O Wretched Man!

These last two paragraphs in Romans Chapter seven are perhaps the most famous two paragraphs in the Book of Romans. They are also among the most debated paragraphs in the Book of Romans, the chief debate being whether Paul is talking about indwelling sin and the life of a believer or he is reflecting on his life prior to coming to faith in Christ. As you have followed the line of argumentation though, especially on last week, and watched Paul's progressor of thought, I hope that you can see clearly that Paul is speaking autobiographically here, and that Paul is also speaking autobiographically of himself as a believer. This is the struggle of indwelling sin in the life of a believer. Christians struggle with indwelling sin. Sanctification is progressive, which means, by definition, Christians struggle within dwelling sin. If Christians didn't struggle with indwelling sin, sanctification would not be progressive. It would be perfect and immediately. So let me say that again, if Christians didn't struggle with indwelling sin, sanctification would be immediate and perfectly. So that is the only way that Christians could not struggle within dwelling sin. But here is the difficulty. The result of the fact that Christians struggle with indwelling sin sometimes causes believers to doubt their salvation because of the struggle with indwelling sin. They go something like this, I'm a Christian. If I'm really saved, I shouldn't struggle with fill in the blank. Now, let me say I am using the word struggle here, and that's an important word, because Christians struggle with sin. We don't just give in to it. It is a problem. We hate sin and sin hates us. So I am not saying that our attitude towards sin is Oh well, that's the reality of who we are. In fact, when you read Romans chapter seven, you see that it's the exact opposite. Romans chapter seven moves towards this crescendo where Paul is just utterly undone with the fact that he wrestles with and battles with sin, and he comes to that question, a wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death? He does not resign himself to the fact that sin is there. He is not okay with the fact that sin is there, nor is he hopeless about the fact that sin is there. But this issue also, on the other hand, can cause non believers to be convinced that they are Christians, because, after all, everybody sins, right and if everybody sins, who are you to say that I'm not a believer? So where do we find here? I believe Paul helps us here in these last two paragraphs in Romans chapter seven. As we look at this issue, there's a question, two questions, or a compound question. Why believers still sin and yet can have hope of assurance? Why it is that we still sin, and yet in the midst of that, can still have hope of assurance of our salvation? Look with me beginning in verse thirteen. In fact, let's go back to verse seven and just bring it all together into context. The first question, what, then, shall we say that the law is sin? Meganuta by no means. Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin, For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said you shall not covet. But sin seizing an opportunity through the commandment produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me, for sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the Law is holy and the Commandment is holy and righteous and good. This leads then to the next question that Paul was inevitably asked by those, especially of Jewish descent, when he preached the Gospel, and that is this, did that which is good then bring death to me? May ganoita? May it never be absolutely not? That is the logical next question, And as is his pattern, the question is raised, he answers it immediately. Then he gives the theological explanation for his answer. So did the law then bring death to me by no means it was sin? There's the answer, that the law 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. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin, for I do not understand my own actions. By the way, look for yourself, as we read, as I read, you can just sit there and do this right here. Okay, as we read, it'd be really healthy if you just sat there and did this right here. Okay. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For 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. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do excuse me, now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. By the way, that paragraph right there ought to settle the question as to whether or not this is a believer talking about his life as a believer. Just listen to what he says about sin, and you tell me if a non believer could even possibly have this attitude towards sin. Listen to what he says, For I do not do what I want, but the very thing I hate. Non Believers don't hate sin. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. Non Believers don't agree with the law that it is good. Verse seventeen. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me, For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right. Non Believers don't have that, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good that I want. Believers don't want to do the good. But the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Leavers want to do the evil. Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. And now verse twenty one, and I believe verse twenty one is really a reiteration of what he just said, or these next two verses twenty one to twenty three is a reiteration of what he just said, and it explains what he just said So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. Somebody should say, amen, right there, For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but 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. A whole lot of law is there. They're all important. And here it is twenty four wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? And the answer? Thanks be to God, Praise 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. This is the picture, it is the answer. This is the crucial issue that plagues us as followers of Christ as we live this life. I want to do several things here. First, I want to just give you the doctrine. Second, I want us to explore this next question. We've done that a bit to reasons, three laws, and then our only hope. First of let's look at the doctrine. If you have your hymnals, open your hymnals with me. To page six seventy seven, six seventy seven, not him six seventy seven, Page six seventy seven, Page six seventy seven. Okay, Now, as we've said before, one of the reasons that we went through all the trouble of trying to find these particular hymnals, one of the reasons at least is that our confession of faith is in the back of the hymnal. Okay, you might not have been aware of that, but the second London Baptist Confession is in the back of the hymnal, and so on page six seventy seven see their chapter thirteen of Sanctification. Okay, are we there, Page six seventy seven, Chapter thirteen of Sanctification. Let me renumber one. We'll renumber two and three. Together. They who are united to Christ effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified really and personally through the same virtue, by His word and spirit dwelling in them. The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Our sin is mortified, the power of it is broken and done away with its power lessons and weakens. It is mortified, and we grow in grace, We grow in righteousness, we grow toward holiness, without which no man will see God. Now let's read together Number two. This sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. Thereby the still some remnants of corruption in every part. Whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. Progressive sanctification not perfective in us to glorification. Number three, in which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, Yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after a heavenly life, in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as Head and king in his word hath prescribed to them. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. There's the doctrine of sanctification. It is progressive, it is not yet complete. Here's the question that he raises. The question is did sin cause death? Or I'm sorry, did the law cause death? And the answer is absolutely not. It is not the law that causes death. What have we learned about the law up to this point. Go back with me, if you will, to verse twelve. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. So does that which is holy and righteous and good cause death? No? But sin is what causes death. And we learned on last week that there is a relationship between sin and the law. How the law activates our sin, our transgression, our rebellion against God, latches onto it and fights for what it considers to be its own, its possession, if you will, So, the next question that is raised is asked and answered, No, the law does not cause death. It's sin that causes death. Now, this relationship with sin is important for two reasons. We see that in the latter parts of verse thirteen. First, look at verse thirteen. It was sin producing death in me through what is good, in order that two things one sin might be shown to be sin, that sin might be shown to be sin. Does that mean? Here's what it means. You and I go through life, and before we come in contact with the command of God, the law of God, and the righteousness of God, we live under the influence and authority of the Prince of the power of the Air, and we have a standard by which we live. However, we are in rebellion against God, and unaware of the fact that we are in rebellion against God, until all of a sudden the command of God shows up, and sin says, know me, not that. And it is then that we recognize sin as sin. That there are things I love, things I yearn for, things to which I hold that are absolute, outright rebellion against Almighty God. And we need to know that sin is sin. We need to be aware of the fact that we cannot justify ourselves, that we are not justified, that we are standing and living and walking under a sentence of the wrath of God and his just condemnation because of our sin. But secondly, look at the next part of the verse, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. We're not talking degrees here. That sin might become sinful beyond measure, that the idea of rebellion against God might be shown to be as completely and utterly unacceptable as it truly is. That it might be sinful beyond measure, that you and I might look into its face and recognize it for what it is. That you and I might stare it down and recognize that it ought to have, that it can have, That it must not have any place at all in our lives, That it cannot occupy the same space that belongs to God, That it is sinful beyond measure, that it must be given no quarter. That is why. And yet, irony of ironies, you come to the place where you understand what sin is, and that it is sinful beyond measure, and that you hate it, that you loathe it, that it is driving a wedge between you and God, and lo and behold. The rest of this text basically says, Oh, that thing that you learned is awful, that thing that you want to be rid of, you won't. You won't. Sort of like going to the doctor and hearing the doctor say to you, you have cancer. Now, did you get cancer, when the doctor said you have cancer, No, you had it before. But when the word comes to you and you understand that it's real, that it's here, that it's in you, what do you want immediately? You want it gone, you want it dead, you want it away from you. Unfortunately, when it comes to this disease, it's one you die from end with. And so we're made aware of it. We're made aware how odious it is. And simultaneously we're made aware it's not gone. Even when we come to faith in Christ, you still live in that same flesh. You don't have your new body yet, something of which we're reminded more and more each day. Amen, you are wasting away, and sometimes that becomes more and more apparent to us. But why do people waste away? Why do we get old and die? Sin? Every time a hair from your head falls and in your ears grow, you are reminded of sin. We are wasting away. Every time you try to do what you used to be able to do without thinking that you now cannot possibly think of a way to do, you're reminded that sin is real, that it is here, that it's not going anywhere. But it's not just that there is something far more sinister than getting old, and that is knowing what is holy and just and right, and not having any resources within yourself to do it. And so Paul talks about these three laws, and verses twenty one through twenty three he gives us these three laws. Some say there are four, some say there are five. At three laws. Okay, am I saying that my division here is absolutely the right one. No, I am not, But it's the best way that I know to communicate this to you. Three laws, the law of war, the law of God, and the law of sin. Let's read twenty one through twenty three and listen to how it unfolds. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. There's that first law, law of war, for our delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Then when he says law here, of course he's not speaking about the law take commandments law, except when he talks about the law of God. But there are principles here that refers to his laws. The first is the law of war, stated simply in verse twenty one. The law of war is when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. There's the law of war. By the way, he uses war language throughout this section of the Romans, chapter six, seven, and eight. On a number of occasions, I've already shared some of them with you from chapter six, but he uses war language throughout. There is a war going on between the believer and sin, and it is a war. And one of the distinguishing marks between a believer and a non believer is that it is a war that we fight, that we wage war against sin, and sin wages war against us. That it is not ground that has been co seated, but it is ground for which we fight over every inch. It is a war verse fifteen. For I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. There's the war. I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate. This goes back to the law of war. This is an explanation of what he summarizes in verse twenty one. Look at verse eighteen, for 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. There is the war. I want to do what's right, but I don't have the ability to carry it out. I'm doing what I hate. Verse fifteen. Now I don't have the ability to carry out what I want. Now look at verse nineteen, for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. So first we see that there's a problem. Second we see the source of the problem, and third we see that the problem doesn't go anywhere. Verse fifteen we see I don't do what I want. I do what I hate. Verse eighteen we see I don't have the ability. That's why I don't do the thing I want, and I do the thing I hate. I don't have the ability to do the things I want. And then in verse nineteen we see the evil that I do not want is what I keep on doing. There's the war. There's the war. Now, mind you, this is not to say and we're not talking about it just one particular thing. Here's what happens Oftentimes in a believer's life, you get one leak plugged, and just when you feel good about the fact that it's not gushing anymore, there's another one over here, and then there's one down there, and then there's one. Okay, So we're not saying that necessarily this is the same sin. In fact, sometimes that would be easier. You know where it's coming from. No, no, no, no no. There are multiple areas of your life. You are constantly reminded that in your flesh, dwell is no good thing. In fact, there are some things that you get under control, don't worry about for the longest of times, let your guard down, and the next thing you know, bam, there it goes again. But notice the war. And this is the distinction here. Notice the war in verse fifteen, for I do not do what I want. That's the believer. I do not do what I want. Notice in verse eighteen, for I have the desire to do what is right. And then notice in verse nineteen, I do not do the good I want. There is a want, there is a yearning and a desire to do what is right. There is a desire to be righteous. There is a desire to be holy I would also add that that desire is something that is growing in us, and that our holiness and righteousness is something that is growing in us. We already read that in a doctrine. So we're not saying here that the believer never sees any victory over sin, that the believer never sees any progress. What we're saying is that the believer recognizes, throughout his entire life that it's a struggle until your glorification. Yes, there are seventy and eighty year old men who struggle with lust. Yes there are eighty and ninety year old women who still struggle with gossip. Believers for thirty forty fifty, sixty seventy years who still have to fight sin every day. Are they farther along in sanctification? Yes? Amen, amen, But it's still a ward. And as you struggle, especially those who struggle with assurance of salvation, let me ask you a question. Do you desire righteousness? Do you desire whole? Is that what you yearn for? Is that what you want? I didn't ask you if you want it compliance. I didn't ask you if you want it behavioral modification, because there are some people who I want compliance. I want that outward compliance. I don't want the negative impact or the negative effects of this sin anymore. I don't like what happens when I get drunk. I don't like what happens when I fly off the handle and get angry. And so I want to do better so that I don't suffer from all of those negative or ill effects of my behavior. That's behavioral modification and outward compliance. You want your life to be easier. You don't want righteousness. The believer wants to be righteous. The believer wants to be holy. The believer wants to be godly, not just to have things better for outward reasons. That's a distinguishing mark and a distinguishing characteristic of the one who belongs to God. Are you after outward compliance and behavioral modification or are you after God and righteousness and holiness. That's the question you ask yourself when you sin. Are you broken because you have offended a holy and righteous God? Or are you disappointed because you thought you were better than that? There's a huge difference between those two. A second law, the law of God. The law of God. Look in verse twenty two, For I delight in the law of God in my inner being the law of God, Paul says earlier. Again, each of these laws that he comes to, he traces them back. He's basically summarizing what he said in the verses before. So what does he say about the law earlier in fourteen A, for we know that the law is spiritual. And then in verse sixteen, now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So the law is spiritual and the law is good. Earlier on we saw that the law is good and holy and righteous. Now he adds to that that the law is spiritual. What does he mean by the law being spiritual? Well, he contrasts that with I am of flesh. The law is spiritual, and I am of flesh. One reason that this battle rages on in us is because the law is the manifestation of God's righteousness and God's holiness. We're not made of the same stuff that God is, and so we are constantly reminded that we're not made of the same stuff that God is. God is holy, God is righteous, God is spirit. And here I am in this flesh and blood body, along with all of its needs, desires, and cravings. S know what Calvin says about this, the law is spiritual, that is, it binds not only the feet and hands as to external works, but regards the feelings of the heart and requires the real fear of God. The law of God is spiritual, which means, back to what we said earlier, outward compliance is insufficient to satisfy the law of God. My outward compliance is insufficient to satisfy the law of God. It's like trying to buy something with the wrong currency. It didn't work. One of the things I do when I go to different places in different countries that I always bring back some money from the other places and have currency from different parts of the world. And it's great to have currency from different parts of the world. But there's one piece of currency that I have that's in a frame, and it was given to me when I went to Germany, and I went and I did an event there, and they gave me a one million deutsch mark note a million on one bill a million. Y'all are going, Okay, why you're still hanging around here? No, no, no, no, listen, listen. It's from old Nazi Germany and it's worth not even the paper it's written on. When you and I come before God with what our flesh can accomplish and try to satisfy the law of the Righteous God, who is spiritual. We're coming to him with a note that to us is worth the world, but to him is worth nothing, filthy rags. As Isaiah puts it, one of the reasons that we continue to struggle with in dwelling sin is that the law is spiritual. We're flesh, and one of the things that the law of God does is continue to remind us that we're of flesh, that we are not like God. That is why, by the way, we have to be changed. Amen. Paul talks about that in One Corinthians, chapter fifteen. The corruptible shall put on incorruptibility. You're going to be translated into the right kind of currency, but you have not yet been translated into the right kind of currency, which means that for now the law of God is alien to you. It's spiritual. You're not people like to saying that, you know, I'm a spiritual person. I'm not really religious, I'm spiritual. Really, you're in trouble because being religious is your only hope. Because you can't be spiritual. God is spiritual. You're a flesh. You're putting yourself on God's level. Well, I'm a spiritual person. That's a contradiction in terms. You're a person, which means you're not spiritual. God is spiritual, the Law is spiritual. You're not spiritual. You're fooling yourself. You're lying to yourself. You better get religious in a hurry, and then when you get there, you still will not have arrived. Amen. Third law, the law of sin. Look at verse twenty three. But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind. Now that law of my mind, I'm saying, that's not a separate law, because the law of his mind. Remember, that's where he wants to obey the law of God and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. So there's another law, the law of sin that dwells in my members, continues to dwell in my members. It is there now. Unbelievers die with it and die from it. Believers die with it, but not from it. Amen, you will die with this, but you will not die from this because it does not have that hold over you. By the way, if you die with this and from this, then you're headed for the second death, that's hell. You die with it and not from it. You're in good shape. This is gonna be eradicated from you, because that which is corrupt will put on incorruptibility, and it will be a problem for you no more. That's why, by the way, people say, well, you know, I worry about when we get to heaven. What's going to keep us from sinning when we get to heaven. The fact that you will no longer be corruptible. You're gonna take off this thing wherein dwells the law of sin. It will be yours no more, amen, Verse fourteen B. But I am a flesh sold under sin. I am a flesh sold under sin. He's not referring there to us continuing to be slaves to sin, where not we're delivered from sin. But your flesh was sold under sin, and you're still part of that flesh that was sold under sin, condition under sin, and learned to see the world and live its life in accordance with that sin Verse seventeen. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Again, he's reflecting on this law of sin Verse twenty three is a summary. And in verse twenty, now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Sin in dwells you, and that's what leads you to sin. It in dwells you. It does not own you, Amen, it does not own you, but it dwells you. Difference between the believer and a non believer. If you're a non believer, it owns you, and in dwells you. If you're a non believer, it dictates the way you think, the way you operate, the way you see the world. You are its possession, and there is no battle, no war. If you're a believer, it's there, but it doesn't own you. Makes you miserable, but it doesn't own you. It doesn't own you. If you're an unbeliever, it's there and you have to feed it. If you're a believer, it's there, and newsflash, please hear this, you don't have to feed it. You starve him, and you continue to starve him. You do not put before yourself those things that feed him. You do not give him opportunity, as we heard about earlier in the chapter. But it's there, and it didn't dwells. You know this as a believer, you have to be aware of this. Why do you have to be aware of this? There are a number of reasons you have to be aware of this. The first is this, here's the first, so that you don't feed it. Amen. Secondly, so that you don't become over confident. Let him who thinks he stands take heed. Let's defall, don't become overconfident sin dwells in you. I was preaching at a church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It's a while back. So I show up at the event there, and for some reason, I was, I was. I was by myself there in Baton Rouge. I rarely ever go anywhere by myself. I don't want to I don't need to go anywhere by myself. And so for whatever reason though, I showed up by myself. And I show up by myself, and I come out of the airplane and I go down there and I'm gonna you're ready to meet the pastor who's gonna take me over to the hotel, give me my final instructions. And I show up. There's a lady there, staff member from the church, and she goes somebody last minute gave the pastor tickets to the LSU game and he can't be here to pick you up. So I'm like, okay, I hate him. I mean I really do. Number one because he didn't take me to the game, and number two because he sent you here to pick me up. And I said, ma'am, I can't ride with you. She said really, I said, yeah. I don't ride in cars with women by myself unless they're my wife or closely related to me, or old enough to be my grandmother's mother. And even then I check him out real close. She goes, what are we going to do? Said, I don't know what you're gonna do. I'm gonna ready to call a cab, keep the receipt and give it to your pastor. Pastor comes the next day, sort of awkward, and he apologizes and in a roundabout way, it's kind of feeling me out, you know, why did you do such a radical thing, and basically asked me, you know, have you have you had adultery problems in the past? Do you have you know, women problems do you have? I mean, is there a real you know? Are you kind of like the alcoholic who says I'm just not going to be around alcohol. You know, do you not trust? And I looked at him and I said, no, pastor, not at all. And he goes, so do you I don't understand? I said, you don't understand what I don't understand If it's not something that you struggle with. Why it is that you set such boundaries, I said, because I don't want it to even become something that I struggle with. The minute I feel like I don't have to watch myself is the minute I've forgotten that there is something that endwells me, that is waiting for an opportunity. Do I believe it makes me more righteous? No? Not at all. Does it make things more difficult? Sometimes? Sometimes if I tell you what, if anybody ever comes to you and says, you know what your pastor was with some woman, look at him and go, you know what? You just lied on him. There's a third reason that it's very important for you to know. And that's because you are always to live in hope and anxious anticipation and never get too comfortable or satisfied. Here that brings us to verses twenty four and twenty five. The only hope two things two points here that I will let others summarize. The first is the hope is not in me. Look in verse twenty four, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Don't miss that Paul does not believe at all that he can deliver himself from this. That is one of the traps of the enemy. For you to believe that you can deliver yourself from this, you cannot listen to this. So from Joseph Elaine in What Is has to be one of my favorite, not just Puritan books, but one of my favorite books just period Assure God to Heaven, Elaine writes about those who trust in their own righteousness. This is a sole ruining mischief. When men trust in their own righteousness, they do indeed reject Christ's beloved. You had need be watchful on every hand, for not only your sins, but your duties may undo you. It may be you never thought of this, but so it is that a man may as certainly perish by his seeming righteousness and supposed graces as by gross sins. And that is when a man trusts to these as his righteousness before God for satisfying his justice, appeasing his wrath, procuring his favor, and obtaining his pardon. This is to put Christ out of office and make a savior of our own duties and graces. Beware of this, oh, professing Christians. You are much in duties, But this one fly, I mean, but this one fly will spoil all the ointment. When you have done most and best, be sure to go out of yourselves to Christ, reckon your own righteousness as filthy rags. I don't worry nearly as much about a person because of struggles with sin. Who says, man, sometimes I wrestle with assurance of my salvation as I do with a person because of their own system of righteousness. It says that they never think about it. Person who's got all their eyes dotted and all the tea's crossed, and acts as though we are not waging war constantly within dwelling sin. A person who trust in themselves and their own ability. And oftentimes this is what we do. We come and we say, wretched man that I am, not, who will save me from this body of death? Wretched man that I am? I set my alarm clock, and still sometimes I forget to do my reading. I carry my tracks with me and still sometimes I'm afraid to hand them out. I put my verses up on my mirror, and still sometimes it takes me longer than I intend to memorize them. I I I I wretched man that I am. My system hasn't perfected me. It's not what Paul said. I feel wretched because all of those works that I've put in place have failed to make me holy and righteous. By the way, is it bad? Is any of that bad? No, it's not bad unless you are trusting in it for your righteousness. Are you questioning your salvation because you don't consistently jump through your own hoops? Wrong standard? It is not in you. It is only in Christ. Verse twenty five. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ to our Lord. There's the answer. Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, to our Lord. What is your hope? It is Christ. You tell most people this, and here's the pri This is where the alarms go off. This is where the bells go off. I'm wrestling, I'm struggling. Then go back to the cross, go back to Christ. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that. Really, So wait a minute. You know the Cross, but you came to me for something else. You know the gospel, but you came to me for something more. Yeah, yeah, I got that, Jesus doctor mar sayings, you know, yeah, I prayed that prayer. I did it. Yeah, I got that. What I really need is for you to give me something to overcome this. You missed the whole gospel. Your only hope is Christ. You don't have a problem with systems, you have a problem with misplaced trust. Your only hope is Christ. There's despair in this passage. I mean, look look at it again. I want to do good, but I don't the evil that I don't want to do, that's what I do. I find there's something in me that is working against me. There's this law of sin and my members. I love this. I hate that I do this. I don't do that. It's awful. I mean, it's gut wrenching to read this passage. And you get to the end and you're looking for this grand revelation as to how it is that He overcomes and the answer is he doesn't. Wretched men that I am, who will save me from this body of death? A dead body? That's your only hope. And if you thought that the Gospel and all that stuff was over here, But you really needed something else to overcome this particular sin problem. You just identified your problem misplaced trust. Listen to this from James Edwards. He does not say, praise God even though I often fail. At least I have my ideas, my good intentions, my dignity, my character and convictions. He concludes rather in Crashing finality, what good are these things? If I still do evil? When one discovers not only a power at work within oneself against one's best desires, but also a powerlessness to combat it, then one must look for help beyond oneself. Paul is not in the market for a self help program. He is not hoping for a lucky break or turning over a new leaf. He is a drowning man crying out for rescue. The word for wretched that he uses here means that the situation is crucial and beyond his power to change it. If salvation is to come, it must come from a who, not a what. It must come from the outside and apart from his own resources, or it will not come. There's your answer, it is Christ. Does that mean that we don't do all the rest? God forbid meganuta do all of it? Trust none of it, do all of it, trust none of it. Christ is our only hope. And yet that's not the final note. He doesn't have this overrealized eschatology, if you will, this idea that we get it all here and now what's the final note? The final note. So then I myself serve the love of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. His final note, war, that's his final note. Christ is sufficient, his victory is total. And yet in me it's already and not yet. That's the final note. Which is a good thing. It's already and not yet. To go back to the war analogy again, here's what doesn't happen. The commanding officer doesn't stand before his men and say, men, we have a superior force and superior firepower. It is only a matter of time before this battle is ours and our victory is complete. So what I want you to do is I want you to walk out there like you have nothing to fear. No, there is still a living, active foe. So continue to act like you're in a war. Continue to do all those things that warriors do, but do it with a confidence that says, when all is said and done, this will not be for nothing. My king shall be victorious. That's the believer's attitude towards sin, and we give it no quarter, because I guarantee you will give us none but any end. Our King will conquer