Warfare with Sin

What the Law Does

Paul is saying that the Law shows us our need for a Savior.

The Law forces us to look to Christ for Salvation.

How Sin Uses the Law

Romans 7:8-9
" . . . When the commandment came, sin sprang to life."

How does sin do this?

Augustine of Hippo 

There is always a depth motive for every sin.

We have a deep desire to be our own God

What was the first temptation of mankind?
"You will be like God."
Genesis 3:4

So . . . The more we are exposed to the Law of God, the more that sinful force will be aggravated to a reaction.

Alive Apart From Law

Paul was good at following the rules but he had no understanding of holiness

Paul finally understood that it was impossible for him to keep the Law. This brought, "death."

Internals, not Externals

Paul thought of sin only in terms of external actions

Untitled Slide

• Have no other God's before Me.
• Do not make idols.
• Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
• Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
• Honor your father and mother

Untitled Slide

• Do not murder.
• Do not commit adultry.
• Do not steal.
• Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
• Do not covet.

Every commandment can be seen as behavioral except the 10th commandment.
"Do not covet."

Coveting has to do with inward attitudes and heart issues.

To covet is to be discontent with what God has given you.

Coveting:
Envy, Self-Pity, Grumbling, Murmuring.

As a Jewish leader, Paul never understood sin as a matter of inward longings which drives your actions.

Externally, Paul was very good. Internally, he could not be anything other than a sinner.

"All public crime would cease if people obeyed the 10th Commandment."

"Every sin against one's neighbor, whether in word or deed, springs from the breaking of the 10th Commandment."

“It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”
-Mark 7:20-23

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
-James 1:14-15

Warfare with Sin