The Law of the Spirit of Life

Putting to death the sin within so you can live

Fred R. Coulter—August 31, 2019

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! We're getting close the fall Feasts, and everything that goes with it.

For those who do not understand about God's plan, here's a book that tells you about it: God's Plan For Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days.

This tells you an awful lot, since those are the things that the fake Christianity of this world rejects they don't know what God's plan is. You take the Baptists, if you're not in a Baptist church, you're going to hell and burn forever. That's not God's plan! Others think that they're all going to heaven. That's not God's plan!

So, the Sabbath and the Holy Days are the key to understanding what God is doing, and also the Sabbath is the key to understanding about Jesus Christ and salvation.

Last night I did a Go to Meeting at my house and it turned out all right, but what we're going to do, since we have it all wired here, if we need to do that again we will have it all setup right here. It will be easier for me because we're right here with the camera.

Today, I got to thinking about what I presented last night and I'm going to cover that and expand a little bit more on it so that we have a clearer understanding of what God is doing. We're going to cover one chapter in the book of Romans that is one of the most difficult chapters to understand.  But we will be able to understand it.

Romans 8:1: "Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…"

What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? You have to be baptized by full immersion—and we'll review that again—and you have to live by every Word of God, as Jesus said!

"…who are not walking according to the flesh… [that's in the world] …but according to the Spirit" (v 1). We are to be led by the Spirit of God, and we'll talk about how that works.

Verse 2: "Because the law of the Spirit of Life… [What is that law? We'll explain it today!] …in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death"—which is in us that automatically relates to human nature and causes us to sin. We all die in Adam!

The King James says, 'has set me free.' That is not a good translation, because we still have "…the law of sin and death…" in us and that's part of the overcoming that we need to do on a regular basis. How has Christ delivered us? We will see that it is this way:

• by repentance
• by baptism
• by forgiveness of sin
• by receiving the Holy Spirit

Using the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is what delivers us from the law of sin and death! Not only that, we will see that it helps us to understand, right as we're going along, when we sin!

The New Covenant is quite a profound thing! Now, this a bit of review of what we have done.

Romans 7:1: "Are you ignorant, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know law)…" The Jews knew about the Law of God, and the laws of Judaism!

"…that the Law…" (v 1).

"…know law…" is law in general. We will see as we go through Rom. 7 that law and the Law are applied to different things, and it looks like the same thing. But that's the mistake of interpretation that the Protestants make.

Why do they not understand? Because they don't keep the Sabbath!The Sabbath is the key!

"…(for I am speaking to those who know law) that the Law… [the Laws of God] …rules over a man…" (v 1)—and woman, every individual whether they know the Law of God or not!

Romans 2:12 "For as many as have sinned without [the] Law… [the Law of God] …shall also perish without [the] Law… [they're going to die] …and as many as have sinned within the Law shall be judged by the Law."

That's self-explanatory, and the Law says to not do it, and if you do it then the judgment is already against you that you have sinned.

If you repent, v 13: "(Because the hearers of the Law are not just before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified." This tells us that in order to be justified through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His shed blood—that's accomplished by baptism—you must be keeping the Law, which means you must repent first.

Verse 14: "For when the Gentiles, which do not have the Law, practice by nature the things contained in the Law, these who do not have the Law are a law unto themselves"—meaning: those who are Gentiles that have been able to understand the principles of the Laws of God—and that's what they operate by—that is a good thing.

That's why you can go to pagan countries like Japan and they're polite and kind. They're fierce when they get into a battle and are warriors, that's true. They don't have the Law of God, but…

Verse 15: "Who show the work of the Law…" Note that this is the only place in the New Testament where the definite article the work and the Law are. Every other place that Paul writes of, the definite articles are not there, and do not refer to the Law of God, except in relationship to sacrifices.

Why do I emphasize the 'the'? Because that is in the Greek! That means the Law! When you have law, that either the principle of law or law referring to other laws, and works of law—without the definite article—include all the sacrifices and all the traditions of Jewish law, the works that they have.

So, this is referring to a good thing, v 15: "Who show the work of the Law written in their own hearts, their consciences bearing witness, and their reasonings also as they accuse or defend one another)."

Remember, every man and woman is under the Law. That's important to understand. No one escapes. You look at how our bodies run, they are run by law. If you heart beats too slow you have a problem, if it's too fast, you have a problem Your temperature, breathing, seeing, digestion all work by law. So does the whole earth.

But notice v 16, speaking of the Gentiles who have part of the Law: "In a day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel."

Judgment is on all, because they're all under the Law, you can't escape it. When you are baptized, we'll see that you're under grace. The only ones under grace are those who have the Spirit of God. Those who are faithful to the end will be in the first resurrection.

But Paul says that there's a judgment coming for the rest of humanity. So, we know that after the first resurrection that the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are over, the second resurrection. In that resurrection you have two classes of people:

• those who are like the Gentiles here who had part of the Law and did not sin the unpardonable sin

They will be raised to a second physical life in the flesh for an opportunity for salvation!

• those who have committed the unpardonable sin will be raised so all the wicked together can be cast into the Lake of Fire in the final judgment

So, there are three classes of people as far as God is concerned.

• those who are under grace—those who have the Holy Spirit of God in them
• those who are in the world, even though deceived by Satan the devil, live decent and good lives

Look at the Protestants, most of them lead decent and good lives, but they're deceived into Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Sunday, etc. That is not the unpardonable sin!

• those who have committed the unpardonable sin are rejecting God the Father, and those who had once had the Holy Spirit but walked off from it and left it

• we all have the same human nature
• we all have the same difficulties

Romans 3:19: "Now then, we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law… [every person is under the Law whether they know the commandments of God or not] …so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world…"—every man and woman, every generation down through time are under the Law!

Those who do not have the Laws of God may understand some parts of what are in the Law of God by trial and error. For example, most people understand that murder is not good, stealing is not good, lying is not good. But they don't know how to worship the true God. Those are the ones who will be in the second resurrection.

"…all the world may become guilty before God" (v 19).

All religions—even Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism—have their own laws. Like the Jews who live by the Code of Jewish Law. The Catholics have the Catholic Catechism. The Protestants have only certain parts of the Bible that they agree with. All of them fit into the same thing. Those are all works of law that they are doing.

There is nothing that can substitute for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His shed blood. It doesn't matter how good a person you may be without the Spirit of God, you must have the Spirit of God! You may have a lot of things that you may do in ritual, prayer or having rosaries. None of those equal or can bring you righteousness. Only God can bring the true righteousness!

Verse 20: "Therefore, by works of law…" Notice that the definite article is not there; so, that's a broad sweep of all works of law by pagans, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, atheists, etc. Whatever you're doing there, even though you profess the name of Christ, if you do not understand and have proper baptism, proper laying on of hands and receiving of the Holy Spirit of God it is fake!

"…there shall no flesh be justified before Him; for through the Law is the knowledge of sin" (v 20). How are we justified? Yet, we do keep the commandments of God. The category of how we keep the commandments is a higher lever than what people in the world would do.

Verse 23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; but are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Whom God has openly manifested to be a propitiation through faith in His blood…" (vs 23-25). Nothing, nothing else can substitute for that! Nothing!

"…in order to demonstrate His righteousness, in respect to the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; yes, to publicly declare His righteousness in the present time, that He might be just, and the One Who justifies the one who is of the faith of Jesus" (vs 25-26). So, the faith of Jesus requires:

• repentance
• belief
• baptism
• walking in the Spirit

Let's see how that works. Paul goes through all th different things showing that no work of any law can substitute for faith in Jesus Christ. That if we are transgressing the Law, we're sinning.

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?"

That's almost the way the Protestants have it. If you believe in Jesus and accept Him, then you can live any way you want to. So, they're living in sin, saying that 'grace is going to abound.'

What does Paul say? Very emphatically, v 2: "MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin…" That's quite a statement! What does it mean? Christ died for all sins! He is the sacrifice for the whole world! His shed blood; that is His part of the New Covenant! The New Covenant has to have a sacrifice evidenced by both parties for the covenant to be binding. This will help you understand why Protestantism is fake Christianity. Each one of us has our part in that covenant relationship.

What this chapter does is shows that our covenant sacrifice is our baptism. It demonstrates your future death if you do not perform and live by the covenant. That's why it says:

"…We who died to sin how shall we live any longer therein? Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?" (vs 2-3). We have to be brought into the death of Christ in order for the shed blood of Jesus Christ to forgive our sins.

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death…" Baptism is a symbolic promissory death! You have a life to live to overcome and things like that, so you must come up out of the water. Baptism accomplishes several things:

• it is a burial
• it is a projection of future death on  you part if you're not faithful
• it is a cleansing coupled with the blood of Christ to bury your sins

and you no longer live unto sin, you live unto God!

"…so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life" (v 4).

We are going to be changing the way that we live to make in accord with all the Word of God. When we were baptized, we knew just a few of the basic things. So, we learned all of the other things as we went along.

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death…"

That's how you die, through the death of Christ, but you have to be raised out of the water because you have to continue on in faith! It explains what we are to do here.

"…so also shall we be… [future] …in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed…" (vs 5-6).

It doesn't say that it was destroyed; it shows that there is a process to get rid of the old sin, the old man, the body of sin.

"…so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (v 6). People in the world are enslaved to sin! Whether severely because they're criminals, drug addicts, or whether they are what you would say are good acceptable people who are nice and good, like the Protestants. As we mentioned, they don't know that they're deceived. But they accept all of the holidays of Satan the devil, so they can't be walking "…in newness of life."

Verse 7: "Because the one who has died to sin… [that's what baptism is, you die to sin] …has been justified from sin. Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him" (vs 7-9).

This is why only the death of Christ can pay for sin. Why? Because He was God manifested in the flesh, Who was the Lord God Who created man and woman!  He was the God Who brought the judgment upon them for sinning, and they received their nature changed to what Paul calls the law of sin and death.

God made that judgment on them, and hence on all mankind, and men and women, even newborn babes. He made us all, so no other life of any other human being would have the value necessary for the forgiveness of sin of all people who repent.

Once you understand about the Millennium, what's going to happen then? All of them are going to have a chance for salvation onthe Last Great Day when the second resurrection takes place. It's got to also apply to them. No other life could do it. No other 'good' man could do it. Only God manifested in the flesh!

Verse 10: "For when He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives unto God. In the same way also, you should indeed reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord" (vs 10-11).

That's why when we keep the Sabbath we're coming to God. We're not out there in the world, fooling around in the world.

Verse 13: "Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."

Tie v 13 with the last phrase of v 6: "…so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin."

Verse 12: "Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body… [sin, remember, is all under law] …by obeying it in the lusts thereof."

When we are baptized we are raised to a higher standard of obedience! Not just being good on the outside, because some of the slickest con-people are the nicest people you would ever want to meet, but they are evil and planning on taking everything from you that they can.

Verse 12: "Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof." Remember that temptation comes and what happens? What can you do? Reject it! Don't obey it.

We will see what James wrote concerning the operation of temptation and sin. It shows that when a temptation comes you can reject it and you don't have to let it come forth unto sin. You don't have to obey the lust of sin.

James 1:13: "Do not let anyone who is tempted say, 'I am being tempted by God,' because God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one with evil. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and is enticed by his own lust" (vs 13-14).

How does sin come? It comes by bringing a benefit! And the benefit is transgression! Notice the process; right here you can reject it. You can pray in your own mind for God to forgive you and get it out of here. He will do that; that's using the Holy Spirit.

Verse 15: "And after lust has conceived… [looks like a pretty good idea] …it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is completely finished, brings forth death." Don't yield to lust!

Romans 6:12: "Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof. Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God…. [notice what Paul is saying and what you are doing] …For sin shall not rule over you… [because we saw from James that you can cut it off] …because you are not under law, but under grace" (vs 12-14).

Grace does not freedom to live anyway you want. Grace is your relationship with God, and God's relationship with you. We will see that you are raised to a higher standard in everything that you do. With the Spirit of God you're under grace. You don't have to have sin ruling over you.

Verse 15: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE!" Then Paul explains how we resist against sin! This is what we do everyday. Something comes along…

Verse 16: "Don't you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Isn't that a choice? There it is, the choice!

Deuteronomy 30:15: "Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil…. [v 19]: …I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live."

Romans 6:17: "But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you; and having been delivered from sin, you became the servants of righteousness" (vs 17-18). That's quite a statement! Isn't that what we try and do with our conduct?

• make it good
• make it Godly
• make it according to the commandments of God

We're going to see in Rom. 7 that the most important part is in our mind! Not just your actions out here, but what is in your mind and heart! That's going to be the key.

Verse 19: "I speak from a human point of view because of the weakness of your flesh; for just as you once yielded your members in bondage to uncleanness, and to lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now yield your members in bondage to righteousness unto sanctification." There's that choice, always there!

Verse 20: "For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. Therefore, what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end result of those things is death. But now that you have been delivered from sin and have become servants of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification… [unto Holiness, and that comes at the resurrection] …and the end result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (vs 20-23).

How can you tell the difference between a lust that is going to take you to sin, or it is a thought of God?

(go to the next track)

Romans 7:2: "For the woman who is married is bound by law to the husband as long as he is living…" Where do we find that law? Gen. 1! A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife.

"…but if the husband should die, she is released from the law that bound her to the husband…. [Paul is making a point here that's important]: …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 that bound her to the husband, so that she is no longer an adulteress if she is married to another man" (vs 2-3).

Notice what this is talking about. We have the marriage law, and now, v 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…"

Paul is talking to the Jews directly. Why? Because under the Old Covenant we find two references to the fact that God was the husband to Israel! God has to live by His own laws, otherwise He would be a transgressor. God cannot sin, so God had to come—another reason why it couldn't be any other human being; it had to be God manifested in the flesh so that He could die. When He died that ended the marriage covenant with Israel. He could not marry another, and those who were Israelites—whether Jews or Israelites—under that covenant could not marry Christ.

Jeremiah 31:32: "'…I was a husband to them,' says the LORD"

Isaiah 54:5: "For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of hosts is His name…"

Since the covenant with Israel was the exact same parallel as husband and wife being married, then one has to die to end it. Or all Israel has to die to end it. God came and died in order to end 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…"

2-Corinthians 11:2: "For I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God because I have espoused you to one husband…" That could not happen unless Christ died and then rose from the dead! End the covenant with Israel and then begin the covenant with the Church.

"…so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (v 2).

Revelation 19:7—on the Sea of Glass at the resurrection: "Let us be glad and shout with joy; and let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."

So, we have our part. The relationship between those in the Millennium and the second resurrection is not going to be like with us, because we're in the first resurrection. We will be part of the Bride of Christ.

Revelation 14:3 tells us a little bit more about the Bride: "…the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth…. This is different than the 144,000 in Rev. 7] …These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; they are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb" (vs 3-4). That's also about the Bride!

Revelation 22:16: "'I, Jesus, sent My angel to testify these things to you in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.' And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'…." (vs 16-17).

That's the work during the Millennium, and all that come into the Kingdom of God during that time will be the children of Christ and the Bride. That's when Christ will become an everlasting Father. Go back to Isa. 9:6-7 and there are many timeframes when that all of that is involved.

Romans 7:4: "…Who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God. 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…. [now Paul is getting to the most important part]: …But now we have been released from the law… [that's not released from an obligation to keep the commandments; that is released from the law of the Old Covenant]: …because we have died to that in which we were held so that we might serve in newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (vs 4-6). There are a lot of things here:

How do you serve in newness of spirit? That's the key! From here on in we're dealing with the mind and with the heart. That's the whole purpose of conversion. People can have good behavior with many things, but what is in their mind is what is important.

Let's see how Christ explained it. Matthew 5:21: "You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times, 'You shall not commit murder; but whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment.'"

What happened when someone died, whether it was murder or accidental? They had to flee to a city of refuge, a town of judgment. There they had Levites and priests. They had to make an inquiry into how the death of this person occurred to decide whether it was premeditated murder, manslaughter or accident. Much like we have with our courts today. Here is the newness of spirit that you shall not murder:

Verse 22: "But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be subject to judgment. Now, you have heard it said, 'Whoever shall say to his brother, "Raca," shall be subject to the judgment of the council.' But I say to you, whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be subject to the fire of Gehenna."

All of those things have to do with what's going on in the mind.

Verse 23: "For this reason, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you."

Verse 27: "You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times, 'You shall not commit adultery.'"

Think of all the things that could happen up to the point of committing adultery. Many things!

Verse 28: "But I say to you, everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." That's the spirit of the Law!

The oldness of the letter of the Law is that you don't do the act, but the newness of the spirit is that you don't think the thought! If you think the thought, you need to repent. That's how the spirit works. It will convict you of sin, and you can repent right then and have forgiveness and ask God to cleanse your mind from it. That is how Rom. 7 and the teachings of Christ work out together.

Verse 31: "It was also said in ancient times, 'Whoever shall divorce his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.' But I say to you, whoever shall divorce his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever shall marry her who has been divorced is committing adultery" (vs 31-32).

Now you see why Rom. 7 and comparing the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Now it's completely different. Same law, but spiritually enforced! One is the letter, the other is the spirit. If you have hatred, you have murder in your heart!

1-John 2:9: "Anyone who claims that he is in the Light…" If you're in the Light, that's part of the New Covenant, because Christ is the Light of the world. His word is a lamp unto our feet.

"…but hates his brother, is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother is dwelling in the light, and there is no cause of offense in him. But the one who hates his brother is in darkness, and is walking in darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes" (vs 9-11).

This can get into some details. Let's understand that the New Covenant is the conversion of the heart and mind, and our outward behavior is directed by the inward choices of our heart and mind. However, we're not free from sin. How do we handle that?

Romans 7:7: "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, except that the Law said, 'You shall not covet.'"

There it is! Conscious thought! That's covered by the tenth commandment you shall not covet! Let's go on and see, because in the letter of the Law you can read it, but that doesn't change your heart and mind, and doesn't change your behavior like with the New Covenant and the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is going to be doing what we're talking about next. It's going to be revealing the sin within so you can repent! That's the most important thing!

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." Apart from the Law there is no sin. But the Law is there and is spiritual, as we will see! So, Paul is explaining it here.

Verse 9: For I was once alive without law…"—even though he was in Judaism, and a high ranking member of Judaism out of Jerusalem. What did Paul do?

• he went out and arrested Christians
• he caused them to be put in prison
• he caused some of them to be killed
• he thought that he was doing the will of God

Paul was acting without Law!

• Whose orders was he following? The high priest's!
• Who did Jesus say that the priests were of? Satan the devil!

Verse 9: "For I was once alive without law… [before baptism] …but after the commandment came… [of understanding that he needed to repent] …sin revived, and I died"—in baptism!

Verse 10: "And the commandment, which was meant to result in life, was found to be unto death for me… [because the wages of sin is death] …because sin… [he's talking about sin within, and everyone has that] …having taken opportunity by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me…. [Paul understood how severe sin was] …Therefore, the Law is indeed Holy, and the commandment Holy and righteous and good" (vs 10-12). Now Paul is talking about the spirit of the Law!

Like he said, you're not only to obey in the letter, but you are to obey in the spirit! When you do that, you're going to come up against sin that is still within, because the law of sin and death is in us, and we have been delivered from it by having our sins forgiven, and given the power of the Holy Spirit that is in our mind. The Holy Spirit is going to work within our minds to convict us of sin! That's the operation of conversion!

Verse 13: "Now then, did that which is good become death to me? MAY IT NEVER BE! 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." That's how Christ magnified the Law!

• if you hate it's as good as murder
• if you lust, it's as good as the act of adultery

You find these things within! The way that you develop righteousness is to have the Spirit of God

• by your choice
• by your working with the Spirit of God
• by your thoughts
• by eliminating and repenting of the sin within

when it springs up! That's how we become converted.

Verse 14: "For we know that the Law is spiritual… [that's why you need to obey it in the spirit] …but I am carnal, having been sold as a slave under sin; because what I am working out myself, I do not know…." (vs 14-15).

You go along and you do something, and you say, 'Why did I do that?' I guess the best example would be that happened to me:

I was doing some carpentry work with hammer and nail, and I was holding the nail and I said to myself not to hit my thumb. I hit my thumb! I said, 'Why did you do that?' I got a bit black thumb! Didn't mean to! Was an accident.

A lot of the sins that are in our mind today, especially in the world of entertainment, television, and high tech, we can be assaulted with sin everywhere! You can be driving down the road and see a billboard. That might provoke sin in your mind. That's when you grab hold of it and repent, right then!

"…For what I do not desire to do… 'we've all done that] …this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do" (v 15). Sometimes it's deeply rooted. This is why God does not remove the law of sin and death from us. We must overcome the sin within by God's Spirit through choice!

Verse 16: "But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the Law that it is good." Is it a good thing that you see that it's sin because you know the Law? Yes! Very good! It gives you an opportunity to repent.

Verse 17: "So then, I am no longer working it out myself…" In other words, these kinds of sins that are deep within we are not desiring to do that, but because of the sin within, we do it. Then we hate it and wished that we never did it. That's repentance!

"…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. 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. 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…. [The law of sin and death] …Consequently, I find this law in my members… [the law of human nature, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked] …that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me" (vs 17-21).

That's quite a thing, and you've all experienced how that comes about!

Verse 22: "For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man; but I see another law within my own members, warring against the law of my mind… [the law of sin] …and leading me captive to the law of sin that is within my own members" (vs 22-23).

This is the internal struggle that we all go through to overcome! You don't have hardly any outward sins that you're doing, because you have the Spirit of God. We'll see what the 'Spirit of God will do for us in just a minute.

Verse 24: "O what a wretched man I am!…." Consider this, he's talking about his behavior after he was an apostle for over 20 years.

"…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; but on the other hand, with the flesh, I serve the law of sin" (vs 24-25)—and he has to get rid of it!

Let's see what we are to do when we sin, because we all sin, even after we're converted. Those who commit gross sins, like some we know, they're in God's hands, and in God's judgment. He knows the heart!

1-John 1:3—here's the aspect of being under grace; that's your relationship between you and God—God the Father and Jesus Christ. You have direct access to Them through prayer. You have the Holy Spirit from Them in your mind. That gives you the fellowship that you are to have through prayer and study with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

1-John 1:3: "That which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for the fellowship—indeed, our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ." That is being under grace!

Under law you don't have it; you're living in the world! You're living under Satan's domain! We live in the world, but we're not of the world as Jesus said. We have that fellowship, and that fellowship is maintained every day by prayer and study. God will lead us, and you'll find yourself praying many times during the day for God to help you in different ways.

Verse 6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness… [the world] …we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth."

Think about this; this is important! If you believe your own lies, that's the worst deception in the world! If you believe your own lies to be true, that is worse than being deceived by Satan!

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin." All the sin that Paul was writing of there in Rom. 7!

All through here it's 'we'; Paul is including himself! He's writing to Christians; v 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. If we confess our own sins…" (vs 8-9).

That's why Jesus said in the model prayer, 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive others.' Not just forgive me for my sins. That you may have to do, but forgive us, because you also pray for others!

"…He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (v 9)—that's a promise! We can claim that. That is how we overcome the sin within.

Verse 10: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us." Then we have Jesus Christ Who was the propitiation of sin!

You're going to understand in the first part of Rom. 8 very clearly, because of this battle that's going on within, within the mind, of you having the Laws of God written in your heart and mind, and the Spirit of God in your heart and mind, the earnest of the Spirit. That is how you overcome the sin, and the Spirit of God will help you to see what sin is. Sometimes it may not be right away, and sometimes it will be instantly.

Romans 8:1: "Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…"

How are you in Christ Jesus? Repentance, baptism, Holy Spirit! You're in Christ Jesus and you're under grace.

"…who are not walking according to the flesh… [which you're not] …but according to the Spirit; because the law of the Spirit of Life…" (vs 1-2)—the operation of understanding the sin within, repenting of it, and the Holy Spirit exposing the sin within, that's

"…the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death" (v 2). That's the power that God gives us to overcome! That's of God, in Christ!

Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do…"—because they never had the Spirit of God, and they never had the Laws of God written in their heart and mind like we do. So, you give a law it's impossible to be kept because of the weakness of the flesh.

• How many people know to not take drugs? But they do!
• How many people know to not commit sexual immorality? But they do!
• How many people know not to steal? But they do!
• How many people know not to lie? But they do!

What we have is completely different! We have the Spirit of God, so we're walking in the Spirit and minding the things of the Spirit, and the Spirit reveals the sin within so we can repent! That's what this is all about! That's how you are delivered! It's not removed from you, but you have the power to overcome it!

"…God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (v 3).

Most people don't understand this. In order for the sacrifice of Christ to be complete, He had to be sinless. But in order to condemn sin in the flesh, He had to carry the law of sin and death within Him, yet, never sin! That way when He died, He died unto all sin once forever!

Verse 4: "In order that the righteousness of the Law… [the Spirit of the Law; that's how we're to serve] …might be fulfilled in us…"
The Spirit of the Law is going to lead us to not only keep the Law in the spirit, but to love God, to love one another, to love our neighbor, and even love our enemies. That's how those during the Middle Ages were able to go off into martyrdom to be burned, beheaded and killed, and to praise God and love their enemies. What an example that they were! Even one Friar admitted that 'they're better Christians than I am.'

We have a different challenge today. Our challenge is all of the mass technology that we have, that's in our lives. It can be used for good, and it can be used for evil. We can put this online, we can have a website, which we do—we have several of them—and this preaches the Word of God. Somewhere on the Internet there's a whole raft of pornography websites—good and evil!

We're using it for good, and God will use it to help people to come to the Truth!

"…who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit…. [the Spirit in us, the Spirit of God] …For those who walk according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh…" (vs 4-5).

Today, on the Sabbath, where are they? Playing football, soccer, hiking, hunting, fishing, mowing the lawn, taking care of all of those things! All of those are good things to them, but they're breaking the Sabbath! They have no consciousness of it. But we, with the Spirit of God would have consciousness of it and repent! How does that happen?

"…but those who walk according to the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit" (v 5). Your mind is on the Word of God! On the Truth of God! Your mind is on not to sin, or if something comes along, you repent of it. You're thinking about the Kingdom of God, thinking about overcoming your own human nature. All of those things are minding of the Spirit, motivation from God!

Verse 6: "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

• Isn't that so?
• When you repent and God has lifted the burden from you, don't you feel that's great?
• Don't you feel that the burden is lifted?
• Don't you feel that you have peace with God?
• Yes, indeed!

Verse 7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God; neither indeed can it be." Then what Paul is explaining here in Rom. 7 is not carnal-mindedness! The carnal mind would care less about it, except if they might get caught by the police.

They run this ad now that driving with a 'buzz' is driving drunk. A lot of people are out there drinking and thinking they will roll down the window and have fresh air and turn the air condition down and blast the cold air in and they'll get home okay. That's not the mind of the Spirit; that is the mind of the flesh!The mind of the flesh:

• having many adulteress affairs
• constantly lying
• lying to yourself
• cheating
• stealing
• idolatry
• taking God's name in vain

Verse 8: "But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you…." (vs 8-9). Tie in with John 14, the Spirit of the Father to become a son or daughter of God, and the Spirit of Christ for the mind of Christ, the dual part of the Spirit of God, which is the power of God. It gives us the motivation and the strength and the power to do what we need to do.

"…But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him…. [no two ways about it] …But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now, if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken… [make spiritual] …your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you" (vs 9-11).

• That's the goal!
• That's where we're going!

Verse 12: "So then, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; because if you are living according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall live" (vs 12-13).

That's what it's talking about in Rom. 7. The law of sin is there, and you are putting to death those impulses of lawlessness of sin that spring up in you. And you do that with the power of the Spirit of God. You put them to death!

Verse 14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."

Read the rest of Rom. 8 showing that we're going to have:

• difficulties
• problems
• trials

But the Spirit of God is there:

• to lead us
• to guide us
• to give us strength
• to help us to understand right from wrong, good from evil when it springs up

I hope that gives you a clear understanding of conversion of the heart of mind!

Scriptural References:

• Romans 8:1-2
• Romans 7:1
• Romans 2:12-16
• Romans 3:19-20, 23-26
• Romans 6:1-11, 13, 6, 12
• James 1:13-15
• Romans 6:12-16
• Deuteronomy 30:15, 19
• Romans 6:17-23
• Romans 7:2-4
• Jeremiah 31:32
• Isaiah 54:5
• Romans 7:4
• 2 Corinthians 11:2
• Revelation 19:7
• Revelation 14:3
• Revelation 22:16
• Romans 7:4-6
• Matthew 5:21-23, 27-28, 31-32
• 1 John 2:9-11
• Romans 7:7-25
• 1 John 1:3, 6-10
• Romans 8:1-14

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 1
• Revelation 7
• Isaiah 9:6-7
• John 14

Also referenced:
Books:

• God's Plan For Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter
• Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried and Goldin

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 9/5/19

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