Overcoming the Sin Dwelling Within

(Sabbath During UB)

Fred R. Coulter—April 8, 2023

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services!

• Why do we keep sinning after we're baptized?
• How does that happen?

First of all, we need to understand our human nature, which is directly passed down to us beginning with Adam and Eve. When they sinned and went against God directly in the face of God, and believed Satan the devil, God's judgment was given upon Satan and upon the woman and the man. God's judgment included a change of human nature!

The human nature now after their sin and that time forward though all the rest of the history of mankind was not neutral.

It had, what we will see a little later, the law of sin and death within! But through Jesus Christ we can overcome that, and we can yield to God so that we're not taken down by all the things that come along in the world.

Let's see some things that will be very helpful and interesting, and will help us understand what to do. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread we realize that the whole process of living is that we put out our thoughts, our ways and replace them with God's.

That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We put out all the leaven, because during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread leaven is a type of sin. It works unseen, because it's within!

Let's see what Jesus said about human nature and where it comes from—from within!

• this is why there has to be conversion
• this is why there has to be the Holy Spirit of God
• this is why we need to yield to God and not to our own nature

Human beings like to try and do good, and think that everything that they do is good. This is particularly true with the various religions in the world. They try and have something so people can be better.

But it never changes the inside! The only way there can be changes inside is through repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit.

Without the Holy Spirit all the good that we do comes from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Every religion thinks that they have the good that's going to help people be better. That's what happened with Judaism! However, here's the whole crux of the matter: We must do everything God's way! Not our way!

Here's what Jesus said when they had the question concerning hand-washing and so forth before eating.

Mark 7:1: "Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem came together to Him. And when they saw some of His disciples eating with defiled hands (that is, unwashed hands), they found fault" (vs 1-2).

Verse 6: "And He [Jesus] answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors Me with their lips…"'"

That's the way that people are. They like to give God a little honor, but then do everything their own way!

"…but their hearts are far away from Me" (v 6).

Why? Because they're not truly seeking God! Seek God with all your heart, mind, soul and being! That's for all us who are converted. But we still have to fight and overcome sin, because sin is still within.

Verse 7: " 'But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. For leaving the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men, such as the washing of pots and cups; and you practice many other things like this.' Then He said to them, 'Full well do you reject the commandment of God, so that you may [practice] observe your own tradition'" (vs 7-9)

That's the whole key: Every man's way is right in his own eyes! This helps us to understand what we need to do. With the law of sin and death within us, we think we are right, what we do is good and then we end up to the extreme of calling evil 'good' and good 'evil!

That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so we can always understand God's way vs human way!

Proverbs 16:2: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…"

However, there's something else going on that people don't know anything about. We know it, because we have the Spirit of God, which is this:

"…but the LORD weighs the spirits" (v 2).

Here is one of the steps to overcoming the sin within:

Verse 3: "Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established." That's what we need to do!

1-John—we're going to see something interesting, because when John wrote this he was probably in his late 80s or early 90s, and he lived the longest of any of the apostles. What he has to say is important.

1-John 2:12: "I am writing to you…" first person!

Verse 13: "I am writing to you, fathers…" 

Verse 14: "I wrote to you, fathers… I wrote to you, young men…"

Then he gives this, one of the first things we need to understand is that this world doesn't belong to God, it belongs to Satan the devil, 'the god of this world.' Then John gives this warning:

Verse 15: "Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything that is in the world…" (vs 15-16).

Look at how much the world invades our life on a daily basis through:

• our smart phones
• our televisions
• our music
• our reading

That adds to the problems of our overcoming and leads us to do things that are sinful that we don't want to do! We will see that that's the conundrum!

Verse 15: "Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world and its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever" (vs 15-17).

1-John 1 is interesting and it's probably so that it was added to what was originally the First Epistle of John, because he doesn't say I, he says we. Who are the we?

Well, when the Bible was being canonized there was John, Andrew, Philip, Mark and Timothy. They are the ones who put together and canonized the whole New Testament. Here is what he writes, and notice the we:

1-John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we observed for ourselves and our own hands handled, concerning the Word of Life;  (and the Life was manifested… [talking about Jesus Christ] …and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us)… [the apostles] …that which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you…" (vs 1-3).

Every one of us; every single one who is the baptized child of God, also called a saint, which means you've been made Holy. That is by the Holy Spirit of God.

"…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" (v 3).

Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. That's important to realize. Every time we study the Bible, we're studying the Word of God. We will see how important that is in overcoming the sin within! It really is!

Verse 4: "These things we are also writing to you, so that your joy may be completely full."

Then John wants us to understand something very important in these next few verses, because this tells us how we start to overcome the sin within! This is the most important thing to overcome.

Verse 5: "And this is the message that we have heard from Him and are declaring to you: that God is Light, and there is no darkness at all in Him. If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness…" (vs 5-6).

What does walking in darkness means? You're going to the way of the world! You are not using the Light of the Spirit of God and the Word of God to govern what you are doing. If you become very slack and lay off and things come upon you, and sin comes upon you—and it does—we will see what we have to do when that takes place. But IF you're neglecting God and walking in darkness:

"…we are lying to ourselves…" (v 6). He's including himself!

Think about all the years that John was an apostle, and he's saying that if we're not walking the Light, we're walking in darkness. We, so he's including himself there. Now follow along with what he says there:

"…and we are not practicing the Truth. However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another… [all of us together and with God] …and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin" (vs 6-7).

That's why Jesus Christ's sacrifice is so important, because He was the creator of all human beings.

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us."

Notice that John must have been way up in his 80s at this time when he wrote this:

Verse 9: "If we…" Including himself!

How long had he been an apostle? Since 30A.D. So, we're looking at over 50 or 60 years him being an apostle, and he includes himself, which tells us that even as old as he was, and as long as he had been an apostle, that he understood that human nature must still be overcome! It's still within us! We will see how Paul labels that a little bit later.

Verse 9: "If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins…"

What is the first thing that Jesus talked about in praying to the Father? We are to say, 'Our Father Who is in heaven, Holy is Your name. Your Kingdom come—that's our whole purpose—Your will be done—that's God's whole purpose with us—on earth—in our lives and what we're doing—as in heaven!'

"…and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us" (vs 9-10). That's true!

1-John 5:13: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (vs 13-14).

What is one of the most important things of the will of God? That we ask forgiveness for our sins! We confess our sins to Him! That is putting out the leaven! Every time we confess our sins to God and ask for forgiveness, that is putting out the leaven of sin!

Paul wrote that we're not to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the leaven of sin and malice, but with the unleavened bread of Truth and Sincerity!

It's the same thing that John is writing here in different words.

Verse 15: "And if we know that He hears us, whatever we may ask… [according to His will] …we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him." 

This shows that we all have sin to overcome! The Bible and the writings of the apostles give us all the instruction on how to overcome. That's a tremendous miracle that we can have and know that, and understand that.

Verse 16: "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that is not unto death…"

What is a sin 'not unto death'? It is any sin that is not the unpardonable sin!You can see that in yourself. We can see that in our daily living, see and understand those things that are not of God and we can get rid of them. We can repent of them and ask God to cleanse our mind. Likewise:

Verse 16: "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that is not unto death he shall ask, and He will give him life for those who do not sin unto death…. [we will see what that is] …There is a sin unto death; concerning that sin, I do not say that he should make any supplication to God."

Verse 17: "All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. We know that anyone who is begotten by God…" (vs 17-18). That's shows what Peter wrote.

We know that in order for us to have been brought into the world we had to be begotten in our mother's womb by our father, every single one of us! When we repent and receive the Holy Spirit of God, we know that we have been begotten again. That's what Peter writes here:

1-Peter 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again…"

Receiving the Holy Spirit of God is a begettal from God. It is also the circumcision of the heart. The circumcision of the heart takes away the hostility that we have in our heart to God.

• He doesn't take away our choice
• He doesn't take away our ability to sin if we sin
• He doesn't take away our ability to come to Him; He gives it to us

That's what it means to be begotten again! That's in the spirit of our mind.

We find that explained in John 14, that if we love God we keep His commandments. The Father and the Son will come and make Their abode within us! That's the fellowship with God! All of this ties together, an amazing thing when understand it.

"…according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (v 3).

In that one verse He explains everything about the fundamental basis for Christianity right there in that one verse. 

1-John 5—here's the key, once we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, we have received the circumcision of the heart. We have received the Holy Spirit of God. That is not a complete spiritual transformation into a spirit being. That comes at the resurrection! But it is so that:

• we can understand the Truth and with God's Spirit live by it
• we can see what sin is and reject it and not keep on doing it

That's the sin that is not unto death! Here's why?

1-John 5:18: "We know that anyone who is begotten by God does not practice sin; for the one who has been begotten by God keeps himself by the power of God, and the wicked one does not touch him." That is to take him away from God!

That can happen if some people go against God in an extreme manner.

1-John 3 also tells us exactly the difference. We don't practice sin! We know that practicing sin literally means that we live in sin! When we sin we confess our sins and He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins (1-John 2).

1-John 3:4: "Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness."

The KJV says that 'sin is the transgression of the Law.' But lawlessness means anything of God's way that you transgress!

Verse 5: "And you know that He appeared in order that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. Everyone who dwells in Him does not practice sin; anyone who practices sin has not seen Him, nor has known Him" (vs 5-6). There it is, practicing sin! That's what it means in the Greek.

Verse 7: "Little children, do not allow anyone to deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has beensinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil. Everyone who has been begotten by God does not practice sin…" (vs 7-9).

Notice that it doesn't say that he doesn't sin! But:

• he doesn't practice it
• he doesn't live by it

Because he's practicing the Truth! The sins we are overcoming are the sins within, and that's the most important thing that we need to deal with in relationship to the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Verse 9: "Everyone who has been begotten by God…" that means:

• you've repented
• you've received the Holy Spirit of God
• you're walking in the Truth
• you're keeping His commandments

But you do sin! You just don't practice sin!

"…does not practice sin, because His seed of begettal is dwelling within him… [the seed of begettal of the Father; you have been begotten again] …and he is not able to practice sin because he has been begotten by God" (v 9).

You're not able to practice it! Why? Because the Spirit of God within you will bring to your attention that you are sinning! Before you were converted, you were sinning and you didn't know anything about God's way, forgiveness, repentance, baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit, did you? No! You were living in and practicing sin and everything that were doing was sin!

Let's see the way that Paul wrote in Rom. 5. This is what happened when God gave His judgment against Adam and Eve and this sinful nature was passed down to all human beings. You can even see it in newborn babies. Everyone of us have to be taught:

• right from wrong
• truth from lies
• righteousness from sinfulness

It is the commandments of God that we need. We will see where we need them, and we will see why we need it within us, so that we won't commit the unpardonable sin. But rather every sin that we do commit we repent of, because we're getting rid of the leaven on a continuous basis within our life all the year long.

Romans 5:12: "Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world… [that's Adam; he could have stopped Eve, but he didn't] …and by means of sin came death… [the wages of sin is death; the wages of sin is practicing evil and unrighteousness] …and in this way death passed into all mankind…"

Every single human being has the law of what Paul calls in Rom. 7 the law of sin and death!

• How does that work in us?
• How do we overcome that?

That's all a part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

In the rest of it here Paul talks about having our sins forgiven, and that we're not to live in sin. That's ties in with what John wrote, that everyone who has been begotten by God does not practice sin.

We have our sins forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is through the grace and goodness of God. Once we have the Spirit of God we now have direct access to God the Father and Jesus Christ. I want you to think about that, know that, and understand that, and how great that is that each one of us who have the Spirit of God have direct contact with God the Father.

That's His sacred name. Our Father Who is in heaven! Think about that! And Jesus Christ at His right hand, Who is there as our High Priest, as our sacrifice, is there to bring forgiveness and remission of sins. Since Christ died for the sins of the whole world—and we know with the rest of the Feasts of God—past, present and future!

Once we answer the call and have received the Holy Spirit, which is the circumcision of the heart… Protestantism has it all wrong. They have it that you ask Jesus to come into your heart! NO! NO! NO! He's not going to obey anyone! You come to God and confess your sins to God, and you come to Him in full repentance and baptism, then you receive the Holy Spirit when God gives it.

You don't come and tell Christ to come into you're heart, because without true repentance and true baptism, that is a counterfeit. The world doesn't understand that!

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

That's exactly what Protestantism says: once you accept Jesus into your life then you don't have to worry about what you do because you can't sin. Even though you go back living the way that were living.

That is a Satanic lie preached in the name of Jesus Christ! Here is the Truth:

Verse 1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? MAY IT NEVER BE!…." (vs 1-2)—not at all!

Because when we went into that watery grave that was our pledge of our death if we are not faithful to the end. Because the first part of the New Covenant is the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The second part of the New Covenant is our part, and we signify our death by full baptism, immersed completely in water! That's the closest that you can come to death and yet be raised out of there to live a new life. That's what it's all about, but let's understand the significance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

"…We who died to sin…" (v 2). We put away, died to living in sin and forsaken that way of life!

"…how shall we live any longer therein?" (v 2). How is that possible?

Verse 3: "Or are you ignorant that we… [Paul includes himself just like the Apostle John did] …as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?"

We will see what that means in the next couple of verses, because this is profound!

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death…"—the death of Christ and the death that we pledged! Because with His baptism that we will be faithful all the rest of our lives.

"…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).

That's what John was writing about in 1-John! That we live a life that is practicing righteousness, and we are not practicing sin! We are living according to the commandments of God. That's why John wrote: And hereby we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments! The one who doesn't keep His commandments is a liar and the Truth is not in Him!

That's the same thing that Paul is writing here in a little bit different words.

"…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).

• keeping the commandments of God
• walking with the Spirit of God to lead us and guide us
• having the fellowship with God that we need
• through prayer
• through study
  • continually
  • to overcome the sin within

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

Think about that; conjoined, meaning it's almost like saying that God is taking your body—when you repent before baptism—and laid your body right on the body of Jesus Christ:

• with all the stripes
• with all the gashes
• with all the blood

For the forgiveness of your sins! See how important that is: conjoined, become part of the very death of Jesus Christ for your pledge of future death! That when you come out of this watery grave you walk in newness of life! You don't walk in the way that you've been going!

"…so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection" (v 5). There is the goal, eternal life!

But getting from where we are—from the point of baptism, to where we're going to be at the point of the return of Christ and the resurrection from the dead—is how we live and how we overcome!

Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed…"

This tells us that the rest of our lives in overcoming, growing in grace and knowledge is destroying the sin within!

"…so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin… [in the watery grave] …because the one who has died to sin has been justified from sin" (vs 6-7).

That is all your past sins are forgiven. Now we have given to us an open door that when we sin and we come to God and confess our sins—as John wrote—we have forgiveness of sin. That the world does not have, but we have!

Verse 8: "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. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all…" (vs 8-10)—all time, all people past, present and future!

But they have not been granted the blessing of repenting of their sins, because this world is still ruled by Satan the devil, who is the 'prince of the power of the air' and the dark ruler of this world. With his spiritual power Satan blinds the mind of those who don't believe.

Think about what a tremendous thing that God has done for us!

(break@47:30)

We have a complete In-Depth Study w/CD: How to Overcome the Sin Within. That's the key to conversion and overcoming and growing in grace and knowledge.

Romans 6:10: "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. Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof" (vs 10-12).

This tells us something very important. When we get a temptation, which we all do, when something of sin enters into our mind—which it does all the time—we are not to be obeying it in the lust thereof. A lot of these thing are coming from:

• the world through the way that the world does
• coming from Satan the devil
• coming from other people

All of those combined! We're not to let it rule. It doesn't say that we won't sin. This tells us that everyday we're confronted with sin:

• What do we do?
• How do we overcome?
• How does God look at it that way?

That's why remember, remember, remember the prayer that Jesus gave in Matt. 6. It starts out, as I gave earlier, Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Forgive us our debts—our debt to God because of sin. So, we repent of these things every single day, because we're living in an evil world! That's how we don't let sin rule in our lives.

Hebrews 12:2: "Having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher of our faith…"

That's the central point of our thoughts! Jesus and God the Father!

"…Who for the joy that lay ahead of Him endured the cross… [for the forgiveness of our wins] …although He despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. Now meditate deeply on Him Who endured such great hostility of sinners against Himself so that you do not become weary and faint in your minds" (vs 2-3). The sin within! Remember that!

Verse 4: "You have not yet resisted to the point of losing blood in your struggle against sin. And you have already forgotten the admonition that He addresses to you as to sons: 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor grow weary of being reproved by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He severely disciplines every son whom He receives'" (vs 4-6).

We receive this from God! Why? Why go through this?

Verse 1 tells us: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily entraps us… [that's the sin within; tie in Rom. 6] …and let us run the race set before us with endurance."

It's amazing what God has given us and how He works with us. He wants us to be in the Kingdom. He wants us to be His glorified sons and daughters to live forever. That's the whole goal!

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…" (vs 12-13).

It shows don't yield to it! In other words, when sin comes, or temptation comes:

• expel it
• get rid of it
• ask God to blot it out

"…rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (v 13).

When you do that, you can overcome the sin within, because it says:

Verse 14: "For sin shall not rule over you…"

You with the Spirit of God rule over sin and repent of it and expel it out of your life.

"…because you are not under Law… [the penalty of Law because of sin] …but under grace" (v 14).

That is you have the Holy Spirit of God, you have contact with God and you can repent of those thing. You do not live a life of practicing sin!

Paul continues, because this is important. Then we will come to Rom. 7, one of the most difficult chapters in the entire New Testament!

Verse 15: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE!"

We're going to see that we have to be within Law, not under! Within Law spiritually to keep it in the spirit of the Law! That's the key!

"…MAY IT NEVER BE!"—that you continue in sin that grace may abound!

Verse 16: "Don't you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey…" You yield to it; that's the first step:

• don't yield to the temptation
• don't yield to the sin

IF you do, repent so that you're not practicing sin!

"…you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (v 16).

Psalm 119:172: "…all Your commandments are righteousness."

You yield yourself to the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Righteousness. Not to the spirit of sin!

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." That is:

• to keep the commandments of God
• to keep the Word of God
• to walk in His way

Verse 18: "And having been delivered from sin, you became the servants of righteousness."

• What does God want?
• What is the Truth?
• How do I live?
• What are the circumstances that I'm in?
• How do I repent of sin?
• How do I keep from being tempted?
• What is my mind on?

Our mind is always working all the time! 

• What is it that we are thinking on?

Having been delivered from sin through baptism, through coming out of this world, God delivered you from sin! For what? "…you became the servants of righteousness." This tells us about obedience to God!

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."

Righteousness brings you to Holiness! Holiness means that you are sanctified, sanctification, having the Holy Spirit of God!

Verse 20: "For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness."

No! You were:

• breaking the Laws of God
• obeying your own human nature
• obeying your own law of sin and death

you didn't even know

• that you had the law of sin and death
• that you were yielding to sin

Isn't that the way it is! We're to come out from all that!

Verse 21: "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." Isn't that true? Yes, indeed!

Look at world today. How many people are going down the path to sin. Everything that they think is right is now right because they're not looking at the problem, and the main problem is that:

• people have left God
• people have forgotten God
• people have no morals
• people have no standards
• they are lawless

That's the world we have to live in, and not be taken down by it!

Verse 22: "But now that you have been delivered from sin and have become servants of God…"

Not servants of Satan the devil, but of God! So, in a sense that's what God has done with us. He's taken away our sin, getting rid of all the leaven and put His Holy Spirit in us, which is putting in:

• the unleavenedness of Christ
• the Truth of God's Spirit
• the righteousness of God's Word

"…you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end result is eternal life" (v 22).

• that's what God wants
• that's why we're here
• that's why the Feast of Unleavened Bread

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

Rom. 7 is quite an important chapter for us to really learn and know the way of God and what we need to do. Let's look at this way:

Here's the world, everything of the world:

• all the lust
• all the sin
• all of the things that look good

Here's the way of God:

• the Laws of God
• the Commandments of God
• the Truth of God
• the Spirit of God
• the Word of God

Those are the two things that we need to understand!

When we're under law without God, and that law works automatically. That's why all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Why? Because they're all living in sin! That's why we're going through what we're going through right now so we can understand that getting rid of the sin by transgression God forgives! Now He wants to build something within us, within our mind and we have to overcome the sin within!

Romans 7:1: "Are you ignorant, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know law)… [that is to the Jews] …that the Law rules over a man for as long a time as he may live?" That is true! Who rules over us now? God!

• with His love
• with His truth
• with His mercy

The world is cutoff from that! They're under Law, sin rules and Satan is king! The demons are the princes of this world!

Now Paul is talking about marriage, because he wants to explain something that is very important, which is the covenant with Israel was like a marriage.

Those Jews who were under that first covenant, have to understand that the death of Jesus Christ now makes it possible for them to not be bound to that marriage situation of the covenant with God under the Old Covenant. That's because Christ—God manifested in the flesh—died!

How long is a marriage covenant good for? Until death of one of the parties, the husband or the wife! Christ was the husband of Israel. Christ died, and that terminated the Old Covenant! This is what we're seeing Paul explaining here, so that those Jews could come to Christ.

Verse 2: "For the woman who is married is bound by 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."

That's the truth of the matter. Protestants come and say that 'you're released from the Law altogether. No! Only the covenantal bounding of the Old Covenant marriage. When Christ died that ended the efficacy of the covenant that God made with Israel, because he died! Whenever there is a covenant, both parties must pledge their death. Just like in a marriage, you be faithful unto 'death do we part.'

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 that bound her to the husband, so that she is no longer an adulteress if she is married to another man." The Church is to be married to Christ!

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

That's what Paul is talking about. You are not dead to the Law, all the Laws of God, so that you can break them with impunity and not have to keep them.

 "…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" (v 4).

So, when we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God, begotten again, we are betrothed, as Paul said, to Christ! The marriage supper and the marriage is going to take place at the resurrection.

Christ is the Head of the Church, the husband and the covenant altogether!

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. But now we have been released from the law…" (vs 5-6).

Released from the covenant law of marriage of the Old Covenant; not released from keep the Laws of God at all!

"…because we have died… [so it's a mutual death with us; we die in the watery grave of baptism] …to that in which we were held so that we might serve in newness of the Spirit… [there it is right there; we are to serve the Law of God in newness of spirit] …and not in the oldness of the letter. What then shall we say? Is the Law sin? MAY IT NEVER BE!…." (vs 6-7).

Now we come to the point of the whole thing, understanding what it means concerning the Laws of God, what they really are and:

• why we need the Spirit of God to do it
• why we need the help of God to do so
• why we need every day that ability to come to God and ask for forgiveness for our sins

Those are the sins within!

This is what Paul is going to bring out now. It's one of the most difficult things in the whole New Testament. When I first read this, I wondered: Was Paul really converted? Of course he was! But he had the same struggle to overcome sin that we do. He had the same temptations, or greater, as we do.

Now we're to "…serve in newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. 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'" (vs 6-7).

Before God called us and revealed His Truth, and we were baptized and received the Holy Spirit, were we conscious of lust? NO!

• we enjoyed it
• we practiced it
• we lived in it.

Everything that we did was based upon:

• self
• sin
• lust

That brings all the problems that are in the world!

Verse 8: "But sin… [lawlessness, transgression of the Law] …having grasped an opportunity by the commandment… [whenever you break a commandment you are sinning] …worked out within me every kind of lust… [the sin within] because apart from Law, sin was dead."

But the Law tells us what sin is! But we didn't pay attention to it in the spirit! Now Paul is talking about the spirit of the Law.

Verse 9: "For I was once alive without Law…"—a true understanding of the Laws of God!

He was following all the traditions of the laws of Judaism He was persecuting the Church, and putting them in prison and even seeing the death of some of them who were following Christ Jesus. He was without Law, because he didn't understand it in his mind that there is sin. That there is in us the law of sin and death.

"…but after the commandment came, sin revived, and I died" (v 9).

In other words, there comes a time in our life with God's Spirit, God's Word, and God's Law that:

• we understand what sin is
• we understand that it's within us
• we understand that the wages of sin is death

The whole goal with everything with God is to perfect us through:

• overcoming sin
• overcoming lust
• overcoming temptation

replacing that with

• the love of God
• the Truth of God
• the obedience to the commandments of God

That's what it's all about!

Verse 10: "And the commandment, which was meant to result in life, was found to be unto death for me."

That's true! You can keep it in the letter of the Law and have lots of lust in your mind, but you're keeping the Law in the letter. You're not addressing the real source of the sin, which is the sin within!

Verse 11: "Because sin, having taken opportunity by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me."

That's how Paul is explaining it, that's the repentance and conversion!

Verse 12: "Therefore, the Law is indeed Holy… [not sin] …and the commandment Holy… [all the commandments of God] …and righteous and good." Here is the conundrum, right here:

Verse 13: "Now then, did that which is good become death to me? MAY IT NEVER BE!…."

It is sin that brought death; sin is the transgression of the Law. The Law didn't bring it. That's the penalty for breaking it.

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

We understand the depths of sin with God's Spirit. You can't know it otherwise. Now it's a spiritual thing. We're not stopping sin outwardly that we're doing, because we quit that long time ago. We're not involved in it. But we're fighting the battle of the sin within so that God can put:

• the righteousness within us
• the Truth within us
• God's way within us

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… [his own way, what he was doing without God] …I do not know…. [didn't understand; looking back on it now: Why did I live that way?] …For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do" (vs 14-15).

Now he's discovering the law of sin and death within him that bring him with his thoughts to do things that aren't right.

Verse 16: "But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the Law that it is good…. [because the Law says don't do it] …So then, I am no longer working it out myself; rather, it is sin that is dwelling within me" (vs 16-17). That's the sin within!

Verse 18: "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… [all human beings desire to good, but they don't do it] …but how to work out that which is good, I do not find." It's not a resource you have of your own:

• it must come from God
• it must come from His Word
• it must come from His Spirit

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. Consequently, I find this law in my members, that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me" (vs 20-21)—as long as we're in the flesh!

When we receive the Holy Spirit of God after baptism, that is a circumcision! That gets rid of the hostility to God. Now the rest of it is with God replacing all the sin within, all of our thoughts:

• with His Holy Spirit
• with His Laws
• with His commandments
• with His Truth
• with His love
• with His grace
• with His mercy

To build in us the character so that with God's Spirit we see the sin within so that we can overcome and we can repent.

Verse 22: "For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man… [yes, we do] …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. O what a wretched man I am! Who shall save me from the body of this death?" (vs 22-24).

Without God and the Spirit of God no one can overcome the law of sin and death! No one! That's why all the good that men want to do always ends up in disaster. That's the way it is down through history.

Verse 25: "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."

• Where does this put us?
• What are we to do?
• What happens when you find yourself sinning within?

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."

We're walking according to the Spirit with the Spirit of God within us, and our mind is on the things of God. It's that sin within that pulls against us. There is no condemnation as long as we repent, as long as we yield to God.

Verse 2: "Because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death." He will deliver us every day in everything that we do!

That's why it says in 1-John that you can't practice sin, because the Spirit of God is going to lead you to repentance.

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

The Law can't do anything. It can't make you do anything, but the Spirit of God can! It can lead you! It can perform miracles in your life.

"…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; 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" (vs 3-4).

Let's see how this works! 2-Cor. 10 is important, because it shows us how we overcome the sin within in a tremendous way. We do this all the time, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month, year-by-year! That is the spiritual warfare within us, to overcome the sin within! How? With the Spirit of God! So, Paul defines it even more, and also calls is it a war!

2-Corinthians 10:2: "But I am beseeching you so that, when I am present, I may not have to be bold with the confidence with which I intend to show boldness toward some, who think that we are walking according to the flesh…. [we're not] …For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh" (vs 2-3).

No amount of psychology, no amount of human improvement without repentance and coming to God will ever work. Only the warfare that God gives us with the Spirit of the Truth, which is the sword of God.

Verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty… [because it takes the Spirit of God] …through God to the overthrowing of strongholds."

• What are those strongholds?
• What are those things in our mind?

That's why you need this In-depth Study: How To Overcome the Sin Within. There are 6 messages[transcriber's correction] that I cover.

Verse 5: "Casting down vain imaginations… [anything that comes into our mind contrary to the Word of God, cast it down and get rid of it] …and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity… [or control] …every thought into the obedience of Christ." That's how we overcome!

Verse 6: "And having a readiness to avenge all disobedience, whenever your obedience has been fulfilled."

Let's see what Paul says in Col. 3. that we need to do.

Colossians 3:4: "When Christ, Who is our life, is manifested… [He's coming, His return is going to be] …then you also shall be manifested with Him in glory." That's the whole goal! That's why we:

• have the Feast of Unleavened Bread
• put out the leaven
• put out the sin
• put out the human way of doing things, the fleshly ways of men and women
• put in the Spirit of God

Here's what we are to do as Paul wrote in 2-Cor. 10 that our warfare is spiritual.

Verse 5: "Therefore, put to death your members, which are on earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry."

Those are all the things in the mind! We bring all of those things out and get rid of them and repent of them and bring into the obedience of Christ every thought!

Verse 6: "Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, among whom you also once walked, when you were living in these things" (vs 6-7). You didn't know anything!

Verse 8: "But now… [since we're in Christ] …you should also put off all these things: wrath, indignation, malice, blasphemy, and foul language from your mouth."

Isn't that something? All the sins within! That's what Paul is talking about. Here's how we overcome and put into practice 2-Cor. 10:

Verse 9: "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man together with his deeds, and have put on the new man…" (vs 9-10),

• be renewed day-by-day
• be renewed with the Spirit of God
• be renewed with the Word of God
• be renewed with your conduct with God

"…put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him" (v 10)—that's Christ! Renewed every day! That's why:

• prayer
• study
• living
• thinking
• meditating

It would do a lot of good for a lot of people to:

• turn off the cell phone
• turn off the television
• study the Word of God
• think on the Word of God
• meditate on the Word of God

That's how you overcome the sin within!

Verse 12: "Put on then, as the elect of God, Holy and beloved…"

We're the begotten children of the Father, all of us together awaiting the resurrection and the return of Christ.

"…deep inner affections…" (v 12).

• change of heart
• change of mind
• change of the way you do things

"…kindness, humility, meekness and long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another…" (vs 12-13).

Walk in the unity and love of the Spirit! Not in the carnality and politics of men!

"…if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so also you should forgive. And above all these things…. [here's the goal of it all]: …put on love, which is the bond of perfection" (vs 13-14).

That's what it's all about, and the final perfection is the resurrection from the dead!

Verse 15: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were called into one body, and be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly… [that comes through study and prayer  and living God's way] …in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And in everything—whatever you do in word or in deed—do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (vs 15-17).

That's how you overcome the sin within! We all have that battle! That's the whole real meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

• get out the evil
• get out the flesh
• get out the humanism

• put in God's way
• put in God's Truth
• put in God's Spirit
• put in His Word

Let that rule in our lives and let us:

• think in that way
• walk in that way
• be in that way

Continue to have a great Feast of Unleavened Bread and we'll see you on the last day, the seventh day, of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Scriptural References:

• Mark 2:1-2, 6-9
• Proverbs 16:2-3
• 1 John 2:12-17
• 1 John 1:1-20
• 1 John 5:13-18
• 1 Peter 1:3
• 1 John 5:18
• 1 John 3:4-9
• Romans 5:12
• Romans 6:1-12
• Hebrews 12:2-6, 1
• Romans 6:12-16
• Psalm 119:172
• Romans 6:17-23
• Romans 7:1-18 20-25
• Romans 8:1-4
• 2 Corinthians 10:2-6
• Colossians 3:4-10, 12-17

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 14
• Matthew 6

Also referenced: In-Depth Study w/CD:
            How to Overcome the Sin Within

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/19/23

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