In this life, the Christian will always be dealing with sin. This side of heaven, there’s no sinless perfection. God’s good and holy law is a tool that reminds us of this reality. It is a searchlight that shows us who we really are, as we deal with remaining sin that still wars within us. This rightly frustrates the believer, as we battle wrong impulses that persist. Yet we need not despair—though we’re commanded to keep God’s law, those who are in Christ are not condemned by it, for He has paid for all our sins. The law and the gospel thus work together to encourage believers to rest in Christ’s work for them. 

  

Here we are, we're in Romans chapter 7 verses 12 to the end of the chapter a little bit, into chapter 8 which answers the whole thing. But the apostle is explaining the dynamics of the law and the gospel and the nature of man, our sin, our temptations. And what he's saying is that the Christian will always be dealing with sin. The higher life is an illusion. The sinless perfectionism isn't.

And what the apostle is saying is that God uses the law as a blessing, as something that's holy and just and good to show us our sin, to teach us who we really are. But at the same time, the apostle Paul is saying, even though we fail, as he said in the previous chapter, we're still married to Christ and that we have the mercies of Jesus Christ. Paul gives four lenses through which he wants us to see the law of God and our sin. And the first lens is in verses 12 through 14, esteem, respect for the goodness of the law of God. He's saying the law is good.

It does so many good things. And one of the great things that it does is it's like, it's like an inspection camera. It's like a drone that sees everything that's going on. It sees beyond the wall. It's like the scanner that TSA uses.

It looks through you. It looks through your bags. That's what the law does. And the apostle Paul loves the law because it shows him his sin. The second lens is frustration, his frustration over sin.

He keeps sinning and he keeps returning to God and the Word of His grace. Even the most religious things that we do, we sin. Think about it, you sit down to pray, You sit down to pray and over there, you see the picture frame. It's crooked. So instead of praying, you get up and you adjust the picture frame.

And then on the way back, oh, the trash is overflowing. Oh, I think I'll go take out the trash. And you get distracted. And we're constantly in this battle for sin. But then Paul, he reveals why, and it's really original sin, That's in verses 17 through 23.

There's this inner problem. We have this inclination, this impulse in our soul. But then the apostle, he ends the chapter with relief. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says in chapter eight, verse one, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So God gives us the law as a warning sign, like a searchlight, like an infrared camera to see behind the wall, to show us who we really are, and to really to bring us to repentance. And this is the blessing of the law of God. While you are commanded by the law, you are not condemned by the law of God. Because the law of God is actually your friend, and your sin is your enemy, and the law of God is always pointing his finger at the enemy and telling you and I run the other direction to block all inlets of sin but to recognize also that you don't have to be so heavy about your imperfections, but to know that Jesus Christ has paid for all of your sins. And that's what the Apostle Paul is saying.

The law and the gospel work together, in this case really for the encouragement of the Christian to help them to know what Jesus has done for them. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture applied as a production of Church and Family Life. Visit churchandfamilylife.com for more resources.