The Law is Good - Rom 7:12
March 12, 2023
many laughed at my donut last week… science says donuts make people happier…
There is actual science behind the way people feel. Anytime something expected and good happens, like a donut, it triggers a surge of dopamine that says ‘oh yeah, this is great.’ For a lot of people, this means more donuts to eat. —Stephen Benning - UNLV Psychology Professor
for it to be good… must know whole purpose of a donut… it’s not a good frisbee… pretty lousy hammer… not real romantic… whole counsel of a donut is to eat it…
whole counsel of God is the gospel… whole counsel, plan, purpose, will of God is all about Jesus… whole counsel of God is good… did you know th elaw is good…
Rom 7:12… “the law is holy, righteous and good…”
how is that possible… must know the whole purpose of the law…
favorite passage of scripture… law has glory, brings death and condemnation…
2 Cor 3:5-18… “not qualified to do anything on our own… our qualification comes from God… He has enabled us to be ministers of a NC… not of written laws, but of the Spirit… OC ends in death, under NC the Spirit gives life… the old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the HS is giving life… if the old way, which brinds conemnation, was glorious… how much more glorious is the new way… that first glory was not glorious at all compared to overwhelming glory of the new way… the old way has been replaced… the new way remains forever…”
don’t realize we’re prisoners of sin… actually think we’re free when we’re not…
Luke 4:18… “sent Me to proclaim freedom for prisoners… set captives free…”
Rom 6:16-20… “slaves of sin leading to death…”
Rom 7:14… “the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual… sold as a slave to sin…”
Rom 8:15… “you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear…”
Gal 3:22… “Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin…”
Gal 4:3… “we were slaves to the basic principles of the world…”
Gal 5:1… “Christ has set us free… don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery…”
Heb 2:15… “Jesus… freed those held in slavery all their lives by fear of death…”
Paul didn’t even know sin was sin until the law came and showed him…
Rom 7:7-13… “is the law sinful, absolutely not… it was the law that showed me my sin… would never have known coveting is wrong if the law had not said, you must not covet… sin used what was good to bring about my death…”
We’re prisoners and our bodies are the prisons. The effects of sin are felt in our bodies and minds. This is why Paul refers to the sin in me and the body of sin (Rom 7). Since we experience sin in the flesh, the temptation is to respond to sin in the flesh. But sin is stronger than our flesh. We may think we can resist sin thru sheer willpower, but it’s a lost cause. This is why we need the law… not to help us win against sin, but to lose, and lose quickly. —Dr. Paul Ellis
Reveal Sin
what is the whole counsel of the law… one of its purposes is to reveal sin… I’m a good person… compared to what… all fall short… only God is good… don’t know that until the law comes along and reveals who we really are and what we do…
Mark 10:18… “no one is good except God alone…”
Rom 3:19-23… “the purpose of the law is to keep people from having excuses… the knowledge of sin comes thru law… all have sinned and fall short of glory…”
Rom 7:7… I would not have known sin if it were not for the law…”
Increase Sin
are you ready for this… the law increases sin, not decreases sin… Paul tried to fight sin by his own efforts of keeping the law… how’d that work for him… or us…
Rom 5:20… “the law came along so that sin might increase…”
pleonazo… superabound/ exist in abundance, increase, be augmented…
Rom 7:8… “sin, seizing an opportunity produced in me coveting of every kind…”
Rom 7:14-21… “the toruble is not with the law, it is good… I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it… instead, I do what I hate… if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good… so I am not the one doing wrong, it is sin living in me… I want to do what is right, but I can’t… I want to do what is good, but I don’t… I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway… I have discovered this principle… when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong…
Power of Sin
law is not power over sin… actually the power OF sin… law makes sin stronger… putting more rules and restrictions on behavior doesn’t work, it fails miserably… discourages us because we fight against sin with something that gives it power…
Rom 6:14… “sin will not rule over you… because you are not under law…”
1 Cor 15:56… “the power of sin is the law…”
Gal 5:16-26… “walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh… if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law…”
Col 2:21-23… “don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch… such rules are mere human teachings… they may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily disciple… but they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires…”
Titus 2:11-14… “grace… instructs us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts…”
God didn’t give us the law to help overcome sin. The law is meant to help sin overcome you. The law ministers death. It does this by demanding we perform day in and day out. It screams, try harder, don’t you want to do your best for Jesus? Eventually we collapse and give up. —Dr. Paul Ellis
Point us to Jesus
ultimate purpose of law is to point us to Jesus… that’s why it’s good… law is not your teacher, friend, protector, guide, savior… if you have met Jesus, the law has fulfilled its purpose… no longer need it… dismiss it as a good and faithful servant…
Rom 6:2… how can we who died in sin still live in it…”
Rom 10:4 AMP… “Christ is the end of othe law [limit at which is ceases to be, in Him the purpose for which it was designed is fulfilled, the purpose of the law is fulfilled in Him]…”
Gal 3:19-26… “we no longer need the law as our guardian and teacher… is the law contrary to God’s promises… certainly not… for if a law has been given which was able to impart life… then righteousness would have indeed bbeen based on law… the law, then, was our guardian until Christ… so we could be justified by faith…”
now you know the purpose of the law… rejoice, give thanks… not under it any longer… you’ve been rescued and set free… law is good, grace is better…
Rom 7:22-25… “I love God’s law with all my heart… what a miserable person I am… who will rescue me from this body of death… thanks be to God for Jesus…”