Prelude to Romans Seven #3

Explaining one of the most difficult and important chapters in the Bible!

Fred R. Coulter—February 15, 2025

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Greetings everyone! Welcome to Sabbath Services! Romans 7 is one of the most difficult chapters in the Bible to understand. It seems to be self-contradictory and against law, but for law, and it covers many different things when we understand it.

Now then, it was even a problem during the days of the apostles, because here is what Peter wrote concerning the writings of the Apostle Paul.

Here's what he admits with it, and then we will see:

• what we need to do
• what has happened
• what is the correct understanding in the light of the rest of the Scriptures

Remember: you cannot understand any Scripture in isolation, because one leads to the other!

We're going to cover quite a few Scriptures today so when we get to Rom. 7 we will be able to understand it very clearly, and you will see that

• it is not 'release from the Law'
• it is not that you don't have to keep the Law

it is telling us how we do keep it! That's an amazing thing to understand!

2-Peter 3:14: "For this reason, beloved, since you are anticipating these things… [that's the return of Christ] …be diligent…"—that's the whole key:

• we cannot be slack
• we cannot be slovenly
• we cannot be just letting things go and slide through

"…be diligent, so that you may be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. And bear in mind that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, exactly as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has also written to you; as he has also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these things; in which are some things that are difficult to understand…" (vs 14-16). But that doesn't mean they can't be understood!

"…which the ignorant and unstable are twisting and distorting, as they also twist and distort the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction" (v 16).

That is a perfect description of Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism. Protestantism today has become 'a twin brother'—in many ways—of the Roman Catholic Church.

Now then we find this admonition to Timothy from the Apostle Paul:

2-Timothy 2:15[transcriber's correction]: "Diligently study…rightly dividing… [putting together] …the Word of the Truth [God]."

Both of those we have to look at. Let's see some of the things that they have done to twist and turn and make things so it sounds reasonable.

Remember this: the carnal mind is what we have before we're converted, and the carnal mind that's still left in there after we are converted, we are growing and overcoming! So, remember this: 'the carnal mind is enmity against God, is not subject to the Law of God, and neither indeed can be.'

So, when the preachers come along and they preach deceptive things, people believe it, especially when they read it from the Bible. Now that's an amazing thing, isn't it? Read it from the Bible and it sounds like:

• the Law is done away
• the Law has ended
• that you're no longer required to keep the Law

But let's remember what Jesus said:

Matthew 4:4: " But He [Jesus] answered and said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."'" (Also found in Luke 4:4).

Jesus also said, 'Why do you call me Lord?' And don't they do that every Sunday? They say Sunday is the Lord's Day, which is a complete lie!  The Lord's Day is the Sabbath!

2-Cor. 2—This started very early on because the Gospel going into the Greek-speaking world of the Gentiles, they had their own religions, they had their own philosophies. And as a matter of fact, in Acts 17, when Paul went to the Parthenon in Athens and spoke to all, all of the philosophers, and all the philosophers, who were the religious leaders. Remember this: Philosophy is the basic anchor of the Roman Catholic Church! It is only Christian in the sense that they steal the name of Christ. It is totally, wholly, absolutely pagan in its practices and were some of the things that the Apostle Paul was fighting against. There were false teachers going around.

2-Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not like the many, who for their own profit are corrupting the Word of God…" How do you corrupt the Word of God?

• you misinterpret it
• you misapply it
• you actually lie about it

If you have a closed carnal mind and you're supposed to be understanding the Scriptures, and you can't do it!

God made it so that the key to understanding the Bible is:

• believe God
• obey God
• love God

IF you don't have those three things in what you were doing, you will never understand the Word of God!

Verse 17: "For we are not like the many, who for their own profit are corrupting the Word of God; but we speak with sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ."

What happens when they use the Scriptures improperly or deceitfully?

2-Cor. 4—Paul is comparing what he wrote in chapter two, showing the ministry that he was doing and how it was carried out.

2-Corinthians 4:1: "Therefore, having this ministry, according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain…" (vs 1-2).

All you have to do to understand dishonest gain is look up the net worth of the leading evangelist on Daystar and TBN and you will find out their dishonest gain and the champion of that then is the one who has nearly a billion dollars in net worth—Kenneth Copeland!

"…not walking in cunning craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the Truth, we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience before God" (v 2).

So that's what happens; Satan comes along and what does he do? He brings a false gospel!

Verse 3: "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing." (Tie in Isa. 28 & 29).

'Here read this book.' Oh I can't. 'Well you're supposed to be learned.' Well, I don't understand it! So they give it to someone who's not educated and say, Read it.' I can't because I'm not educated.

So that's why it's so important that we teach it correctly. "…it is hidden to those who are perishing."

Remember this: Another definition of DEI is Devil Enters In.

Now I gave a good number of definitions of DEI on Caravan to Midnight the other night. One of them was Devil Enters In! Here it is:

Verse 4: "In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe,"

IFyou don't have the first step of:

• believing God
• knowing that He's true
• knowing that He exists
• knowing that His Word is true

THEN you set yourself up to be deceived!

Now he doesn't come along and say, 'I am the devil and I'm going to deceive you.' NO! He comes along and says, 'Have you ever thought of this…?' We'll look at that in just a bit!

"…blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the Light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we do not preach our own selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" (vs 4-5).

Romans 10:4 (KJV): 'Christ is the end of the law."

• Is that what it means?
• What is the Law? The Law is the first five books of the Old Testament!

The Law incorporates hundreds of laws and hundreds of penalties!

• Did Christ end that? NO! He said,

Do not think that I've come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill! Until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall and no wise pass from the Law.

A direct contradiction with:

Romans 10:4 (KJV): "Christ is the end of the Law.'

What is Paul talking about? He's talking about justification and being put into right standing with God! That's why you have to take it all in context.

Romans 9:27: "But Isaiah cried out concerning Israel, 'Although the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For He is accomplishing and limiting the matter in righteousness; because the Lord will limit the matter He is doing upon the earth'" (vs 27-28).

Now we'll talk about that next week about what's going on in prophecy.

Verse 29: "Accordingly, Isaiah also said before, 'Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.' What then shall we say?….[What are we going to do with this?] … That the Gentiles, who did not follow after righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness that is by faith" (vs 29-30).

• they believed
• then they obeyed
• then they loved

Now listen carefully:

• How many times have you heard me tell you about the Code of Jewish Law, of the thousands of laws?
• How many times have we talked about using law for righteousness or justification?

Verse 31: "But Israel, although they followed after a law… [not God's Law] …of righteousness, did not attain to a law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but by works of law…" (vs 31-32).

The King James says, 'the works of the law'; but there are no two definite articles there. Not the works of the law

It is: "…works of law…" and that refers to all of the sacrificial laws and all of the traditions of Judaism!

Today we can say that all the traditions of Catholicism and all the traditions of Protestantism.

It should read: "…by works of law: for they stumbled at the Stone of Stumbling, exactly as it is written: 'Behold, I place in Sion a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of offense, but everyone who believes in Him shall not be ashamed.'" (vs 32-33).

Romans 10:1: "Brethren, the earnest desire of my heart and my supplication to God for Israel is for salvation. For I testify of them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (vs 1-2). That's the knowledge of God!

Verse 3: "For they, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God…"

Stop and think here! Psalm 119:172:"…all Your Commandments are righteousness." We will see in Rom. 7 that Paul says:

• the Law is righteous
• the Law is Holy
• the Law is good

What were they doing? Romans 10:3:

"…being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God [Law]" (v 3).

That perfectly describes the Catholics. the Protestants and the Jews. They have a zeal for God, but not according to the knowledge of God! You can't come to God your way! You can only come to God His way!

"…and seeking to establish their own righteousness..." (v 3). Ha! We'll keep Sunday!

• Jews say, 'we don't need Jesus. He's a liar.'
• Catholics say, the church was founded on Peter.

Yet, I'll just give you one verse: Jesus said, call no man 'our father'—in a religious sense. What do you call a pope? The very name of God the Father. Blasphemous to the core! The whole structure of their church is totally pagan. They do it in their ignorance of the Word of God willingly!  Because:

• they don't believe
• they don't obey

therefore they will never understand!

"…and seeking to establish their own righteousness…" (v 3).

• good Catholic, that's your own righteousness
• good Protestant, that's your own righteousness
• good observing Jew, that's your own righteousness

"…have not submitted to the righteousness of God" (v 3).

Notice the comparison. Their works, their righteousness, not submitting to the righteousness of God. Now, we have what is called an ellipsis, which is this: Paul is writing from the understanding of the Word of God that is True, Holy, Righteous and Good.

So what you do with an ellipsis, which this is, it says they're up here "…seeking to establish their own righteousness." By what? By works of law!

But the phrase by works of law must carry on down to Romans 10:4: "For Christ is the end of works of law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

You have to fill that in. That is not adding to the Word of God; that's clarifying the Word of God because it's spoken of up above!

And in the ellipsis of writing, when it comes down further, it is understood that it is their works of law, not the Commandment-keeping or righteousness of God!

Verse 4: "For Christ is the end of works of law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

Now, let's come to one more here in the book of Romans and let's look at another one.

And here's another one that they turn to and take it into isolation rather, from the rest of everything that is there.

Romans 4:15 (KJV): "For the law works out wrath…."

How does the law work out wrath? It says in Psa. 19 that the law is perfect. The law of love. But if you read it in isolation, 'the law works wrath.' Therefore, brethren, they're told in the Protestant churches, you don't have to keep the Law. They don't ask the question: When does the Law work wrath?

When you really read it in the Old Testament of all the 600 and some odd laws that are there, you are blessed if you keep it.

• Is that wrath? No!
• If you love God, is that producing wrath? No!
• If you love your neighbor as yourself, is that producing wrath? No!
• If you love the brethren as Christ has loved us, is that producing wrath? No!

What are we talking about here? The rest of it tells us.

Romans 4:15 "…because where no law is, there is no transgression."

Romans 4:15(FV): "For by transgression, the law works out wrath…"—transgression is put in italic for clarification!

It is not adding to the Word of God. It is clarifying the Word of God. That makes sense because the Law doesn't work wrath alone. The Law only works wrath when you sin. The Law is a blessing when you keep it! That is what is so very important in what we are discovering here.

Now, here's what I want you to understand: Between all the verses in Rom. 7 the word in Greek for 'law' is mentioned 20 times.

Rom. 6 is a great definition of how we become righteous through repentance and baptism.

 In Romans 6:

• 'die' is used 4 times
• 'dead' is used 4 times
• 'death' is used 7 times

What is Paul talking about?

In Romans 7:

• 'died or die is used 4 times
• 'dead' is used 2 times
• 'death' is used 5 times

Let's look at a couple of things here so we understand it. Let's see how Paul ends Rom. 6:

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Does that not tie into what we read in:

Romans 4:15: "For by transgression the Law works out wrath…." What is the ultimate penalty? Death!

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

Rom. 7—let's analyze v 1 for a little bit. If the Law is done away, how do you explain verse one?

Romans 7:1: "Are you ignorant, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know Law)… [he's speaking to the Jews and he asked to speak to them] …that the Law rules over a man for as long a time as he may live?"

If you become dead to the law or release from the law, how is it that the law rules over you for as long as you live? Because the word Law is speaking of particular parts of what is called the Law!  Not the whole law.

But it is true: All law, every law, pertaining to human physical life is active all the time through your life, and you can't get away from it.

Examples:

• IF you're sick, you get a temperature. What is that? The normal temperature of the body has been broken because there's a virus or infection within you and your body is fighting to get rid of it.
• IFyou don't sleep, there is the law of sleep. You must sleep, because God has made it so when you sleep, your body is still working:
  • it's cleansing out the toxins
• it's cleaning up the blood vessels
• it's moving the intestines
• it's digesting the food

If you have a problem eliminating waste from your body, there's a law broken because there may be a blockage in the intestine.

• IF you don't take care of your heart and if you don't do what you need to do with your heart, then your heart is going to get weak and sooner or later you're going to die.
• If you take a lot of drugs, you're going to die early.
• If you commit adultery, fornication, homosexuality,
• you're subject to unwanted pregnancy if you're a woman
• you're subject to diseases, both man and woman

and the law rules over you all the time!

What we're doing with this presentation and sending and transmitting it to you, we are using the laws that are there to bring this kind of communication directly into your living room or bedroom or kitchen, wherever you are.

It operates by satellite. What if the satellite crashes? It operates by tower. What if the tower is destroyed? No message coming via the electronic circuits, and they're all invisible!  

The most active law on human beings everywhere all of the time and everything on the earth is the law of gravity.

• Can you see it? Nope!
• Can you see it in action if you drop something? Yep!

But you still can't see it, because it's an energy, it's a power.

So the truth is, God is all things to everything, even to the drop of water. Water is very interesting. it can come in the form of:

• a vapor that you can't see; that's called humidity
• rain
• snow
• the ocean
• a river
• a creek
• underground water

If you're going to use any part of the water, you've got to conform to what's necessary so you can use it correctly.

That's in everything, so if the law rules over a man so long a time as he may live, that means every human being is subject to all the physical and spiritual laws of God—period!

• no exceptions
• no abolishing

God abolished human laws because they replaced His Laws with their laws.

Romans 7:2 is talking about something that functions by law, and God is the One Who made it. Think about this for just a minute. Go to Genesis, the first part, God created man and woman, male and female.

He didn't create any others in between. As long as the law of marriage and male and female is handled properly according to the will of God, it's a blessing.

WHEN you don't do that, THEN you have trouble. Look at all of this transgender thing we have today. That comes straight from the portals of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the truth is all of the corrupt money going out of Washington, D.C., into the other countries of the world, was to promote Sodom and Gomorrah in those countries!

You watch all of those who are protesting it. It looks like a riot in the streets of Sodom when they came to try and get the two angels so they could 'know' them and they could, they could rape them. That's what they were seeking to do. But the angels had a good trick up their sleeves; they were blinded!

Verse 2: "For the woman who is married is bound by law… [not the Law] …to the husband as long as he is living; but if the husband should die, she is released from the law that bound her to the husband "

Now, think of all of the trouble we would solve today if everyone, when they get married, understood this and lived by it, and worked everything out.

Today, most of the young people shack-up with each other. If the woman gets pregnant, they run and get an abortion. So now you multiply sin.

If everyone in the world would follow the laws of marriage, one man, one woman, for life, and they bring children into the world, what would that look like? Be far different than from today!

Now then, he goes on and explains. What Paul doing here, he's explaining about Christ, Israel and the law of marriage, which was the covenant law that we covered in Exo. 24.

Remember, with a covenant you produce the sacrifice first. That's why, before you are converted, you are baptized first. That's the sacrifice of Christ. You being buried into that sacrifice of Christ. And your baptismal ceremony is actually a symbolic death that you are pledging to God that 'IF I'm not faithful to the end'—because you can't be married to any other. Christ is going to marry the Church, is that correct? Yes!

In order for him to do that, something had to happen on God's part so that the New Covenant could come. Because the covenant was binding on Israel and on God as long as Israel and God existed. Now, if all Israel died, God would be free. But if God died, Israel would be free. Free to what? To marry another, which is Christ! That's what he's talking about.

Verse 3: "So then, if she should marry another man as long as the husband is living, she shall be called an adulteress; but if the husband should die she is free from the law… [What law? I have the clarification right here]: …law that bound her to the husband… [she's not free from the Ten Commandments; she's not free to reject all the other Laws of God] …She is free from the law that bound her to her husband so that she is no longer an adulteress if she is married to another man"—spiritually speaking: Christ!

Notice the comparison right here:

Verse 4: "In the same way, my brethren, you also were made dead to the marriage law of the Old Covenant…"

That's what it means; you weren't dead to keeping the Law, you were dead to the law of your sins.

If you were a Jew, you could then be baptized for the future marriage to Christ when He returns. And the Gentiles who are all pagans out there, they have an opportunity to be saved from their sins and keep the Laws of God!

Verse 4: "In the same way, my brethren, you also were made dead to the marriage law of the Old Covenantby the Body of Christ in order for you to be married to another, Who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God "—Christ!

That's what he's talking. He's not talking about doing away with all the Commandments of God. But the Protestants in their twisting, lying, cheating and ignorance, they read that and say, 'Oh, you don't have to keep the Laws of God.'

How has America turned out with that kind of Protestant interpretation of law keeping? Sodom and Gomorrah!

Verse 5: For as long as we were in the flesh… [without the Spirit of God] …the passions of sins…"—plural—and people have a lot of sins:

• sins of the mind
• sins of the body
• sins of intention
• breaking the Law
• rejecting God's way

"…which were through the Law…" (v 5). The Law defines what it is. That's why the Ten Commandments start out:

• you shall have no other gods before Me; you need the right God
• you shall not make any idols or bow down to them; God doesn't want idolatry

Those Laws are good for you!

• Is it not good to know the true God?
• Is it not good to not bow down to stupid idols overlaid with gold or silver or polished in marble or whatever?

• you shall not take His name in vain

• that's what they do every Sunday
• that's what the Jews do every Sabbath
• that's what the Catholics do every day with the Mass

No Catholic priest has the ability in putting a blessing on the wine and the bread to make it the flesh of Christ and the blood of Christ—period!

No man can command God to do that. And furthermore, Christ doesn't have any more flesh or blood—period!He was raised from the dead!

So if there are any Catholics out there and you don't like it, and you think it's an attack upon you, what you need to understand is your whole church is an attack upon you and an attack upon God!

Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and there's no other way!

Verse 5 "For as long as we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were through the law were working within our own members to bring forth fruit unto death"—tie in Rom. 6:23: the wages of sin is death!

Verse 6 (KJV): "But now we are delivered/released from the law…"

• What law?
• All the Laws of God?

Can't be! Heaven and earth is still here!

• What are you released from?

We'll see it here.

"…that being dead…." (v 6 KJV). This is talking about the marriage covenant law up here above. Christ died and you died. You come out of the watery grave and you walk in newness of life.

"…that being dead to that wherein we were held…" (v 6 KJV)—that is sin!

Also if you're a Jew, now you are free to be baptized and to receive the Holy Spirit so that at the return of Christ you can be part of the Church that marries Christ.

Just like it was in Exo. 24 where Israel and God were married. Now you know why Christ came in the flesh, one of the reasons, to release all Israel and the Jews from the covenant.

Not all the Laws of God. Only released from that marriage law of the covenant.

(break@45:13)

Now let's continue with Rom. 7, one of the most difficult to understand in the entire Bible. It looks like—if you read it just the way that so many of the translations have it—it looks like that Paul had a mind that was bifurcated, double-minded, but he wasn't.

So let's come back to Rom. 7:5 and look at this again; v 4 shows that Christ died, and this is why God came manifested in the flesh:

• the One Who gave the Law
• the One Who had the marriage covenant with Israel

It says in Isa. 54 that the Lord is your husband!

He died so that all of Israel would be relieved from that covenant, because once you make a covenant, it is binding until the death of the one who made it.

Romans 7:4: "In the same way, my brethren, you also were made dead to the marriage law of the Old Covenant by the Body of Christ in order for you to be married to another, Who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God."

That's newness of life as it talks about there in Rom. 6.

Verse 5—Paul shifts right here from the covenant law of marriage, to individual Law-breaking of the Commandments of God.

Verse 5: "For as long as we were in the flesh… [that means without the Spirit of God] …the passions of sins… [that's important for the context here] …which were through the Law… [because where no law is, there is no sin] …we're working within our own members to bring forth fruit unto death." The wages of sin is death!

Verse 6: "But now we have been released from the Law…"

• Which law?
• What are you released from?
• If you break the Law, what does that produce? Sins!

When you're baptized, your sins are washed away, released. So, this should read.

Verse 6: "But now we have been released from the penalties of the Law…." That fits into the context. That's the clarification needed in the Law!

"…because we have died…" (v 6).

How did you die? Baptismal death!

"…to that in which we were held…[our sins held us]…so that we might serve in newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (v 6).

That's what it means there. You are released from the penalties of the Law!

Now then, so that we can serve with the Spirit of God in newness of spirit. That's called circumcision of the heart (Col. 2).

"…so that we might serve in newness of the spirit…" (v 6). That is from the innermost part of your heart and your mind and your being with the Spirit of God!

"…and not in the oldness of the letter" (v 6). [then he goes on to amplify it here]: What then shall we say? Is the Law sin?…. [that's virtually what Protestantism and Catholicism teach] …MAY IT NEVER BE! But I had not known sin except through the Law…." (vs 6-7).

It's the same way in any law. If it's not stated, there's no transgression. Let's just use a simple driving law:

If you cross an intersection and then after you get on the other side of the intersection, the policeman comes up behind you with the light flashing and he comes up to the window and says, 'You didn't stop. I'm going to give you a ticket.' You tell the officer, 'Well, there was no sign to stop.' So, you're not required to stop. You go to court and you get it thrown out because the judge says, 'Since there was no sign, you didn't break any law.'

There is no sin if there is no Law! This is what Paul is bringing out here.

Verse 7: "What then shall we say? Is the Law sin? MAY IT NEVER BE! But I had not known sin except through the Law. Furthermore, I would not have been conscious of lust?…"

• the ordinary thinking of the ordinary unconverted person
• all the desires of the heart and the mind

That's what leads into sin: lust! Where does all sin begin? Right here in the mind!

"…except that the Law said, 'You shall not covet'" (v 7).

Now that's interesting because you go through the Ten Commandments and #4 is contact with God, and #5 is honor your mother and father. Then the commands are:

• no murder
• no adultery
• no stealing
• no false witnessing
• no coveting of your neighbor of anything that belongs to him

That defines the sin. So, if you do away with that, there is no sin. Then that says IF there is no sin, THEN Jesus died for nothing!

Verse 8: "But sin, having grasped an opportunity by the commandment, worked out within me every kind of lust because apart from law, sin was dead. For I was once alive without law?…." (vs 8-9).

He was a Pharisee (Philip. 3). He was perfect, but he was without the true knowledge of the Laws of God. He had all the laws of Pharisaism, whatever number they had at that time.

Verse 9: "For I was once alive without law; but after the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."

• Isn't that what it is?
• How does sin revive?

When God leads you to repentance, you begin to see how absolutely sinful sin is! You don't know it otherwise! Those who steal from others, they know that's wrong, but they steal because they don't think it's against the law. Now if they get caught, then they get convicted! Anything else that you want to draw a parallel to!

Verse 10: "And the commandment, which was meant to result in life…"

If you keep the commandments, if you love God, if you do that, that results is life! But if you're sinning, like he said, 'every form of lust in my mind and heart'

"…was found to be unto death for me; because sin, having taken opportunity by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me" (vs 10-11).

Now, the wages of sin is death, and the result of it kills you. Now he's not talking about the fact that someone actually killed him. He's talking about the fact that he understood that his sins were leading him to death and that the only way he can have them forgiven is with baptism!

Then he understood the Law. God doesn't need thousands of codes of Jewish law or Catholic catechism or Protestant lawlessness. You need to keep the Laws of God.

Notice this: How can you be released from the Law IF the Law Holy, Righteous and Good? You can't!

That's why you have to understand those other verses in the way that we understood them. Released from the marriage covenant law and released from the penalties of sin!

Verse 12: "Therefore, the Law is indeed Holy, and the commandment Holy and righteous and good. Now then, did that which is good become death to me? MAY IT NEVER BE! But sin…" (vs 12-13).

That's what he's talking about all the way through here. How do we as human beings—living our lives in sinning—come to a point that we can live our lives without sinning:

• you've got to come to God
• you've got to accept the sacrifice of Jesus
• you've got to be buried in full immersion in water, which is your symbolic death

Then you rise out of that and then you begin to understand:

• that all the commandments of God are for our good
• that they're all based upon love
• that it helps us to love God
• to love our neighbors
• to love our husbands
• to love our wives
• to love our children
• to love the brethren

That's why the commandments are Holy, Righteous and good. So, IF you sin, THEN the Law pronounces death. Paul says:

"…But sin, in order that it might truly be exposed as sin in me by that which is good, was working out death; so that by means of the commandment, sin might become exceedingly sinful" (v 13).

People don't understand that without the Spirit of God. We know that the Law is spiritual. Well, if it's spiritual, you can't do away with it. It's like the law of gravity; it's there, working all the time, all the time. And it works on you all the time, your whole body.

That's why, Elon Musk, I have news for you, human beings cannot travel in space, because they need the law of gravity. They don't need space-age diapers as adults, because waste still has to be gotten rid of. So, stick to the earth and help improve the earth and let God take care of the heavens.

Verse 14: "For we know that the Law is spiritual?…." It's written down, but it's only defining something that works automatically!

"…but I am carnal, having been sold as a slave under sin" (v 14).

You can say that of any way of life, of anything that people do when they're not serving God!

Verse 15: "Because what I am working out myself?…. [what I think is right and good and profitable for me] …I do not know…." Didn't understand it!

Or we could put it this way: Look at all the riots that are going on now because they are cutting back. That's where Elon Musk is doing good. He's cutting back on all of the sinful and wasteful spending. But those who are rioting can't understand why corrupt money is wrong. They're out there saying, we want our money. 'Well, you're stealing from the government.' We don't care. We want it. So, they're rioting in the streets. The reason it is that way:

"…so that by means of the commandment, sin might become exceedingly sinful" (v 13). That is, you understand all of the ramifications of sin as it spreads.

Now let me give you one example of a law that God has concerning transgenderism and homosexuality. We find that in Lev. 18 thru 20. He makes it very clear. 'Don't prostitute your daughters because the land will be filled with violence.'

• Is that what we have today? Yes!
• Are our daughters prostituted? Yes!

Homosexuality, here's the stupidity of how they think of it. The Bible says it's an 'abomination for mankind to lie with man as womankind.' They think that that's perfectly all right. They say, 'Well, in the Bible it's an abomination, they don't say it's a sin.'

Well, an abomination means it's a horrible sin! So what did God say concerning adultery? Concerning homosexuality? Obviously, God would give them a chance to repent, but if not, they were to be executed. People say, well, we can't execute all these homosexuals.

Well, the reason that you can't execute them is because you didn't follow God's Law in the first place. When you found out there were so many homosexuals that you outlawed it, you taught against it, you had laws against it, and if they wouldn't repent, you would execute them because they would pollute the whole society.

• Isn't that what has happened in America?
• In the schools?
• In kindergarten?

Because you have a bunch of homosexual sex-fiends as teachers, lawyers, judges and counselors. The Law is Holy, Righteous, and Good!

Then he goes on to explain how sin becomes exceedingly sinful! Always remember this: What did God do to Sodom and Gomorrah? He burned them all up!

Verse 14: "For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, having been sold as a slave under sin; because what I am working out myself?…. [In other words, what I do of my own carnal self] …I do not know?…." (vs 14-15).

Have you ever done something that you say, 'I don't understand why I did that'? Well, that's what he's talking about here.

"…For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do" (v 15).

Now, he is describing something in the Old[transcriber's correction] Testament: Jer. 17—What he's doing here, he's giving the solution. This is important, because it's quite a thing! This is about human nature and how it works and everything like that. Let's see what happens when there is no constraint against sin.

Jeremiah 17:1: "The sin of Judah is engraved with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond; it is carved upon the tablet of their heart and upon the horns of your altars." That describes the lowest denomination:

• of Judaism
• of Catholicism
• of Protestantism
• of humanism

Verse 5: "Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man… [that's the penalty of sin] …and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.'"

That's what we have today. Everyone running around doing whatever they want to do and saying, God is behind this and God is behind that. God is behind everything else. No. There's a Satan the devil, who is the 'god of this world' that is behind all of it.

Verse 6: "For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited."

Now, notice the comparison. Because Paul gets into: How do you solve the problem of human nature down deep within you? Because conversion is to do that during our lifetime!

Verse 7: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit" (vs 7-8)—tie in Psa. 1!

Verse 9—this is what Paul gets to: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"

Now then, for all who are living in sin, listen up, because God knows!

Verse 10: "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins…."

Job understood this when he finally repented. He said, 'I repent in sackcloth and ashes, because no thought can be withheld from You [God].' Any time God wants to know what's on your mind, BING! you've got what is called in the Bible the reins. God can know exactly:

• what is in your heart
• what is in your mind
• what you're doing
• what you're planning

He doesn't interfere with it, only when it's necessary. 

Verse 10: "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."

Romans 7:16: "But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the Law that it is good."

So now, even after conversion, you find you still have to overcome sin. You still have things come into your mind. You still have thoughts that originate in your mind, because conversion is a begettal! And no one has been 'born again' because you're not spirit beings!

Now, we're to walk in newness of life. That's true! But we still have to overcome sin. How do we do it? And today we have many things coming into our heart and our mind via:

• television
• smart-phone
• advertisement
• books
• booklets
• signs
• people

Verse 16: "But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the Law that it is good." The Law is convicting you in your mind that you are sinning.

• For what purpose? So that you can repent!
• What does it say in the model prayer? Our Father Who is in heaven, Holy is Your name, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

We come to God! Then it says, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.'

• Why? He's talking about converted people praying to God!
• Why? Because, a sin enters into our mind! An evil thought comes into our mind!

This is what he's talking about. So what we're looking at here is: How does conversion become more complete? We have to fight the deep recesses of the carnal mind!

Verse 17: "So then, I am no longer working it out myself; rather, it is sin that is dwelling within me; because I fully understand that there is not dwelling within me—that is, within my fleshly being—any good. For the desire to do good is present within me; but how to work out that which is good, I do not find" (vs 17-18).

Without the Spirit of God, you can't find how to get out of sin! You can apply that to anything, a minor sin or a major sin.  You've got to come to God. You can't find it within yourself because:

• within yourself without the Spirit of God
• within yourself, without the Laws of God

you do not know how to combat sin!

You do not know how to repent. Now, we have good intentions:

Verse 19: "For the good that I desire to do, I am not doing; but the evil that I do not desire to do, this I am doing."

We find that we all do those things. Hopefully, all of them are not in the category of major things. But why did God destroy the Worldwide Church of God?

• because of gross lies
• because of sexual immorality
• because of corrupt spending of the money of God
• because of the doctrine of the Truth of God

That's why we're scattered!

We better learn the lesson: Don't ever do what they did before it was destroyed, because you will be destroyed, as well!

Verse 20: "But if I do what I do not desire to do, I am no longer working it out myself, but sin that is dwelling within me."

In other words, you still have what is called 'the law of sin and death' that's still in you. You have to overcome it, you have to work against it.

Verse 21: "Consequently, I find this law… [which we read about in Jer. 17] …in my members, that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me."

That's human nature down deep inside, and God wants all of us converted to the highest degree possible. But this law of sin and death is in us, and we have to overcome it, and we have to recognize it. That's why we need:

• prayer every day
• study every day
• living God's way every day

and the older you get, and I can vouch for this:

• the more that you think on God's way
• the more that you think on the greatness of God
• the more that you think on the love of God

those are the things that are going to help draw you close to God so you can overcome!That's what he's talking about here.

Verse 22: "For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man."

Yes, you agree with it. Everything of the Laws of God are good, but 'I still sin,' right? That's what he's talking about here.

Verse 23: "But I see another law within my own members, warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin that is within my own members."

Every single cell that you have in you has a death gene with it. Men have been trying to find, 'Oh, if we can only find that death gene, we'll live forever.'

How are you going to live forever when the whole society is still under the sway of Satan, the devil? You will end up destroying everything that there is! That's the lesson that's ahead for the whole world before the return of Christ!

Verse 24: "O what a wretched man I am!"

• look at yourself
• look at your own ways
• look at your own thoughts

Look at Paul, one of the most deeply converted men in the entirety of the whole world. And what did he find? He found that

•  he had to fight against sin
• he had to fight against lust
• he had to fight against the pulls of the flesh

Verse 24: "O what a wretched man I am! Who shall save me from the body of this death? I thank God for His salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this, on the one hand, I myself serve the Law of God with my mind…" (vs 24-25).

There it is, the Law of God, all of it, spiritually speaking.

"…but on the other hand, with the flesh… [give into] …I serve the law of sin" (v 25)—occasionally!

Now that may even be, in today's world, almost every day with everything that we come against.

Now notice the first couple verses of Rom. 8. Look at it this way: Everything from Romans 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are all one connected, long dissertation of:

• how we overcome sin
• how we repent of it
• what God does
• what the sacrifice of Christ really meant
• how we overcome sin

Then when we're converted, we still have to overcome the law of sin and death. How does God look at us?

Romans 8:1: "Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

If you see the sin within your life, that's according to the Spirit of God to convict you of it so you can repent. That's why it's there.

Verse 2: "Because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death."

It's still there, but it doesn't control you with the same grip as unrepentant carnality.

Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do…"

You need the Spirit of God. The laws of God don't make anybody do anything. They only define

• what is right
• what is wrong
• what is truth
• what is error
• what we should do

"…in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." That's why Christ died! Amazing thing!

Verse 4: "In order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

So, that's quite a thing! I hope this helps you understand the most difficult chapter of the Apostle Paul. But it gets down to the very nitty-gritty of life:

• of overcoming
• of repentance
• of yielding to God
• of letting God's Spirit lead us and guide us

Scriptural References:

• 2-Peter 3:14-16
• 2 Timothy 2:15
• Matthew 4:4
• 2 Corinthians 2:17
• 2 Corinthians 4:1-5
• Romans 10:4
• Romans 9:27-33
• Romans 10:1-4
• Psalm 119:172
• Romans 10:3-4
• Romans 4:15
• Romans 6:23
• Romans 4:15
• Romans 6:23
• Romans 7:1-15
• Jeremiah 17:1, 5-10
• Romans 7:16-25
• Romans 8:1-4

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Luke 4:4
• Acts 17
• Isaiah 28; 29
• Psalm 19
• Exodus 24
• Isaiah 54
• Colossians 2
• Philippians 3
• Leviticus 18-20
• Psalm 1

Also referenced: Book:
Code of Jewish Lawby Ganzfried and Goldin

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 2/20/25

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