“The Principle Of Sin” (Romans 7:18-23)

Well, good morning. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Yeah, if you’ve got a Bible, go ahead and get it out. You picked a really good weekend to be in church. That’s probably every weekend. But this is such a healthy crescendo before the biggest crescendo when we cross over into chapter eight, that’s not this week going to save that for the first of the year. What gorgeous timing the Lord had. I think I certainly am not up to that task, but it’s going to come together really cool when we finally finish synonymously, finish seven and begin eight without that chapter break as it was intended in its original intent. The title of this message is, “The Principle Of Sin” (Romans 7:18-23). “The Principle Of Sin”. This is a phrase taken directly from the text. Didn’t make it up, and you’ll see it there in a minute, we’re going to read it in ESV, and sometimes that word “principle” is synonymous with the term “law”. We’ll see law of sin, or the principle of sin. And it’s vital that we get this. And so, here’s what we’re going to be doing. We’re going to be taking our heads and stuffing them under the water of truth and holding our heads down under there for the fourth week in a row, saying basically the same thing that Paul’s been saying over and over and over and over, and it’s worth repeating and seeing it from different angles, like a diamond. You see different facets every time you turn it, every time you take a closer look, every time you cross reference, it more becomes more rich, more deep, and thus higher in reverence and doxology. That’s the goal is the worship of Jesus as we know Him more and more.

And so, I’m going to start with surprise, surprise Galatians 5:17, because this is a very concise statement of what Paul is actually saying in verses 14 all the way through 25 in Romans chapter seven. I’m going to read this to you. I know you’re familiar with it, if you’ve been in part of the series. Paul writes, “For the desires of the flesh.” That’s the internal. I’m sorry, excuse me, that’s the external. That’s the external man of who you are, who you naturally are, still with vestiges of sin, even though you’ve been redeemed, if you’re a Christian, they are against those desires “Are against the spirit.” That would be the inner man, born of God, the regenerate part of a man or woman of God. Those desires of flesh, the natural, the carnal, the vestiges of your sin nature that remain in your mortal body are against the desires of the spirit. It’s not just a one way street, though, because it says, “And the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” In other words, there’s a war inside. Only a true Christian will recognize this, that there is something of the Spirit of God in your spirit. If anyone belongs to the Lord, he is one Spirit with him. Holy Spirit is living inside of you. And you recognize that you are not sinlessly perfect. If you are here this morning, and you think you are sinlessly perfect. I’m here to tell you are deceived. You are lying to you, and your spouse knows it’s not true, whether he or she will admit it or not, okay? But we see this. There’s a war here. And I want to let you in on a little secret about this verse that’s kind of playing with the words there. But if I were to ask for a show of hands of who in here loves this verse, now I’m not going to ask for a show of hands. I’m going to do that and you were like, “Oh, I love this verse.” And you’d raise your hand, you’d be on the love team, right? “I love this verse. It helps me understand the battle within me.” Or if I said, maybe that’s not you, maybe you hate this verse. And raise your hand if you hate this verse and raise your hand and say, “I hate that verse. I hate being told the truth. You know, I don’t like this verse.” I want to tell you this, inside you that is in your flesh. Your flesh, I’m talking to you, Christian, your flesh hates this verse. Hates it. In fact, your flesh hates every other verse in the Bible too. It doesn’t matter what it is, even the really nice ones, The Lord is my shepherd, like you know, we call them the Jesus Bo Peep verses, people misunderstand. They think Jesus is a precious moments doll, and He’s here to serve you coffee and beignets. No. But did you know the Spirit of God in you, if you’re a real believer, what? It loves. What? It loves every single verse in the Bible, including this one, how can that be? Well, because there’s a war inside of you. Your flesh hates what God wants, and your Spirit wants what your flesh hates. And so, that comes to a battle, and you think, “Well, aren’t I getting better? It seems like I’m getting better.” No, in your soul, in your mind, will, in your emotions, yeah, you’re being sanctified as a Christian, but the sinful vestiges of your old man have to go in the ground, die, be buried, turn to dust, never to rise again. When God raises you from the dead, you’ll receive a glorified body. Thank God. It won’t just be an upgraded version of this. Amen. Because, you know, medicine can already do that, right? They can give you kind of bionic hips and knees and elbows and different things, right? We get the new one. It won’t have any vestiges of sin. But right now, this is the battle that we’re in, and as we understand justification, right? Freeing us from condemnation in the early chapters of Romans, we glorify God in Christ because how He’s rescued us, given us His righteousness, just as He took our sin. But then in sanctification, we come into this confusing place of going. I know I’m redeemed, I know I belong to God, but I also know I struggle and I stumble, and there’s something that’s pulling on me. It’s not just this big, bad world out there. It’s not just this music or the movies or the culture or this person inner being. No, no, there’s something that coming from within me that seems to be the great problem. That’s what he’s describing here in Galatians 5:17.

And that is where we find ourselves in the study of Romans 7:18-23 chapter seven, let’s go there. We’re going to pick it up in verse 18, very clearly he says this, Paul writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. “For I know that nothing good.” Look that word in Greek, nothing means nothing. “I know that nothing good dwells in me.” Now you can’t stop there, because he clarifies what in me, where? “That is in my flesh.” That is what that is the outward man, that is the old man, that is the one corrupted by sin, still carrying the vestiges of sin that one day will go into the ground and turn to dust. It’s going to happen. You get a new body. He says, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.” People say, “Wait a minute. Well, there has to be something good that dwells in me, because the Holy Spirit’s in me.” That’s right. And the Spirit dwells where? He dwells in your spirit. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, because the temple of your spirit, but the flesh, the old man, the old nature, the vestiges of that that are in you. They’re unredeemable. They’re not going to be redeemed. They’re going to die. And thank God you won’t carry them with you. And so, we live, in this kind of world that we like to refer to as already. These are common theological terms, by the way. “Already and not yet.” In other words, you were saved. You’re being saved, and you will be saved. You were saved on the day that you were regenerated. You were given a new spirit. You were raised from the dead by the by hearing the gospel and believing that was the gift of the Holy Spirit. You were born again a new creation, created in Christ Jesus. And right now, you are being saved in the sense that you’re being sanctified. You’re being disciplined by the Holy Spirit and trained in the Word of God to do what? To be more and more like Jesus, and it’s in the character of who you are as a believer, you’re growing in that, and you, one day, will be saved when? When you’re raised from the dead at the resurrection and you’re given a glorified body. Are you saved already? Yes. Are you fully saved? Spiritual and body? Not yet, but you will be. This is a conscious term we need to come to grips with, because this is where the tension is found, and this is where the answer is found to those deep, dark, looming questions. Changes your discipleship. It changes your discipleship from saying, “Okay, I got to start self-improving. I got a vow. I need to rededicate. I need to go to youth camp.” Right? You remember the bad youth camps? I write all my sin down here, then I put it over there. Some of you are looking at me like a calf at a new gate. We did this stuff back in the 80s, and then you burn it, or you throw it, or, you know, you nail it on the cross. And now I made a new commitment, and I rededicated my life. I turned over a new leaf, and then you go out, three days later, you’re with the same girlfriend, doing the same stuff. That’s called knowing laughter, wherever you are. Yeah, nothing good dwells in my flesh. And then he says this, “For I have the desire to do what is right.” And, by the way, that “right” is in the ultimate sense that is in absolute terms, I have a desire to do what’s right. What right is he talking about? He’s talking about sinless perfection. I have a desire to live sinlessly perfect, but not the ability to carry it out. Philippians 3:12, he says, what? “I’ve not been perfected.” Paul admits, “I’ve not arrived.” But I say, like, “What do I do? I forget what lies behind. I press on forward to what lies ahead.” This is what he’s talking about. I have a desire to live perfectly according to the will of God. Did you know your spirit wants perfection? In fact, your spirit is already ready for heaven but you have a battle with the flesh, and that is what’s actually going on. And that’s what he’s discussing here. I don’t have the ability to carry it out.

He goes on to verse 19, “For I do not do the good I want.” Now, what “good” is it again? Again, he’s talking in absolute terms. He’s talking about sinless perfection. “I do not do the good I want.” He’s not saying, “You know, I really want to go to church, but I just, man, I just can’t, you know, I really want to help the old ladies across the street, but man, I just can’t, you know, I really want to pay my taxes, but, you know, I just can’t, right? No, no, he’s saying I want to live perfect. Because if you’re a real Christian, that’s your desire. You say, “Well, sometimes I don’t feel that way.” Right because there’s a battle in you. But I’m telling you, the real you is who you actually are is your spirit. If you’ve been born again, you are a new creation with vestiges of an old. Tis is what we’re rounding out here in chapter seven, “For I do not do the good that I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” What is the “evil”? This is any falling short of the law of God, one transgression, one wrong attitude, one wrong motivation, anything that exerts itself against the knowledge of God. And he’s going to come to this, and we’re going to realize what we mean with the title that says the principle of sin, or the law of sin, we’re coming to that. I, you know, verse 19, very evil I do, do not want. Rather, is what I keep on doing. And then he makes this statement. He says, “Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” That is within his members, within his flesh. Now he’s talking about this. Now, what does that mean? What does this mean? This “I” it’s no longer “I doing it. Does this mean if Paul goes and robs a bank and the FBI arrests him, and they would, because they do, and Paul say this, “Oh, I didn’t do that. That was not me. That was the sin that dwells within me.” They’d say, “Well, you’re going with the sin to prison.” Right? There are consequences for your actions. Therefore, Christians have to repent and believe. 1 John 1:9 is very clear. If we confess He’s faithful and He’s gracious, right? He’s faithful to forgive. He’s faithful and just to forgive and cleanse. What does he mean by “I”? What he means “it’s not me doing it”. What “me” is he talking about? That means his spirit? Of course, his spirit’s not doing it because his Spirit dwells and lives in perfect holiness. It doesn’t want to sin. It wants sinless perfection. It’s the temptations that issue from something else. You say, “I thought I was a new creation.” You are already and not yet. You’re still awaiting a glorified body, and you’re still in sanctification as you are right now.

So, keep going with me. So “Now, if I do what I do not want is no longer I who do it, but it’s the sin that dwells within me.” And then verse 21 so here it is, “And I find it to be a law.” Now this “law” is translated in New American Standard and Legacy Standard Bible, LSB, into the word “principle”, and it’s a good rendering of the word. The word is the Greek word “nomas”. It means law, so you can technically read it as law. In fact, if you see it in the New American Standard or the LSB, you’re going to see a little footnote, a star there. It’s going to say, literally, law. Law is fine, but the translators made that choice so that it wouldn’t get confusing. In other words, we’ve been talking about the law of God, and now we’re seeing a different law here, but he’s not talking about really a law laid down by God. He’s talking about a principle. He says, “For I find it to be a law or a principle.” By the way, a “principle” is just simply a fundamental universal truth, right, like the principle or the law of gravity. The principle of gravity doesn’t matter. If you believe it, it’s just true, right? You don’t have to believe in gravity for it to be affecting you. Is that true? Right? Jump off the roof. “I don’t believe in gravity. I feel like it, it strains my creativity.” Doesn’t matter. Here comes the ground. Same is true here. Paul says this, as a mature believer, get this, “I find it to be a law or a principle.” Now he’s going to state the principle of sin, the principle of or rather the law of sin, that here it is right here, “That when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” That’s the principle, the principle of sin, or the law of sin. According to Romans seven, it is this. It’s when I want to do perfection and live perfectly under the law, I find evil is close at hand. In other words, it’s right there in my members. That’s the principle he’s talking about. You talk about a fight. You talk about a war. Anybody? That steps up to a platform, whether it’s a book, spiritual leader, YouTube, a church, anybody who offers you some victorious secret. I almost said Victoria’s Secret, didn’t I? Don’t think that. Dang it. Second service, too. That’s a zero. That’s not going online. Anybody or if they offer you Victoria’s Secret, don’t do that either. And they say, “I’ve got this secret. And if you’ll pay me $39.99 for the book, or you come to our conference and pay money, we’ll teach you the secret. And when you get the secret, everything in your life is going to resolve and you’re going to have this tranquility. You’re going to walk in constant peace.” Now, look, you do walk in peace that passes understanding. It keeps your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Get it? I got it. Yep, there is a joy. There is righteousness given by God. I got it. That’s the kingdom. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a war inside of you and anyone that offers you that is trying to say that they’ve transcended it, and they haven’t.

There’s only two reasons why you would think that you have never experienced this or you’ve somehow transcended it. Number one is you’re unregenerate, therefore there is no war. Your spirit’s dead, and your flesh is running the game, and that’s all you care about. And the end of story. Or you are saved. You are a Christian, but you’re so young in the Lord, you’ve yet to have your eyes open enough to see just how holy He is and just how much sin He saved you from. Because the more you grow, the better you see. And so, a mature person starts to see, “Oh my gosh, I was worse than I thought. Oh my gosh, He’s more holy than I thought.” And thus, the finished work and the person of Jesus Christ becomes magnified in your eyes. And the cross we can never, we could ever build one big enough for it to span that vast emptiness between God and man. What the mediator did the man, Christ Jesus. He says, “I find a law, then when I desire to do or want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” And then he goes on. Look at verse 22 he makes this statement. He says, “For I.” Again, here’s “I”. Now what “I” is that? Again, it’s always going to be his spirit. That’s the real you, if you’re born again. He says, “For I delight in the law of God.” I want you to notice this word, and we’ll come back to it. “I delight the law of God (where?) in my inner being.” “I delight in the law of God in my spirit.” “I delight in the law of God so much that I love it. I love it. I want to meditate on it. I want to learn about it. I want to see it more clearly.” And you say, “Well, that’s me, but it’s only a little bit of me.” Right? Because therein lies the problem. That is the battle. This is the conflict in every true Christian. You don’t read this as a standard. You read it as an example, because who you really are, if you’re born again, is your spirit, and your spirit does delight in the law of God. If you didn’t, I have a real question, why are you at Sherman Bible Church? I mean, we don’t have a golf club here going on, do we? And we know about no knitting club that we get together? No, this is the exposition of scriptures is what we’re doing here. If there’s a desire for that in you, there’s only one reason. That’s because the Holy Spirit put that in. You didn’t get that by your natural man. You got that by the Spirit of God. He says, “I delight in the law of God in my inner being.”

But watch this. This references what we saw in 5:17 of Galatians look. Verse 23 “But I see in my members another law.” And what’s the other law? It’s the law or the principle of sin that we saw in verse 21 remember? You remember what it is? For when I want to do what’s right, I find that evil lies close at hand. So, it says, I delight in the law of God, my inner man. But then I see another law, another principle. Look at this, “Waging war against the law of my mind.” He’s referencing that as the mind of Christ, synonymous term with the mind of the Spirit. “But I see another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to (here it is again) the law of sin (or the principle of sin).” And where does it dwell? “In my members.” That’s simply the outer man. That’s the natural man. He’s describing the fight, describing the contest. Told you this last weekend, I’m gonna say it to you again, if you are a Christian, the thing that afflicts you and draws you and tempts you is not you. It is sin that dwells in your members. You say, “Well, that seems kind of weird, because it seems like that’s me.” Well, because that’s because you’re very familiar with it, because you live X amount of years with that before you were regenerated. And now the older serves the younger. Right? Now the soul is submitted to the Spirit. And now the outward man that that has these vestiges of sin is tore up with that, and it carries with it the vestiges of sin, something like a virus. Maybe you recall this illustration, those of you that can remember covid, right? Everything was covid, right? I have a headache. Covid, right? My mother in law’s mean. Covid. I got a flat tire. Covid. But in all the insanity of those years, days or years, it was a couple years, wasn’t it, no one ever looked at anyone and went, “You are covid.” Not you, brother. Well, maybe they did. I mean, nobody ever said, you know, “You’re covid.” No, they’d say, “You have covid.” Why? Because there was something living inside, inside the members of your body that was fighting against who you really are in the physical sense, and was not allowing you to do what you really wanted to do in the physical sense. And we would say you had a virus. Listen to me, you have a type of virus in your outer man, and it’s called sin. And the principle, or the law of sin is that when you find yourself in the wanting to do what’s right, which is always what your spirit wants, you’ll always find there is a battle or a struggle or something from that virus.

You say, “Well, what’s the cure? I really want the cure.” What cures the virus? I can tell you what it is. It’s death. And you’re like, “Womp, womp. Is there any other way?” No, there’s no other way. Either Jesus returns and this body is left behind, and you get a glorified body, or you die and your spirit goes to be with the Lord, and your body goes in the ground and turns to dust. Family, even the pharaohs turned to sand. There is no escaping this destiny. And, by the way, you want it. That’s why to be to be absent from the body, is present with the Lord. That’s why to live is Christ Paul said, “To die is-“ what? Gain. Why? Because you’re with Jesus and the sin and the sin, the vestiges of sin in your old man, they’re not there anymore. You won’t struggle in heaven. Let me say it to you this way, if you’re a Christian, this is as bad as your life is ever going to be. This is it. Your life might get a little worse. You might get sick. You might, you know, have a financial hardship. I’m not saying you might struggle, but this is as bad as it’s ever going to be. And if you’re not a believer, this is as good as it gets. You know, eat drink me merry, for tomorrow you die. We’re all going the same ground, but where we go eternally is what what matters here, and what he’s acknowledging is this. I see there’s something in me. There’s a war inside of me. It’s dwelling in my members like a virus. And so, this is the curse of sin. Even in the believer, what we see is there’s a curse that God put on the earth, way back in the garden. Now, people will always say the same thing to that. You say, “Wait a minute. Jesus took the curse.” Jesus took the curse of the law. The curse of sin is still in effect. I want to prove it to you. Now that doesn’t mean you’re not delivered from the consequence of it. You are. But here again, it’s already and not yet.

I want to show this to you because it helps the disciple learn. Okay, yeah, in the transition here, there are things that are completely settled, yet not every single detail is worked out in consummation, but it will be. So, I want to give you an example of it, and we’re going to go back to Genesis three. Let’s go Old Testament. Paul did it all the time, didn’t he? Yep, he did. He didn’t get the Andy Stanley and Andy Stanley memo. Neither did I, by the way, when we say the principle or the law of sin. Well, that’s still there, because the curse of sin is still in effect. Let’s look at the curse of sin. Genesis, chapter three. Remember, the man has sinned. The woman was tempted. The man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with her. Okay, now here God is going to is going to proclaim what effectively our curses. He’s going to proclaim a curse on the serpent. He’s going to proclaim a curse on so to speak, the effects of the curse on the woman and the effects of the curse on the man. Here’s the first one on the serpent. “The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this cursed, are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go.’” Now is that still true of serpents? Yeah. And, by the way, if you have a pet snake, quit it. The rest of us don’t like that. You can have a pet snake, just keep it away from me. Okay, so the servant was cursed, and the servant still goes on his belly. Here’s the second part, “‘And dust you shall eat all the days of your life.’” You’re gonna eat dust all the days of your life. Let me ask you, this is that still in effect? Yes, it is. Why? Because their tongue goes out. That’s kind of how they see. They see by smell, and of course, there’s dust near the ground, and so they’re eating dust all the days of their lives. Is this still at work on Earth? Yes, absolutely it is. Look at the next verse. It’s still talking about the serpent. It says, “‘And I will put enmity (that’s conflict) between you and the woman.’” Now is that just between the serpent and Eve? No, it’s not. He goes on because he says, “‘And between your offspring (that’s the offspring of the serpent) and her offspring.’” Now people say, “Wait a minute, the devil has kids?” Well, not in a procreative sense, but he has those who are descended of him morally and who follow him intentionally. Is that right? They’re born into that. And so, what did Jesus say to the Pharisees, “You’re sons of your father, the devil.” That’s what he’s talking about. He says, I’m going to put enmity. There’s going to be an enmity between the sons of the devil and, the Son and the offspring, which is singular by the way, that comes from the woman. And who is this referring to? Jesus. And then we get, in type and shadow, what Jesus will do on the cross. “‘He (that is Jesus) He shall bruise your head. (That’s a permanent killer wound) and you shall (what?) bruise his heel.’” That’s a temporary pain. In other words, you’re going to get your licking on the cross, but He’s going to crush your head. Jesus is going to fulfill this. And Jesus, on the cross, did fulfill this. So, is this all ready? Yes. Is it finished? Yes. Is it fully finished? No, it’s not fully finished. Why? Well, let me ask you this Satan got his head crushed at the cross. Is that true? Absolutely. Is Satan still free to roam the earth and deceive the nations? Yes, is Satan still free to roam around and find someone who he can devour. Yes, is he still there to lie and be the accuser of the brethren? Yes, is he defeated? Yes, is he fully defeated and vanquished? No, but he will be. Already and not yet.

In fact, look at Romans 16:20. I can’t wait to get this to this. It’s like 11 years away, but we’ll get to it. I promise it. Look what he writes, he says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan.” “I thought he was already crushed.” Well, he is already, but not yet fully. “Under (whose feet?) your feet.” What? When will that happen? That will happen in the last day, that will happen in the final judgment, that will happen when He is revealed for who he is, and Isaiah prophesies in the nations that the believers will look at him and say, “This is it? That’s him. Is this the one that went about deceiving the nations?” He’s a really big deal now, but he won’t be then he’ll soon crush Satan underneath your feet. Is it already? Yeah. Is it not yet? Yes. I’m trying to show us we should be comfortable with this position, because this is the current reality for a Christian.

Now let’s go back and let’s deal with the woman. What about what God says to the woman in the garden after the fall. Here Genesis, chapter three and verse 16, and I know I’m going to get emails. Go ahead. This is God’s Word, okay? Not mine. He says to the woman, he said, “‘I will surely multiply your pain by the way, He says He’ll do it) I will surely multiply your pain in child bearing and in pain you shall bring forth children.’” Can I get a single woman in here that will tell me that no longer applies? I bet there’s at least one woman. Would you slip up your hand? Childbirth was painful. Is there anybody? Thank you. Everybody else is lying. Women are out there going, “No, it was amazing.” Well, we know that the old story my they were wheeling my mother in when I was going to be born, and wheeling my mother back. And of course, it was 1967 Yes, that’s the year model I am. And she was on drugs, and she saw my father in the hallway, and she said, “You did this to me.” And she wasn’t thanking him. Why? Because this is still in effect. You say, “Wait a minute, but this seems like it’s a curse.” It’s part of sin in the world. It’s still in effect. Here’s the second part of it. Look. He says this, “‘Your desire shall be contrary to your husband.’” Gentlemen, is that ever true? Don’t lie. “No, she’s always perfectly underlined. She just, ‘Yes, sir.’ Yes. She calls me, ‘Lord’, like Sarah did Abraham.” No! Liar. What is he saying? He’s saying there’s going to be marital conflict. Why? Because He’s going to establish the head of the household, and you’re going to you, the woman, are going to be the one that is the helper to the household. He is the head. You are the helper. That is the language the Bible uses. And then you’re going to fight against that. There’s going to be strife that. It’s part of it. If you have a marriage problem in here, listen to me, you have a Jesus problem. It’s easily solved. Keep being discipled, but this is where it started. “‘Your desire will be contrary to your husband, and he shall (what?) he will rule over you.’” God’s Word’s not mine. And what does that mean? Does that mean he’s going to lord over you and dominate you and be domineering? Well, he’s not supposed to be a brute, but we sometimes fall into that, sadly. But what it does mean is this, he’s going to be the head of the household. He’s going to have the final say. God says this. Let me ask you, is that still in effect? Yes, women’s lib cannot erase this from reality. This is the way God set it up. He said, “Your desire is going to be contrary.” There’s going to be conflict, but he will still have the headship.

Now, people will say, “Well, I’m not sure that still applies.” You say, “Where do you get that?” And they’ll point to verses like this, Galatians 3:28 says this. Watch this. This is New Testament, right? Says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female. For you are all one in Christ.” And they point to that, and they’ll say this, liberal theologians will point to this, and they’ll say this, “See? Women aren’t to be submissive to their husbands anymore, because there’s not even male or female.” Is this verse true? Yes, already and not yet. How do we know? Well, we know because there’s verses in the Bible that point to the significant role that men, that men carry out in the church, in the home, and the significant roles that women carry out in the church and the home. And I chose one on purpose, just to make you mad. Fire up your keyboards, but this is in your Bible, and I want us as disciples to come face to face, face to face with this reality. Listen, eternally, will it matter a woman or a man? Will you have another headship besides Jesus Christ in eternity? No, no, you will not. But do you still hear on Earth? Yes, and it is, I’m gonna prove this to you. It is still a direct result of what happened at the fall. It is still the principle of sin because of the law of sin. This is second, or rather, this is 1 Timothy 2:11-15. “Let a woman (Paul is talking to the senior pastor right here of Ephesus. That’s who Timothy is. He says) let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.” Now, you see, there’s something of subservient there. There’s something of coming up under this is not a put down, by the way. You know, the woman is the helper to the man. It’s how she was created, right? This is not a bad thing. It’s actually one of the titles of the very holy spirit, third person of the Trinity. He is the helper. This is not a put down, but he’s saying in the church, this is the way this is going to function, as in the home, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. Verse 12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet.” Now that doesn’t have to do with you can’t talk. That doesn’t mean you can’t talk in the foyer. You can’t whisper something. It doesn’t mean that. It means you’re not to be broadcasting with authority any kind of doctrine, any kind of rule or standard. That’s what that’s referring to. Now there will be people that say, “Well, this doesn’t this doesn’t matter anymore, because this was cultural.” Oh, really. I wonder if the Bible bears that out. Why is Paul saying this about a unique role to women? I’m going to prove to you. He’s going to tie it back directly to the fall in Genesis 3:13, chapter three. Look at verse 13, “For (uh oh) Adam.” There we go. We’re back in Genesis again. He didn’t get the memo. “For Adam was formed first then Eve.” In other words, there’s already a type of headship in that, embedded in that, but it wasn’t problematic at all. But he goes on, he says, verse 14, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” Now you think about that, she won’t have authority over the man. And where is its root? Its root is in Genesis chapter three. “But I thought there’s no male or no female. I thought there’s no Jew or Greek. I thought there’s neither slave nor free.” Already and not yet. There it is again. It’s on repeat in your Bible. In fact, we’d call it this. It’s a principle of life. Let me say it to you this way. These are the rules and stuff. This is how it functions. A woman won’t have authority over the man. It’ll allow him to teach and so not over the men, at least they’re not going to let him do that. Why? Because of what was said and what was stated in Genesis chapter three, we read that, didn’t we? Yeah, and then look what he ties into it. Look at verse 15, “Yet she shall be saved through (what?) childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.” I don’t have time to cut that up, but it is a wonderful study as to what he’s talking about. So, what is he referring to? So clearly, he’s referring back to Genesis three. So, in God’s eyes, in the body of Christ, is there male or female? In that sense? No, that’s already done, because Christ made us all one, Jew, Gentile, slave, free, male, female, right? Already but not yet. We still live on this earth, and we still live in these circumstances.

Okay. Finally, let’s pick on the man. Ladies are like, “Yeah.” Genesis 3:17-19, chapter three, one more time. Look at 17 through 19. It’s just the next verse. He speaks to the serpent. He speaks to the woman, He speaks to the man. It’s already not yet, and same is true with the man. “And to Adam, he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife.” Now, is it bad to listen to the voice of your wife? Did somebody say “yes”? Where are you eating lunch? Man, I know. Alpo. Well. Is it wrong to listen to the voice of your wife? Of course not. Is it wrong to listen to the voice of your wife above the voice of God? Absolutely? Yeah, absolutely. And so, He tells you. He tells him this, “‘Because you’ve listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. (Now watch this) In pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life.’” What is He talking about? He’s talking about toil. The earth was no longer going to cooperate with him. And gentlemen, we see this in career after career after career, particularly in that of agriculture. It’s a fight to get the ground do what we want it to do. Is this still in effect? Of course it is. Ask any farmer. It’s not easy. He goes on verse 18, “‘Thorns and thistles, it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.’” In other words, you’re going to have to handle these problem situations. It’s not just going to come forth as it did in the garden. Is this still in effect? Yes, absolutely. Like, “Wait a minute, but I thought Jesus has redeemed us.” Right, but we still live on this thing called Earth, not to scale, and it’s still under these statements. That’s why we’re waiting for, what? A new heaven and a new earth. We’re waiting for what? A new body, glorified, immortal, incorruptible, eternal. Do you see it? Already and not yet. Thorns and thistles. And then he makes this statement finally, in verse 19, “‘By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread till you do (what?) Till you return to the ground.’” Does that still happen? Yep, “‘For out of it you were taken for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’” Is that still true? It is. It’s still true. Now people would say, “But that how can this still be in effect? Christ redeemed us from the curse.” The curse of the law, and you, in fact, will be redeemed one day from the curse of sin that’s on this earth. Your body won’t make it to heaven. Your spirit’s there. You’re gonna get a new body, praise the Lord. And this earth won’t make it there either. By the way, did you know that all these people that want to save the planet, I think we should save the planet so it can burn. Sorry, sometimes I leak. What does this mean? It’s like “I thought he gave me. He came to make all things new. I thought everything old things are passed away. Behold, all new things are come?”

Right. Already and not yet. This is Romans 8:23, talking about believers. It says, “And not only the creation (that’s the earth, by the way, the creation is groaning in travail) but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we do (what?) we groan inwardly.” Do you ever do that? Are you ever so grieved or so hungry for heaven, or so tired of Earth? There’s something in you just goes, “Oh!” That’s what it’s talking about.” This is the Holy Spirit inside of you “as we eagerly wait for (what?, two things) adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” And people say, “Wait a minute, but I was adopted when I was justified.” Yes, you were. You were but you will be. It’s already and not yet. Do you see it? Are you already adopted? Yep. Are you up to be adopted? Yep. How? When? When you see Jesus at the redemption of your body. Is your spirit already redeemed? Absolutely. Are you His? Did He buy you out of the marketplace of sin and from Satan? Yes, He did. Is it finished? Yes, it is. Is it fully finished? No, it’s not. It’s already and not yet. Why? Because you don’t have your body redeemed yet, and if you’re in touch with your own physical health, you’re glad about that, that you get a new one. I don’t know who would want to live forever in one of these Earth suits, the spirit is the already, and the flesh, or the body, in this case, is the not yet.

Again, Romans 7:21, “So I find it to be a law (a principle) that when I want to do what’s right, the evil lies close at hand.” You see, it’s like a tug of war. There’s a fight inside of you. This is the principle of life that you walk in and you’re not alone. And listen, you’re not just alone in the church. You’re not alone throughout the history of the people of God, including the Old Testament.

I’m going to prove it to you. I want to read you some verses from Psalm 119. If you’re not familiar with Psalm 119, Psalm 119 has 176 verses. All but five of those verses mention God’s Word explicitly, either the term “Your Word” or “Your precept” or “Your rules”. You know, “Your counsel”. There’s all. All but five verses out of 176 mention the Word of God. So, this is someone who, as Paul said, delights in the law of God, in the inner being, very clear, isn’t it? Now, watch this example of already, not yet. I’m gonna give you a few verses here. Psalm 119:1, we’ll do verse one, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.” Obviously blameless. That’s speaking about Jesus, but it’s talking about the inward desire of anyone who’s born again. How about verses nine through 11? Psalm 119:9-11, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word with my whole heart, I seek you. Let me not wander from your commandments. I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” This dude loves the Bible. Would you agree? He’s delighting over it. He goes on. Look at Psalm 119:18. “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things out of your law.” Help me see it, Lord. Look at Psalm 119:24, “Your testimonies (that’s another word for God’s Word) your testimonies are my delight.” They are my counselors. Psalm 119:40, “Behold, I long for Your precepts (synonymous term right there) in your righteousness, give me life.” Psalm 119:61, “The cords of the wicked ensnare me, but I do not forget your law.” Things are going terrible, but the law is what’s on my mind. This is spiritual man, isn’t it? Absolutely. Look at verse Psalm 119:93, “I will never forget your precepts (same thing, synonymous term) for by them, you have given me life.” Psalm 119:127, “Therefore I love your commandments (another term) above gold, above fine gold.” I’d rather have the word of God than have all the money in the world. This is a spiritual person. This is someone that really, really loves the things of God. Would you agree? Yeah. In other words, this is synonymous with a person who’s been born again in our language, New Testament language, Psalm 119:147-148, look at this. “I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.” It’s the same term. He’s constantly about the word of God. Psalm 119:164-165, “Seven times a day. I praise you for your righteous rules. Same term, great peace of those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble.” It’s what sets our feet upon rock. That’s just a few of the verses. And you come to the end of that great chapter in the Psalms. I want to read you the closing verses and see if you notice something. Psalm 119:171-176 verse 171 remember there’s 176, “My lips will pour forth praise for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word. For all your commandments are right. Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you and let your rules help me.” This is a spiritual person. Do you think David struggled with the same principle of sin, same law of sin? What is that again? What is it? That I when I want to do what’s right, I find that evil lies close at hand, and he’s just gone through 175 verses of “Oh my gosh, I’m all about the word.” And the very last verse is 176 and this is what it says, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” Checkmate. 175 verses of how awesome the Bible is. And then he says this, “Why am I wandering over here?” Do you ever experience that? Yes, if you’re a maturing Christian, you are very aware of what you want on the deepest part of the inside of you versus what you’re competing with and the vestiges of sin in your members. If you’re understanding this, you’re seeing the overarching mirror of the biblical theology is what it’s called, of the doctrine that’s there in Galatians 5:17, the doctrine that’s there in Genesis, or rather, Romans chapter seven, you’re seeing it. This is a natural struggle for a person who belongs to God, who has the Holy Spirit, and the next time we open to Romans on January 4, we’re going to open it wide, and we’re going to see the doxology. We’re going to take that number eight away in that chapter eight, and we’re going to put the sentences together to where God, through the Spirit, through Paul, has Paul just lament, “A wretched man that I am who will deliver me from the body of this death?” Because the war and the toil becomes overwhelming and that leads to the highest doxology of God’s faithfulness.

KEYWORDS

Sin, Principle, Law Of Sin, Flesh Desires, Spirit Desires, Internal War, Sanctification, Justification, Already And Not Yet, Glorified Body, Sin Nature, Holy Spirit, Spiritual Battle, Redemption, Eternal Life, Biblical Theology, Good, Evil, Flesh, Spirit, Serpent, Snake, Dust, Head, Heel, Curse, Toil, Work, Childbearing, Man, Woman, Offspring, Nomas, Adoption, Word, Precept, Rule, Testimony, Commandment, Counsel, Bible, Promise, Statute, Scripture, Gospel, Romans, Audio Sermon, Texas, Grayson County

Speaker

Steve LeBlanc