Struggle with Sin and the Law

Hello, welcome. I hope you can hear me. Harvey told me I have a soft voice and it's hard to hear me sometimes in the very back. So I hope I'll be able to project well enough. So while I'm getting situated, why don't you get comfortable in your seats?

Drink your last sip from your beverage, and the timer's on. So my name is Enrico, and I'm tasked with preaching the sermon today in the back. I hope you can see. Go to the next slide. Avi, you can see me.

When I was a kid growing up in East Germany, I grew up in an atheistic environment, as some of you know. And at that time, I was a little older than in that picture. But at that time, I thought to myself, if I tried really, really hard, I can manage to not be bad and only be nice. Not think bad thoughts, not steal, lie, you know, all that. I don't know if my grandmother had already shown me the Bible or if I'd watched, secretly watched West German television and maybe saw the movie the Ten Commandments or something.

I don't remember. All I remember is that I thought to myself, if I tried really hard, I will be a nice boy and I won't do anything bad. And you can probably guess how that turned out. Not so good then, because it didn't turn out so good. I did become a believer, repented, and turned to Jesus to have my heart changed.

And I did experience that to a degree, that my wants and desires change, changed, and that I had a heightened awareness of sin after I got to know Jesus, especially in the last 10 years, when God really shifted gears in my life and started to work out my sanctification more and more. And that was especially after I started really reading the Scripture from COVID to cover and praying more. And I remember this battle inside of me getting super intense. I remember working in the hotel that was before my current job, doing night shifts, and sometimes these intoxicated drunk guests would come to the reception desk or, you know, rude guests, and I would not remain or manifest the fruit of the Spirit, but would really lash out angrily at them quite often. And I would always be convicted immediately.

The Spirit would convict me faithfully. And in my mind I would say, oh, Father, please forgive me. And then just to turn around and do the same thing again, and that became excruciating. I remember this intense battle, and I prayed and prayed and asked others to pray. And then after some time, it got better.

But there's so many other battles that I'm still facing. And why am I telling you this, these two experiences, because I believe our passage today touches on such experiences. Now, if we go to the next, we are right in the middle of our sermon series on Romans. If you remember, when Chad first introduced it, he gave us this high level overview of the chapter breakout. And he told us that chapters one through five are about our justification.

And chapters. Well, the remaining Chapter 5 through 8 is about our sanctification or our path to holiness. And it says in Hebrews 12:14, strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. So our passage today, that specific section, Romans 7, verses 7 through 25, is right smack in the middle of the. That bigger section on sanctification.

And of course, justification comes before sanctification, so it's for believers. Why am I making this a point? Because today's passage has been debated by theologians for centuries. There's a scholar I came across, he has a Master of Theological studies, a Master of Divinity and Pastoral counseling, and a Ph.D. in biblical exposition. He says Romans 7, verses 7 through 25 is one of the most challenging exegetical and theological enigmas in the New Testament.

Ouch. And here I am standing before you today, tasked with expositing this passage for our mutual edification. And so, needless to say, I should pray. And please pray with me. Oh Father, we're not here for entertainment.

Lord. Father, we are here to hear your word. And you have something to say to us today. Please do that, Lord. Use this vessel.

Undeserving. Yeah, unworthy. But you make us worthy. By your blood, Lord, we believe on you. And so speak spirit, touch hearts, do your work.

Amen. So I mentioned this debate, right? And what is that debate centered on? Well, there's a general discussion on who the I. Beulah read it beautifully. Who the I, or in the Greek the ego, is in today's text, what it refers to.

So interpreters debate whether it's Paul himself autobiographically, or perhaps Adam, or perhaps corporate Israel, or maybe even every human being or a typical Jew under law, or a pre Christian Paul, or a speech and character Persona. So you see, it goes all over. Whichever option you choose has repercussions on the. I can't say the word theology you derive. And so it's important.

The biggest debate, however, is on verses 14 through 25, whether it's talking about a believer or an unbeliever, a safe person or an unsaved person. Some of the early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and also later in The Middle Ages. Erasmus, a Dutch theologian, and also later Arminius and Wesley believe these verses talk about an unsaved person, the one Spula just read. In contrast, Augustine, Aquinius, Calvin and Luther and later others believe they refer to a saved person. So what is it?

Is the person in Romans 7 Saved or not? Again, how we read this shapes our doctrines of what the law's function is, the law of God, what is that function in our lives? And also the nature of Christian sanctification. Now, we here, and I talked to Martin beforehand at Crossway, believe that Paul is speaking about himself autobiographically and that he's recounting his own personal experience for the sake of his argument. We believe this.

Why? Because of the repeated use of the I, the vivid first person struggle that he describes and the way this passage fits into Paul's wider theology. You know, in all the other letters, what he's saying about the struggle for the believer. So our passage today deals with the law and the battle with sin. Two weeks ago, Franz preached verses one through six preceding our passage today, and he clearly said, and the passage says that as believers in Jesus, we have been released from the law, as far as it being part of the old covenant system for obtaining right standing with God.

So let me read verses five through six again in that section. For while we were living in the flesh, it says our sinful passions aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, not in the old way of the written code. Released from the law, Paul says, died to that which held us captive, no longer serving in the old way of the written code. Now, thank you, Jesus.

Yes. Paul, however, sounds almost like he's dissing the law, doesn't he? So we have to ask ourselves, as believers, New Testament believers, is it still important in our lives, even for us who are of gentile descent? Because he was speaking primarily to Jewish believers. We know we're not bound by the law, but does it still serve a purpose for us in our lives?

Yes, very much so. Now, in some churches, there are teachers who would say that, oh, you don't need to worry about the Old Testament law. It's all irrelevant. You know, we're covered by grace, which we are. But then think about what second Peter, what Peter said in second Peter 3, verses 16, 16 through 17, speaking about Paul's letters, his writings, he says there are some things in them in Paul's writings that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures.

You therefore beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you're not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. So Peter talks about lawless people twisting Paul's writings. Today, the law is often misunderstood in churches. On one side you have churches that subscribe to legalism, maintaining that salvation requires strict adherence to the law. And on the other you have antinomianism.

You know, you dismiss God's law entirely under the cloak of grace. Yet God's law is still pertinent to us believers. Although we are not under Mosaic Law, we now live under the law of Christ which commands us to walk in love. First Corinthians 9:21 Law keeping doesn't save us only believing in Jesus and His finished work. But, but, but if we love Jesus, we will want to obey his commandments.

That that's what he said. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever when he what he inscribed on the tablets he gave to Moses on Mount Sinai that still reflects his character, his holiness, his heart. It's relevant for us. Remember Jesus's words. Until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Matthew 5:18 and Romans 2:15 even reminds us that every person, every person has God's moral law written on their heart. Breaking moral law is obviously still sin for everyone, including us. Now don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not talking about keeping the law for salvation. I think I made that clear.

The kind of yoke even the Jews couldn't bear. When Peter talked to the Jerusalem Council, he said that it cannot earn us a pass to heaven again and again. Salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone. But that same faith and trust, that same Christ centered dependence is what enables us then to walk in the Spirit. And it's the Spirit who helps us live in love, fulfilling the law and to obey the Lord out of gratitude, not fear.

We will fail and mess up. That is where grace covers us. But our heart should be to seek holiness, to seek to become more like Christ. And next week Pastor Chad will explain more about life in the spirit in Romans 8. Now let's take a closer look at some of the verses in our passage to see how Paul explains what the proper role of the law in a believer's life should be and our struggle with sin.

So go to verse seven if you want want to in your Bibles it says, what then shall we say that the law is sin? By no means. Yes, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin, for I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, you shall not covet. So referring back to verses one through six, in chapter seven, Paul asks, shall we say that the law sinned? By no means.

It's the Greek me genoito that could be literally translated as may it not become, may it not happen. Or you could say God forbid. And he already used that same phrase in Romans 6:1 and 6:15. Paul wants us to be absolutely sure that what he said about the law earlier is not misconstrued. He emphatically states that the law, it's not the law that causes us to sin, but that it continues to play an important role in our lives, namely to reveal sin.

Galatians 3:19 and the New living translation puts it this way. Why then was the law given? It was given alongside the prophets promise to show people their sins. So the law helps us. It helps us to know that we're sinners in need of help.

The law was given not so that we as human beings used to try to save ourselves. But on the contrary, it wants to help us to come to the point of letting go of our pride, thinking we can do enough good to outweigh the bad, to come to the point of agreeing with God on what he tells us throughout Scripture. For example, in Psalm 14:3 or Psalm 53, verses 1, 2, 3, he says, there is no one good, not even one. We have all fallen away together. We've all become corrupt.

And he is essentially saying, you cannot pull yourselves up by the bootstraps. Stop trying. We have no power over sin apart from Christ. I believe that is one of the hardest things for human beings in general to realize and accept. We're so conditioned to think we're essentially good on the inside, but that perhaps circumstances or the way we were raised, you know, factors that come in into our lives distort us and cause us to do bad things.

And that's what we hear in the world. That's what we sometimes even hear from psychology and in the media. It goes back centuries and millennia in occult teachings. That was what was taught. You know, it permeates our world.

And take a guess where it comes from. It comes from our spiritual enemy, Satan. He continues to say, just like he said to Eve. Has God really said, yes, God did say that no one is good apart from him, no matter how Good. They look on the outside and God gave us the law, so we might recognize the very fact.

Now speaking looking good, look again at verse seven here. It shouldn't escape our notice that Paul is specifically using the word to covet. In the original Greek, it's the epitomeo. It means to have a strong desire for or to set your heart upon, to long for something, usually something that's forbidden. And it can also be translated as lust.

In other Bible translations they are using it. So here Paul purposely assumes establishes a link to the tenth Commandment. And I believe he uses that specific example of coveting to illustrate how the Law revealed his own sinfulness prior to his conversion. Because externally he must have looked super great to others, because he writes in Philippians 3, verses 4 to 6, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh. Also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew, of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee.

As to zeal, a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law, blameless, blameless, a Pharisee. Paul kept all the rules, looked really great on the outside. But God said something to the prophet Samuel that we should remember. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

Jesus said, woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:27, 28 Coveting is one of the sins that goes on inside the heart. Jesus mentioned it in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, for example, that when it comes to adultery, I don't have to sleep with a married person to commit the sin.

Just the thought, entertaining the thought. I already crossed the line, right? So by giving us the law, God in his love and mercy made sure that when a person takes an honest look at themselves, they must come to the conclusion that it's impossible to keep. Just like when Paul when he realized he had broken the 10th Commandment as a child. I thought for a while I could manage not to sin.

But I had to learn. I couldn't. So the Law serves us by showing us our sinfulness and need for a savior. However, sin also uses the law by fanning into flames the Desire to break the law. Read verse 8.

But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. Sin uses the law to arouse our desires, to do the very thing that the law tells us not to do, provoking disobedience. Now, Paul already touched on this in verse 5 in chapter 7 when he says that our sinful passions are aroused by the law. We know this well.

Tell a kid or an adult not to do something and they will likely want to do it all the more. Don't eat that cookie mouth salivating cookie gone. And we have a term for that right, the forbidden fruit syndrome. And refers back to Adam and Eve and Eden, when God commanded them not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil. This very thing became the focal point of temptation that Satan used to inspire Adam and Eve's transgression, the sinning thereby causing our fall, mankind's fall.

Now, it's interesting, the language Paul uses when referring to sin in our passage today, because here in verse 8, also in verse 9 and verse 11 and later in verse 17, he does something very curious. He talks as if sin was a person. He personifies sin. For example, he says, sin came alive and I died. Verse 9.

Or sin seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. Verse 11, God Himself did the very same thing, personifying sin when he said to Cain, now is it not true that if you do good, there will be favor for you? But if you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it. Genesis 4.

7. And also notice how Paul says in verse 11 in our passage, he talks about sin deceiving him. Right? And that expression was also used in Genesis 3, verse 13, when Eve said, the snake deceived me and I ate in response to God confronting her about eating the fruit. So you might get an idea where I'm going with this.

I believe there's a connection between our sin nature and our spiritual enemy, Satan. Satan is referred to as the tempter. He uses our fleshly disposition to sin to tempt us to go against what God has said. But that is not to say that we can blame him. We cannot say, the Devil made me do it.

We're still responsible before God because we learn from 1st Corinthians 10, verse 13, God is faithful and he will not let us be tempted beyond our ability, but will provide a way out. So, moving on, to verse 12 in our text today, Paul says clearly that the law is not bad, but rather holy, righteous and good. The law is good. The law is not sinful. It serves us by diagnosing sin and defining righteousness.

But then, wait, we Learned in verse 5 of chapter 7 that the law also fans into flame our sinful passions. And we know from Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. And that's why Paul is asking, did that which is good then bring death to me? In verse 13, if you look. And again he emphatically answers his own question by saying, megenoitl by no means God forbid.

In verse 13, Paul goes on explaining, it's not the law that is good that brings death, but rather it's sin using the law to bring death. And also by saying in verse 13 that through the commandment or law, sin has become sin, sinful beyond measure. Paul again points out what he already said back in Romans 5:20. I believe Martin preached on that, namely that the law came in to increase the trespass or it magnifies sin. It's like a magnifying glass.

Now, that seems unloving or cruel on God's part, doesn't it? The law increasing sin, magnifying it. No, it's not cruel. The opposite is the case. As we talked about, God is giving us the law as an act of grace and love so we would have a chance to see how sinful we are, how deep the sinfulness runs in us, and for us to realize we're helpless against it, to realize we cannot keep the law perfectly, as would be required for right standing before God, so that we would hopefully turn to the only remedy there is, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And it says in Romans 5:20 also that when we receive Christ, there's grace that abounds all the more so that's a comfort. Now, in the following section, Starting in verse 14, Paul is shifting to the present tense when talking about himself, which indicates that he's talking about his current struggle as a believer. However, he is also making a quite stunning remark in verse 14. If you want to look at it with me, that's a statement that still causes debate, which I alluded to earlier. Paul is saying, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh sold under sin.

Sold under sin, you might ask. Well, if you paid attention to the sermons, isn't Paul contradicting himself here because of what he said earlier in the sixth chapter of Romans verses 17 and 18, if you want to turn back there with me, or look at the screen. But thanks be to God, it says that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Now, how do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? Being sold under sin on one hand, and yet free from sin no longer as slave to give the short answer, we believe that Paul's statement in Romans 7:14 does not contradict Romans 6, verses 17 and 18, but rather it highlights that ongoing tension between a believer's new position in Christ.

The legal position says in 2nd Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. So with that and the tension with your remaining fleshly nature in my fleshly nature. Romans 6 addresses status. Since dominion is broken, we are no longer under the ruler of sin as being a ruler. Romans 7:14, on the other hand, describes our struggle, the experiential struggle of a believer.

The law is spiritual, yet I am of the flesh. Sold under sin means the body or flesh remains inclined to sin. While we're here in this, this flesh, we haven't been given our glorified body yet. It's the internal war of the believer where the renewed mind delights in God's law. That's what Paul says later in verse 22.

He wants to obey, but the flesh resists. It creates frustration but not defeat. It's the already but not yet tension that Todd a few weeks ago talked about. We are still on our way. Sanctification is a process, not instantaneous perfection.

When we become believers, it's part of that working out of our salvation by fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 says, and might I add, sanctification can look very different from person to person, including the time frame. So we must really pay attention and guard against judging others. We must not say, oh, so and so is probably not a Christian because they did such and such. You know, we can see the outside.

God looks at the heart. At the same time, we also have to, when sinful behavior affects the fellowship, apply church discipline at times. And that's something, it's a fine line when we, you know, have to tread with fear and trembling before the Lord. It's not easy. Now Paul goes on describing his inner struggle in verse 15 when he says, for I don't understand my own actions.

I don't do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Again, we believe Paul is speaking of the struggle applicable to all born again believers because Paul also reminds the Galatian church in Galatians 5:17 that the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. And Paul also goes on warning the Galatian Church not to manifest the works of the flesh like jealousy, fits of anger, immorality, et cetera, but rather to walk in the Spirit so that the fruit of the Spirit can manifest instead love, joy, peace, and you know the rest. Galatians 5:22 23 in his other letters, Paul also commands believers. Like in Ephesians 4 he says, Put off your old self, be renewed in the spirit of your minds.

Put on the new self. Or Colossians 3:5, put to death what is earthly in you. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you've put off the old self, have put on the new self. There would be no need for these commands specifically addressing born again believers if a born again believer didn't struggle with the same sort of struggle that Paul is describing here in our passage. So moving on to verses 16 and 17, here Paul is making another stunning statement.

He's saying that if he does what he hates, he agrees with the law, that it's good, and then when he does the things he hates, it's no longer him doing it, but rather sin dwelling within him, in his flesh. He says something similar in verse 20 when he says if he does in his flesh what he does not want in his mind or spirit, spirit, it's no longer him doing it. Whoa. So is Paul saying he's no longer responsible for his sin, for his actions, Free to sin because positionally he's free in Christ, already seated in the heavenly places with Christ, as we read in Ephesians 2:6 or because in Romans 8:1 it says there's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Which is true.

No. Paul never denies personal responsibility. Paul owns his sin. He's not saying he can indulge and it has license to sin because he's under grace. We know this why?

Because if we go back to chapter six, look at Romans 6:1 or 6:12, 6:15, it tells us no, we should not continue in sin precisely because we are united with Christ. We still give an account to the Lord. Sinning can still seriously hinder our fellowship with the Lord. He will. The Lord will discipline us when we sin and not repent, sometimes severely so.

So we would turn back to Him. Now just moving on in our passage in verses 18 through 20. For extra emphasis, Paul again repeats what he already established in verses 14:17, saying that nothing good dwells in him, in his flesh, that he desires to do good. Something we know that from Philippians 2:13, that God works in us this will to do good, right? And that he doesn't have the ability in his own flesh to carry out what he wants.

But that's also something that God has to work in us in accordance with Philippians 2:13 as well. Now, just to drive his point home even more. And I believe, I believe primarily to those who still think they can achieve goodness, keep the law by relying on their own knowledge. So strength and ability. Paul in verses 21 through 23 talks about there even being a law or principle that he discovered that when he wants to do the right thing, evil is automatically right there.

It's a constant companion. There's a battle between the law of sin and the law of the mind inside. And the law of the mind refers to the mind of Christ, 1st Corinthians 2:16, a mind that is being transformed by the Holy Spirit. So because of that intensity of this battle inside, because his new self in Christ wants to do the right thing, he hates sin so much. Paul exclaims in verses 24 through 25, and you can almost hear his exasperation, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ.

Yes, and just like an unbeliever who turns from darkness to light, whom the Father transfers from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of his beloved son. Colossians 1:13. You know, just like they are delivered by Jesus when they become a believer and are positionally freed from death in terms of judgment, we who are believers still need daily deliverance from our sinful nature, our faith, flesh. Not because we might lose our position in Christ, legally speaking, but so that we can live in accordance with God's will, we have a daily decision to make to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, to follow the Spirit, not the flesh. We can only win this battle of the flesh against the Spirit by calling on the Lord for help.

Now, if you're not experiencing this battle, and forgive me, don't misunderstand, but I would pause and ask the Lord why that might be. Have you trusted in the Lord for salvation? Have you become lukewarm, perhaps? Are you backsliding? I'm not saying it has to be that, but it could be the case.

Because I've observed that the closer you draw to the Lord Jesus praying Studying His Word, seeking Him. And when we, it says in the Word, when we seek, when we draw close to him, he will draw close to us. The more you become aware of your own sinfulness and you start to hate sin more. It's like the nearer you come to the light, any light, you see impurities, stains and dirt. Much better.

You know, just think of when you cleaned house, and then the sun shines through the window, and then you see all those stains. It's like frustration. It's the same frustration of, you know, it's a picture for the frustration we as believers experience that inability to perfectly perform the good we want, that we desire. Paul talks about that delighting in the law of God in the inner man, verse 22. But he's still captive to the law of sin, and so are we.

It's my experience that our stinking old flesh can be very persistent, very stubborn. It wants what it wants and does not easily give up. That fight is fierce. It takes me to daily confront my stinking flesh, to daily crucify it, to daily take up my cross, and to daily, hourly, minute by minute, make a decision to follow Jesus. And again, not in my own strength, but to ask the Lord at each step to help me.

I told you of some of my struggles. What are you struggling with? Anger, perhaps. Unforgiveness. Bitterness, sexual temptation, Perhaps the fear of what other people might say about you.

Whatever it is, talk to the Lord about it. Ask him for help. Psalm 50:15. Call on me in the day of trouble. I will answer you.

You will glorify me.

Talk to a trusted, mature believer. Ask them to pray for you. Don't give up the fight. Also, if you remember, I talked about Paul personifying sin, speaking of it, of it as if it was a person. The same way God spoke to Cain about it and the connection to our spiritual enemy, Satan.

Satan is very interested in making our battle against the flesh almost unbearable. Our sinful nature he wants us to give up. We're told in Ephesians 4:27, to not give the devil a foothold. We know Satan prowls around us like a lion seeking whom to devour. He's seeking entrance.

And through repeated willful sinning that remains unconfessed, he can establish strongholds, making it all the harder to fight back. We are in a spiritual war, whether we like it or not. So we need to make sure we leave no holes in our armor, no holes in the protective wall surrounding us. Now, Paul rejoiced in verse 25, that deliverance comes from the Lord. It says in 1st Corinthians 15:57, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ.

Jesus promises to to help us. He lives inside of us. We have been given the help of the Holy Spirit, and again, thanks be to God and He will help us. He will come and help us to become more like him, and we will grow in Him. With each trial, each time we fall and experience, then the Lord picking us back up.

Each time we experience his grace and love. Even when we messed up once again, we want to continue moving forward, taking yet another step towards him, towards the light. The battle rages. Jesus didn't take the thorn away from Paul when he pleaded with him three times to take it away. But what did he say?

He said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Jesus doesn't want us to relax about the fight, but just like an athlete, we ought to keep running the race. We ought to keep battling this stinking flesh. But we ought to do so humbly. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and He will raise you up in due time.

We should acknowledge our weakness to Jesus, acknowledging that we have no strength in ourselves to overcome that sinful nature, but only in him, yet not I, but through Christ in Me. We ought to acknowledge this to ourselves and yes, at times to other believers as well. Because in James 5 it says James 5:16 to confess our sins to one another so that our prayers are effectual. Are you doing that? Are you praying persistently?

What does your prayer life look like? Are you joining with others to pray? We are told to help carry one another's burdens. Galatians 6:2. Watch and pray.

Jesus said that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41 Church, let's pick a fight with our flesh. Let's crucify our flesh. Galatians 5:24 says, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

How do we do this? On our knees? Prayers based on the promises of God in His Word make the difference. Because in the end the battle belongs to the Lord, yet not I, but through Christ in me. And lastly, Church, let us resolve not to allow any pretense hiding behind masks, any hypocrisy.

You know, showing up on Sundays and putting on fake smiles, telling one another we're doing fine when we're not. I don't see that so much here, thank God. But I've seen it in other Churches I attended. Let's resolve to be honest with one another. We need to be authentic, not tolerate a culture of shame.

We're indeed a hospital for sinners, and so let's be gracious with one another so we can share our struggles and pray for one another. However, at the same time, we must also not foster an environment where we tolerate sin, where we become lenient and excuse everything by saying oh, grace covers. We need true robust fellowship that involves real accountability, candor, tough conversations when needed, even rebuke when necessary. So we grow. Let's go deeper in prayer and the Word.

We don't want to be a social club, do we? Let's resolve to not become a place where we mutually lower the bar because we lack power and want to feel better by comparing ourselves to the person that seems to struggle even more. Let's petition the Lord for the power of the Spirit to help us live lives pleasing to Him. Him who will deliver us from this body of death. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The ultimate fulfillment of this promise will be at Jesus Second Coming. But we can already experience victory here and now by daily calling on him for help. Church. Let's pray and the worship team can come up. Father, yes, yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Lord, it's not a fight. We can fight in our own fleshly nature and our human nature. Father, you told us this, you shown us this. Jesus died for it. Help us to turn to him, Lord.

Help us not to forsake the assembly. Uniting with brothers and sisters, coming together, being in your word, seeking your face, praying Lord, O Lord, help us to grow in Jesus. Help us to become more like Him. In Jesus name, Amen. So let's sing this song.

Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Thanks everyone for joining us this afternoon. Rico, thank you for bringing us the Word of God. If you didn't walk out of here encouraged by what you heard from the Word, you might not have been paying attention, but I want to leave you with a word and I want to encourage you that the Lord who has set you free from the power of sin, that he would strengthen your inner life, guard your heart and grant you peace as you serve him with joy and truth. If you have any questions, if you want to speak to someone, you can look around. There's pastors, there's different mature individuals who would love to pray with you and who would like to answer any questions that you have.

And Enrico said personally he'd be happy to answer questions for the next half an hour. Oh, he just pointed at me. I misspoke. My bad. I'm sorry.

So may God bless you and keep you, and may you have a great week. You're dismissed.