The Power of Sin (Rom. 7:7-25)
"7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." 8But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For 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. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. "
In this passage of Scripture, Paul explains just how strong the power of sin is. In what way is sin so powerful? Paul gives us three ways that sin has a powerful hold of our lives.
1. A power of sin is that it is opportunistic (v.7-12)
a. Sin looks for an opportunity to distort (v.7-10)
The law makes sin known. When we are told don’t speed, we know that speeding will make us break the law. Therefore, the law makes sin known. However, sin distorts the law and makes us want to break it. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit in Genesis 3, they their view on the law was distorted by sin. When we have a law given to us, sin tells us ‘break it.’ Sin distorts. Therefore, we have to rely on the Spirit to provide for us a way out.
b. Sin looks for an opportunity to deceive (v.11-12)
The law is not evil. Sin is evil and deceiving. Sin killed us through deception. If you go back to Genesis 3, you will see that twice Satan lied to Eve in their conversation about God. Sin does that. Sin lies and deceives us about what true and false. Sin may seem fun, but in the end it kills. Sin deceives. Therefore, we have to flood our mind with biblical thoughts.
2. A power of sin is that it is controlling (v.13-20)
a. Sin looks to control our laws (v.13-14)
The law is spiritual. Sin looks to control it and make the law seem evil. Sin produced death in us through something good and holy: God’s law. We are not spiritual, but are of the flesh and are “sold under sin.” Romans 6:16 describes how before Christ, we are slaves of sin. Now, however, as believers we are slaves of Chris. Sin produces death and tries to make the law the guilty party. Sin looks to control our laws.
b. Sin looks to control our actions (v.15-18)
Sin is so powerful it even attempts to control our actions. Paul admits that he does what he does not want to do. Paul even admits that he does the very thing that he hates. However, we agree with the law so it’s not us, but sin controlling our actions. Paul states that nothing good dwells in him. Sin paralyzes us with the ability to do good things. Genesis 6:5 states that before the flood, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gal 5:17 states, "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." Sin looks to control our actions. So, then, how do we do good things? We let the Holy Spirit inside of us lead us.
c. Sin looks to control our lifestyle (v.19-20)
When we sin, we keep on sinning. When we do a certain sin over and over, that sin becomes a part of us and Sin dwells in us. It takes up a living in our heart. Is an alcoholic someone who cant stop drinking? Or is he someone that drinks too much and has allowed the sin of drunkenness live in his heart? Sin looks to control our lives. However, the good news is that even though sin still lives in us, it no longer controls us. We have the Holy Spirit in us who can defeat sin.
3. A power of sin is that it is competitive (v.21-25)
a. Sin looks to compete against God’s law (v.21)
Evil is nearby when we try to obey God’s law. Sin tries to compete against it.
b. Sin looks to compete against our minds (v.22-23)
Sin wages war in our minds as well. When we particpate in such activites as watching television, sin is competing against our minds. Anything that we fill our minds with, besides scripture, has an ability to influence us. sin looks to compete against our minds in this way. When we watch television, we need to watch it and filter out those things that may take up residence in our lives.
c. Sin looks to compete against our bodies (v.24-25)
Paul calls his body, a body of death. He then thanks God through Jesus Christ, who alone can deliver us from our sinful bodies.
Sin has power. It looks for opportunities to distort and decieve. It looks to control God's law, our actions, and our lives and it looks to compete against God's law, our minds and our bodies. However, with help of the Holy Spirit, we can stand firm and ward off the many attacks of sin.
13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For 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. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. "
In this passage of Scripture, Paul explains just how strong the power of sin is. In what way is sin so powerful? Paul gives us three ways that sin has a powerful hold of our lives.
1. A power of sin is that it is opportunistic (v.7-12)
a. Sin looks for an opportunity to distort (v.7-10)
The law makes sin known. When we are told don’t speed, we know that speeding will make us break the law. Therefore, the law makes sin known. However, sin distorts the law and makes us want to break it. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit in Genesis 3, they their view on the law was distorted by sin. When we have a law given to us, sin tells us ‘break it.’ Sin distorts. Therefore, we have to rely on the Spirit to provide for us a way out.
b. Sin looks for an opportunity to deceive (v.11-12)
The law is not evil. Sin is evil and deceiving. Sin killed us through deception. If you go back to Genesis 3, you will see that twice Satan lied to Eve in their conversation about God. Sin does that. Sin lies and deceives us about what true and false. Sin may seem fun, but in the end it kills. Sin deceives. Therefore, we have to flood our mind with biblical thoughts.
2. A power of sin is that it is controlling (v.13-20)
a. Sin looks to control our laws (v.13-14)
The law is spiritual. Sin looks to control it and make the law seem evil. Sin produced death in us through something good and holy: God’s law. We are not spiritual, but are of the flesh and are “sold under sin.” Romans 6:16 describes how before Christ, we are slaves of sin. Now, however, as believers we are slaves of Chris. Sin produces death and tries to make the law the guilty party. Sin looks to control our laws.
b. Sin looks to control our actions (v.15-18)
Sin is so powerful it even attempts to control our actions. Paul admits that he does what he does not want to do. Paul even admits that he does the very thing that he hates. However, we agree with the law so it’s not us, but sin controlling our actions. Paul states that nothing good dwells in him. Sin paralyzes us with the ability to do good things. Genesis 6:5 states that before the flood, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gal 5:17 states, "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." Sin looks to control our actions. So, then, how do we do good things? We let the Holy Spirit inside of us lead us.
c. Sin looks to control our lifestyle (v.19-20)
When we sin, we keep on sinning. When we do a certain sin over and over, that sin becomes a part of us and Sin dwells in us. It takes up a living in our heart. Is an alcoholic someone who cant stop drinking? Or is he someone that drinks too much and has allowed the sin of drunkenness live in his heart? Sin looks to control our lives. However, the good news is that even though sin still lives in us, it no longer controls us. We have the Holy Spirit in us who can defeat sin.
3. A power of sin is that it is competitive (v.21-25)
a. Sin looks to compete against God’s law (v.21)
Evil is nearby when we try to obey God’s law. Sin tries to compete against it.
b. Sin looks to compete against our minds (v.22-23)
Sin wages war in our minds as well. When we particpate in such activites as watching television, sin is competing against our minds. Anything that we fill our minds with, besides scripture, has an ability to influence us. sin looks to compete against our minds in this way. When we watch television, we need to watch it and filter out those things that may take up residence in our lives.
c. Sin looks to compete against our bodies (v.24-25)
Paul calls his body, a body of death. He then thanks God through Jesus Christ, who alone can deliver us from our sinful bodies.
Sin has power. It looks for opportunities to distort and decieve. It looks to control God's law, our actions, and our lives and it looks to compete against God's law, our minds and our bodies. However, with help of the Holy Spirit, we can stand firm and ward off the many attacks of sin.
posted by Charlie Wallace at
1:56 PM
2 Comments:
Sound thougts.
It is interesting that sin seems to be presented here as an active agent.
God Bless
Matthew
Matthew,
I thought the same as I was studying this passage. Up until this point in Romans, Paul describes the believer as being free from sin and sin being conquered. But then he starts talking about how sin still is alive and well in our bodies, which is comforting to know that Paul even also struggled with sin.
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