Bondage To Freedom - Part 1

Contents 


 

Part 1: The Problem

 

The whole world today knows that it is in deep problems for which men are searching with intensity of purpose for the solutions. But, there is only one place where the solutions can be found and that is in the Word of the Living God. There is good reason for this for, when the apostles Peter and John stood before their Jewish persecutors, they declared of Jesus Christ in these words: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

 

Therefore, it is not to the psychologist, or the doctor, or the scientist, or the sociologist, or any such to whom we can go for the solution to these problems. There is but the one place, and that is to the Word of God wherein is revealed the saving power of Jesus Christ, and the way in which that saving power is to be ours personally and effectively.

 

In that word we have the thrilling witness of one who knew for himself the saving power of that word, and knowing it he declared, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ:" Romans 1:16.

 

There was a very good reason as to why he was not ashamed. of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a reason which he was glad and quick to give. "For it is the power of God."

 

Think of all that Paul might have declared that gospel to be. He might have designated it a theory, an argument, good news, or such like. But he used none of these definitions. The gospel "is the power of God," he proclaimed. To Paul it was power, but not just any power. It is the power of God.

 

It is essential that right at the outset of this study we understand what the gospel really is. We would do well to ponder the might and majesty of that power. It is the power of God by which the heavens and the earth were spoken into existence. There is not the time or the space here to give some of the astronomical facts and figures in regard to the immensity of space. Could we do that, then something of the tremendous power which is the power of God would begin to dawn upon our minds.

 

This same power by which the worlds were spoken into existence is the gospel. It is the power which formerly having been devoted to the work of calling the creation into existence is now devoted to our salvation. For, states the Word of God through Paul, "It is the power of God unto salvation."

 

The text does not specifically say from what the gospel is to save us. But is there any need to say this? Already in the Scriptures it has been made very clear. When the angel of the Lord came to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to announce the coming birth, he said, "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21.

 

Scripture is to be compared with Scripture. Truths once laid down in the Word of God do not need to be repeated in just the same words again. Jesus is the heart of the gospel and the power of the gospel. Therefore, if Jesus came to save His people from their sins, then when Paul tells us that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, it is clear that it is to be salvation from sin.

 

When such tremendous power, compared to which there is no other, is devoted to the salvation of every human being from their sins, then how can there be any excuse for sin in the life of any person upon the face of the earth. There is no excuse. The masses, of course, are unconcerned about the sin problem. They live the way of life which they desire to live and the Lord gives them the perfect freedom to do so as they wish. But they are guilty, nonetheless, and because they are guilty they will reap the results of their course of action.

 

But those who are striving to conform to the divine pattern and to bring their lives to the place where they will have love and joy as the natural outflowing of their experience can know that the tremendous power of God is devoted through Jesus Christ to the saving of them from their sins. Therefore, you do not need to sin at all. You can live a life of perfect victory over every sin if you will and if you can believe in that saving power of God.

 

The gospel is for everyone, but the gospel is not the power of God to everyone. "It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

 

Only to the believer is the gospel the power of God unto salvation from sin. To all the rest it is but a theory, or a story, or a doctrine, or such like. To the believer alone is it the power of God.

 

In the next verse Paul proceeds to tell us the result of the power of that gospel, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17.

 

Within the gospel the righteousness of God Himself is revealed. Ponder the power of that word "revealed". It means that the righteousness of God is shown forth so that it can be plainly seen by those who are observers of the scene. But where is the gospel of Christ revealed except in the lives of those within whom the gospel has become a working agency? There is no other place but that. In the life of Christ Himself when He was upon the earth the gospel was the power of God. It saved Him from going into sin every day He was upon the earth. In that life the very righteousness of God was revealed from faith to faith. Christ is the example of what we are to be. "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in His steps:" 1 Peter 2:21. Exactly, then, as the righteousness of God through the power of the gospel was revealed in the life of Christ from day to day, so it is to be revealed in the lives of all of His followers today.

 

The life of Jesus Christ while He was upon this earth is the revelation to us of what God designs that our lives are to be. As each and every professed child of God looks upon that life and sees there the continual outflowing of love, mercy, grace, patience, and every other Christian virtue, he most naturally longs to copy the ideal. But a life of defeat and frustration in the past discourages the thought that this could ever be possible. But at the very outset of this study, it is important that faith grasps the mighty truth that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation from sin so that in the very life of each true believer the very righteousness of God may be revealed from faith to faith. Wondrous prospect of glorious personal achievement through the power of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

 

This, then, is the gospel. It is the power which Jesus uses to fulfil His pledge to take a sinful man, corrupt, polluted, undone, full of mischief, evil surmisings, hatred, and all the fruits of the evil nature, to expel all that and to fill him with the love, the joy, the peace, the gentleness, the meekness, the patience, and all the fruits of the Spirit so that the very righteousness of God is revealed in his life. This is the gospel, and nothing else but that, or short of that, can ever be the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

But is this the experience of the average professed child of God today? 

 

 

To find the answer, let the following experiment be conducted.

 

Go to the average professed child of God without any consideration as to what church he belongs and ask the simple question, "Tell me honestly, do you commit sin day by day?"

If the person is truly honest, he will invariably reply, "Yes, I must say that I do." For such an honest, truthful answer we must commend the person.

 

Now, follow this with the next question. "When you commit that sin and are burdened with a sense of guilt for it, what then do you do?"

 

In reply, he will say, "I confess it, ask the Lord to forgive me for it and to help me to do it no more."

 

This is once again an answer which is honestly truthful, and we again can commend the person for this. But now we pursue the question one step further by asking, "Now that you have confessed the sin, asked for forgiveness and help to not do the thing any more, what now happens? Do you find that that sin now becomes a thing of the past, or is the same thing there to beset your pathway as before? In other words, do you find that you commit the same sin again and again?"

 

At this point a look of astonishment appears on the face of the one questioned. He replies as if to say, "Why ask me such a foolish question? Of course the same sin is there I am still a human being, and I must forever struggle against this thing. I commit the sin again and again, and must confess it again and again."

 

Can such an experience be called deliverance from sin? The answer must be an unequivocal No! This is an experience of sinning and confessing, sinning and confessing, sinning and confessing.

 

Think back into your own experience. Think of the chief besetting sin in your life. Think how you have committed it, felt the remorse of guilt, sought the Lord for pardon, earnestly pled for His help to save you from doing it again, faithfully promised that you would never do it again, and then found that you did do it again and again and again. Is it not true with you that, unless you are one who has discovered and applied the way of deliverance from sin, the same sin which was your major problem, ten years ago, is with you still?

 

If in all honesty you can recognize that this is so, then you have taken one of the first very important steps toward realizing deliverance from this situation. It is not the will of the Lord that it should be so, and it will not be so in the life experience of anyone who, as a believer, knows the gospel as the power of God unto salvation.

 

Today, there are wide differences of doctrinal belief between each of the different church bodies. Each one claims that because it believes certain doctrines, in its communion is the way of salvation. But, the real fact is, that no matter how correct the doctrine may be, if one does not understand and experience the saving power of the gospel, he is still as lost as if he had never believed anything at all. One may have a different theory of religion, a different creed, a different church building, a different system of religion, but this is not necessarily going to bring salvation. What matters is what the religion does in the person. It is the result at the end of the road which counts. If the gospel which we believe has done anything less than the gospel of Jesus Christ is to do, then that gospel is a fake and is not the real thing.

 

Only those who have a personal victory over sin, who know for themselves what it means to be saved from their sins, and who see real growth in their lives, have the gospel of Christ and, therefore, can preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. No one can preach what he does not know. Only a man of righteousness can be a teacher of righteousness.

 

What must be realized at this point is that the work of salvation involves our intelligent co-operation. There is a work which God does, and there is a work which we must do. God understands perfectly what His part is and is ready to do it at all times and in all places. The problem is that men do not understand what their part is and so make it impossible for God to do His part.

 

That we have a part to play is made clear in the following words of Christ, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32.

 

The very purpose of this study is to make plain the truth which we are to know, and which will set us free. Without further discussion of the need to know it, we will move right into the study of that knowledge in language as plain and simple as we can make it.

 

Experience and the truth of the Word of God has shown that the very first question which must be asked and answered is this, "What is sin?" The question, let it be emphasized, is not "What are sins?" but "What is sin?" To the former question we would quickly answer murder, lies, theft, and so forth, but the answer to the latter question is something else again. It is not too much to say that if this question cannot be answered accurately, then it will not be possible to find the way of deliverance from sin for we must first understand the problem which has to be solved before we can understand the solution to it.

 

Yet the average person is quite confident that he does understand the answer to this question. As it is asked, he quickly replies in the words of Scripture, "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.

 

This is a Scriptural answer and, therefore, has to be correct as a definition of what sin is, provided we understand all that the text is actually saying, and not some limited concept of what it is saying. The word "transgression" conveys to the mind of the average person the thought of action. Thus, the common understanding of this verse is that sin is an action of wrong doing. Because of these actions of wrong doing, the condition of the wrongdoer before God is one of guilt unto condemnation, while the divine remedy for this is pardon. This may be set forth in the following way.

 

 

At this point it is not difficult to show the importance of understanding the answer to the question, "What is sin?" To do so we have but to put several questions.

 

The first of these is "Will anyone ever obtain pardon if they do not ask for it?" The answer is "No!"

 

"Will they ever ask if they have no sense of guilt?" and again the answer is "No!"

 

"Can anyone ever have a sense of guilt if he does not know that what he is doing is sin?" Once again the answer has to be "No!"

 

Therefore, a person must know what actions are sinful so that he can have a sense of guilt such as will drive him to seek for pardon. Thus the question must be asked and answered as a vital element of knowledge for those who would obtain the divine remedies for sin.

 

But the question as answered so far is not answered with sufficient adequacy as to guarantee salvation from sin. Sin is much more than what we do. What we do is but the fruit of what we are. This further definition of what sin is is essential knowledge to being made free from its power.

 

The Master Teacher became involved in a discussion with the Pharisees and others who stood by in which He was able to set before them a clear definition of what sin is. To them He said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

These men revealed their ignorance of the basic principles of the sin problem by replying, "We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?"

 

Now, in the reply of Christ we have set before us the full definition of what sin is. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." John 8:32-34.

 

Here sin is identified, not as an action, but as a master, for, if the sinner is the servant of sin, then the sin must be the master of the sinner. To be such a master, sin must be a power, for no one can rule as a master without the power to rule as such, especially when the subjects are unwilling to render service to that power.

 

 

Sin is a master, not a master who receives loving service from his subjects, but one who has to compel them to obey him. Thus, we are to think of sin as being a slave master. In fact, the original Greek word from which the word servant is translated was the word used for slave, and is usually translated as slave in the more modern translations.

 

This, then, means that our definition of sin must now be extended to the following. Sin is a master who rules us against our will so that we are in the condition of bondage. For this problem, pardon or forgiveness in the sense in which this word is generally understood, is not the solution. What we need now is deliverance. To set this forth again in diagram form we have the following:

 

 

 

As with pardon, so with deliverance; no one ever receives it without he asks for it. No one will ever ask if he does not realize that he is in bondage, and none will realize he is in bondage unless he understands the nature of sin as a bond or slave master over him. Therefore, once again it must be clear that the very first step in understanding the way of deliverance is to understand the answer to the question, "What is sin?"

 

And yet is it not true that the understanding of the majority of people, so far as sin is concerned, stops at the level of: Action--Guilt--Pardon? Because this is so, the axe is never laid at the root of the tree, the slave master is never eradicated so that a profession of religion and an external conformity to the demands of that religion passes as the genuine thing, leaving a deceived race of church people to march steadily on towards perdition and oblivion.

 

The slave master is the root of sin, and in the Bible is given a number of names. In Romans 8:7 it is called the "carnal mind"; in Romans 6:6 it is called "the old man"; in Ezekiel 36:26 it is called "the stony heart". It is symbolized by leprosy. But nowhere is the working of the sin master better portrayed than in Romans 7, to which we will turn, to start reading from verse 9 where Paul says, "I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." Paul here refers to a particular time when the law entered his life. Up till that time, the time when the commandment came, Paul simply says, "I was alive without the law once". In other words, he was simply a willing sinner. This is the state of the man in the world before he comes to a knowledge of God's law. He is quite willing to be a sinner. He is happy to be such. It does not worry him.

 

But there comes at last the time when the law enters his experience. This entry of the law brings to him the knowledge of its righteous claims upon his life and behaviour. This constitutes the very first step towards Christ-the knowledge of the law. This may come to him through the reading of the Word, or by the living preacher, or in some other way, but come it must if ever he is to find Christ as a Saviour from sin.

 

 

This knowledge of the law of God leads to a second knowledge, the knowledge of what he himself is before God. This is conviction. It is the second essential step to Christ.

 

Conviction in turn leads on to repentance, provided that it is not stifled by the convicted one setting up a resistance to the work of the Spirit on the heart. This does happen, for it is not a pleasant experience to see one's self as God sees us. The natural tendency of the human nature is to reject this as being an unwelcome revelation. A case in point is found in the story of Felix and Drusilla as recorded in Acts of the Apostles 24:24-27. "And as he (Paul) reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee."

 

The trembling of Felix is clear evidence of his being under that deep conviction which would have lead on to repentance if he had not sought to dismiss the unwelcome revelations of himself. But he sent the apostle away at the very time when he needed more of that ministry to lead him on step by step to the Master. So, too, let great care be taken on the part of each and every person to see that when the Lord does show us the true picture of what we are, that we do not reject that but accept it and the spirit of true repentance which the Lord will likewise give to us at this time.

 

Repentance is not only to hate the sin but to turn away from it. It is not just to hate the sin because of what it does to us. Judas and Balaam both hated the consequences of the sin, but they did not hate the sin itself. Just as we hate filth because it is filth, so we are to learn to hate sin because it is sin. To do this will mean that, in turn, we will love righteousness because it is righteousness.

 

To do this is not natural for the human being. It is not something we can generate in ourselves. Therefore, repentance is the gift of God. This is the truth of the Scriptures which declare, "Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Acts of the Apostles, 5:31.

 

Repentance, once it has been received as a gift from God as a result of the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word, will be accompanied by confession of sin.

 

These, then, are the first four steps to Christ, knowledge, conviction, repentance, and confession. It is the truth that many have passed into each of these experiences as best they knew those experiences to be, and have felt that they had satisfied the requirements for deliverance from sin, and yet did not find themselves to have been delivered. The truth is that when these experiences have been obtained in truth as the Lord would have us to obtain them, then deliverance will have been gained. The problem lies in the fact that many have not understood just what each of these experiences really is. The general rule is that there has been a repentance for and a confession of what has been done, while there has been a failure to understand that there must be the deeper repentance for what we are and a confession of that.

 

Think back to that thrilling moment when there first came to you a knowledge of the truth of God. How beautiful and consistent appeared the truth on the one hand, but how convicting it was on the other hand. You saw the whole of your past life as being filled with selfishness and sin, and in deep repentance you desired nothing more than to be finished with it all. You determined that you would obey everyone of God's commandments. Like the Israelites of old who said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient," Exodus 24:7, you determined that you would obey all the commandments of God.

 

You found that you did have success so far as certain outward activities were concerned. Great victories were gained over those attractions of the world which previously had held you. But somehow, the impatience, the evil temper, and other inner problems remained. They rose up to defeat you. You bowed under deep conviction of continued sin. You confessed the sins and determined from now on it would be different, but it was not. The same troubles came again and again to give to you an experience of try and fail, confess and try and fail again. 

 

This is precisely the picture which the apostle Paul testifies to in Romans 7:15-24. "For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

 

It would be impossible for Paul to have described our past experience as professed children of God any better than he has done here. How often as I have read these words, folk have responded by saying, "That is the exact picture of my experience. Paul was writing about me when he wrote those words."

 

As this passage is read it will be seen that Paul did have all those first steps to Christ. That he knew the law and his own condition in relation to it is plain from the repeated admissions of his coming short of what the law required. Earlier in the chapter he had directly testified to it in these words, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Verse 12.

 

Again, he said, "For we know that the law is spiritual." Verse 14. Earlier in this study we had remarked that the knowledge of the law is accompanied by a knowledge of ourselves. So it is that immediately Paul says "For we know that the law is spiritual," he confesses "But I am carnal, sold under sin."

 

Such convictions are followed by repentance if the convictions are not stifled. There is no doubt but that Paul does have the gift of repentance at this stage for he hates sin, as he testifies, "But what I hate, that do I." Furthermore, he is turning away from it with all the determination he has. There is no doubt but that this is true repentance.

 

Accompanying it is confession. In fact the whole of this passage is confession.

 

It is clear, then, that Paul does have these first four steps to Christ, knowledge, conviction, repentance, and confession. It is equally clear that he does not have deliverance from sin. It is most important that this be seen, for there is great danger in thinking that because we have taken these steps, or think that we have taken them, that we are thereby assured of salvation. 

 

But this passage of Scripture clearly shows that it is possible to have taken these steps at least in a measure and still be the bond slave of sin, still to be without deliverance from the power of that sin master who rules us against our wills. This is indeed a sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting experience over the same besetting sins year after year. It is the life of a bond slave to sin even though the individual knows better and wishes to do better.

 

When a person has come to a knowledge of the truth of God, has experienced conviction for sin, has repented of it and confessed it, he is apt to believe that he has found salvation even though he is still a slave to his old sinful nature. Paul's testimony in Romans seven is a further confirmation to him that this is so. Without a doubt, Paul was a great man of God. He understood the gospel and the plan of salvation. He will be in the kingdom, yet he testified that he was carnal, sold under sin, and a slave to it. He did not do what he knew to be right, but found himself doing the very things which he knew to be wrong. If this was the experience of Paul at that time when he was a true Christian and, therefore, had the hope of salvation, then we must expect that our Christian experience must be the experience described in Romans seven. In other words, it is believed that the experience of the man of Romans seven is the experience of the truly born-again child of God.

 

To illustrate this point further, allow me to recall an experience I once had. I was given the invitation to speak about the way of deliverance to a man who held a high position in church office. Furthermore, he was the manager of a religious institution, was well versed in the doctrines of the church, and certainly kept the law so far as outward requirements were concerned. For years he had been standing in the pulpit preaching to the people. Yet when I read to him the words of Paul in Romans seven, he said to me, 'That is the exact picture of my experience ever since I gave myself to the Lord. I was born with the curse of a bad temper and I still have that problem with me. I lose my temper. I feel the conviction of the sin. I confess it and determine that it will never happen again. Then comes the power of temptation and I lose it again and again and again. I can certainly feel for Paul in this passage."

 

This man was as frank and open as was Paul in Romans. Without standing in judgment on this particular man, it is proper to ask the question, Would a man in this state arise in the resurrection of the just, or would he be eternally lost? Be sure before you attempt to answer the question that you understand just what the experience is as testified to in Romans seven. Here is the man. He knows the law of God and is keeping it to the very best he knows how. He is faithful in church attendance every week. He holds high office in the church. He pays his tithes and offerings. He actively engages in the missionary projects for the church. He is highly respected by the community. But he has to testify that he is yet the slave of his own inner nature and cannot do the things which he knows in his heart he should be doing.

 

This is the man of Romans seven. This man is not the willing sinner in the world who has but little care for the things of God and eternity. We know that the man of the world, while he remains such, will never come up in the resurrection, but what of the man of Romans seven? This is the question, and it is a very important one.

 

There are two factors besides the argument in respect to the life of Paul which will strongly influence the mind to say that this is the experience of a true child of God. Firstly, there is the witness that our own lives during the whole of our association with the church, have been as described in Romans seven. We are apt to think of all the sacrifices we have made for the truth and we are very reluctant to admit that all this has been for nothing, for, if we do not obtain the life eternal, then it will have been for nothing.

 

Then, again, we think of those loved ones who have died and whom we know to have been in the Romans seven experience. We have cherished the hope of seeing them in the kingdom. Now, if we are to come to the belief that the man of Romans seven is not a child of God, then we fear that we will never see them again. I have seen people cling to the belief that the man of Romans seven is a true child of God for no other reason than this. They failed to realize that no matter what they believed, the fact of the case is the fact of the case. Their refusal to believe that fact does not change the situation one little bit.

 

So the question is before us in all its vital importance.

 

Is the experience of Romans seven the experience of a true child of God or not?

Whenever this question is asked, it genders as a rule three replies. There are the few who say at once that he would arise in the resurrection. Then there are those who are not certain, while there are others who say that this man, should he die in this experience, will not come up in the resurrection of the just.

 

Thus it is clear that there is some confusion in regard to whether the experience of Romans seven is the experience of those who are saved or not. It is extremely important that this question be settled very clearly in the minds of all who seek for eternal life. There is good reason for this. Consider the perilous position of the individual who knows that he is in the experience described in Romans seven, and yet, at the same time, believes that this is regular Christian experience, while in fact it is not. Such a person will seek for nothing further but will be content with what he has. Only those who seek will find. Therefore, because he will seek for nothing more, he will find nothing more than this. When, in the great day of final reckoning, he discovers that he has been leaning upon a false hope, his loss will be terrible. There is nothing more fearful than to pass through life thinking that all is on the right path and then find too late that, what was thought to be salvation, is not salvation at all.

 

Click here for diagram

 

It is most important that human interpretations and opinions have no place in the determining of this question. The one authority is the Word of God. There is the place where the answer must be found and there alone. Then, when the answer has been found in the Word of God, it must be believed because it is the Word of God given to us for our salvation.

 

Without a question, the man in Romans seven is in bondage. He knows what he should do, but he finds it impossible to do it. He is in no sense of the word a willing sinner, but an unwilling one. But the point is, he is a sinner. He is a sinner who is serving the power of sin and is, therefore, in the service of Satan.

 

If he is serving Satan, then he cannot be serving God, for, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24.

 

If he is not serving God, how can he be a child of God? He cannot. If he is not a child of God, then how can he have salvation? Again the answer is that he cannot. Therefore, on the basis of this evidence, it is clear that the man of Romans seven does not have salvation.

But this is only one witness to the effect that the man of Romans seven does not have salvation. It is clear and convincing, but it is not enough, for it is the rule of the Scriptures that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." Matthew 18:16. 

 

Therefore, we shall proceed to seek for further Bible witnesses to this effect.

 

In the closing verses of Romans seven, Paul comes to the end of his description of the experience of being in slavery to sin's power. In the hopeless despair which the experience has brought him, he cries out, "0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

 

It is proper to ask a question at this point, which was both well expressed and answered by Dr. E. J. Waggoner in his book Christ and His Righteousness, 86, 87. "Is a true Christian experiencing a body of death so terrible that the soul is constrained to cry for deliverance?- Nay, verily.... Does Christ deliver from a true Christian experience?--No, indeed. Then the bondage of sin, of which the apostle complains in the seventh of Romans, is not the experience of a child of God, but of the servant of sin. It is to deliver men from this captivity that Christ came; not to deliver us, during this life, from warfare and struggles, but from defeat; to enable us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, so that we could give thanks unto the Father 'Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son,' through Whose blood we have redemption."

 

The argument employed by E. J. Waggoner here is that Christ would never deliver from a true Christian experience. Yet, here is Paul asking to be delivered from the experience of Romans seven. The very fact that he is, in the light of the truth that Christ would never deliver from a true Christian experience, is proof positive that the experience of Romans seven is not the experience of a true child of God. This is the second witness.

 

Let the attention now be turned to a third witness.

 

No sooner has Paul cried out for deliverance in the strong faith of one who understands that not only is there salvation in God alone, but that the gospel is the power of God to save from sin, than, in response to the question, "Who shall deliver me?" he is able to say, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:25.

 

Then at once the whole picture changes. He pauses only long enough to sum up the experience of Romans seven in the words, "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This is the exact picture of the man in Romans seven. He knows what is right and with his mind he determines that he will serve God. He believes in his mind the truths of God. His mind is loyal to the Lord and it is given in service to God, but the actual activities of his life are devoted to the service of sin even though, in his mind, he knows it is wrong and, in his mind, he desires to do otherwise.

 

This summing up complete, Paul then describes the absolutely changed scene as it becomes subsequent to his heart-rending appeal for deliverance and his thankfulness in receiving it. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1, 2.

 

Then, throughout the rest of the chapter, he speaks of freedom, of victory, of sonship with God and ends with the triumphant testimony, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39.

 

It is impossible to read Romans seven and then Romans eight without seeing that they are two very different experiences indeed. Romans seven is the experience of a slave who is constrained against his will to do the works of sin, while the other chapter is the story of a person set free from sin's power to do that which he knows to be right and that which he wishes to do. They cannot both be the description of the Christian experience. The one or the other of them can be, but not both. While you may have had some difficulty in seeing that the experience in Romans seven is not the experience of a child of God, no such difficulty should exist so far as Romans eight is concerned. Everyone should be able to see that this is indeed the experience of a Christian. In Romans eight there is "no condemnation", verse 1; he is "tree from the law of sin and death", verse 2; the righteousness of the law is being fulfilled in him, and he walks "not after the flesh, but after the Spirit", verse 4; he is a son of God and therefore a child of God, verses 14-16; therefore, he is an heir, and, in fact, a joint heir with Christ, verse 17; and he is more than a conqueror through Him that loved us, verse 37.

 

This is Christian experience. No one can have the least difficulty in seeing this. But how different this is from the experience depicted in Romans seven. Therefore, if Romans eight is the description of Christian experience, then Romans seven must be the description of something else. It cannot be the description of the experience of a Christian.

 

But this is not all the evidence to support the facts of this. At the end of Romans seven, Paul cries out to be delivered and, as the great change came, he thanked the Lord for it. Then his immediate testimony was, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1.

 

It is well to stress at this point the significance of two words in this text. They are "therefore", and "now". The former is a word which is very common in the construction of Paul's arguments. Again and again it is his style to set forth certain facts and then to draw conclusions from those facts. As he draws the conclusion to the facts, he will introduce it with the word, "therefore". What he is saying, in effect, is this: Because of these facts which have already been stated, these things must therefore follow.

 

In this particular case, he has described the passing through the grim experience of being in bondage to the power of sin, of his crying out for deliverance and of receiving it Because this has been accomplished, there follows that which otherwise could not be. Therefore, there is now no condemnation. The word "now" adds force to the use of "therefore", for it indicates that there is a change. Things were such and such, but now they are different.

 

To make doubly certain that all understand as to why there is now no condemnation, it is stated that there is none, "for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

 

Back in Romans seven, he had a very different testimony to give. There, he was most certainly not free from the law of sin and death. Now he is and because he is, there is no condemnation. This then is to admit that when he was not free from the law of sin and death, there was condemnation.

 

There is a single word which means the same as "no condemnation" and that is the word "justification".

 

Already we have seen that where there is freedom from the law of sin and death, as in Romans eight, after he has been delivered from the bondage of Romans seven, there is no condemnation, which is to say that there is justification. This is likewise to say that back in Romans seven there is condemnation, which is to say that there is no justification. This, then, is to say that the man in Romans seven does not even have justification or forgiveness. If he does not have these things, then how can he possibly come up in the resurrection of the just?

 

We have by no means exhausted the witnesses which declare that the man of Romans seven does not have salvation, but these are more than sufficient to make the point.

 

The reader is asked to very candidly consider what this means so far as his own experience is concerned. If you are one who can and does testify at this moment that Romans seven is a perfect picture of your spiritual state, then the fact is that you do not have salvation from sin, and, should you die at this time, you would not come up in the first resurrection.

 

For anyone who has for a long time been a faithful member of a church, has been busily occupied in its activities, has subscribed to its beliefs and liberally supported its programmes while having a good reputation with those in the neighborhood, yet has a Roman's seven experience, this realization that you do not have salvation must come as a severe shock. Yet it is vitally necessary that this realization does come for it is essential that the true situation be understood so that steps can be taken to lay hold upon that which the Lord really has for you.

 

There are two possible reactions to the arrival of this realization. The tendency of the human nature is to reject that which is disturbing to the established and settled acceptances in life. After having rested for so long in a comfortable though deceptive assurance of well being, there is a strong desire not to face the reality of the real truth about ourselves. We do not want this to be true. Therefore, there is the very real danger that we will turn from it to that which is more acceptable and pleasant to us.

 

Should you succumb to this temptation, then you will find that a dozen arguments will rush to your lips to counter the evidences of the Word of God. You will say in anxious haste, "Why, of course I am a Christian I Look at what I have given up to follow Christ Look at my wide knowledge of the Scriptures, the time I spend in study and prayer, my high church office and...and...and. 

 

There is no more fatal mistake which can be made than this. There are too many people in history who have lost their eternal life because they did not have the courage and the honesty to face the truth about themselves at this point. The result was that the Spirit of God could do no more for them and the impressions made died away.

 

The other reaction which you might experience is one of hopeless despair. You are honest enough to recognize the truth of the Word of God when it plainly tells you that the experience in which you have been is not salvation. A sense of being a lost and condemned soul overwhelms you and you feel that you are separated eternally from God.

 

If, at this point, this is the way you feel, then nothing could be better for you To have been brought to this place is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit knows that it is essential that your true condition be known to you. It is of the utmost importance that the spell of false security be broken so that the Spirit of God can do the next work for you. Too many have been living in the Laodicean condition as described in Revelation 3:14-22. They do not know that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

 

But this has to be known, for, if it is not known, then the soul will remain in the slumber of false assurance until it is too late. Therefore, rejoice and be glad if you do come, at this point, to the place where you see yourself as lost, hopelessly and eternally lost.

 

Rejoice, too, for there is a way of deliverance from the power of sin. You do not need to remain in the experience of Romans seven, defeated and frustrated in your earnest and sincere desires to serve the living God. What is more, that way, the way of deliverance, is no secret. Neither do we intend to bring you to this point of despair without going on to spell out the way of certain deliverance into the joy of God's salvation. We implore you, then, to keep on with the study of this subject until faith grasps the power of God and you are made whole.

 

Having established, then, that the man in Romans seven is certainly not a Christian, we need to understand just why it is that, even though he knows the law and desires to keep the law, he is yet unable to do this. The understanding of why this is so, is a definite part of the solution to the problem.

 

 

THE NATURE OF MAN

 

The understanding of this problem lies in knowing the nature of man. Man is a very complex organism, it is true, in whom there is a close interrelationship between all the parts. Yet, while there is this interrelationship, there is, at the same time, a distinction which must be made between the major parts, with consideration to the role played by each in turn.

 

Thus, to be more specific, each of us, first of all, has an intelligent, thinking mind. Into this department we receive information through the various senses, the eyes, the ears, the touch, the taste and the smell. It is thus that the messages of God are brought to the individual so that he comes to know what he needs to know of his own personal condition, his need, and what the Lord will do for him.

 

The mind does not accept all that it is offered. Some things it rejects for various reasons. It will even reject the truth which the individual most needs because the mind has already been trained to believe a lie or because the acceptance of the truth would be inconvenient or costly.

To do this the mind must reason and draw conclusions. Those conclusions in turn demand the making of decisions, which call for corresponding actions on the part of the individual. This is the setting of the will.

 

When all this work has been accomplished in the mind, then the body is called upon to obey or to carry out the decisions reached in the mind. For the purpose of this study, it will be sufficient to understand that the body is an instrument designed to fulfil the purposes of the mind of man. Later, as the student moves more into the study of the work of reformation which succeeds the new birth experience, it will be necessary to understand that the body is also capable of exerting quite a pressure on the mind to satisfy its needs for gratification or for self-preservation.

 

That the body is an instrument is made clear in these words, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Romans 6:13.

 

It should not be difficult for anyone to understand that the body is to be the servant of the mind. Think of a very simple illustration. As a result of information which you have and resulting decisions in the mind, you wish to journey from where you are to another point. Your stored information tells you that first you must walk from where you are to the railway station. Your mind cannot go there alone, but it can call upon the members of the body, namely the feet and legs in particular, to transport you there. The body does so at the direction of the mind.

 

Many other instances could be given of the working of this arrangement. Each person can recall in their daily living the working of it, but, in the case of the man in Romans seven, the body does not always do what the mind wills it to do. Read the clear declaration of it in verse fifteen.

 

"For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."

That which is done, is done by and through the instrument of the physical body. But that which in this instance is done, is not allowed for, while that which he desires to do, the body does not do, but rather does the very thing which he hates doing. It is clear that it is in the reasoning mind that the hatred of this thing exists. It is there that he would not. Here is a clear case of a situation wherein the mind knows what should be done, desires to do that, sends instructions to the body members to do it, but to his utter dismay finds that the body does other than that which he wills it to do.

 

There should be no difficulty in understanding this for I am sure that all have experienced this at some time or the other. In fact, if you can testify that you are still in the Romans seven experience, then you know right now what this is like. You have resolved, for instance, that you will never again speak hasty or nasty words to others. You really are sincere in your intentions. Your will is set to do this, and for a time all may go well, but there comes the day when that unruly instrument, the tongue, speaks forth those hasty words of bitter recrimination against the other. How sorry we feel for it after the force of it is spent?

 

Without a question, the man of Romans seven knows what is right. He knows the law of God and he delights in the great truths of God's Word. "To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not", he says in verse eighteen.

 

The question now to be faced is this: Why is it that, in the situation as described in Romans seven, the body instrument does not obey the directions of the mind? There has to be a very definite and clear reason for this, a reason which, when it is known and understood, will be a decided step toward the solution of the problem.

 

The situation in Romans seven is not right. God did not make a man with the intention that his body be a rebel against his mind. God gave to man a body instrument designed to carry out the desires of the mind, to be obedient to the will, but while this is not the way it is in Romans seven, it is the way of it in Romans eight where we see the picture of the believer coming to the point where he is able to do with the instrument that which he knows to be right.

 

At this point the average person concludes that the problem is that the will is too weak to bring the body under true subjection so that what is needed is to exert the will with much more determination and power so that the body will be brought under subjection to the mind. But, no matter how much determination is exercised, it is found that the situation does not change. The answer at this point does not lie in a stronger will or a greater determination. It lies in the detection of another aspect of the human nature which has not so far been mentioned in this study.

 

Every normal person has a mind and he has a body. He also has a third entity which plays a significant role in his life's experience. The identification and isolation of this third entity is not the easiest, and there are many who deny its existence as a separate entity. Rather, they identify it and the human, fleshly nature as being one and the same thing. This is a serious mistake preventing them from finding deliverance from this enemy.

 

Because the identification and the isolation of this third aspect of our lives is so vital to success in the search for positive victory over sin, a little space will be devoted to showing its existence and in differentiating it from the physical human nature.

 

With great certainty and clarity Paul referred to all three right in this chapter in Romans. "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Romans 7:22,23.

 

Consider this verse very carefully. Firstly, Paul testifies that he has delight in the law of God in his inward man. Such delight can only be in the intellectual, reasoning mind. That this is that to which he is referring here is made certain by the words of the next verse. "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind." So, while in the mind he delights in the law of God. here is this other law in the members which wars against that mind. The result is that he is brought into captivity or bondage to this law of sin which is in his members.

 

It is to be noted that the law of sin is not the flesh itself, but something which is resident in that flesh. Previously, in verse seventeen, Paul had there stated that "It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Here the very thought of "residence in" is expressed in the words "dwelling in me."

 

This "law of sin" in the members is not the flesh and blood human nature of the person. It is something else which resides in that flesh and rules over it against the will of the reasoning, educated mind. That this is so is made clear by other Scriptures. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26.

 

That which Paul calls the "law of sin" in Romans is here called the "stony heart." In Romans seven it is pictured as dwelling in the flesh, while here the promise is that it will be evicted from the flesh. It will be taken out of and away from. When it is taken out of and away from, the flesh is still there, for the flesh itself is not taken Out of and away from him, but something is taken out of and away from the flesh. This must make it very clear that there are the three entities. There is the mind, there is the flesh, and there is the law of sin or the stony heart which dwells in the flesh and rules over it according to its will and against the will of the mind.

 

In Romans 8:7, this same third entity is referred to as the carnal mind in these words: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

 

This text is probably one of the strongest proofs that there is this third entity in the individual. Consider very carefully what is said in this verse which cannot in turn apply to the fleshly or the human nature. In the first instance, while it is entirely possible for the sinful, fallen flesh of man to be an instrument of righteousness by being subject to the law of God, it is impossible for the carnal mind to do this.

 

The carnal mind is not merely at enmity against God. It is enmity. Its very constitution, its very nature, that which it is, is in itself enmity against God. If it were merely at enmity then it could be reconciled to God, but when it is itself the enmity, then it can never be reconciled to God, it can never be subject to the law of God. This is an impossibility.

 

But the flesh can. In fact, in Romans 6:13, Paul calls upon the converted person to yield "your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

 

So, we have one nature or power in the human being which is at enmity and cannot serve God, and we have another power, namely, the flesh, which can. Therefore, they cannot be one and the same thing. They must be two different things, for the one thing could not be in a position where it was impossible to serve the law, and at the same time be yielded as instruments of service to the law. This is impossible.

 

The carnal mind is the law of sin, the stony heart and the power of sin which rules in the life of the individual against the will of the mind. It is not that the flesh is the master of the mind. Rather, the flesh is subject to another power which it finds itself forced to obey whilever that power remains in control.

 

Paul sums the whole problem up very beautifully in the closing verse of Romans seven when he says, "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Thus it is clear that there are two masters working in the life of the man of Romans seven. One is the great Master of all truth to which the mind is devoted in service, the other is the law of sin to which the flesh is enslaved. Thus the mind and the flesh are in service to two different powers, and it is for this reason that the flesh does not do that which the mind directs it to do. It is in subjection to another master, despotic and in deadly enmity to the law of God.

 

We have now come to the heart of the problem of which what we do is but the fruit. it is exactly as Jesus says: "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of his heart the mouth speaketh." Luke 6:43-45.

 

Here, Christ's reference is to a law of nature which has never been broken and with which even a child is familiar. It is an utterly reliable principle. It is that if you wish to have good fruit you must first of all have good trees. Then, having referred the mind to the familiar and long-proven principle as it is revealed in nature, the Saviour declares that as it is in nature so it is in the spiritual world. The same principle is to be found there. Therefore, if we wish to have a life filled with good deeds, then first of all we must be good people.

 

But no one can be a good person while he still has the carnal mind or the stony heart. To have that evil nature and power within us is to be an evil person, and as such to bring forth evil and not good fruit.

 

This, then, is the problem. It is not the mind for it is converted to the service of God and to the truths of the Word of God. It is not the fleshly human nature, for it is in bondage to another power, even the power of the law of- sin which is resident in the members and controls them against the will.

 

This is not to say that the mind and the flesh cannot be a problem. They can, but they are not the problem once the person has been brought to the Romans seven experience. He has come there because he has seen the beauty of the truth and is converted to it. His flesh is not the problem for it is in bondage to another power, so that until it is delivered from that power it cannot possibly escape from the dominion of sin and do that which the mind directs it to do.

 

The law of sin in the members is the problem. It is the root, the basic cause, the underlying source of the trouble. If it is the problem, then obviously it is here that the solution must be applied. Therefore, at this point we will proceed to seek out and to understand how that solution is to be applied.

 

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