March - Reading 11

Good evening -

The readings in our schedule of year round scripture is:

Matthew 24:36-51

Romans 7:13-25

Psalm 58

Numbers 26-27

May God bless the reading of His Word.

 

Hello all -

In Numbers tonight, we see that despite all the warfare that the Israelites have conducted on their way to the Promised Land, the count of the second census shows only a drop of a couple thousand out of nearly 3/4 million men 20 or older. Very impressive numbers for a nomadic people.
We also see the commission of Joshua, who will lead the people after Moses' death.

[ March 11, 2003, 07:37 AM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Sunday School lesson – 11-6-05 - conclusion

Romans 7:13-20 The Law and Death

The next question in the diatribe asks, “Did the Law, then, cause the spiritual death of man?” Again the answer is a resounding NO! Sin took the opportunity of the consciousness produced by Law to magnify itself. Sin was no longer a dormant quality but was shown in its true light of being contrary to the will of God. The Law showed man the right path, the way to be holy, but man being carnal, a slave to sin in his natural state, continued on in the acts that separated him from God.

Many interpreters see this Passage as the pre-Christian experience, either speaking of himself or as the everyman. Indeed, the idea of bondage to sin seems contrary to Paul’s earlier arguments of the regenerate state of the believer. On the other hand, the guilt associated with the behavior described is indicative of repentance. For this commentator, it seems more reasonable that Paul is speaking of the Christian after the conversion experience. Though we are dead to sin and dead to the Law, we still sin. It is in our nature to do so and no amount of conscious effort can prevent us from sinning. In the daily striving towards perfection we should all be pursuing, the recurrence of sin in our lives is a frustrating experience. It seems that this is what Paul is describing.

Once again Paul makes the point that the Law is spiritual. This statement puts the Law on the side of God. The flesh is on the side of sin and opposed to God. All that is against God is doomed to destruction, not just physical death but spiritual annihilation as well. Paul is aware of the sin he commits and it deeply troubles him. He does not approve it, he does not wish it, he does not care for it, yet it occurs all the same. In struggling against sin, even though ineffectively, Paul shows that it is the intent of the Law he loves, another mark of the Christian.

So frustrated is Paul by his inability to prevent himself from sinning that he claims that it is not he but sin in him committing the evil acts. Sin has not been fully dislodged from his mind and has taken up habitation there. There is the constant struggle within him to do that that is good and that which is evil. The good does not always win out.

Paul goes so far as to say that there is no good in him. He claims that evil has totally consumed him. There is no stronger statement of the concept of total depravity in the Scriptures. Paul, an Apostle of Christ, recognizes his helplessness against sin. He wants to do good but he is unable to back up his thoughts with action.

Romans 7:21-25 The Conclusion: The Law of the Two Laws

In verse 21, Paul uses the term “law” in an unusual way, but it shows his definition of the term clearly. “Law” is that which controls and binds a man. When Paul wants to do good, that which is right, he is bound by a law that makes him do otherwise. Evil overcomes the will to do good. His propensity to do evil hinders him from becoming good, much to his frustration.

The Mosaic Law and the law of conscience, though stringent and unattainable, were Paul’s true delight. He wanted to do the will of God. It was more than intellectual assent. It was a deep-seated emotion that he wished to be the pattern of his life. The joy he felt over the regulations of the Law were felt in his inmost self. Despite the intellectual and spiritual desire he felt for the law, the embodiment of God’s will, the physical part of himself held fast to the law of sin. His body warred against his mind in a struggle to make him a slave. Paul’s discourse comes to a climax in verse 24 with the statement, “Wretched man that I am!” The failure of man to be holy on his own merit shows us our limitation and leaves us frustrated and grief stricken. This is the root of Christian humility.

Paul then asks, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Unable to save himself from sin and out of control of his own actions, Paul laments his pitiful condition. He is in bondage to the evil propensities of his own body.

In answer to his lament, Paul states the Redeemer in verse 25. God through Jesus Christ our Lord effects the rescue we are unable to afford. What his conscience, his mind nor the Law could accomplish has been given to Him in a merciful and righteous act of God. The superiority of the Gospel over the Law is thus established firmly. Though his body was still subject to evil acts, things contrary to the Law, his faith, his desire for holiness through Christ offered him a way out.

The Law never saved anyone. It was established to make man physically act in a way that was holy. The power of sin prevented man from ever fulfilling that requirement. His propensity towards evil widened the chasm that Adam started and peace with God was never attainable. That peace could only come through a Divine act in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Our Scriptures for 3/12 are:

Matthew 25:1-13

Romans 8:1-17

Psalm 59

Numbers 28-30

 

Our Scriptures for 3/12 are:

Matthew 25:1-13

Romans 8:1-17

Psalm 59

Numbers 28-30

 

Our Scriptures for 3/12 are:

Matthew 25:1-13

Romans 8:1-17

Psalm 59

Numbers 28-30

 

Our Scriptures for 3/12 are:

Matthew 25:1-13

Romans 8:1-17

Psalm 59

Numbers 28-30