Don't Forget To Die

Hello, and welcome to the Westside churches special Monday Morning Coffee podcast on this podcast, our preacher Mark Roberts will help you get your week started right. With look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through it further and better work the applications into our daily lives. Mark will then look forward into this week's Bible reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And, he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday Morning Coffee with Mark.

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the Monday morning coffee podcast for a Monday, July the 18th. I am mark and I have some amazing coffee. This is a single origin coffee that I bought in Edinborough, Scotland. Some of us were there and we shared a bag of these beans and it's called blue lava. And it's amazing. And I'm nearly to the bottom of the bag, which I guess means I need to go back to Scotland, which seems like a really, really great idea. However, jet lag is real. I have struggled with that this last week, trying to get back on Dallas time. I haven't been exactly on London time, kind of somewhere in between maybe. What is that like Iceland OV time, but I am getting a little bit more normal, at least as normal as I am going to be. I have my Bible open. I've got my sermon outline from yesterday. I'm ready to start the week. You know, the week you come back from vacation, it's kind of hard to get fully loaded and fully back into things. But yeah, I'm putting that behind me. Now. One more sip of this amazing coffee. Mm. Okay. I'm trying to put it behind me. And I'm trying to start this new week with you. Let's get started Yesterday. I preached a difficult sermon. I have held onto this sermon for a while. Very hard to talk about some of these kinds of things and not the kind of thing people really relish you talking about. I'm starting here for the podcast. Now out of second, Samuel chapter 21, verse 15, there was a war between the Philistines and Israel again. And David went down with his servants and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew Erie in ish Bina. One of the descends of the giants who spear weighed 300 chuckles bronze and who was armed with a new sword thought to kill David, but Abhi, the son of Zur came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's been sworn to him. You should no longer go out with us to battle unless you quench the lamp of Israel that is called a near death experience. David nearly got killed on the battlefield that day. That's a little known incident in David's life. Isn't it. And I began yesterday by talking about a near death experience. I thought that I just very well might have liver cancer. And as I told that story, things got pretty quiet and pretty still as everybody contemplated the results of what it would be to have liver cancer. And we all know where that ends up and how difficult that is for the people who are struggling with that and what they face and what they know that they are facing. And I guess as my extra thoughts here, as we begin this week, I just want us to think more about that. Moses in Psalm 90, my text yesterday urges us to number our days so that we would get a heart of wisdom. And the reality is we're pretty good at not numbering our days. We're pretty good at escaping the truths that the Bible sets before us. There are four of those yesterday. Death is certain Hebrews 9 27. I will stand in judgment. Second Corinthians 10 verse five. I could be lost in eternal hell Matthew 25 41. And I really want to go to heaven, revelation seven. We need to think more about those truths if we're going to get to that fourth truth. And as I tied that together yesterday, I said that there would be three reactions to the sermon. Some of you don't wanna think about your mortality for even a second, and you're just gonna push all of this aside and you haven't listened well today anyway, and I would like to expect that most of the people listening to a podcast on a Monday morning probably don't fit that. However I said, secondly, some are going to think about it now, but as soon as you get out of the church building, you're gonna go back to your normal lives. And that can happen. That can happen to people who are listening to a podcast. And that means I'm glad you're listening to this podcast because I'm pulling back up again, all of those thoughts and everything that we were working with yesterday morning, so that it will color what we are doing today on Monday. And it will change and affect us. That's that third reaction. Some of us are taking this to heart. You're thinking about it. And it's going to cause you to make plans for eternity. That is where we are. If we're serving the Lord as we should, if we're responding to the truth about death as we should. So if you've had a near death experience, just revisit that right now. Think about that. Don't push it away. Don't say you're too busy. Think about it. Think about how it affected you and think about if it's possible that today is your last day on this planet. Are you gonna be okay with that? When you stand up in front of the Lord, that's where we need to be. Don't forget to die. We're really good at forgetting that truth. I hope yesterday's sermon was sobering and made you think about that. And I hope I'm making you think about that again, that reality, that truth is what we need in our lives all the time. Let's carry that forward into the week. And in fact, our reading in Romans will help us with that. Get your Bible out. Let's think about Romans chapter five, This weekend daily Bible reading, we will complete Romans five, read all of Roman six and all of Romans seven. This is probably the section of Romans that maybe causes the most head scratching and can be the most difficult. I think these first couple of chapters, as we look at that label of church unity and stopping the fussing and fighting really fit that mold pretty well as Paul levels, the playing field. I like that metaphor very much and makes everybody realize they're in the same boat. All are centers, Gentiles and Jews all are saved the same way. Chapter four, everybody saved by faith, the faith way, not the law way. Then we get to chapter five. We read some of this on Friday and it's a little like, well, where are we going with this, Paul, what exactly are we doing? And I think maybe what helps us a little bit here is to skip ahead to Roman know, I'm not gonna jump the difficult section we're reading today, but I do want us to look ahead. Look at Roman six one. What should we say then are we to continuing sin that Grace May have found? Paul is very aware that there are folks who are charging him with teaching that in fact way back in chapter three and in verse eight, there he writes, why not do evil? That good may come. As some people slander charge us with saying so Paul is dealing with some of the objections and some of the problems that are being thrown up, that people are charging him with people, things that people are saying about him in Rome. And so he needs to get to this idea of San and grace, which I think helps us see that chapter five is a bridge section in chapter four, he discussed salvation. And so he says chapter five, verse one, since we have been justified made right forgiven by faith, we have peace with God. And as Paul then begins to develop some of those salvation ideas, this gives him an opportunity to work towards the idea of sin. And do we continue in sin that Grace May have found the more you sin, the more God sheds his grace? So don't worry about sin. In fact, sinning is a good thing. It just makes God look better, cuz he just gives us more. Grace. Paul absolutely does not teach that that's completely wrong. He needs to deal with that. But how do you go from talking about salvation to talking about sin and grace and that we don't sin more so that there'll be more, we gotta connect some of that up. And chapter five I think is the way that Paul works toward what he wants to say in chapter six. I hope that in context will help you a little bit. As you're working along here in the book of Romans, this is one of the places where I'm glad we're reading chunks and not just big chapters of it. It gives us a chance to, to slow down and observe the thought patterns and, and where Paul's going and how he's reasoning and what he's working with here. So as then, uh, we get to our reading today, chapter five versus 12 to 21, there's a comparison being set up here. And the comparison is that one person did something that affects everybody. And if you wanna make a comparison like that, that's a very difficult comparison to make because who in human history has affected everybody. We, we just don't have any kind of a store of sermon illustrations where I can just go get sermon illustration number 3 42. And everybody's nods their head and says, oh yeah, of course that guy Napoleon or Hitler or Stalin or Teddy Roosevelt. My favorite president. Okay. They had huge effect on lots and lots of people. But for example, they, they didn't affect all the people that lived before them who has had an effect on literally every living person. When I preach and write about this, I talk a little bit about Pandora's box because Pandora opens the FD box and all these evil things come out. And so that affects everybody on the planet, but that's a myth. So that doesn't really work. I would be pretty surprised for Paul to start talking about Pandora's box the answer. If you wanna talk about who has affected every living person ever, ever, ever more Evers, then the answer is Adam and Jesus. Those are the only two who've ever done that Adam has affected everyone in his choice, in the garden. And of course, Jesus affects everyone by what he has come to do. So Paul makes that comparison. As sin came into the world through one man and death spread to all men, he's probably talking about physical death there, even innocent babies die. So in the same way, death rain from Adam to Moses verse 14, but now Jesus is going to come and life is going to rain. He does say verse 15, don't make too much of this comparison. The free gift is not like the trespass, Adam and Jesus are not parallel in every way. So you wanna make certain that you're not overdoing it. Something that our Calvinist friends probably need to be a little bit more aware of, particularly because they're trying to teach original sin out of this, that we've all died because of Adam's sin. And that that's a theory that came about hundreds of years later, uh, very influential writer, Augustine, lots of people are really into him. He influenced John Calvin, uh, and, uh, Augustine's theology is still walking around and, and still causing a lot of problems because Augustine had certain preset notions when he came to the Bible. And, and then he just read that into the word of God. Paul doesn't know Augustine, and isn't worried about original sin. There's a ton of passages that show that's a false doctrine. Colosians two 13 Ephesians two, one. It's just a zillion places that show that we do not inherit Adam's sin in any shape, form or fashion. In fact, I'll talk a little bit about that in, in the sermon that's coming up, uh, this next Sunday. But the contrast in the midst of the comparison is that Christ does more than Adam did. His effect is even greater. Not in the numbers of people affected. They both affected everybody, but grace surpasses and out does sin. It can make alive with sin kills. That is a super important idea for Paul Paul in chapter six and chapter seven, as we read further this week is gonna talk more and more about sin and he's gonna personify sin. Sin becomes a monster. It eats us, it kills us. It destroys us and he wants to know who can slay the beast. And the answer is Jesus Christ. And so he's starting some of that. He's planting some of those ideas right here in our reading today. And so he says the forgive isn't like the result of that one man's sin. The result is even greater death reign through that one man, much more verse 17 will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, man, Jesus Christ. You might notice, uh, if you have an ESV in five 12 at the end of verse 12, there's a dash and then verses 13 to verse 17 are really a parenthesis. Now he picks the thought back up from verse 12 and verse 18 is really the key thought here. Therefore, as one trespas led to condemnation, so one act of righteousness leads to justification in life. For all men Christ has undone the work of Adam and notice again, the a that's working there, all men, all people can take advantage of what Jesus has done for as by one man's disobedience verse 19, the many were made sin. So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. That's a difficult verse. And, and we struggle a little bit to understand exactly where Paul is going with all of that. But I think he just means that all men are treated as centers. Uh, Paul in Silas, in X 16, they were put in the jailhouse as criminals and they were treated as criminals. They were not criminals and we all die physically. We are all reaping the results of Adam's choice. We are all dying physically, even though we did not make that choice in the garden. I think that's where he's going there. If this passage teaches inherited sin and inherited condemnation, then it would also have to teach universal salvation because it says by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. So if you're gonna take some of that and try to decide that we have inherited Adam sin. And so we're all condemned because of Adam sin, then the back end of the verse would say that because of Jesus, then we're all gonna be saved. That would be the universal disposition. And again, we can't take a passage where Paul is making use of an illustration and use that then to build this enormous hierarchy, bureaucracy, giant house of doctrine, and start wailing that all through the new Testament. And here's the passage that just cuts that apart. And we just beat it down, cuz we've already made this decision based on what Augustin or what John Calvin said. And, and so we're, we're working depravity and inherited depravity and universal or, or we're at the other end of it working in universal south. Don't don't do that. Don't don't do that. Let chapter five be what chapter five is, which is an illustration that Adam unleashed terrible things into this world by his choice. And Jesus has come to reverse that. That's where we are. That's what it's all about. And law doesn't help that law doesn't help that the law came verse 20 to increase the trespass. It's what helps it is grace. Grace is the only thing that can beat sin. So as sin reigned in death, grace will reign through righteousness, verse 21, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and look where Paul is now. Paul is exactly positioned where he wants to be. He can now answer the charge. Oh Paul, you just don't take sin. Seriously. You teach it's okay to sin. Cuz that just makes grace increase even all. The more that is the beginning of tomorrow's reading, I'll see you on Tuesday and we'll talk about, shall we continue in sin that Grace May have bound see you tomorrow? It is Tuesday. And we are reading in Romans chapter six versus one to 11, couple of quick notes here. As we get underway with our Bible reading, please be aware that this is not a chapter about baptism. Baptism is front and center in this chapter. And we use this chapter to help people understand the mode of baptism. And that certainly does work and that is appropriate, but that is not Paul's main emphasis. Paul's main emphasis is that something very significant happens in baptism that God does something completely awesome there. And I use the term awesome there in the best sense. I'm trying hard not to say when somebody catches a football in the end zone. Oh, that's awesome. No, it might be great. It might even win a ball game. It's not awesome. It's not awesome in the sense of what the Bible talks about is awesome. Roman six is awesome because God does something incredible in the waters of baptism. And Paul uses that to help the Roman believers understand better their relationship to sin. He's really answering two questions here in Romans chapter six and this, uh, I owe a great debt to Robert Turner who did some great writing on Romans and really helped me first does grace makes sin irrelevant? That's six one to 14 to sin no longer matter because we've been forgiven and then does freedom from law mean that we are free to sin and that's chapter six, 15 chapter seven. So watch both of those kinds of things. And I want to say again that Paul is very much about sin being personified. Just look at six 14, which is actually part of Wednesday's reading for sin will have no dominion over you. We think of sin in terms of a specific act. I did this thing, it was wrong. It was a sin, but Paul here sin will not have dominion over you. Sin is alive. It is a beast. It is a monster. It terrorizes you, it attacks you, it grabs you and enslaves you. So make sure that you're using Paul's definition. We talk about speaking, Paul, speak. Paul, how does Paul talk about sin here and how can I defeat the monster? That's a big part of what Paul is working in Roman six and Roman seven. In fact, that's a big part of what I'm gonna be working on Sunday as we push forward in Romans. And as we think further about sin in our own lives and our relationship to it, won't come exclusively outta Roman six and seven, but that's got to figure into it because that is the subject of our Bible reading this week. So do we continue in sin that Grace May have bound verse two? How can we, who died of sin still live in it? Notice the emphasis on continuing in sin and living in sin. Paul, isn't really talking here about one time sin. I, I, I did this thing. I, I told a lie or I, you know, I was, I was in this situation and I gossiped behind somebody's back. He's not talking about a one time sin. He's talking about continuing in sin. He's talking about those who are charging that Paul doesn't take sin seriously that he's green lighting sand. Just let those Gentiles just set up a storm. It'll all be fine. No big worries. God just forgives him. That's where he is. And Paul doesn't mean that the Christian never, ever sins. He knows that we continue from time to time to sin. That's verse 11, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God. So he knows that Christians can sin. But he also says that we have been changed by baptism. We were buried with him by baptism into death. We've been baptized into Jesus, baptized into his death versus three and four. We've been United with him in a death like his. So we've been raised to walk in newness of life. And so verse six, the point here is what God does in baptism the water, the act of baptizer, none of that has any power. There is no magic. There there's nothing going on on the Baptist street. The west side church of Christ that is special, unique. Woo. Our water glows. Nope, I'm in that water a lot. And I can tell you it's just water. What's special is what God does in the baptistry in the Creek, in the river, in the pool, in the bathtub. When somebody is baptized into Christ, God does something unique. He sets them free from sin because sin and death no longer have dominion over you because you have died to sin and you arise to live to God. That is the emphasis in Romans chapter six, that baptism changes us. It changes who we are from the inside out. One of my favorite Bible scholars does some great writing, photograph, everything that he ever says. But, um, Jack Cotrell did some writing here and he said in this new life, we look upon sin as our hated and defeated enemy. We look upon God's law with loving reverence and we regard obedience to his law. Not only is our duty, but also is our delight. There has been a change before I sin and I didn't care. I reveled in sin. It didn't bother me. I wanted more and more of sin. Now I may still sin, but I don't want to sin. And I hate that I sin and I'm trying not to sin because I'm a new person in Christ. There is something new inside me. There's been a change in my inner man and our reading tomorrow will further that idea as we continue Roman chapter six, let me just say this. Read Roman six one to 11 again and again and again, and again, let that sink in so that your inner man is changed. Sometimes we just think of baptism as saving us. And we say so much about baptism being necessary to salvation because it is. And because that's not understood today. And we have to say all that stuff that we forget that baptism does more than just wash away your sins act 2 38. It does more than save you first, Peter 3 21. It does more than write your name in the lambs book of life as the book of revelation. So beautifully describes baptism changes you from the inside out praise God. That is what God is doing in the baptistry. And that is awesome. See, tomorrow as we continue to talk about what an incredible thing God has done to set us free from the monster of sin, see you on Wednesday. It is Wednesday and today we'll complete Romans chapter six, beginning in verse 12. But before we do that, let's just look ahead a little bit. What's going on tonight at west side, as we continue our summer series on the deadly dozen tonight, I am really excited. David Watson is coming. I have known David forever, but I have never got to hear him preach. I am excited to hear David's lesson tonight. And here is David to tell you a little about what he will be talking about this evening, David.

Hi everybody. This is David Watson. And I look forward to talking to you tonight about the lion's tales. Deception is one of the devil's favorite tools. And one of the lies from the devil is this. You are all there is. In other words, God doesn't exist. And if you were educated enough, you would know better than to believe in God or to believe in creation or any of that stuff. And then from that lie comes another lie. You are what matters most. So if God doesn't exist, humans are at the top of the food chain. The devil wants us to swallow the philosophy of selfishness. And then the third lie gets down to the day to day matters. You can do whatever you want. And thus, our society is an absolute moral train wreck today. And so we're gonna spend a few minutes tonight confronting those lives with God's truth. We absolutely need to guard against the mass confusion that has taken hold of people today and make sure that we are standing on solid truth. So thanks for having me. I'll see you there tonight.

Thank you, David. I am, as I said, very excited to get to hear David for the first time this evening, and I'm intrigued by his topic and how he's breaking that out. I do think there's a lot of deception in our world today and he will help us. I am sure tonight from the word of God, let's do our daily Bible reading before we get there. Let's look at Romans chapter six versus 12 to 23. This is not a difficult section at all. We've had a couple of passages, a couple of paragraphs of Romans that have been a little bit rough sledding. This is not that difficult. I've used the expression that sin is a beast or sin is a monster. Maybe I'll change my metaphor a little bit here, or maybe I'll let Paul change it for me there in verse 13, he says, don't present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death into life and your members to God, as instruments for righteousness for sin will have no dominion over you. Verse 14, sin here is being portrayed as a dictator, as a tyrant, as a master. And Paul then develops the idea that everybody has a master. Now that's hard for us Americans. We're pretty sure that we don't. We are free and nobody's in charge of me and I'm gonna do what I wanna do. And we're seeing a whole lot more of that in our society today. And of course that is absolute nonsense. Everybody's serving somebody if you're serving yourself, yeah, you have a master sin. Then that's where Paul is here in Roman's chapter six. Don't forget verse 16. Do you not know that you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slave slaves are the one to whom you obey. Don't forget that in new Testament times, people actually would present themselves into slavery to take care of debts and financial problems. So that could actually happen. And Paul uses that idea then of being a slave descend. Now we're a slave to righteousness because we've become obedient from the heart verse 17 verse 19. I love how he says here. I I'm speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. As the preacher, I feel that sometimes you use a sermon illustration and it just, it just misses the mark and somebody comes out and they say, what about this and this and this and this. And you're like, oh wow, whoa, whoa. I was not going there. I wasn't even talking about that. Why are you thinking about that? That is not, that was, it was just an illustration. And so Paul says, I'm just making some illustrations here, but you need to know centers don't care about what's right. Verse 20. They don't care about God. They don't care about church. They don't care about morals. They don't care about other people. They just do what they wanna do. And that leads to no good place. Verse 21, we need to say that more sin looks so wonderful and everybody's just living it up and having a great time. Hey, there are consequences to sin. There's no price to sin and it's not good. You have to pay for that. And, and I don't just mean an eternity. Paul, isn't just talking about an eternity. The end of those things is death. The end of those things is just death. That is not the way to real living the way to real living the way to not just eternal life, but life, life real life is in Jesus Christ. The wages of sin is death. The wages, the free gift of God, the, the wages of serving the Lord is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord in verse 23. So Paul has completely destroyed the idea that he doesn't care about sin. He isn't worried about sin, that he minimizes sin, that he tells people it's okay to sin all that they wanna sin because that'll just have God forgiven him all. The more Paul says what a bunch of nonsense that is our relationship to sin is changed because of who we are in Christ Jesus, because of what happened to us, what God did to us when we were baptized. And so that sets him up then to talk about the relationship that Christians have to law, because there's a whole bunch of Jews who are standing there saying maybe they're sitting, I guess in the Roman assembly, they're all in a pew. And they're saying, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. We gotta have some laws or things are just gonna run'em up here. Is that really going to happen? Is that really what will occur? Paul needs to talk about the relationship of Christians to law. We need to think about that. Sometimes Christians love rules and regulations, and Paul deals with that in our Bible reading tomorrow, Romans chapter seven, see you Thursday. We'll be reading Roman seven one to 10. It is Thursday. And today we're reading Romans chapter seven versus one to 10. Maybe somewhere in here, you're asking mark what happened to that division between Jew and Gentiles. I thought that's what the book of Romans was all about. Welcome to Romans chapter seven. It is here. It is front end center. Look at Roman seven one. Do you not know brothers from speaking to those who know the law? Who is that? Yeah, that's Jews Jews know the law of Moses and the Jews are using the law of Moses holding onto the law of Moses. And that is causing some of the division and some of the troubles that's going on in the congregation in Rome because they won't let go of it because they are sure that they still need to keep it. And one of the ways that Jewish brethren would justify that is to say, if we turn loose of this law, these Gentiles, these pagans, they are gonna get involved in sin. Like you cannot even imagine. Do you know the kind of lies that they used to live before they were baptized? You tell them they're not under law. There is going to be some sin in here. Like you have not ever seen. We have got to have some rules. We need to keep the law. Paul uses an illustration of death, changing our relationships. That's the illustration of marriage that he uses in two and three. Don't think that's really the best place in the whole wide world to learn everything there is to know about marriage, divorce, Marine marriage, somehow Roman seven and two, two, and three gets into that conversation. And I, I, the illustration is true, but that's certainly not his major point. His major point is that we have diverse four to the law. So now we have a changed relationship. And Paul then is going to say that the law isn't really the answer to the sin problem. Now, historically, typically the temptation has always been to make more rules, get more rigid in our law. Keeping if we just had more regulations, we could get people to do what's right. And we see that everywhere. The monasteries of the middle ages, the EENs writing down at the dead sea tons and tons of rules and regulations about anything and about everything. I think about the Puritans and all their regulations covering even what to wear. What we will do is we'll just get enough rules and people then will be right. We will regulate sin right out of our lies. We will outlaw it. Paul says, no, you won't. Because what law does is gives sin a place to attack us. And here again, here it comes here is sin being seen as a beast as, as a monster, as this hideous and horrible boogeyman that comes after us looking for a place where it can climb into our lives and take us over. And that place is exactly law. We can't blame the law. No, no. The law comes from God and the law is perfect. Don't be blaming the old law. God gave the old law. The problem isn't the law. The problem is the material. The law was working with humans. We are weak and our flesh that's our physical body. Our flesh has desires and those desires are aroused by law. As soon as you, oh, every parent knows this. As soon as you say to a child, you can't do that. What is the one thing that child wants to do? They can't stop thinking about it. And as a preacher, I always always consider this. If I get up and preach on the latest bestselling book, don't be reading this. What is everybody gonna? Yep. They're all gonna go buy that book and read it. You tell everybody, oh, you better not go see this movie folks are. They want to go see it? What, what what's in that movie? I gotta know sin and our desires in our flesh work together to give a landing point to give a beachhead. Maybe that's the word I'm thinking of. And looking for gives a beachhead to sin, to create temptation and to draw us away from the Lord. That's what can happen. As a result of law, the law is not bad. Verse seven, but sin seizes an opportunity verse eight, to bring sin into our lives. So think about this. Think about this. A law approach to God will never bring us what we want. A deep, meaningful, joyous relationship to God thinking about Christianity and God in that way, makes God primarily into the law giver with a whip in his hand to keep us in line. He is looking all the time to catch us for where we have sinned, where we have done what's wrong. Our motivation is to keep the law so that we don't get into trouble. It's all about threats. It's all about punishment. It's all about hell. It's okay to talk about hell. We ought to talk about hell, have talked about hell last Sunday, but that's not the fullest expression and the bestest best. This is not a word, but it should be the bestest way to serve the Lord. And to know God, what that does when we're all about rules is that leaves us outwardly trying to keep the law, but inwardly, we hate it. We hate the law giver and we want to be free to do what we want ever known. Somebody who ditched Christianity and ran off into wild paganism. There's a pretty good chance that they were into the law side of Christianity. And they did not know about what Paul is teaching here in Romans chapter seven and sin attacked them through the commandment. And eventually, even though the commandments are good, holding in righteous, eventually sin drag them off, or they went willingly with sin to gratify the desires of the flesh more on this tomorrow as we close Romans chapter seven, and as Paul talks about the struggle that we could have when we get all about the law, because Paul wants us to serve the Lord, not out of fear that we're gonna get caught breaking the rules, but because we've been filled with the spirit, that's a totally different approach. And Paul is ready to get that approach on the table so that both Jew and Gentile can serve the Lord. And the Jews who are holding onto law can realize that is not gonna work. That has never been what God wanted us to use to serve him in the best possible way. More of that tomorrow. I'll see you on Friday, Romans chapter seven versus 11 to 25. Well, you made it. It is Friday. And today we finish Romans chapter seven, one of the most famous set of verses in all of the book of Romans, maybe even in all of the Bible, I'm going to open with this passage on Sunday, where Paul talks about how he isn't doing what he wants to do. I don't understand my own actions. He says in verse 15, I do not do what I want, but I do the very things that I hate. One of the questions that continues outta Romans chapter seven is when exactly is Paul talking about this struggle to do what's right. I can't do what's right. Kind of thing. Going on in his life is this before he was a Christian or is this the struggle that he experiences as a Christian? And there's a good case to be made for either side. I'm not gonna work all of that in the sermon. That's really not what I'm going for in the lesson. I'm gonna use this as an illustration. Paul uses some illustrations. I'm gonna use Paul as an illustration on Sunday, but I think there's probably a good case here to be made that Paul is thinking about before he was a Christian that under the law, uh, as using the laws a basis for relationship with God just doesn't work. It just doesn't get you there. You struggle with keeping the rules, the trouble with that is that is never really how Paul talks about his life as a Jew. When Paul discusses his life as a Jew, he never says Judaism was so hard and I just couldn't do it. So I became a Christian. No. Paul talks about himself as a Jew and says, you know, I was a great Jew. I was really good at doing that. And, and it really was working out great for me until I saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. And I realized there was something a whole lot better. So, uh, it fits in this context, but it kind of doesn't fit the overall context of Paul's life, which as we're reading in Paul's life this year, you may be thinking that as you read through this, this doesn't really sound like Paul. Uh, but maybe it does deal with the despair that someone has in trying to fulfill Moses' law before they come to Christ. Others have seen this as Paul has a Christian show trying to overcome sin on his own, in the passage does speak of future deliverance, who will deliver me from this body of death. So that kind of goes counter to the idea that this is Paul as a Christian and particularly the real trouble here is verse 17. It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me and chapter six, Paul just said, we are dead to sin. We have a new, we are a new creature. We are a new person. So how does Roman seven 17 jive with what he says in Romans chapter six? I'm really uncomfortable with that really uncomfortable with that. Lots of people see this as Paul as a Christian. I think there's really some big problems with that. Um, maybe, maybe that's sad. The best answer to is this Paul as a Jew, is this Paul as a Christian is to say that it's, it's neither in its both. Maybe Paul doesn't want us to put this text neatly into one box or the other. If you are an believer, the law shows that you are a center. It shows that you deserve to die. You can't keep the rules and regulations. And if you're a Christian, the law still be the law of Christ then is still the basis of operations used by sin. And it still shows us that we are not what we ought to be. And that complete deliverance from sin is, is going to be something that we struggle with. And that, that we are always trying to overcome sin in our lives. That is exactly what I wanna talk about on Sunday morning, but maybe the main point here is that we need God's help. And that being good is just not going to be good enough that sin will overcome us. If we are fighting it on our own, that's where Paul ends up. I need some help who will deliver me, who will deliver me from this body of death, verse 24. It's Jesus Christ. Our Lord, that is going to help us specifically because being in Christ gives me access to the spirit, the spirit of life. And that is Romans chapter eight. And that's where we're headed next week, as we read what is easily, one of the greatest chapters in all of the Bible, Romans eight, read through this in Roman seven, maybe make your own decision. Is this Paul before he became a Christian? Is this the life of a Christian still struggling, still needing something besides just your own power and strength. Think about that. That'll help you as we get ready to talk about some of the issues Christians still struggle with, and we're gonna do that on Sunday morning. Well, thanks for reading the Bible with me and thanks for listening patiently. As I'm looking at my timer, I'm realizing, wow, this was a monster of a podcast. But as I said to Dina, you don't just wing Romans five and six and seven. These are some heavy duty passages with a lot of implications and a lot of important ideas want to get all of that, or at least some of that out for you as we work in our daily Bible reading. But I do appreciate you listening. And I hope that if you're liking the Monday morning coffee podcast, you have, you are subscribing. You are following the podcast so that it'll drop automatically into your app would love for you to give a review that helps more people find it would love for you to share it on social media, tell other people, Hey, this will help your daily Bible reading. It'll help you get your week started, right? Listen to this podcast. It'll provide spiritual energy and momentum for you all week long. So until next time until Monday, I hope your coffee is delightful. I hope your Friday is wonderful. I hope the Lord is with you today all day. I hope to see you on Sunday. And I know that you'll be listening on Monday as I work with the sermon. And as I work with daily Bible reading all of that with, with a cup of coffee. Thanks for listening.

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