The Deceitfulness of Sin 120506

Romans 7:7-13 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? 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.” 8 But sin, ‍seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ‍For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment ‍that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, ‍seizing an opportunity through the commandment, ‍deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So ‍the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, 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.

Romans 5:12 tells us at the same time that Adam first rebelled against God's rule over him something called "Sin" entered the world. This is not just talking about acts of sin we commit. Many times when the word "sin" is used, especially in Romans 6-8, it is talking about a powerful force that entered mankind. Looking over Romans 7 we quickly see that “Sin” often refers to an evil power against which the Christian battles. Adam's trespass led to condemnation for all men. The law came alongside of "Sin" to increase the trespass and Sin reigned. (Romans 5:18-21) In our chosen text the Apostle tells us twice that sin, "seizing an opportunity through the commandment" worked in him all kinds of covetousness, deceived him and killed him. Paul uses himself as an example of how sin deceives but it applies to us all.

Is the law evil? Paul could imagine this question in the minds of his readers and he had a ready answer.
No way! Galatians 3:21 tells us, “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For ‍if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.” The law was never intended to produce justification or sanctification. If it were possible for the law to produce salvation then Jesus died for nothing. When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;” there was no answer. If anyone’s prayer should be answered with a positive “yes” it would be Jesus’. But he went on to say, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” If there could’ve been any other way of salvation apart from the sacrifice of Jesus, the Father would have sent in the angels and removed his Son from this world. Jesus did what the law could not! He paid the price for our sins! Put your trust in him!

The law exposes the nature of sin. In the sermon on the Mount Jesus illustrated this truth, Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‍‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ‍to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that ‍everyone who is angry with his brother‍ will be liable ‍to judgment; whoever insults‍ his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to ‍the hell‍ of fire” and verses 27 & 28 say, ‍“You have heard that it was said, ‍‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that ‍everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Here Jesus teaches the truth that the “sins” committed on the outside for everyone to see is activated by “Sin” on the inside that no one can see. To desire to sin is sin. Obviously there are differences in consequences but the desire is sin. Ultimately the law is spiritual. “The law is concerned with the man’s heart and his ultimate attitude to God.” ( D, Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Romans)

The law is designed to bring us to Christ. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:23-26, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ‍imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, ‍the law was our ‍guardian until Christ came, ‍in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus ‍you are all sons of God, through faith.” The word translated here as “guardian” in the original language refers to a tutor or a guide for young boys. We might use the word “mentor” instead. Normally this person would be very strict and would compel the boys to do their lessons. When I was in college one of my teachers was Dr. Don Stewart. Dr. Stewart told us about a painting he saw, it may have been on a vase, that showed two students sitting facing a teacher with a man sitting behind them holding a stick in his hand. This man illustrated the meaning of the word used here. The law compels us toward the only salvation available! And that is in Christ Jesus. I pray that you have received him as your Lord and entered into that salvation.

Sin is a powerful force. And:
Adam delivered us up to it. Dr. Bill Gilham In his book, Lifetime Guarantee, tells us: “When Adam sinned against God's authority, not only did his innocent spirit die to God so that he had no life toward God, but his spirit instantly became one with Satan. Adam's dead spirit was instantly unified with Satan's spirit, the Power of Sin. This Power of Sin entered into Adam and took control over him spirit, soul, and body. He became Satan's spirit-offspring, born of the same rebellion as he, a dead-to-God spirit being in human form totally submissive to Satan.” We can see this in the statement of Jesus to the Jews in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. ‍He was a murderer from the beginning, and ‍has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. ‍When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Paul also says in Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you were ‍dead in the trespasses and sins 2 ‍in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following ‍the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ‍the sons of disobedience — 3 among whom we all once lived in ‍the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body‍ and the mind, and ‍were by nature ‍children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Please understand, the moment we entered Earth’s atmosphere in our Earth suit we were spiritually ”DOA”. We were occupied territory, captive to our enemy and unable to deliver ourselves — but we were NOT without hope.

God pointed that out to Cain in Genesis 4:7 God says, “‍If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. ‍Its desire is for‍ you, but you must rule over it.”

Note, here God speaks of sin as “its” or “it” but this word should be translated “his” and “him” as in the King James Version. What God said was, “sin is crouching at the door. His desire is for you, but you must rule over him”. You see; here “sin” is a masculine pronoun. In many places in Scripture sin is referred to as a noun or pronoun. When “sin” is a verb it refers to specific acts that are wrong. When “sin” is a noun or pronoun it refers to a powerful force planted in human nature when Adam rebelled against God and died spiritually. When Adam died spiritually we died spiritually in him.

Sin is a slave master. We should be clear, a person as either a slave to sin, or a slave to grace. There is no middle ground, or third option! In Romans 6:16, Paul wrote, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves ‍to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” Notice that Paul puts over against “sin”, not faith, but “obedience”. John also emphasizes obedience in his gospel, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ‍whoever does not obey the Son shall not ‍see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (3:36) By saying, “present yourselves” and “obedient slaves” Paul is pointing out that we’re either a slave to sin or, a slave of obedience. The first leads to death the second leads to righteousness. Having been born again the believer puts on new life, joins a new family, breaks with the old master and becomes obedient to the new one. However, Sin has helped us to develop flesh patterns that puts him in charge. If you haven’t been in the adult Sunday school class then you may not know what flesh patterns are. The definition we use for flesh is: “Those patterns of behavior used for satisfying my needs independently of God and His grace. Patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that I have walked in through the years in my private world and on which I have relied to get my God-given needs met—apart from Christ.” These patterns form the habits of our life and have been trained to respond to our master "Sin". Even though we have been set free we still have the ingrained habits of the old life. When Satan/Sin speaks to us he doesn't appear smelling of sulfur and waving a pitchfork. In fact, he speaks with your voice and he uses first person singular pronouns. "I am a sinner". "I'm no good". "I'm a failure". "I should (fill in the blank)". Or even, “I must (fill in the blank)” or, “I can’t help myself”. And if we are not careful we will follow our old master and go down in defeat.

It’s not the law but the deceitfulness of sin.
In answer to the question, “Is the law sin?” Paul tells us that it is holy, righteous and good. The Law is holy it is the absolute opposite of sin and evil. Throughout the Bible we are told that “God is holy”. So the commandment, the whole of the law, can be summed up in this way, “You shall be holy, for I am holy”. 1 Peter 1:13 Paul goes on to say that the law is righteous. The law has been given, it is plain and clear, it has told us what will happen if we don’t obey it. For example, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were clearly told what the result of their disobedience would be and they had no grounds to complain. The same is true of us today. Then Paul said, “the commandment is good”. The law is good for man, it shows us what sin is. The law shows us what we are to be and how we ought to live. The psalmist tells us in Psalm 19:7, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul…”

Sin used the law to produce death. Romans 7:5, “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work ‍in our members ‍to bear fruit for death.” This would cause us to think that the law itself bore fruit unto death. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul asked the question in verse thirteen, “Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?” His answer is emphatic! “By no means!” You see it was not the law — it was Sin that used the law to stir up covetousness, to be more specific, in modern language lust! Satan doesn’t want to use theology to defeat us. What he does is appeal to the senses. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were confronted with the question of whether God existed or whether God was good. Instead they were confronted with the law and made to think that the forbidden fruit would make them wise. They were deceived into believing that eating the fruit would make them like God! Then after they toyed with that idea they examined the fruit and found that it was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes. So they followed their flesh and the human race fell into bondage to Sin. Why would God allow this? Why would God allow his holy, righteous and good law to be used by the enemy to draw us into bondage?

God had a purpose. Romans 3:20 tells us, “For ‍by works of the law no human being‍ will be justified in his sight, since ‍through the law comes knowledge of sin.” The law gives us an understanding of sin. It was never meant to justify a sinner. The law was never intended to be a way of salvation. The problem the Jews were facing in Paul’s day was that they had attempted to build a relationship with God based on the works of the law. When we get to chapter 9 we will go into more detail on that subject. All the law does is make us aware that we are a failure. On the outside we may appear to be okay but on the inside we know we have failed. God’s whole purpose in the law is to bring men to see they needed a Savior.

Is the law evil? No, of course not! The law exposes the nature of sin. And sin is not just doing wrong Sin is a powerful force ingrained in our flesh that draws us away from God. The force of Sin uses the law to inflame our covetousness or lust. And God allows that to show us how exceedingly wrong sin is. Jesus took that Sin to the cross and nailed it there. He took our very nature so that we could die to Sin and live to God. Having been born into the family of Adam and Eve we were born spiritually dead. Accepting Christ as Savior and Lord brings us into a new birth that sets us free from bondage and gives us a new family. We have new spiritual DNA. We have a new genealogy as children of God. We have been given the power to break free from our former slave master. If God is speaking to you to come to salvation in Christ I hope you’ll respond today. If you’ve been letting your former slave master order you around I hope you’ll recognize the freedom you have been given in Christ Jesus. Turn to him today, he died to set you free!

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.