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Romans 5:20-21

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In my battle against the spiritual forces of darkness, I don’t often feel like I’m doing really well. I keep trying harder and harder, and it results in my failing and failing. I find over and over again that when it’s all about me and my effort, I just can’t measure up to God’s standard. I say stupid things! I think bad thoughts! I act in ways unbecoming of a soldier of Christ. The consequences of Romans chapter 7 seem to be mine. My inconsistent behavior, thought life, and tongue confuse me. I just don’t understand why this is part of my life. Why am I plagued with this radical inconsistency? Further, I feel guilt and shame. I’m frequently frustrated, which almost always leads to discouragement. This, then, leads me to the brink of despair.

Then I came to my senses and remembered that the war had already been won. Jesus Christ won that victory on the cross for me. I must not let my connection with him get loose. It’s when I take my eyes off Jesus that I begin to drown in the sea of trouble. It’s when I put my mind on my own strengths that my weaknesses overwhelm me. As I reconnect, the strength returns. The ultimate result is guaranteed. It’s so encouraging to know that complete and comprehensive victory is certain. When we look at ourselves in the light of God’s strict moral codes, called “the law,” we see ourselves and our sin as clearly as the pimple on my chin when I look into the mirror. The law brings sin alive in our flesh and awakens our souls to our weaknesses. The interesting thing is that was its intent. Paul writes, “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:20–21). You see, the victory is indeed ours. God’s grace always triumphs over man’s sin. The point is, as James M. Boice puts it, “…regardless of how badly we may think we are doing now or how near despair we may be due to the intensity or duration of the struggle. It is the very knowledge of a final victory that will enable us to fight on.”

Boice goes on to illustrate his point: “When the armies of Oliver Cromwell were winning battle after battle in the English Civil War, it was said of them that they could not lose because they knew, even before they started to fight, that God had given them the victory. I do not know how true that was of Cromwell’s army. There were Christians on both sides of that conflict, and Cromwell’s cause was not entirely free of base motives. But whatever the case with Cromwell’s soldiers in those very human battles, the principle does hold true for us, the soldiers of Jesus Christ who are engaged in fierce spiritual warfare against sin. Apart from Jesus, not one of us can prevail for a moment. But united to him, we not only can prevail. We will.”

Romans 5:1-2, 1 Chronicles 29:11, 1 John 5:4-5

We are the Champions

Jesus won the victory for us on the cross of Calvary. The war is over, and victory has been won. We must believe it! Back in chapter 5, verses 1 & 2, Paul reminded us, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” The phrase in this verse I want to focus on is “the grace in which we stand.” In Ephesians chapter 6, Paul explains the Spiritual armor that every believer needs to “stand” against the strategies of the enemy. He repeatedly says how important it is for us “to stand.” We are not to surrender ground for any reason. Please notice that our stance is in “the Grace” of God. It’s not in our strength, intellect, willpower, procedure, process, or principle; instead, it is God’s grace demonstrated on our behalf on Calvary. How do we occupy this land called “grace.” There’s only one way to get there. There is only one way to occupy this land. It is the same way for both. The road leading to and the way to maintain our victory through God’s Grace is Faith! Faith is the channel that opens God’s grace to us in spite of all our sin, weaknesses, and failures that lead us to frustration, confusion, defeat, discouragement, and despair.

The Old Testament always associates victory with the power of God. It’s his omnipotent hand that gave David and the Israelites victory. He is the God of power, glory, and majesty who fully controls his creation. Some of my favorite verses are in chapter 29 and verse 11. You’ve heard me quote Jeremiah 29:11 frequently. It says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord: Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.”

He gives us that victory! It belongs to all believers! This is one of the major themes of the book of Hebrews as all the saints of old are considered as victors even amidst trials, persecution and even martyrdom. But even more clearly, the Apostle John, says, in his first Epistle, Chapter 5, verses 4 and 5, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” Through the channel of faith, Christians know the victory because of what God has done in Jesus Christ. We can look without fear at the complete vanquishing of sin and death! We are the champions!

Romans 7:23-25, Colossians 2:14-15

Victory in Jesus

When we focus all our attention on ourselves and fight the spiritual battles of life with our own resources, we will always fail. We will live defeated lives. 41 times in Romans chapter 7, Paul uses the first person pronoun to describe his battle with sin: I, my, me, myself, etc. Not once has there been mention of the Holy Spirit. In Chapter 8, over 20 times, the Spirit is brought as the source of our strength and power to withstand the onslaughts of the enemy. Chapter 7 is the picture of the defeated life: confusion, guilt, shame, compulsions and addictions, self-condemnation, and frustration, all leading to discouragement, defeat, and despair.

Despite the despair that may come from our struggles with sin, there is always hope. In Romans 7, Paul ends with an explosion of despair, but it is quickly followed by an explosion of praise and thanksgiving. He writes, “O, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature?” Then comes the praise! “But thanks be to God, it has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He set me free.” (Romans 7:23-25). This is a powerful reminder that we have all failed in our struggles against the sin that dwells within us. We’ve all fallen short of God’s standard and we all sin. But Paul’s words make it clear that God “canceled the record of the charges against us.” God wipes the slate clean for you and me through our faith in Jesus Christ. How did God erase all our sin? Let me go on with the rest of the quote from Colossians 2:14-15. He not only cancelled the record of the charges against us, but also he “took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

The victory over sin was won on the cross for us all. Duguid, in his commentary on Numbers, beautifully explains this. He writes, “At the cross, mercy and justice joined hands as God’s glory was made manifest most fully. Jesus Christ, our faithful pioneer, walked through this sin-tangled world with perfect righteousness not for forty days but for thirty-three years. In so doing, he earned life through his faithfulness, not just for himself but for all those who are united to him by faith. In his perfect life, God’s righteous demands on us are satisfied. In his substitutionary death, God’s justice is satisfied, and at the same time his mercy is displayed to outcasts and rebels. Everyone who looks to him and cries out in the wilderness, “Lord Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner” finds in him God’s invitation to eternal rest. That offer is open to you, no matter who you are or what you have done. You don’t need to strive in your own strength any longer or to lament the depth of your failure. You are indeed no contender in the fight for eternal significance and never could have been, but Jesus Christ has contended for you and has won the victory on your behalf. This is a promise of rest and hope that is always available to you.

1 Chronicles 21:1, 1 John 5:4, Ephesians 6:16

Faith is the Victory

The “fiery arrows” that Satan shoots at us, as referenced in Ephesians 6, have as many different definitions as there are commentators that deal with the passage. The fiery darts represent the fiery lusts of the flesh. They are all the attacks on the truths of the Bible. They are simply doubts that go against our confidence in God. They are everything and anything that leads us to sin. One commentator suggested that one of the most effective arrows of Satan is the one that speaks to us and says you are saved “by faith alone.” According to this writer, it’s necessary to have works as well as faith. Well, I suppose all of those might be correct, but I believe there is one fiery arrow that Satan will send our way, and that’s been the most effective tool in his bag. That, of course, is his inspiration for us to follow his lead in pride. Let me tell you about David.

God blessed him in every way. His faith led to his childhood defeat of Goliath. God used him to produce the most beautiful songs of an entire nation. He was made King of God’s people and married into the royal family of Saul. He was given victory over all of his enemies. He was indeed a man after God’s heart, but it was used against him by Satan. When the descendants of Gath, Goliath’s brothers, and others were soundly defeated by David’s army, there was another giant in the mix who had six fingers and six toes. He was bigger and stronger than Goliath himself, but he didn’t stand a chance against David’s army. In Chapter 20 and Verse 2, after many victories over the enemies around him, David incorporated all his defeated people into his nation as slaves and servants to his people. In one of the final battles, a King was defeated, and the people incorporated into David’s people: “And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David’s head.”

Then it happened. This is what we read in the first verse of Chapter 21: “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” The “rose up against” speaks to us of the enemy. He always positions himself between us and God. His intentions are always subversive and that’s the focus in this phrase. Notice next he “incited” David. In other words he lit “a fire” in David’s thinking that resulted in David’s prideful interest in finding out just how many people God had blessed him with. Victory over these incendiary attacks from Satan can be managed by using the shield of faith. John Piper explains the nature of pride in relationship to faith. He writes, “Unbelief is a turning away from God and his Son in order to seek satisfaction in other things. Pride is a turning away from God specifically to take satisfaction in self. So pride is one specific form of unbelief. And its antidote is the wakening and strengthening of faith…” John reminds us also that the source of a believer’s victory is just one thing. He writes, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Titus 1:2, Isaiah 12:2, Romans 8:1-4

Faith Versus Fear

It’s a wonderful thing to be able to rest upon the truth of Romans, chapter 8 and verse 1. We wrestle with the world, our own flesh, and the fiery darts of evil and sometimes we fail. We are anything but “reliable.” But God is mothing if “not” reliable. He does not lie, neither can he lie. Paul says, “This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began” (Titus 1:2). This truth is the only truth that will overcome the frustration, fear and failure of the life Paul has described for us in Romans Chapter 7. It’s something we must remind ourselves of frequently. There are times when we don’t feel confident in our Christian Walk. We often fail in our struggles with sin. We are frail people. If we trust in ourselves, we will surely live defeated lives. But even in the midst of what appears to be a losing battle we can find hope, just like the Psalmists of old. In Psalm 62:5-6, David, completely aware of his sinfulness, exhorts himself, “Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me confidence. He alone is my protector and deliverer. He is my refuge; I will not be upended.”

I’m sure you’ve heard the children’s chorus, “Jesus loves me this I know, cause the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.” Believing God’s truth is the source of all our hope and life is the key to victory. It’s all about trusting God and His promises. It’s all about our faith in God’s goodness and perfect plan and purpose for our lives. He loves us and has our best interest foremost in mind regardless of the circumstances in life he allows to reach us. Trust me! God said this to Adam and Eve. They failed! God said this to Abraham and Abraham did not fail. This is why he’s the “father of faith.” From Abraham God created a great nation! Not a nation conceived of the flesh, but a nation conceived by faith. I love what Augustus Strong said in his Systematic Theology back in 1907, “Faith is God’s measure of a man. Why should I doubt that God spoke to the fathers through the prophets? Why should I think it incredible that God should raise the dead? The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. When the son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? Let him at least find faith in us who profess to be his followers.”

The evil one is like a “roaring lion” that is prowling around looking for any that he might devour. But faith in God and God’s power always brings the victory. I read that Dwight L. Moody’s favorite Bible verse was Isaiah 12:2. It says, “I will trust, and not be afraid.” We have many great examples in the Bible of faith overcoming fear but none more direct than that of Daniel. Faith is the answer to fear, and Daniel’s faith in God was stronger than his fear of the lions. May that be our testimony as well.

Romans 7:24-25

Thanks Be To God!

Romans chapter 7 ended with the cry from Paul’s heart over his confusion, guilt, shame, compulsions, self-condemnation, and frustration and despair that he expressed in the previous 10 verses of the chapter. He cries out in 7:24, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” But he gives the answer in the following verse. He writes, “Thanks be to God [because he has rescued me] through Jesus Christ our Lord” (7:25). Cottrell, in the College Press NIV Commentary concludes, “While the main concern of this question and its answer is freedom from the power of indwelling sin, we need to be reminded again of the main point already established in (Romans) 3:21–5:21, that the penalty for our sin has been paid in full by Jesus. In the midst of our intense spiritual struggle against sin, in which we are sometimes on the losing end, we need not fear that our forgiveness is in jeopardy. Christ has already secured this for us on the cross.”

Even though in the struggle against sin we seem to be fighting a frustrating losing battle sometimes we must never forget that the battle has already been won on our behalf. That’s what Paul picks up with in Chapter 8. He begins by saying “therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The term condemnation is defined as “penalty, punishment and doom.” The negative Greek phrase is most emphatic. One translator says, “not even one.” That would mean there is not even one penalty left to be paid, because Jesus paid it all. There is absolutely no punishment remaining on the books. The debt has been completely satisfied as Jesus said from the cross, “it is finished.” This is the Greek word for “paid in full.” There is not even one word of doom left in God’s vocabulary for you and me, who are “in Christ Jesus.” He set us free from the power and punishment of sin. One day we’ll be completely free from its presence as well.

John Newton (The Author of Amazing Grace) once said, “I am not what I ought to be! How imperfect and deficient I am! (Oh, wretched man that I am!) I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall be out of mortality and with it all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!” It’s all “thanks be to God…” He accomplished for me, what I could never accomplish for myself through my own efforts. Newton quotes from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15 and verse 10. “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” That’s the truth for each and every one of us. It is always by the grace of God.

Romans 6:14, Romans 7:4, Galatians 2:19-21

Laying Down the Law

Many of us go through the pains of Romans 7 because we lose sight of the truth that God has delivered us from any law system by which we can prove our worth and gain acceptance from God. I’ve heard believers say that after we become Christians, the indwelling power of God’s Spirit enables us to keep the Law. The problem with this approach is that it misses the truth that we are no longer under law but under grace. Romans 6:14 explicitly says “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” When law keeping becomes the focus of a believer’s life, the confusion, guilt, shame, compulsions, self-condemnation, frustration and despair of Romans chapter 7 will become our experience. That’s how the law exercises its “dominion” over us. When our focus becomes one of law keeping, we lose the joy of our Christian experience. I already mentioned once that Romans chapter 7 has 41 references to me, myself, and I. It’s the struggle that leads to despair that comes when I focus on myself. We are not to focus on ourselves, but on Christ. Romans, Chapter 8, is all about learning how to lay down the law (let it go) and live the victorious Christian life.

There is no fruit bearing in focusing on a standard of conduct or lawkeeping. We cannot bear fruit of our own efforts and our own works of righteousness. It’s only through abiding in Christ. He produces the fruit. He is the vine, we are merely the branches. Our loyalties belong to the one who fulfilled the law on our behalf. You see, “you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4). Again in Galatians 2:19, Paul writes, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” He then continues in verses 20-21, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

Steve McVey concludes his discussion on the believer’s relationship to the law with this comment: “Our focus is to be Christ Himself, not a system of rules that we wrongly imagine God is expecting us to use as a code for living. Jesus is our source of living, and His life within us is more than enough to ensure that the actions in our lifestyle honor the Father. If we have believed that Christ empowers us to keep God’s Law, we have believed a lie that will have the opposite effect in our lives than the one we want. Life isn’t about keeping rules. It’s all about Him—about living in His love and allowing that love to pour out of us onto others. The Law keeps us looking at ourselves and constantly judging ourselves for our failures. Grace allows us to stay focused on Christ and empowers us to express His life and love to everybody else. Which way do you want to live?”

Romans 7:23-25, Luke 15:21-22

Despair & Defeat!

Living the life of dos and don’ts is a life without a family. It is the most unsatisfactory way to live imaginable. Living that way is living, at its best, as an employee. The boss is always worried about our level of production. We have quotas to achieve, deadlines to meet, and duties to perform. When we fail in any of those ways our position is in danger. But that’s the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is that we are not just employees, we are actually slaves. Paul says in Romans 7, verses 23-25 that “…there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin.” There is no hope for me! I’m obligated. I’m forced against my will! “Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Let me share a liberating truth with you. You may want to be a “willing servant” of God like Paul, but like Paul, you’ll never achieve that status. What’s even more important to realize is that God doesn’t want you to be his “willing servant” as such. This desire is the desire that all wayward sinners seem to express when they turn to God from lives devoted to selfish sin. The prodigal son is the perfect example. When sin took its toll on his life, he thought (notice the focus is still on himself) “my father’s servants eat better than I do.” He thought he’d return to the Father and ask if he could now be his servant (slave?). When he arrived at home, Luke 15:21-22 tells us, “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.’” The father did not want another servant! The father would hear nothing about that. He wanted his son back! He wanted the child he loved back. That’s exactly what God wants for us all. God is not the kind of idol that needs more servants; He’s the kind of Father that loves His children.

Romans Chapter 8 gives us the great expression of our family connection versus our service oriented flesh. Paul says in verses 14-16, “…the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves… instead the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Father, my Father!’ God’s Spirit joins himself with our spirit and declares that we are God’s children.” Donald Grey Barnhouse concludes his comments on this chapter by saying, “The Christian is never to tremble with fear or to be tormented with anxiety. On the contrary, God’s wrath having been stilled forever, and we having been begotten to divine sonship and adopted into an official position in the family of God, we may turn to our Heavenly Father with utter calmness, and with the full confidence that He cannot turn us away. All this is involved in our position. All this is guaranteed in our sonship.”

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