The last two weeks we have compared and contrasted the covenant of the law of Moses and the covenant of grace and truth. This week we find that sin gains strength under the law; grace and truth set us free from that which we were held by. It empowers us to walk with complete victory over sin. Thank God for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death!
THE LAW GIVES SIN STRENGTH; THE LAW PRODUCES DEATH
MOUNT SINAI THE LAW
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
The law stirs up and arouses the sin nature of man. The law gives strength to sin. The law is holy and righteous and always will be! However, the law only exposes sin and gives sin strength; the law cannot impute righteousness nor give life!
Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
The scriptures are clear the law of Moses applied to the individual gives sin strength!
Hebrews 7:11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. …
When the priesthood changed, at the coming of Jesus, of necessity there is also a changing of the law. We now have a better covenant established on better promises.
Hebrews 7:18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
A life of victory is learning the better hope and living in the covenant of grace to which we draw near to God.
SPIRIT SOUL AND BODY CHART: remember perfected in the spirit, renewal of the soul and the dying to the body
Romans 7:6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
When we came to Jesus we were set free from the law. We are now empowered to live in the newness of the Spirit!
Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
The law will do it’s intended purpose; expose sin and make it exceedingly sinful.
Romans 7:8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
Apart from the law sin is dead! Where there is no law there in no accounting of sin!
Romans 7:9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
Paul begins to give his personal testimony here. He came to Jesus and found life apart from the law. Paul was raised under the law and tradition tells us that Paul would have had the first 5 books of the bible memorized. It was a very easy thing for Paul to go back to the commandments of the law again. When he did sin was given strength again. By his own testimony “sin revived and I died.”
Romans 7:10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
Sin was given strength, Paul's own testimony is he was walking in deception. You may walk under the auspices of the law for awhile; however, sin will gain strength and you will find you can not perform up to the standard of God’s holy law. Under the law sin gains strength and it will choke the life out of you!
Romans 7:12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
You bring yourself back under the law and it will do what it has always been intended! Sin will once again gain strength in your life. Never forget you’re married to Jesus now!
Roman 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
Paul came back under the law and sin gained strength. The things that he wanted to do he could not do. The things that he wanted not to do were the things he practiced! Understanding the truth about the spirit, soul, and body of man will help us bring wholeness so we don't have to be stuck in the middle of Paul ’s testimony.
Romans 7:16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Paul’s revelation of grace begin to kick in. He began to divide between spirit, soul, and body just as Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God does. It was not the new man Paul had become at salvation it was the old man. It was sin that dwells in me.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
We died to flesh when we came to Jesus. We learned in Romans 6 to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God. Like Paul we can give sin strength by coming under the performance of the law. In the flesh nothing good dwells. Paul had a will to do right but lacked the power to overcome because sin had gained strength once again.
Roman 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Paul now repeats what he already said. The Holy Spirit yearns for us to get a truth and will repeat the same truth over to bring us to attention. Paul had a true desire to serve God but while under the auspices of the law he could not practice what he willed and could not stop practicing what he willed not to do.
Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
In his flesh he found a law that was present with him that could not bring deliverance or victory.
Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
On the other hand he had come to delight in the law of God according to the inward man. The new creation was alive and well at the same time the law dictating to his flesh seemed alive and well also. Understanding spirit, soul, and body is so important!
Romans 7:23 But 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. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
As a believer have you ever wondered if victory would stop being elusive? I know I have faith in Jesus why don’t I have victory? Thank God Paul ’s testimony does not stop here!
Romans 7:25 I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Paul said I found victory in Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, indeed two laws that seem to be contrary to one another. But when rightly dividing between spirit soul and body the understanding for victory is unveiled.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
First you can believe if you the new man is in you there is right now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! Here is the powerful truth that can bring your walk from elusive victory to an experience of victory. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. Yes there are two laws at work, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus trumps the law of sin and death! Free from sin!
Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
If you belong to Jesus the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus trumps the law of sin and death! You now belong to God. The just shall live by faith in the work of the cross of Jesus Christ! Victory is realized by walking in the covenant you have been birthed into!
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