About this sermon
From Genesis 3:15 onward Scripture shows enmity between the serpent and the woman’s seed, and in Romans 7 Paul describes the same warfare inside the believer. He delights in God’s law in his inner being, yet sin dwelling in his members wars against it, and he cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, believers fight the good fight with the sword of the Spirit and look for his appearing.
Sermon transcript
We come now to the reading of God’s Word as we open the Bibles together. We’re going to begin this evening in the book of Genesis. I ask you to turn there with me if you would. We begin in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. There we’ll read just that one verse, Genesis 3.15. And I do remind you that this is the inspired Word of God.
Genesis 3.15. God says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. Thus far, God’s word. Let’s turn over to Genesis chapter four, and there we’ll pick up at Genesis four and verse one and read through verse seven. Genesis four, verse one through verse seven. Now, the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.
And she said, I have gotten a man child with the help of the Lord. Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part, also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering. But for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you so angry and why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it. Thus far, the reading of God’s word from Genesis chapter four. Let’s turn over now to our target passage, which is in the New Testament, the epistle of Romans. And we there will read from chapter seven of Romans, reading verses 14 through 25. Romans chapter 7, 14 to 25. Turn there with me if you would. We continue the reading of God’s inspired and infallible word. Romans 7 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am a flesh sold into bondage to sin.
For what I am doing, I do not understand, for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then, on the one hand, I myself, with my mind, am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin. Thus far, the reading of God’s infallible word. Amen. Let’s pray together, shall we? Our Father, we come to you this night giving thanks to the God of our salvation, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. for that salvation which has come to us in His fullness in the person and work of Jesus. And we ask, Lord, then, that the Spirit of Christ which moved the prophet of old and the apostle of the New Testament to write the words we have heard here tonight, we pray that that same Spirit would now be here in our midst, enlightening and enabling the preacher, but also the hearers, O Father, that we would apply ourselves to the word of truth that the Spirit of Christ would illumine these things to our understanding with power, and that the Word would go forth for the conversion of hearts and minds, that more and more we might be transformed into the likeness of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. May, O God, you receive the glory, the praise, and the honor, both now and forevermore. We pray these things together now in Jesus’ name. Amen. The hope begins with a promise, the promise of Genesis 3, verse 15. And this is the promise.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. As you can see, the promise included the certainty of ensuing warfare. But it also included the hope of a seed, a seed of the woman who would eventually bruise the head of that serpent deceiver, Satan, that one who seduced Eve, leading to the fall of man into the miserable depths of sin and depravity and death. The promise began a time of anticipation and waiting. Only in the fullness of the time would there be a fulfillment in the arrival of that particular seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head.
We ask, who is that suffering servant, that son of a virgin, son of the Most High, the consolation of Israel, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, the word become flesh? Who is that second Adam? You know the answer. Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen and amen.
As we come to Romans 7 verses 14 to 25 tonight, we see in this section that the Apostle Paul continues to speak to us in the first person singular, as he did also in Romans chapter 7 verses 7 through 13. But here in 14 to 25, he leaves behind the past tense and he now is speaking to us in the present tense. As we’ll read that text in just a little while, I would ask that you particularly listen closely to Paul’s words as he speaks to us in the first person singular. I want you to carefully pay attention to the first person singular, the use of I or me, but I want you also to recognize that there is an inward tension in these words here.
A tension in 14 to 25 that was absent from verses 7 through 13. There, in verses 7-13, we see that sin assaulted Paul by stealth and indeed struck him down. Here, in verses 14-25, Paul puts up an agonizing resistance to that sin, even if he cannot beat down the enemy completely. As Paul makes plain here and elsewhere, There is a conflict, yes, warfare between the spirit and the flesh.
I would ask you very quickly to compare with me Romans chapter seven, verse six, where he says, and we’ve highlighted this in our last Roman sermon, compare Romans chapter seven, verse six, where Paul says, we serve in newness of the spirit. Compare that with Romans 7, 14. But I am a flesh sold into bondage to sin, this same one who said we serve in newness of the spirit.
I would also ask you to compare and see also Galatians 5, verses 16 and 17. We’re going to look at a number of texts this evening, and I think it would be helpful for me to be patient while you find that text. Galatians 5, verses 16 and 17. Give me a nod when you find it, and I’ll proceed. Galatians 5, 16 and 17.
Paul writes, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. He continues that theme in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 8. Once again, I’ll wait for you to find that with me. Galatians chapter 6, verse 8. We read, for the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Paul further develops this same theme in our book of Romans, chapter 8, verses 12 and 13. I’ll wait. Romans 8, verses 12 and 13. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. But if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
See also Colossians chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Colossians chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
This parallels the idea that we find in Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 to 24. Ephesians 4, 22-24, the idea of putting off the old man and putting on the new man. I’ll wait for you to find the text and I’ll read there. Ephesians 4, 22-24, Paul writes that in reference to your former manner of life, You lay aside the old man which is being corrupted in accordance with the loss of the seats and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Words which seem to comport well with what Paul says about the first and the second Adam in the book of Romans chapter five. but also in the book of First Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 45 to 48. Think about this, the old man and the new man, Adam and the second Adam. In First Corinthians 15, 45 to 48, Paul contrasts what he calls the earthy man and the heavenly man. The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life giving spirit. The first man is from the earth, earthy. The second man is from heaven. Before we go any further on this theme, let’s go back to our original passage, Romans 7, verses 14 to 25. Let us turn back to Romans 7, 14 to 25.
As we there deal with the struggle, the warfare even, that is going on in Paul, first person singular, that warfare of the spirit against the flesh. And there in Romans chapter 7, 14 to 25, in that context, we must deal with the shift we find in these verses from what we had read earlier in verses 7 through 13. In the earlier passage, verses 7 to 13, Paul, speaking there also in the first person singular, described what happened to him when he lived. in what might be called this present age. But here now in verses 14 to 25, he addresses his life in the age to come. The age to come which has already arrived.
Although that old age, the former age, what Paul calls in Galatians 1.4 the present evil age, has not yet passed away. Paul is a man living simultaneously on two planes. In keeping with this, we might say the kingdom of God has already come, but it has not yet come in all its fullness. The already, the now, and the not yet. He, Paul, lives in the tension of the overlap of the two ages.
Paul eagerly longs to live a life in keeping with the higher plane, that is, the age to come. But he is sadly aware of the strength of indwelling sin that remains in him, the flesh, what might be called the old man that keeps on pulling him down to that lower plane, the present evil age.
The spirit-inspired words of the apostle here are highly suggestive, prompting us to remember the words of God that he spoke to Cain just before he killed his brother Abel, as recorded in Genesis 4, verses 7 and 8. God says to Cain, if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it. You might recall that the story of Cain and Abel begins with the hope that Cain may in fact be the one to bring humanity back to Eden.
Look at Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1. His very name, Cain, expresses Eve’s interpretation of this one’s birth. She said there, I have gotten a man child with the help of the Lord. Again, Genesis four, chapter four, verse one. In other words, speaking such words, she is saying, aha, here he is, the seed, the seed who will bruise the serpent’s head. But it soon becomes very evident, doesn’t it, that all is not well with Adam’s firstborn son.
Having had his offering, that is Cain, having had his offering rejected by God, as recorded in Genesis 4, verses 3 to 5, Cain does not turn from his wickedness. He does not reform his half-hearted, faithless worship. Instead, he heartens his heart, angrily ruminating over his situation, as he does in Genesis 4, verse 5b.
So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. In this evening’s passage there that we read earlier, the Lord warns Cain about the coldness of his spirit. Why are you angry, God inquires? Not because God cannot see the man’s heart, but in order that Cain might know the Lord’s displeasure is due to his own sin. Just as with Adam previously in Genesis 3 verse 9, God here mercifully gives Cain an opportunity to examine himself. Why are you angry?
An opportunity to examine himself and to repent of that. This interpretation gains further support from verse 7. The English Standard Version of the text translates verse 7a as, If you do well, will you not be accepted? Accepted can also be rendered as forgiven for the sake of clarity.
Basically, the Lord is telling Cain to soften his heart, turn from his unfounded anger, begin to worship, to offer true worship to the Lord rather than false worship that is unacceptable. The context thus demonstrates that the words do well does not imply justification by works on part of Cain, but that forgiveness comes only to those who repent. The remainder of verse 7 in Genesis 4 is a sober warning to Cain of his need to heed the Lord’s warnings.
God counsels Adam’s eldest son to beware of the sin which is crouching at the door, lest he is unable to master that sin. There is a connection to the seed of the serpent here, as the word crouching in other ancient Near Eastern literature is used of demons. Satan is seeking to use sin to dominate Cain, and he will be successful if Adam’s son does not turn from his unrighteous anger. Cain’s rage is itself evil, quite evil, but soon that rage will erupt into fratricide, murder, a more, even more heinous transgression.
Though Cain is an unbeliever, the New Testament most certainly uses him as a warning, even for the faithful. I’m thinking of 1 John 3, verses 11 through 15. 1 John 3, 11 through 15. John writes, For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? because his, that is Cain’s, deeds were evil, and his brother’s deeds were righteous.
Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brotherhood. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
By the Holy Spirit, all believers are enabled to live unto holiness, Paul will say in Romans chapter 8. Here in 1 John 3, John is saying that believers are enabled to love by the grace of God at work in their hearts. And therefore, as we hear such words that yes, we are enabled by the grace of the Spirit to be holy, to love one another, We would nevertheless be foolish to suppose that we are incapable of serious sin. And evil desire is the first step toward an even more wicked act, James tells us in chapter one, verses 14 and 15.
He says there, but each one is tempted when he is carried away and is enticed by his own lust. Thus, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. And if we do not flee from evil desires, we may find ourselves ceding control to the serpent, that serpent who prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Listen then to Paul’s conflict as the Spirit wages war against the flesh. He says, I’m back in Romans 7 verses 14 to 25. Listen to what Paul speaks in terms of his own conflict, his own warfare. We know, he says, that the law is spiritual, but I am a flesh and sold into bondage to sin.
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So now no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, says Paul, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Now pay very careful attention how Paul concludes this section of scripture at the end of Romans 7. What is the outcome of this conflict? Look at Paul’s own self-estimation. The preacher tonight says, along with Paul, and this is what Paul says about himself, first person singular, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death, Paul asks. Your preacher asks the same.
These words cry out for the end of the conflict, the end of the warfare, indeed for an eternal resolution. We might say, in keeping with that warfare that is going on, we might say that the first advent cries out for the second coming. The already cries out for the not yet. Christmas cries out in hope for consummation and the end of the present evil age. That hope will become reality in the appearing of the exalted Christ.
That seed of the woman who fatally bruised the serpent’s head on the cross, that suffering servant, the now exalted king, once born of a virgin, now declared the Son of God with power in the resurrection unto eternal life. The Son of the Most High God, the consolation of Israel, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, the Word become flesh.
Indeed, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming again. Amen and amen. O troubled sinner, you who ask, who will set me free from the body of this death? Take heart and hope tonight in verse 25 of Romans 7. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, Paul says, but on the other hand, with my flesh, the law of sin. And for now, that’s right where the Lord wants you and me to be. We’re in that conflict of the spirit and the flesh. Fighting the spiritual warfare, that’s where God wants us. The spirit against the flesh. And in faith, as those whose spirit is fighting against the flesh, we ought to be that people looking to Jesus Christ the one who will most assuredly complete the good work which he has already begun in us.
And this he will do when he comes again. And surely he will come again. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. So then, beloved, let us together walk by the spirit as we await and pray for the consummation in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And I wish a blessed Christmas to you all. Amen. Let’s pray together.
Our Father, we give you thanks tonight. We give you thanks that the one who began a good work in us, that heavenly man, the Lord Jesus Christ raised from the dead, is the one who will bring that work to its glorious consummation and completion. And though we find ourselves in the midst of warfare now, O God, we would not despair, but rather we would fight with the weapons that the Lord has given us. the weapons of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always as we would fight the good fight according to the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is now at work in us to will and to do according to your good pleasure. Our Father, may we press on in faith. as we give thanks for the appearing of Jesus, as we look for that second appearing of Jesus in anticipation and expectation of the great things that will mean for the people of God. Hear our prayers of thanks and adoration tonight, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. I would ask you to turn with me then, if you would, to hymn number 150 as we respond to God’s word this evening. We turn to hymn number 150.
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