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The function of the law       [Romans 7:7-13]     Have you ever violated one of the California traffic laws, the D.U.I.?   In other words, do you know about Driving Under Influence?   This law is said to be applied when the blood alcohol concentration is 0.08% or more after drinking alcohol.   If you drink and your alcohol level is over 0.08%, you will be punished if you are caught driving while intoxicated.   The penalties are, for example, (1) Imprisonment for up to 48 hours to 6 months, (2) Impoundment of the vehicle for up to 6 months, (3) Suspension of driver's license for up to 6 months and so on (internet).   Before, if you were caught drunk driving, the record was 7 years, but now it is said that it is 10 years.   Therefore, if you are caught drinking and driving twice within 10 years, you will have additional punishment.   You maybe even go to jail.   One of the reasons why this D.U.I. traffic law i...

God’s law, the Law (2)       [Romans 7:24-25]                       Romans 7 is one of the most difficult chapters.  The reason is because there is a lot of controversy over whether Romans 7 is the story of the Apostle Paul before he believed in Jesus or after he accepted Jesus.  Personally, I believe Romans 7 is the story of Paul after he believed in Jesus.  So, was Paul in Romans 7 a new believer or a man of growing faith?  Look at 1 Corinthians 3:3 – “for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”  Here, the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the “fleshly” among them while writing a letter to the Corinthian church members, and the “fleshly” here refer to new believers in the Corinthian church.   The Apostle Paul in Romans 7 wrote the letter to Rom...

  God’s law, the Law (1)     [Romans 7:21-23]                         Look at Romans 7:21-23: “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.    For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.”    Here, the conjunction “So” (v. 21) is connected to verse 21b, “… it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”    And here, “sin living in me” (v. 20) refers to the power of sin, that is, the power of Satan.    It is a mistake to think that the power of Satan is within us.    There can be no satanic power within us.    The reason is that there is only one God in us.         ...

  “Is the law sin?”       [Romans 7:7-9]                         Look at Romans 7:7-9: “What shall we say, then?  Is the law sin? Certainly not!  Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.  For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.  For apart from law, sin is dead.  Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.”  “Is the law sin?” (v.7)  The law is not sin.  The law given by God cannot be a sin.  Rather, the law is holy, righteous, and good.  Look at Romans 7:12 – “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good...

We who have been released from the law         [Romans 7:5-6]                        Look at Romans 7:5-6: “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.   But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”   The word “we” appears 5 times in Romans 7:5-6.   But “we” in verse 5 and “we” in verse 6 are completely different.   “We” in verse 5 is “we” before regeneration, and “we” in verse 6 is “we” after regeneration.   Here, the “we” before the regeneration is the unbelievers “we” before believing in Jesus, and the “we” after the regeneration is the believer “we” after believing in Jesus.       ...