The sermon 'Another False Conclusion' by Jason Dohm explores Romans 7, focusing on Paul's teachings about the law and sin. It addresses the misconception that the law itself is sinful, clarifying that the law identifies sin rather than being the problem. The sermon uses the analogy of covetousness to illustrate how the law reveals sins that might otherwise go unnoticed. By referencing Genesis 3 and the fall of man, it explains the internal corruption of sin that inclines humans away from God's will. The sermon emphasizes that salvation comes through faith in Christ, not by law-keeping, and urges listeners to recognize the law as holy, just, and good. It concludes with a call to trust in Jesus and to be wary of voices that contradict God's goodness.

So, Romans 7 verse 1. As long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. 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. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. Let's pray. Oh God, it's a great pleasure to us that you haven't left us to ourselves and to our own understanding, but you have given us words from you.

It's a delight to us that you would reveal yourself through your word. We look forward to the day as we just saying that we walk beside you, hearing from you, But right now we have words from you to us that we can read and enjoy to grow in our knowledge of you and our love for you. It delights us Lord that you would speak to us through your word and through men who would preach it to us. Pray that you would be with Jason as he brings these words to us to make them alive to us to help us to understand them and pray that we would treat this like like wonderful words from you. Would we devote ourselves to them to learn from them?

Would we be longing to be more like our Savior? Lord, would you work in us to show us more of yourself for your glory, for our enjoyment of you? And Lord, we pray as well for those who do not know you, now that it would please you even today to bring more to yourself through the work of your Son. Thank you again for bringing us here. Thank you for bringing us your word.

It would not return to you void, and we trust that you will do much good with it. In Jesus' name, amen. The title of the sermon this morning is Another False Conclusion. The Law is Sin. In the early chapters of Romans, Paul forcefully taught salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

He builds these unbreakable chains that weigh a thousand pounds. These unbreakable chains of logic. And none of the lengths will give way. And they just weigh so much, and you can't get away from it. So it really was forceful teaching of this Great truth that was recovered during the Reformation.

Salvation is only a gift. It only comes through simple trust in Jesus Christ alone. Starting in chapter 6, Paul has been defending these truths against misunderstanding and against mischaracterization. Meaning, he's been forcefully teaching these truths. Some people will come away from it and not really understand with precision what he's been teaching.

So they'll draw false conclusions from it that he never intended. So he wants to clear up misunderstanding and There's another group of people that will mischaracterize what he's been teaching because they don't like these truths. They use a mischaracterization to attack the truths. He has been setting forth false conclusions that could come from what he's been teaching to say, no I'm not teaching that, no I don't believe that, no that's not true. And he's doing it one right after the other.

So we just have another one this week. In chapter 6, the whole chapter he was vindicating grace. So he's clearing the grace of God from all false charges. Oh, grace means that sin doesn't matter anymore. That's false.

Grace is an excuse for me to continue in sin and not think another of it. Nope. Paul says, I'm not teaching that. I don't believe that. That's not true.

And he explains why it isn't. Here in our text, he's vindicating the law. You get the wrong idea about the law from the things that he's been teaching. And you don't have to go any further than the two verses that lead into our text. Let's look at The last two verses of the text that was preached last week, verses 5 and 6.

Hopefully your finger is still in Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7 Verse 5, for when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. Last week he just said, The law arouses sinful passions in us. The output of that is death. You could draw the wrong conclusion from that.

You could either misunderstand it or you could hate the truth that's being taught and mischaracterize it. So Paul anticipates the false conclusion and he's waging war against it. Now look at verse 6, But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by." So he just said, you need to be delivered from the law. It was holding you, but God doesn't want it holding you, so you need to be delivered from it. You could draw the wrong conclusion from that and come away thinking that Paul is teaching something that he is not teaching, that he doesn't believe, that he says, actually what you are saying is the conclusion from that isn't true.

I never did teach it. So, if we were to work back through the last couple of chapters, we would see that he's made other statements too, that connect the law and the dominion of sin over us so that you can conclude the law is sin. They're so unbreakably connected the law and sin are so unbreakably connected that there's really no telling where one ends and the other begins. They're one. Paul says, no, I don't teach that.

I don't believe that. That's not true. Let's pray. God, I thank you for a forceful teaching of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. I pray that we would be able to say a hearty Amen to all of that and at the same time say with the psalmist, Oh how I love your law.

It is my meditation all the day. We wouldn't think it strange to have these things be side by side to say them in the same breath. Vindicate your law in our eyes God I pray in Jesus name Amen. Alright let's subdivide I want to start by just looking at verse 7. So please follow along as I reread Romans Chapter 7, verse 7.

Paul writes, 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." In this verse, Paul says the law isn't the problem, it identifies the problem.

Okay, so if you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, identifies, fills in the blank. The law isn't the problem, the law identifies the problem. Paul, as he's been doing, systematically begins with the question, what should we say then? I've been teaching all these things, what should we say about all these things that we've been teaching, that the law is something you need to be delivered from, that it arouses sinful passions within yourself. What should we say based on the things that I've been teaching?

Is the law sin? And he gives the usual answer, meaning it's the same answer he gives over and over again. Certainly not, or the most literal translation would be, may it never be, Paul recoils from the thought that this is what you would conclude from what he's been teaching. Paul, you teach that the law is sin. Paul says, he recoils from the thought that you could conclude that, or that you would conclude that, from what he's been teaching.

And then he says this, on the contrary, not only is it not sin, it's the exact opposite of that. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. Now a couple of chapters earlier he said something really closely related to this. It's in Romans 3, 19 and 20. Just flip back two pages.

In my Bible it's two page turns. Romans 3, 19 and 20. Look at what he said in Romans 3, 19 and 20. He says, now we know that Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight.

For by the law is the knowledge of sin." There it is, exactly what he's saying. By the law is the knowledge of sin. So the law isn't to make you right in the sight of this perfectly holy God. Good luck with that. It's not to make you right in His sight, to justify you.

He just says here in the plainest terms, by the law no one will be justified in his sight. It is to force an awareness that you are all wrong in the sight of this perfectly holy God. It's not to make you right, it's to force an awareness where you wouldn't have an awareness that things are not right between you and this God because of His holiness. Then Paul begins with a personal example. He's actually going to continue this through the rest of this sermon, because of this text, and the rest of next week's sermon, because of that text.

It's going to be all personal example. Paul's saying in the first person, I, I, I, I. This is my experience with the law, this is my experience with sin. To teach us, personal example, to teach us. Look at the second half now of verse 7, this verse we're looking at closely.

For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. So here's Paul using himself as a case study. I'm writing to the Romans, I'm the case study, I wouldn't have known covetousness unless the law had said Don't covet. Now, in considering this, let's work backward. Let's start at the end of what he said there, and then work backwards.

What is Paul quoting? Unless the law had said, quote, he's quoting, you shall not covet. What is he quoting? He's quoting the 10th commandment. Let's turn to the 10th commandment.

It's Exodus chapter 20. Turn to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20 is the first occurrence of the Ten Commandments. Exodus chapter 20 verse 17 is the tenth commandment that Paul is quoting. Exodus 20 verse 17.

God says, you shall not covet, but there's a list. So Paul quoted that far and stopped, but if we quoted the whole 10th commandment we get a list. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. So there's a list and then a catch all.

If it wasn't in the list, if it's your neighbor's, anything that he has, you shouldn't covet it. What is the definition of covet? What does it mean to covet? The dictionary definition is to yearn to possess something. Yearning is more than just wishing, hoping, I would like to.

A yearning is craving. It's the advanced form of wishing. The intense form of wishing to yearn to possess something. In our faith, in the Bible, It has the addition of being something God has given to others, but He hasn't given to me. In general, it's the yearn to possess something, like an intense craving to have something.

But the Bible would add, God has given it to some people, but He hasn't given it to me. So, in general, it is discontent, But in scripture, it's discontent with God. God, you're the problem that I don't have a house like my neighbor's house. You're the problem that I don't have a wife like my neighbor's wife. An ox like my neighbor's ox.

A donkey like my neighbor's donkey, servants like my neighbor's servants. That would be good, but you've withheld good from me because you don't know what you're doing. Now, who has ever said that? None of us have the courage. And we recoil, speaking of recoiling, we recoil from that thought.

But when you boil down our dissatisfactions and are yearning to possess things that God has thought it was wise not to give you, and maybe just not to give you yet. Maybe he will give it to you, but in his wisdom it's not time yet, but you've accused him. The nature of coveting, yearning to possess something that God has given to somebody else but he hasn't given it to me, maybe just not yet, is an accusation against God that he doesn't know what he's doing. When you just think, well you want to possess something, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. When you put it in those terms, you're accusing God of not knowing what he's doing, it's a big deal.

Paul makes the case that he finds himself to have a natural insensitivity to coveting. He does do it, but he doesn't have a sense that he's doing it. He has a natural insensitivity to do it. He can do it without recognizing it in himself. But the law fixes that by causing him to see what he couldn't see before the law came and said, don't covet.

Oh, what's coveting? Well, it's yearning to possess something. And It's actually an accusation against God that he's withholding good from you and he doesn't know what he's doing. Oh! He has a natural insensitivity.

He can covet and not even realize that he's coveting. But the law makes him sensitive to it and makes him realize, oh, that's grumbling against God. That's accusing God of not knowing what he is doing. I couldn't see it before. I see it now.

I had no perception that I was doing this before but now I see my craving this thing that God has given to other people since many things in the list are lawful, right? Is it lawful to have a house? It is lawful to have a house. Is it lawful to have a nice house like your neighbor's nice house? It is lawful to have a nice house like your neighbor's house.

It's lawful to have a good ox. Oh my neighbor's donkey. That's the best donkey. It's lawful to have a donkey like that. It's not lawful to say, God, you don't know what you're doing because you haven't given me a donkey that's as nice as that donkey.

I couldn't see that before, what that really was. But now, I can see it. And all this time, I couldn't perceive that in my heart I was actually accusing God, but now the law said don't covet and it made me wonder, what does it really mean to covet? And as I think about this, now I can perceive what I couldn't perceive. Now before we move on, we should consider this.

And this is really important. You can be perfectly respectable to the rest of us and be totally ravaged by coveting. You buy what I'm selling? You buy what I'm selling? Are you with me?

You can be perfectly respectable to the rest of us And at the same time, at one and the same time, totally ravaged by coveting. Accusing God day after day of not knowing what he's doing, of not being good, of withholding you from good things, that if he knew what he was doing, he would have already given to you. It can all be out of sight to everybody else. So You have cultivated an outer reputation, a brand. You've cultivated a brand for being this respectable, God-fearing person.

And at the same time, you're accusing him every day of not knowing what he's doing and not being good at the same time. Rob Ventura observes that coveting is a sin of the heart, not necessarily of the hands. But it leads to all sorts of sins of the hands. If you covet And you don't repent of coveting, can that lead to lying? You bet.

Can that lead to stealing? You bet. Can that lead to adultery? You bet. Can that lead to murder?

You bet. So be careful about coveting, because it's a root sin. Sins travel in packs. And this one will gather friends. This sin will gather friends.

Lying, stealing, adultery, murder, and, and, and. Now Paul continues to describe his personal experience with the law and sin. So let's look now at 8 through 11. Romans 7, 8 through 11. Paul continues, But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.

For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. In the commandment which was to bring life I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me." In these verses, Paul tells us what sin does with the law. If you're taking notes on the handout, does fills in the blank.

What sin does with the law. Notice it's sin doing the bad, not the law. Sin is doing something with the law. Let's start by considering the word Paul uses. Sin, But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, when Paul says sin here, it's in the singular, but he isn't talking about an individual isolated violation of the law, a sin, he's not talking about a sin, an individual isolated violation of the law.

He's talking about the indwelling principle of sin The internal corruption that inclines us towards lots of individual sins. It's talking about this indwelling principle of sin that erupts into all sorts of sins, plural. I don't know how many weeks ago I said this, I don't even remember which passage it was, but it was definitely in Romans. Do you remember me saying this? We aren't sinners because we sin.

We sin because we're sinners. Stop and think about that. You need to absorb this because this is really important And this is what the Bible teaches. We aren't sinners because we sin. I was a perfectly good guy.

And then I did this wrong thing. And now because I did this wrong thing, I'm a sinner. That's not the Bible. The Bible is, there's something terribly wrong with me. Just give me a little time and opportunity and I'll prove it to you.

I just need time and opportunity and I'll prove it to you. It takes babies days, weeks, months, not years to prove it to you. So, I'm not a sinner because I sinned. I wasn't a perfectly good guy, but then I did this wrong thing, so now you have to call me a sinner. It's the other way.

I'm a sinner. Something's terribly wrong with me. I have this principle of corruption that inclines me towards these things and if you just give me a little rope, I'll hang myself. If you just give me a little time and opportunity, I'll prove it to everybody that I'm a sinner by sinning. The sins are just proof.

The sins are just evidence that something is terribly wrong with me. That's what Paul is talking about when he says, sin takes the opportunity. Now, what is all this about sin being dead, But reviving when the commandment came, and I was alive once without the law, but sin deceived me and killed me." I propose that we use the fall in Genesis chapter 3 to throw light on what Paul is saying here. I think really when you look at the fall, and you look at what Paul is saying here, you say, oh, this is what he's talking about. So please turn to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis chapter 3. Chapter 3. I'll actually start with one verse in Genesis chapter 2, which is the command. So Genesis chapter 2 verse 16 is the command. Genesis 2, 16, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.

So a garden full of fruit trees, you can eat of any of them, including the tree of life, by the way. Tree of life's there. Eat up. There's one tree you can't eat from. It's the knowledge of good and evil.

Now Genesis chapter 3, follow along as I read verses 1 through 6. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the tree, But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." Here are the basic elements. God gives the command. You've got a garden, fruit trees, you can eat of all of them, including the tree of life. This tree you can't eat of, the day you eat of it you'll die.

There's a voice that says, you won't die. It contradicts God. It says, God is withholding You won't die. Contradicts God. Says, God is withholding good from you.

He told you you'd die, but it's really just that he doesn't want you to have the good thing. He's like that, you know. God's like that. You didn't know that? God's like that.

He's keeping all the good things to himself. Just seize it! Here you are, there it is. It's good. You won't really die.

God's keeping it from you. What are you waiting for? That's the voice. And I'm deceived. My rebellion brings death.

That's right what happens here. The day they ate of it, they died spiritually. This corruption, this principle of sin that warps and twists everything and inclines us away from all that is good, that honors God, and inclines us towards all that is evil, that dishonors God. The wages of sin is Death. It brings death.

Paul is saying in our text that the external influence in Genesis 3 has become the internal influence as a result of Genesis 3. In Genesis 3 you needed a devil. And the devil is still here and he's happy to capitalize on all these realities, but you don't even need him anymore. Do you understand that? Because of what happened in Genesis 3.

You don't even need the devil anymore. Something's wrong with you. That inclines you away from the things that honor God and towards the things that dishonor him. Paul says this in Galatians 3, 24. Galatians chapter 3 verse 24, Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The law is your instructor. What's it supposed to do to bring you to Christ? What is this Christ? Christ means anointed, the one who's been consecrated to the work of saving sinners. The law's job is to instruct you in such a way that it brings you to the one that God has set apart to save sinners, so that you can be justified by faith.

Because you won't be justified by law keeping after Genesis 3. In other words, the law is not supposed to function in giving us hope that right standing with God can be accomplished by law keeping. I've been people who look at the law and hope that this is their ticket to a right standing with God by keeping it have got it completely reversed completely reversed it is the actually exact opposite The law is supposed to have the function of rendering us hopeless. So that you'll give up on trying to merit a right standing with God and run to Jesus. Because you've been instructed by the law there's no hope here in law keeping.

That ship has already sailed times a million. So the law's job is to convince you that righteousness with God through law keeping, that ship has sailed times a million. So that you'll be hopeless in anything outside of God has set apart someone for the saving of sinners. And my hope is him. I have to run to him.

The law's purpose is to bring me to him. I use this analogy at men's Bible study. Whole wall, electrical outlet. What has the preoccupation of your one-year-old? What is the obsession of your one-year-old?

I must touch the outlet. You are withholding the good of touching the outlet from me. I know it's a thing of wonder, but you won't let me have it. The wall without an outlet has no interest at all for the one year old. You have a wall, there's no outlet.

Unless he stumbles, he'll never touch that wall. Sin is dead. Sin is dead. This internal compulsion towards what is forbidden is totally dormant and dead because there is no commandment. You never said don't touch that wall without the outlet.

So they could spend a lifetime and never put one fingerprint on it. Install an outlet in that wall and say, don't touch. I'm not sure I understand. Let's gather ourselves. Now diagnose the problem.

The problem is that you said don't touch. No. That's not the problem. There's nothing at all wrong with the command. There is something terribly wrong with the one-year-old.

And the ten-year-old. And the fifty-year-old. Listen to James 1, 13-15. The one year old. And the ten year old.

And the fifty year old. Listen to James 1, 13-15. You can turn there if you like. Or you can just note it, look at it later. James 1, 13-15.

James 1, 13-15. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to death, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

There it is. God isn't the problem. Does he test people to reveal what's in them? You better believe them. Does he lead them into sin?

No way! God can't be tempted and he doesn't tempt in that way. His commands aren't the problem. My desires that entice me are the problem. I'm the problem.

Paul says two times in our text, Sin takes opportunity by the commandment. Look at verse 8. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. Look at verse 11. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it killed me.

So in our translation it says taking opportunity in verse 8, taking occasion in verse 11. It's exactly the same Greek. I don't know why they didn't pick the same English words, but the Greek is identical. We don't think that the difference in translation is indicating anything different than the Greek. It is not.

It is exactly the same thought. Sin takes opportunity. In the Greek, it literally means sin uses the commandment as a base of operations. Sin uses the commandment as a base of operations. It goes to work on the one-year-old.

That's a beautiful electrical outlet. They're keeping you from that wonderful electrical outlet. What's wrong with us? What's wrong with us? It's a military term.

A place from which an attack is made. Sin uses the commandment as a place from which an attack is made. This is just unfolding the Greek. 1 Corinthians 15 56, Paul says, The strength of sin is the law. Wow!

That's 1 Corinthians 15 56. The strength of sin is wickedness, is deceit, is no, the strength of sin is the law. It's the base of operations. It's the place out of which the attack is made. That's because of what we're like.

Because of Genesis 3 and the Fall. So not only is there nothing at all wrong with the command, but the command was to bring life. The original intent of the law was to hold us back from the things that would destroy us. Not to keep us from good things, that God was just warning to Himself. It was to bring life.

If they had kept that command, not to eat of the one tree in the garden, they would have just enjoyed life unendingly. This brings us to verse 12. This brings us to Paul's conclusion. Verse 12, Therefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. Here we have the vindication of the law.

Law fills in the blank if you're taking notes that way. The vindication of the law. Paul officially clears the law of all the false charges against it. That it's the problem. First, Paul talks about the law and the commandment.

Therefore, the law is holy and the commandment is holy and just and good. I don't think a big distinction is intended. The law is a unified body of laws. They're a system, they stand together, the law. And the commandment is a single part of that unified whole.

There's not a big distinction here, I don't believe. Here's a quote that I think properly frames the whole verse. It's from Matthew Henry. Listen to what Matthew Henry says. Laws are as the lawmakers are.

God the great lawgiver is holy, just, and good, therefore his law must be so. Amen. It says terrible things about our lawmakers, by the way. Great things about God. Laws are as the lawmakers are.

God the great lawgiver is holy just and good therefore his law must be so his law must be holy just and good. It has to be just like him it is the law of God The law is holy as God is set apart or other or separate. So the law of God is set apart, other, separate. It is outside of us. It is independent of us.

It is above us, like God is. The law is holy as reverence is owed to God because He's holy? So reverence is owed to the law of God because it is holy. Beware of people who mock God's law. Beware of people who mock God's law.

Beware of the temptation to speak of any of God's laws as anything but good. You see an Old Testament law And it doesn't seem good to you, beware of giving voice to that. In time you'll see, I was wrong, God was right. Again. I was wrong again, God was right again.

Just give it time. The law is just or righteous. The N-A-S-B, E-S-V, N-I-V all render it righteous. Just is a good translation, righteous is a good translation, the law is just or righteous. From eternity past, God has only been perfect truth and good.

No falsehood or wickedness. 100.00 repeating percent good. 0.00 repeating falsehood. Wickedness. The law simply describes him and directs us to be like him.

Just think of the law that way. It describes him All truth, all good, no deception, no wickedness, it describes Him. And it directs us to be like Him. Christ-likeness. Since the fall, since Genesis chapter 3, our view of truth and good is so easily twisted and warped.

Anybody found that besides me or is it just me? That our view of truth and good have been harmed by this thing that happened to our nature, inclining us away from God. The law is good. It defines good. It promotes good.

It leads to good. It is good. Whenever you hear that voice, you're being kept back from something good. This would be good for you. Good is being withheld from you.

Remember, the law is good. If you have a voice that is telling you that disobeying the law would be good for you, just remember, the law is good. It can't be true. Learn to recognize that voice. That voice was in the garden.

Did God really say, you won't die? Let's conclude with Psalm 19 and then a few applications. Psalm 19. Psalm 19 verses 7 through 11. Psalm 19 verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, Converting the soul.

Testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned. And in keeping them there is great reward. What shall we say then?

Is the loss in? Certainly not. May it never be. Give you three applications and we're done. Application number one, the only hope for us is outside of us.

The only hope for us is Jesus. It is righteousness through law keeping. It's righteousness through his law keeping. That boat has already sailed for you a thousand instances ago and that number is low. On the day when we really see all of our sin, we'll be stunned at how naturally imperceptive our sin really is to us, like Paul is saying.

The only hope for us is outside of us. The only hope for us is outside of us. The only hope for us is Jesus. It's terrible advice to say look within for the answers. The Bible says actually that's sewage in there.

Look without. Look without. Number two. I haven't quoted Lloyd-Jones. We can't end a sermon in Romans without me quoting Lloyd-Jones.

Here it is. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, The first sign of spiritual life is to feel that you're dead. The moment a man is quote unquote dead, there is a possibility of His being resurrected. This is what Jesus said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I didn't come to heal the well.

I came for people who know that they're sick. The first sign of spiritual life is to feel your debt. If any preaching ever has you feeling hopeless, rejoice. Feeling hopeless, rejoice. Rejoice.

Because God has put you close to giving up on yourself and being sent to Christ. And He saves. He always saves the people who come to Him by faith. Number three, Beware the voice. The same voice in the garden is still whispering today, you know that's true.

You know that's true. And Some of you can't get your eyes off the electrical outlet. And you've become convinced that it would be good for you to have it, to touch it. God's trying to keep you back from what would destroy you, but you have become convinced because you have listened to the voice. God doesn't want you to have it.

God is like that. Cast off that voice. God I do pray that you would help us to cast off that voice. To know that you're good in all your ways, your intentions towards us are only kind intentions. Pray that you would help us to love your law, be instructed by it, to be helped by it.

It would cause us to run to Christ again and again to trust in Him. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.