The Law Part 3 -- The Saint and the Law

We are in a series on the subject of the Law. There is no chapter in the Scriptures anymore controversial than Romans 7. Many believe that it refers to unsaved persons, but that is not so. The subject matter of Romans 7 is sanctification. The message today concerns the saint and the Law. In previous messages, we considered the sinner and the Law and Christ and the Law. Christ fulfilled every requirement of the Law.

Christ’s full obedience to the Law for the elect in their justification does not exempt believers from obedience to it for sanctification. Sanctification is the fruit of justification; therefore, the justified person will not criticize the deeds of Law for the purpose of sanctification. Antinomians do not believe we are under the moral Law of Moses. Read Romans 12:1-2 and 13:1-9. The verses refer to a Christian living the Christian life and being an obedient person to the Law under which he may be living. It makes a difference how a Christian lives. An English Antinomian said, “A person under grace has no more to do with Law than an Englishman has with the laws of Spain.” He has put himself in a precarious position. Such an unsubstantial statement must be exposed regardless of the problem it might cause among religionists. The moral Law of God is one and the same everywhere and in all circumstances, except for the Law regarding the Sabbath. Christians do not observe the Jewish Sabbath. Christ has come, and He has paid for all the sins of all that the Father gave to Him in the Covenant of Redemption. You and I are to live out what has been put within us by the grace of God to show and to prove that we have passed from death into life. There is a fundamental unity between the moral Law, as set forth in the Ten Commandments, and the Law as formulated in the moral constitution of man.

The student of Scripture discovers, not only from personal experience but from constantly searching the Scriptures, that regenerated people experience continuing corruption in our lives. A Christian would be a hypocrite to say that he has never sinned. We all sin and come short of the glory of God every day of our lives. That does not hurt our relationship, and makes no dent in our justification before God. That relationship was accomplished by Jesus Christ Himself when He stood in our place at Calvary 2000 years ago and paid for all of our sins. However, those sins that we commit and do not confess as Christians hinder our fellowship. This fellowship that we have with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can be cut off, as well as that with fellow Christians. We have two natures—the nature that Christ gave to us in the Covenant of Grace and the nature we came into the world with when we were born physically. As regenerated people, we never come to the place where we do not need the light of the Law to manifest our sinful desires. Therefore, the spiritual value of the Law cannot be denied. It is true that the Law cannot justify us, but that does not mean that the Law is not good for our sanctification. Neither the Law nor the gospel is a dead letter. Therefore, the gospel is the fruit of regeneration, and the Law is the fruit of sanctification. Paul proves both by his inspired message in Romans 7:1-25. Paul was a saved man when he wrote this passage, as verse 7 and others prove. (Read Ephesians 2:1 and 5:8.)

The law of nature does not reveal original sin with its evil lusts. John Trapp said, “The more God forbids sin, the more we bid for it as if we did sin on purpose to provoke God.” As a Pharisee, Paul was without sense of sin and conscience of duty. When the commandment came to his heart in the power of the Spirit, subsequent to regeneration, sin revived in both understanding and appearance. As a Pharisee, Paul was ignorant of the spirituality of the Law until it was driven home to his heart by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Taking advantage of the Law became the occasion to deceive. This happened to Eve in the garden. She was led by the Devil to believe that the prohibition was depriving her of something good. Therefore, the sinfulness of sin is seen in its reaction to holiness.

If you were making an outline on this study of the Law, the first topic would be “Sin and the Law.” The second lesson would be “Jesus Christ and the Law.” Christ never did anything bad; He could not sin. If a person believes that Christ could sin, he needs the Lord because the Holy Spirit does not teach that. Christ is impeccable, not peccable. The third lesson of this important study of the Law is the “Saint and the Law.” The subject of Romans 7 is a continuation of progressive sanctification which began in Romans 6.

There are four deaths that must be considered in this important study: (1) “Death in sin” refers to the sinner (Eph. 2:1). (2) “Death for sin” refers to Jesus Christ who died on behalf of the elect (Gal. 2:20). (3) “Death to sin” refers to the saint who has been justified before God by the faithfulness of Christ (Rom. 6:10). (4) “Dying daily” is the work of the Holy Spirit in the justified saints who face a life on earth of sanctifying grace (I Cor. 15:31). The spiritual life is a process of “dying daily” to self. To die once is the lot appointed for everyone (Heb. 9:27), but to “die daily” is a Christian duty. Paul said, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (II Cor. 7:1 NASB). The new life is so important that it must be protected. They who die “daily” die comfortably. Paul spoke metaphorically, subsequent to his statement, “I protest, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (I Cor. 15:31 NASB). Then he said, “If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE. Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals. Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame” (I Cor. 15:32-34 NASB). Daily mortification is the fruit of the believer’s crucifixion with Christ. Why should we encounter perpetual danger if there is no resurrection, which is the sum of Paul’s argument?

The statements “sin no more” (John 8:11 NASB), “stop sinning” (I Cor. 15:34 NASB), and “may not sin” (I John 2:1 NASB) are all doctrinal rather than moral sins. If we go beyond what is needful, we are taking a chance. It is not nature that desires luxury. Evil communications mean associations with evil people. Ignorance is the fruitful service of wickedness. A person is known by the company he keeps. Knowledge lies at the foundation of Christianity. Intemperance is an enemy to health, etc.

Grace is for forgiveness, not for license. Paul raised an important question when he said, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?” (Rom. 6:1 NASB). He wasted no time in replying, “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:2 NASB). Believers have died legally to sin in justification; and subsequent to that death, they shall die experimentally to sin in sanctification. Paul anticipated an attack on grace, because he knew that what the flesh did not suggest, the Devil would.

The sin that Paul talks about is in contrast to grace. Furthermore, it is the realm rather than the practice of sin. The reason is that we are talking about a noun rather than a verb. The locative case is used and denotes realm. Justified persons cannot live in the realm of sin. Sin does not multiply grace, and how horrible is the thought that grace multiplies sin. Sin is not the cause of grace, but it is the occasion for God to display His grace. The Christian’s death to sin does not give life to it because grace which makes believers like God does not, at the same time, make us unlike Him. To illustrate the point, the wife “bound in love” to her husband does not tempt him with her unfaithfulness. Therefore, believers have died legally to sin in justification; but they shall die experimentally to sin in sanctification. The Biblical gospel is a stumbling block to religionists. Sanctification takes up where justification leaves off.

In Romans 7:7-13, Paul describes his conversion experience by means of the Law in the power of the Spirit. The Apostle shows that the Law is not the cause but the occasion of sin. The Law reveals the following: (1) the fact of sin—“You shall not covet” (v. 7); (2) the occasion of sin—“taking opportunity through the commandment” (v. 8); (3) the power of sin—“sin became alive” (v. 9); (4) the effect of sin—“proved to result in death for me” (v. 10); (5) the deception of sin—“taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me” (v. 11); and (6) the sinfulness of sin—“…effecting my death through that which is good…” (v. 13).

The believer learns experimentally that he is no longer in the flesh, but he also learns that the flesh is still in him. Observe what Paul said in Romans 7:5 and 18—“For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death… For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (NASB).

True believers soon learn to distinguish between themselves and the sin that dwells in them. The Spirit of regeneration makes one uncomfortable in his disobedience. Man by nature will not come to the light lest his deeds be revealed (John 3:19, 20), but in regeneration, light goes to the chosen sinner. Paul said, “For God, who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (II Cor. 4:6 NASB). Regeneration produces conviction and conversion. Just as the baby cries when it is born, it is not born because it cries. If the gospel were the means of regeneration as many believe, then one would have more life each time he heard the gospel proclaimed. One does not lie down in green pastures to get life (Ps. 23:2). We agree that legality is the enemy to sanctification, but the regenerated person says with Paul, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man” (Rom. 7:22 NASB). Paul did not stop with the explanation, but he added, “…on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:25 NASB). Paul is the clarifier of his clarity. The Law reveals to man the will of God and the sin of man. It then drives the regenerated man to embrace the deliverance of Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:7-25).