In Nomine Iesu

Pastor Thomas L. Rank
Trinity 14
August 28, 2005

Text: Romans 7:7-25
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

THESE ARE YOUR WORDS, HEAVENLY FATHER, SANCTIFY US BY YOUR TRUTH, YOUR WORD IS TRUTH. AMEN.

In Romans 6 we are given the good news of how through holy baptism we are connected with the very death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By this wonderful and amazing link with the Son of God we are freed from sin. That is the goodness and love of God for each and every one of you. And in Romans 8 St. Paul concludes the chapter with a wonderful confession of how nothing is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. It would seem, then, that the Christian life, the life which is given to us by the grace and mercy of God, should be one of victory, one in which we see and experience triumph after triumph over those evil forces which would tear us from our dear Savior Jesus Christ.

Yet, here in chapter 7 St. Paul details for us the great struggle of faith for the Christian in this world. Can he really be describing a saint of God, a believer, when he writes, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells..." "what I hate, that I do..." "the evil I will not to do, that I practice...." "sin that dwells in me...." "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members...."? This sounds like someone who is so troubled by sin that he never will win against it. Where is the victory? Where is the confidence? Where is the faith in the troubled description of this poor soul? Can this truly be a picture of a Christian, a child of God?

Some do look at these verses of chapter 7 of Romans and conclude that St. Paul is not writing about a Christian, but about someone who is still under the sway of sin, someone who is overwhelmed by the law and does not know the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins, the mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Why do they reach this conclusion? Because Paul’s words do not seem to fit their idea of a Christian. A Christian should not be troubled in this way. A Christian should not be so full of doubts. A Christian should not struggle so much with sin.

But Paul's words fit perfectly well with the Christian in this world. The Christian is at the same time both a saint and a sinner. Our Lutheran Confessions speak about this life of the Christian in this way:

But since in this life we have received only the first fruits of the Spirit, and regeneration is not as yet perfect but has only been begun in us, the conflict and warfare of the flesh against the Spirit continues also in the elect and truly reborn. Again, there is not only a great difference between Christians, one being weak and the other strong in the Spirit, but even the individual Christian in his own life discovers that at one moment he is joyful in the Spirit and at another moment fearful and terrified, at one time ardent in love, strong in faith and in hope, and at another time cold and weak. (K/W, SD, II, 68, emphasis added)

Notice the terminology here: conflict and warfare. This is in keeping with the vocabulary of St. Paul who writes of the warring that is going on in life. St. Paul wrote in much the same in the Epistle to the Galatians we heard earlier: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

To deny the struggle of faith vs. doubt, of grace vs. sin, in the life of a Christian is to leave the Christian in sad shape. For then the Christian, whenever he sees the warfare of his life, the struggle to live as a child of God, the stumbling as he seeks to follow the way of life, may easily conclude: I am no child of God. St. Paul desires to comfort the troubled soul which feels such distress. The conclusion is not: I am no child of God, but rather: what is it finally which gives me the hope and confidence of being forgiven, saved, a child of God? Is it our own efforts? Is it our own ability to conquer sin? No. It is the power of God, His promises, His forgiveness, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

St. Paul, at the end of this chapter 7, is a soul in great distress. "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from ths body of death?" These are not the words of the unbeliever, but those of the saint who feels fully the war of sin, death, and the devil against himself. He sees no hope in himself, and this is good! To whom does St. Paul turn? To whom does he direct us 2,000 years later? "I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

In Christ the doubts are removed. In Christ the fears are cast away with the confidence of faith in all that He has done for us. Here is the return to the justification which underpins this whole letter to the Romans. Justification, salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone is never a mere beginning for the life of the Christian which can then be set aside for the more active life of sanctification. No, justification remains the core, the foundation of the life of the Christian. In fact, you can get an idea of how much Satan hates this doctrine from the numerous ways in which he strives to hide it, to change it, to replace it. Satan knows that the work of Christ alone brings hope to us and defeat to himself. Therefore he will never want you to hear about it, but he loves when you struggle with sin on your own, when you see no way out, when you doubt, when you reach the conclusion that you are wretched but then do not have Christ as the answer. Beware of such satanic lies.

St. Paul directs us to the very answer we need: Christ. In the midst of our struggle with sin are we still the baptized sons and daughters of God? Yes, we are. And in that powerful name of the Triune God poured out on us we are given strength, confidence, victory in the midst of our weakness, our doubt, and our seeming defeat. But all this is based on promise, on the Word of God. Our own experiences may try to teach us differently. But we are not saved by our experiences, but by the Gospel, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

God helps and is with his stumbling, struggling saints. In our Savior we find secure refuge, a fortress. God grant that we continue to hear His saving Word, to rely on the sure promises of God. As the prophet Jeremiah teaches us to pray: "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise." In Jesus' name. Amen.