body down here.

Say, all right, you're gonna do this think about it as You're attached to the Holy Spirit and God is showing you his will for you to do that day

You just tell your body go do that and it serves and does the work down here But your mind is up there in the heavenlies

That's deep read the first three verses of Colossians. If you don't believe me though Colossians chapter 1

Or is it chapter 3 I Better tell I better tell you which one it is exactly

Chapter 3 verse 3 or 4 verses of Colossians chapter 3 So this is where those verses

Chapters 5 6 7 & 8 take us in this wonderful book of Romans from salvation to deliverance to understanding that you don't get your deliverance from the law, but you get it by your relationship with the

Holy Spirit and to this place of walking in the spirit as opposed to walking in the flesh and the true victory that comes from that and Paul says

Kind of enclosing this whole thing in chapter 8 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared

With the glory which shall be revealed in us So what an amazing walk he's shown us

But it's a walk of faith. You can't do this except by faith It has to be where you wake up in the morning and in many times throughout that day as the flesh begins to speak to You because it can

It begins to speak to you, and I don't really know how a dead flesh can speak to you unless maybe

Satan is is the the devil himself is literally turning that stick into a snake and making it as if it's alive and it begins to speak to you and You can either believe

God when he said is dead In which case it has no effect on you or you can believe the

Satan and believe it's alive and you can go with it And then you sin and then you die Because you just severed the union between you and the

Holy Spirit Spiritually and you're gonna walk in death until you come to the place either through chastisement

Or through the Lord just touching your heart or something happens and you wake up and you say this is not me

And you reject it and you say Lord. I reject this forgive me for it. Give me the mind of Christ Forgive me bring me back to a right standing and then you link back up and then you won't sin

It's an amazing life and that is the practical part of walking the Christian life

From the time we get in our cars to go home today through tomorrow the next day all week till we meet back together next

Sunday the only difference This is an amazing thought but the only difference between right now and your life right now and the life after the rapture

Is it now sometimes you don't believe that your flesh is dead But when you was if you walked as the flesh is dead

And you were risen. What does it mean if you're what if you died and then you raised from the dead? What does that mean if you're risen?

What does that mean? Is the old man still with you? He's totally gone. He's rotting in the grave

You've been resurrected and you're in a new body now and he said reckon that to be so right now So do you see that do you see that you can live eternal life right now?