011 SLAVERY REMEMBERED: My Futile Effort

Romans 7:13-23

August 17, 2025

Alright, tonight we come to it!

THE passage.

· It is certainly one of the most debated passages among those who strive to be faithful expositors of Scripture.

And the main question of debate is this:

Is Paul referring to a redeemed or unredeemed man in this passage?

IT IS CLEAR THAT WE SEE

· A battle inside of a man.

· A battle which the man laments losing.

· Some hold that Paul is referring to his former life before salvation.

· Some say, “No, Paul is referring to the life of a mature believer who has drawn near to God and really hates the sin which remains in his life.”

I think you all probably know by now which view I take.

I believe Paul is referring to the unregenerate man.

I believe Paul is using himself as an example prior to salvation.

And I’ll show you why as we work through the text.

But in fairness, I do want to point out that if you disagree with my assessment here that you are certainly in good company.

John MacArthur writes:

“It seems rather that Paul is here describing the most spiritual and mature of Christians, who, the more they honestly measure themselves against God’s standards of righteousness the more they realize how much they fall short. The closer we get to God, the more we see our own sin. Thus it is immature, fleshly, and legalistic persons who tend to live under the illusion that they are spiritual and that they measure up well by God’s standards. The level of spiritual insight, brokenness, contrition, and humility that characterize the person depicted in Romans 7 are marks of a spiritual and mature believer, who before God has no trust in his own goodness and achievements.”

(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8; Moody Publishers; Chicago, IL; 1991] pg. 379)

I’m not going to quote every person who disagrees, but I don’t mind telling you that square in stride with John MacArthur is also R.C. Sproul and John Piper.

I even chuckled as we were on vacation a few weeks ago while reading J.C. Ryle’s book “Holiness”; he commented in his introduction that he thinks it’s a bad mistake to see Romans 7 the way I see it.

He even went on to say:

“What I do lay stress upon is the broad fact that the best commentators in every era of the church have almost invariably applied the seventh chapter of Romans to advanced believers. The commentators who do not take this view have been, with a few bright exceptions, the Romanists, the Socinians, and the Arminians.”

(Ryle, J.C. [Holiness; Banner of Truth Trust; Carlysle, PA; 2016] xviii)

It’s one thing to say on this topic

· I’m not in the camp of MacArthur, Sproul, Piper or Ryle,

But J.C. Ryle actually threw me in the camp of

· “Romanists (Roman Catholics),

· Socinians (Reject Trinity and Deity of Christ),

· And Arminians.”

And I’ll be honest, I went back to their arguments this past week

With every intention of being proven wrong, publicly eating my words,

And preaching this text squarely in the camp of my heroes.

BUT I CAN’T.

Martin Lloyd-Jones, who is another hero who really sort of straddled the fence here encouraged his congregation to proceed with humility and “seek that ‘unction’ and ‘anointing’ form ‘the Holy One,’ for the matter with which we are dealing is beyond the realm of grammar and intellectual dexterity.”

Quoted in: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/lloyd-jones-believer-or-unbeliever-is-not-point-of-romans-7/

And that is what have endeavored to do here.

To humble myself and seek God’s insight in a passage

That has divided some of the greatest theological minds

And Bible expositors throughout history.

All I can do is show you why I am compelled

To interpret the passage the way I do.

I readily admit that I do not know Greek.

· I do not have that tool in my arsenal.

I have not been to seminary.

· I do not have that foundation.

BUT I DO HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT.

· I do have the right to pray to God for insight.

· And in this chapter, as always, I lean heavily on that.

I do study the Greek words to the best of my ability,

I do read as many theologians and their arguments as I can,

But for me, ultimately context rules my conclusion.

Where Paul has been and where Paul is going

Matters greatly to my understanding of where we are.

LET ME REMIND YOU FIRST OF WHERE WE HAVE BEEN.

We looked at: FREEDOM REVEALED

And we cannot miss the CHIEF AND CROWNING POINT

That, by reason of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ

BELIEVERS IN CHRIST ARE FREE.

There is zero debate which can be had on this point.

Romans 6:6-7 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Leading Paul to give such an emphatic command:

Romans 6:12-14 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Freedom is the name of the game.

John 8:34-36 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

Paul has been emphatic that we are free.

· We are no longer slaves to sin.

· We are free from sin’s power.

· We are free from sin’s penalty.

· We are free.

Romans 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”

I hope that is sufficient.

Paul went further in ch. 7 indicating that not only are we free from sin,

But we are ALSO FREE FROM THE JURISDICTION OF THE LAW.

Romans 7:1 “Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?”

Applying this axiom to us, Paul wrote:

Romans 7:4 “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”

When we were identified with Christ in His death,

It not only put an end to our slavery to sin,

But it also put an end to our jurisdiction under the Law.

And this freedom from the Law was necessary

So that we could be joined to Christ and thus be fruitful before God.

THAT IS ALSO INDISPUTABLE.

AND THEN COMES the first verse that I think is absolutely crucial to our understanding of the Romans 7 passage.

Romans 7:5 “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.”

It is the verse were Paul laid the groundwork

For HOW the Law ultimately secures our death.

Paul is clearly speaking there of an UNREGENERATE man “in the flesh”.

AND HE MAKES IT CLEAR THAT

· In that unredeemed condition the Law is of no benefit in making us fruitful.

· The Law actually worked with our flesh to make us “bear fruit for death.”

AND WE SAY:

WHAT DO YOU MEAN PAUL?

And then comes Romans 7:7-25

Which serve as A COMMENTARY on that verse.

NOW WE SAW PART OF THAT COMMENTARY THIS MORNING.

We said that regarding the Law

There were two major misconceptions that must be corrected.

1) THE LAW IS THE PROBLEM

As we saw, there are those who think that.

· Law just gets in the way.

· It’s like regulations that slow down progress and efficiency.

· If laws were gone then we’d be free.

As we learned this morning that is false.

The law is not the problem, SIN IS.

The Law merely exposes sin.

· Now, when sin is exposed it also rises to the occasion and rebels

· So that the sin problem actually gets worse after the law exposes it.

· But that doesn’t change that the law is not the problem.

In fact Paul said:

Romans 7:12 “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

SO THE LAW IS NOT THE PROBLEM.

We would even take it further into our TEXT TONIGHT

(13) “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”

It is yet another question from Paul.

“Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me?”

IN OTHER WORDS, “DID THE LAW KILL ME?”

And what is the answer? “May it never be!”

“Rather it was sin”

SO WHY THE LAW?

“in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”

The Law was not the problem, but it revealed the problem.

It showed you just how terrible and nasty sin really is.

YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND

· The depth of evil in your enemy.

· How awful your adversary is.

· Who you are up against.

YOU DARE NOT UNDERESTIMATE HIM.

If you do, you’ll try to defeat him with insufficient weapons.

You need to know how big and bad and ugly and strong he is.

· The Law shows you that.

· The Law shows you that “sin [is] utterly sinful.”

To see Law as the problem is a misconception.

But that is not the only misconception.

What is the other?

2) THE LAW IS THE SOLUTION

There are those, as we said this morning,

That think the Law is how you fix the problem.

· Just make a law against it, and that will fix it.

· The gun control folks particularly dwell in this camp.

The argument of course is that “Criminals don’t obey laws”,

The type of man who has no qualms against taking a man’s life

Certainly won’t be concerned about laws against owning guns.

THE LAW IS NOT THE SOLUTION EITHER, CHRIST IS.

And that is what Paul is ABOUT TO DEMONSTRATE in verses 14-25.

So in this segment Paul is accomplishing two goals.

1. Is to reiterate that sin is utterly sinful.

2. Is to reveal that the Law is utterly useless in defeating it.

So let’s look at our text and I want to give you

3 points as an outline for working through it.

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE,

· Here we have Paul, as revealed in 7:7-11, in an unredeemed state.

· He has just read the Law about coveting and it did not help.

· Instead it produced coveting of every kind.

So what did Paul do in order to defeat his coveting?

HE TRIED TO USE THE LAW.

He tried to make the Law his savior.

He tried to conform his life to precepts of the Law of God.

AND HE’S ABOUT TO FIND OUT THAT DIDN’T WORK.

AS I SAID,

· This is a commentary on 7:5

· Really we could add 7:8.

He is explaining

· How (7:5) “the sinful passions…were aroused by the Law”

· How (7:8) “sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind”

This is deep insight into the battle of a man

Who is trying to use the Law to find salvation.

AND IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND

Because it teaches us that it is also impossible

For a man then to use the Law to find sanctification.

Sin is terrible and it has only ever been defeated one way.

The way it is beaten in salvation is the way it is beaten in sanctification.

You need to see how Paul came to learn that the Law is not a savior.

3 points

#1 THE UNDENIABLE PRESENCE OF EVIL

Romans 7:14-17

Paul begins with this statement.

“For we know that the Law is spiritual,”

It is the first of 3 statements about the Law

That is the basis for why many others think Paul must be redeemed here.

· You see (16) “I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good”

· You see (22) “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,”

Those who say Paul must be redeemed here

Use this as proof stating that

“No unregenerate man can have such beliefs regarding the Law of God.”

THEY POINT OUT THAT

“The unredeemed are hostile to the law of God, they don’t love it.”

AND THAT IS TRUE.

Romans 8:7 “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,”

THEY POINT OUT THAT

· For the unredeemed the Law is like a thorn and a nuisance.

· It is not desirable, it is not favorable,

· They certainly DON’T confess that it is good or joyfully “concur” with it “in the inner man”.

And I’ll be honest, I agree with them for 99.9% of the unbeliever’s life.

I would agree that for nearly every second of the unbeliever’s life

They are totally opposed to the Law with no love for it at all.

So how can I say that Paul would have made such statements here as an unredeemed man?

Because I believe Paul to be in that unique position

Of a man under conviction yet short of salvation.

We saw his conviction this morning.

· We saw how he read the Law and it condemned his coveting.

· We saw how he learned that he was a dead man.

The very fact that Paul was even made aware of his sin

Is evidence of God’s Spirit at work in his heart.

He wouldn’t even have recognized his sin

Had God not opened his eyes to see it.

That is what we call conviction.

And at the point of conviction the sinner either agrees with God

Or rejects it all together in favor of their sin. (Think Hebrews 6)

Here Paul agreed with God.

He agreed that the Law was right and he was wrong.

AND YOU SAY, Can a non-believer really do that?

Let’s look at another example:

Luke 18:9-14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Let’s pay special attention to the tax collector there.

FIRST QUESTION:

· Was he redeemed when he entered the temple? No

· Was he redeemed when he exited the temple? Yes

· Jesus said after humbling himself, he “went to his house justified”.

So this was a sinner who entered the temple as a lost man

And found justification there.

Let’s look at his demeanor and convictions when he entered the temple:

· Can we say that the tax collector agreed with God’s Law when he entered?

· Can we say that he knew the Law was spiritual?

· Can we say that he knew the Law was good?

· Can we say that he concurred with the law of God in the inner man?

YES!

· Otherwise he would not have been in the temple.

· Otherwise he would not have been broken.

· Otherwise he would not have been begging for mercy.

If a sinner rejects the Law he has no need to go and find reconciliation.

BUT THIS MAN

· Had clearly been confronted with the Law of God.

· His sin had clearly been exposed.

· He was clearly brought under conviction.

· He clearly knew the Law was right and he was wrong.

· He was awake enough to see that.

It is a unique position that a non-believer is in just prior to conversion.

R.C. Sproul made popular the theological statement

That “Regeneration precedes faith.”

I TOTALLY AGREE.

Here we find the tax collector between the two.

· Regenerated to the knowledge of his sin,

· Just about to offer the faith that brings justification.

That delicate position is where I believe we also find the apostle Paul.

· His eyes have been opened.

· He is regenerated to his sinfulness.

· He knows he is wrong and the Law is right.

But at the present he is confused with what to do about it.

His FIRST INSTINCT is to try harder and obey the Law.

That is why he has no problem

Making such positive statements regarding the Law.

AND PAUL IS ABOUT TO LEARN THAT THE LAW IS NOT THE SOLUTION.

Because the Law is about to come against a foe it cannot defeat.

That foe is sin which resides in the flesh.

(14) “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.”

What a statement!

Paul is confessing that he has found himself in a state of bondage.

· He has become awakened to the fact that there is a monster inside him.

· There is something evil inside him that he was previously unaware of.

He used to think himself free,

But when the Law told him to stop coveting

Something in him resisted and he realized he was not alone.

In his life there is an Undeniable Presence of Evil.

How do you know this Paul?

How do you know evil is in you?

(15-17) “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

I know there is evil in me FOR THIS SIMPLE REASON, “I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

This is where Freewill Baptists have a very tough time.

Paul here clearly indicates the desire of his mind and his will.

· My mind knows the law is good.

· My will desires to obey it.

If Freewill Baptists are right then this should be the end of the story.

We would read, “So I stopped coveting and went about my business”

But that is NOT what happened to Paul.

· Both his mind and his will LOST to another force.

· Something overrode them both.

Paul’s point is that by doing something that I don’t want to do,

That is evidence that I think “the Law is good.”

If I did it and said, “I like that I did it”

That would be evidence that I disagree with the Law.

But my grief at my disobedience is proof that “I agree with the Law”.

BUT MY DISOBEDIENCE IS ALSO PROOF

That there is something wrong with me.

NAMELY THIS: I have an “Undeniable Evil Presence” inside me.

(17) “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

THERE’S MY PROBLEM.

I didn’t previously realize it.

But now I know: I HAVE SIN IN ME

Now that’s a bad problem to be sure.

But it gets worse.

#2 THE UNSTOPPABLE PRACTICE OF EVIL

Romans 7:18-20

Here Paul comes to a disheartening realization.

I have sin, and there is nothing in me strong enough to defeat it.

(18) “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

Martin Lloyd-Jones indicates that this verse proved

Paul could not here be a believer since no true believer would say “nothing good dwells in me” since they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

You see the dilemma even for faithful expositors.

Paul has come to the realization that he’s got sin dwelling in him

And there’s nothing he can do to stop it.

He speaks almost like a man with a demon

Who is at the total mercy of the evil spirit that dwells within him.

Well Paul, how do you know you can’t beat the sin in you?

(19) “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”

Because every part of me wants to beat it and no part of me can.

I want it gone and it never leaves.

To which Paul says:

(20) “But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.

I HAVE SIN IN ME AND IT IS IN CHARGE.

Can we stop there for a moment and discuss this horrible grief?

I have seen my fair share of people in their lives

Stuck right here in the same lament as Paul.

Greed, worry, lust, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness,

Lack of self-control…you name it.

They have labored and strived and tried every practical method they can

And they come to my office with their head hung low,

Often times in tears confessing, “I just can’t beat it.”

“I have tried, I have taken practical steps, but I keep returning to it.”

As Peter said, “Like a dog returns to its vomit”

What do you tell such a person?

I like to take them to Romans 7.

AND I TELL THEM,

· If what you have told me is true…

· If you really have no power to overcome sin…

“IT MEANS YOU ARE A SLAVE TO SIN.”

· You’ve been trying to defeat sin by your own efforts.

· You think your flesh is strong enough to obey the Law and throw out sin, it’s

not.

· You are a slave to sin and apart from Christ you always will be.

And no man has the ability to defeat sin simply by trying harder.

Legalism is such a lie!

You cannot obtain righteousness by striving harder for the Law of God.

· Therapy won’t help you.

· 12 step programs will fail.

· If you fight sin with the Law as your only ally you are doomed.

Think again about Jesus’ preaching in the SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Which we spoke about this morning.

We referenced those “You have heard…but I say” sermons.

Jesus there preached the Law to it’s full application in that segment.

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Now look, an unredeemed man DOES have the ability to refrain from actually killing someone.

· There are restraints God has placed upon society that control sinful behavior.

· Parental restraints

· Conscience restraints

You can keep from actually killing someone,

But if all it takes to be condemned is anger then we are in trouble.

“I can keep from killing someone, but how do I keep from being angry?”

That’s beyond you isn’t?

· How many men have been toppled by their tempers?

· How many men have said, “Well, that’s just the way I am”?

· An unregenerate man has no power to control that.

Matthew 5:27-30 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

There again, an unregenerate man might be able

To keep himself from physically touching a woman.

But how does he control his desires?

How does he control what he thinks about her?

· Even if he were to gouge out his eye, would that keep him from conjuring up the image in his brain and lusting after her?

See, when Jesus was preaching the Law

He was preaching it clearly as something

You have no power in yourself to fulfill.

YOU CAN’T, BECAUSE BEFORE SALVATION YOU ARE SLAVE TO SIN.

AND PAUL FINALLY REALIZED THAT ABOUT HIMSELF.

· He fell under conviction as a coveting sinner

· He instinctively grabbed the Law,

· He forced himself to memorize it, write it on the chalk board 500 times,

· And he determined to try harder.

And no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t.

WHY? BECAUSE HE WAS A SLAVE TO SIN.

And that leads to the third point.

#3 THE UNASSAILABLE PRISON OF EVIL

Romans 7:21-23

Can you see Paul lower his head in shame, despair, and disgust here?

(21) “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.”

THERE IS DESPAIR THERE.

· I am not my own.

· I am not in charge.

· I am not free.

Now read verse 22 and 23 together, as one sentence, which it is.

(22-23) “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”

WHAT IS HE SAYING?

· Yes, I know the Law is good.

· Yes, I agree the Law is right.

· Yes, I desperately wish that I was obedient to it.

· I would love if I could say, I was a flawless keeper of God’s Law.

· I would love if I could at this moment justify myself before God.

There is a part of me that so desperately wishes I was righteous.

“but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”

I concur with the Law…

“BUT…”

“There is an evil in me that is fighting me and defeating me and that is making me a prisoner”

And this again fits with the point of the entire segment.

PAUL CANNOT BE TALKING ABOUT A BELIEVER HERE.

WHY?

Because he already described believers back in chapter 6.

Romans 6:7 “for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Romans 6:11 “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 6:18 “and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

Romans 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”

You’re either a prisoner or you aren’t.

You’re either a slave or you aren’t.

But not just Romans 6.

Look forward to Romans 8.

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

Romans 8:10-12 “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh”

Romans 8:15 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

SO YOU SEE THE POINT?

· Believers are free!

· Believers are free!

· Believers are free!

Paul says I was “a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”

Sin is present.

Sin is winning.

And it always will.

This is what we mean by MY FUTILE EFFORT

AND LET ME JUST RELAY TO YOU TONIGHT,

That if you have never yielded your life to Jesus Christ

This will forever be your fate.

IT MAY BE THAT TONIGHT

You are in such a depraved and deceived state

· That you don’t even care if you are in sin.

It may be that you are so deluded in your sin,

· That your sin doesn’t even bother you.

· You are simply that hardened soil who is waiting for church to be over so Satan can come and take the seed away from your heart.

BUT EVEN IF you are one whom God has graciously awakened to your sin.

· One who has seen that sin is a terrible choice.

· You wish you were more.

· You have a desire not to go to hell.

· You would join the Rich Young Ruler in approaching Jesus and asking how to go to heaven…

If all you ever do to defeat your sin is try harder you are doomed.

It is a prison and it has more than a life sentence,

It has an eternal sentence.

YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ON YOUR OWN.

THE LAW IS NOT THE PROBLEM, SIN IS.

But the Law is also not the solution, ONLY JESUS CHRIST IS.

As the old Charles Wesley hymn goes:

“He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free, His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.”

Or the other hymn Charles Wesley wrote:

“Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature's night; Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth and followed Thee.”

Prisoners don’t break out of prison on their own.

Christ breaks them out.

Christ sets them free.

You’ll see it next time as we talk about “MY FABULOUS EMANCIPATOR”

My Great Redeemer!

IF YOU WANT FREE FROM SIN trying harder won’t work.

Galatians 3:10-14 “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

And listen to me tonight also

BELIEVER WHO IS STRIVING FOR SANCTIFICATION.

· Remember what a horrible enemy you have in sin and don’t return.

· Remember that escape was not by your own power.

· Again run to Jesus to be set free, even from sins that sneak up on you again.

BELIEVER, RUN TO CHRIST!

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus!”

· Be transformed into His image from glory to glory.

· Find strength in His death, burial, and resurrection to overcome.

In the flesh this battle is a futile effort.

In Christ this battle has already been won.