Sin in the Saint

Pastor Ostella

8-22-99

Introduction

In Romans 7:14-25, we have record of a conflict which, remarkably, is a distinguishing mark of a Christian. Here we have some crucial information about ourselves which helps us to know ourselves – a not so easy task. "Know thyself" is a fundamental piece of wisdom but most difficult to come by. Sometimes we feel like the philosopher who said: "there is as much difference found between us and ourselves as there is between ourselves and others" (Montaigne, Essays, II).

This is the homo absconditus problem. Homo absconditus literally means "hidden man." This is not a reference to the fact that the inner man, the real self, the real you, is hidden to other people in such a way that no one can "get inside your head." Rather it is a reference to the man hidden from himself. As one late classical writer put it: "Man is something we all know but if we consider our own self, then we must say, what man is no one knows." Of course, his point is that looking inward we have a knowledge problem. It is hard to be true to "thine own self." It is one thing to examine others; it is quite another to examine ourselves. Proper self-knowledge is like a window to the world; but if we cannot find the window, how do we see? Thus Alice in Alice in Wonderland says, "who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle."

The information in Romans 7 is important because it will give us a healthy inward perspective as a solid foundation for outward looking and living.

Therefore, this morning we are going to take up the theme of "sin in the saint." In doing so, we shall discuss two things: 1) The reality of sin in the saint, and 2) The victory over sin in the saint.

1A. First, the reality of sin in the saint.

This chapter (Rom. 7) is not pessimistic, doleful or negative. Rather, it is realistic. There is no excuse making; instead, there is the acknowledgement of sin and our victory over it.

We need to characterize the reality of sin in the saint to clear the fog, to see where we stand, to diagnose the problem, and to pave the way for pointed and decisive action, to know where to go from here.

1B. Let's begin a characterization of sin in the saint by this first observation: it is a perpetual reality (in what we are and in what we do).

On one hand, it is perpetual in what we are over the course of our lives. This comes out in the phrase: "I am unspiritual" (v. 14a). Literally this is "I am flesh" which means fallen and corrupt within.

He adds that I am "sold as a slave to sin" (v. 14b). Sin is like a master who buys his slave and then exercises a driving and controlling influence over him. However, sin is not a person with devious thoughts and controlling power. Sin is personified. The only person here is ourselves. Thus, sin is our master (I am sold as a slave to sin) because of our lust and corruption. To be sold to sin indicates who and what we are in ourselves.

To make this clear, let me reiterate. Paul is not saying that there is some powerful person whose name is sin to whom we have been sold. This would suggest that we are not responsible for what we do. Then it would be like people on a chain gang clearing a path for a road-they are chained together as they cut down trees and move rocks. If they cut down valuable species and harm the balance of nature in that area of their work, they are not responsible because they were told what to do and forced to do it with gun and whip. But Paul has stressed our responsibility all through Romans. We are not forced to do the evil we do by some outside master named sin. No, when we sin, we sin. We do so because we have a fallen nature. We have the corruption of the fall remaining in us. Our salvation involves the fact that we are gradually being delivered from what we are in the fall.

If we back up to our state in the fall as described in Scripture, it should not surprise us to find remnants of sin in us still troubling us. Just think of how our depravity is spoken of in compounding terms in Genesis (6:5; 8:21).

This language (sold to sin as a slave) brings up the question as to whether Paul is dealing here with a sinner or a saint. It is reasoned by some commentators on this passage that this section cannot refer to a Christian because a Christian is one who has been set free from slavery to sin (Rom. 6:18, 22). You were a slave to sin and now you are a slave to God. That is definitely black and white; it is one or the other. However, Paul does indicate another dimension to the picture. It is more complex than at first appears as evident earlier in Romans 6. We have to figure out what Paul means when he says, "do not let sin reign" (6:12) along with the emphasis on being set free from sin (6:5-7). We need a way to state this that keeps the whole picture in view. Sin is no longer master over you but it may have a mastery over you (as Gal. 5:1). I am no longer a slave to sin but I am sold to sin as a slave. How do we state this to do justice to it all?

For an answer we must think through the metaphor. Again for sin to be master over us or for sin to reign over us does not mean some outside power forces us to act. It simply describes us in our flesh. It describes us in the fall inclined to do evil from childhood, from the heart, only evil and always evil. At conversion, when set free by the Spirit, that inclination no longer has free course but we still have that evil nature and when we sin we do so because that is what we are in the fall. The Lord does not glorify us when he sets us free. He gradually sanctifies us in a process across our journeys on earth until the final day of glorification. So, whenever we sin we show what we are in the fall-slaves to sin or inclined to evil in our sinful selves. Why we do not just live it up in sin is because the Holy Spirit is present with us countering our lust for sin.

Thus we are no longer slaves to sin and we still are slaves to sin in different respects. We are no longer slaves to sin in that the Holy Spirit indwells us and counteracts our sinful inclinations and teaches us the better way of holiness and goodness. But in ourselves we are still evil; we still have the flesh or as Paul put it metaphorically, "we are sold as slaves to sin." This describes what we are in ourselves without reference to the Holy Spirit. But as children of God we have the indwelling Spirit.

As we saw in Galatians 5:16-18, the Christian can no longer sin to his hearts content because the Holy Spirit lusts against the flesh and those who have the Spirit are led on the path of holiness. Yet the Christian may sin on this holy pathway because the Holy Spirit is allowing him to learn many lessons on the way to glory. He allows many skinned knees to teach us to depend not on ourselves but on Him alone. This is a life-long lesson.

Another reason we can advance to show that Romans 7:14-25 refers to the saint is the context itself as a whole. We have just noted that there are ways to understand how a Christian who is free from sin can be still called a slave to sin. But now think about another angle. There is language in this passage that cannot be said of the non-Christian. Some phrases are not as strong as others. But they all point to things that are not true of a natural man. Some weaker ones are: "I agree that the law is good" (16b), "I have a desire to do what is good" (v. 18), there is "a good I want to do" (v. 19) and "evil I hate" (v. 19). In light of Genesis 6:5, it is hard to take these verses as descriptive of fallen man. And it is even more difficult in light of Romans 3:10-13. Some very strong phrases are: "I delight in God's law" (v. 22) and "I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law" (v. 25). This hardly describes a non-Christian (see Rom. 8:7).

Therefore, we should conclude that the "I am" phrase in v. 14 speaks to the fact that sin in the saint is a perpetual reality because of the flesh, because of our fallen nature. It speaks to the fact that though we have been set free from our sinful selves –we can no longer do evil only and continually- we still have that nature to sin and the Lord does not deliver us from our sinful selves totally and all at once. We are in a process of growth in holy living while learning lessons about our true un-holiness at the same time.

Sin in the saint is a perpetual reality because of who we are (who "I am," 7:14). But it is also a perpetual reality because of what we do over the course of our lives (hence the need of daily confession). Note all the statements about "what I do" (vs. 15-16, 19-20). In verse 21, Paul speaks of evil being "right there" when I want to do good.

Sin in the saint is a reality. It is a perpetual reality both in what we are and in what we do.

2B. It is also a powerful reality

Paul uses the language of warfare and the taking of prisoners (v. 23). Again, we have to think metaphorically or figuratively. This describes our sinful selves.

Note the angles of attack.

1) There is direct frontal attack which in warfare sometimes may surprise the enemy by its brazenness. Sin strikes at our strength when it strikes at our agreement with the law (v. 16) and at our joyful concurrence with it (v. 22).

2) There is the power of subtle entrapment. Though we love the law of God, we are enticed and we become ensnared, captivated and we sin against the law we love. We are taken prisoner for a season. Sin easily besets us (Heb. 12:1).

In this connection, a continual temptation for ministers of the gospel, for example, is to trade the truth of the gospel and the purity of conscience for either a pay check or for popularity. And any Christian may do similar things.

3) The power of sin is evident when we contend with it. We know by experience how powerful indwelling sin really is. As it has been said, "the stream is found to be strong when we swim against the current." This is experiential and not academic. Compare knowing a sickness by its effects rather than by what the books say are its causes. You know your own sickness when you contend with its effects in your life (like the man who discovered he had throat cancer; he did not discover this disease by studying causes such as smoking, heredity or diet; he told me that one day while eating in a restaurant he had difficulty swallowing until he said, "I could not swallow food at all." He knew the disease from its effects).

So the Christian finds corruption within even in the midst of holy endeavors. Right there the corruption sometimes increases, takes him captive with a rope around his neck choking him until he is hindered in swallowing and assimilating truth for righteous living.

We are enticed from within and run head long into sin's adulterating embrace. We embrace sin. Sin embraces us with its entangling tentacles and it would carry us off deep into the ocean of ungodliness. We lust against the Spirit and, like the Israelites, want the foods of our former bondage in Egypt.

3B. But the reality of sin in the saint is not only perpetual and powerful, it is also painful. This truly marks the saint. (we are directed to humble dependence, to vigilance and alertness, and now to dependent prayer).

Looking at our desires and at our actions via Paul's "I am" and "I do," we are reminded that there is a perpetual sinning against our own goals and delights prompted by the Spirit.

This is different from the non-Christian. If you take away all restraints of social pressures and police, etc., the natural man will then manifest what is in his heart already: only sinning willingly and always. If you take away all restraints of social pressures and police, etc., from the Christian, he may sin-for sin is perpetual in his life, but there is a delight in holiness always. It is there deep within the heart and soul. It is not something he decides to have or that he turns on like a faucet.

The Christian has a burning in the soul to please God and when he fails he is grieved.

Need I say any more than this: as our delight in the law of God becomes more intense and our hatred of unrighteousness becomes more acute then our doing of what we hate becomes all the more painful. Thus, we moan and lament (vs. 15, 18, 24a). We cry out for deliverance, for the end of this pilgrimage, for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. We groan like the creation that suffers the pains of childbirth. We groan within ourselves eagerly awaiting our adoption as sons and daughters of the living God; we await the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:22-23).

So we have the reality of sin in the saint. This should be our confession both from Scripture and from experience. It is perpetual in what we are and what we do. It is a powerful reality. And it is painful to the heart that is attached to God with delight and longing to be like Jesus. These things humble us, stir up vigilance and earnest supplication to the Lord.

Sin in the saint is a reality. But we must not stop there. We must also consider the victory over sin in the saint.

2A. The Victory over Sin in the Saint (in principle)

On this victory we should consider its principle and its demand. Principle and demand involve us with two areas: the empowering of God (His in-working) and our use of means. We have both His working and our working. I will emphasize our duty next week.  Let now consider the principle of victory over sin in the saint (which is the power of God by the Spirit).

The principle I refer to is the newness of the Spirit. We serve in the new way of the Spirit (Rom. 7:6); this we do, not simply might do. We are raised to live a new life; that is, raised like Christ was raised-by the exercise of all the glorious attributes of God working in us (Rom. 6:4). The law of the Spirit "set me free" (Rom. 8:2; 6:18). Sin shall not be your master for you are under the power of grace (Rom. 6:14; grace is not simply the giving of favor that is undeserved; it is the powerful giving of favor that is undeserved and that prevents slavery to sin in the way it was in the past).

1) This work of the Spirit is constant.

"A constant and ordinarily prevailing will of doing good" (Owen) is maintained in the Christian. This is the case along with the reality of sin with its perpetuity, its power and its pain. With the mind, from the inner man, from the center of our being, from the heart, and with determination for righteousness, we do serve God and we do so in terms of his holy, just, spiritual and good law (7:25)! The Christian serves with love and joyful concurrence (7:15, 22). That is the work of the Spirit.

2) This work of the Spirit is gradual but comprehensive.

"Even the holiest of men have only a small beginning of obedience yet so that with earnest purpose they begin to live not only according to some but according to all the commandments of God (Owen). It may be a small beginning but it takes in all the commandments. We look to the whole law and to the whole counsel of God for what we are to believe and do.

3) This work of the Spirit is effectual.

The heart's delight in the law of God does touch down in real life. Progress is made in fruit growing. Changes in the life occur though sometimes they are painfully slow in coming. There is a "perfecting of holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1) and a striving against sin (Heb. 12:4).

How so? Because God's purpose never fails. He joined us to Christ in His death "that we might bear fruit for God" (Rom. 7:4). The reason we continue to will and to do is because He is working these graces within us (Phil. 2:13).

Thus, it is the certain and settled purpose of God to see us through to the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). Sanctification is between justification and glorification in Romans 8:30. It does not depend on us in any way just as nothing else in this golden chain depends on us. It is all God's doing to love us and thus foreordain us to the image of Christ (8:29). Every determinative act is God's; every act that sees to it that we are predestined, called, justified and ultimately glorified (8:30). Think of it like leaven. When it is introduced it can hardly be detected. The dough looks the same as before. Then gradually it leavens the whole lump. Every part of the creation will be delivered from its groaning. This will happen when the creation is delivered up into the glory of the liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). This work goes on piece by piece, saint by saint, stage by stage across every moment of the believer's life until he is introduced into the state of honor, immortality, and peace without end (Rom. 2:7).

So we groan having in our breasts a foretaste of the powers of the world to come. We sigh desiring to be delivered decisively, finally, and absolutely.

The best is yet to come. We have a taste now in advance but it is only a nibble. The half has not yet been told us of what God has prepared for His own. If it were we could not take it all in!

Therefore, in principle, the victory over sin in the saint is ours now. It is found in the introduction into our lives of the saving and leavening principle of grace in the newness of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the accomplished work of Christ Jesus our Lord. His work is constant and gradual but certain in its accomplishment over time by the power of grace.

Do you have a diligence proportional to your circumstance? There is a war within between you and the Holy Spirit. It is the way of the Lord to have this warfare go on over our lives in a process. He leads but He allows us to learn through the struggle in which we see our true selves and learn deeper and deeper dependence on Him.

Thus, because the victory is sure, inquire within and consider what humiliation, what self-abasement, what fervency of prayer, what diligence in spiritual matters, what watchfulness is called for at your hands.

And look onward, forward, and upward in gratitude to God through Jesus Christ for the certain and sure victory that He works in you by the power of the Spirit.

Benediction

May we fall down before the majesty of our God in true humility and repentance. Grant us, O Lord, that we may see our true selves in the flesh, our true and complete bondage of sinful desire and determined rebellion. Cause us to learn the greatness of your grace from the awfulness of our sin. May we then live our gratitude and present the very parts of our bodies as instruments of righteousness for your glory and praise. In the name of our great high priest, Jesus Christ the risen Lord of glory, Amen!