Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA)
Thus
far, in our studies of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we have considered:
the
inability of the law to deliver us from sin,
the
confirmation of our being bound to sin,
the
opposition evident between law and grace
and instruction that only grace may insure that sin will not have dominion.
This
sustained polemic, as John Murray describes it, might lead one to assume that
the law that causes all of this heart-wrenching searching of the soul might, as
modern counselors suggest, be bad for us.
I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ description of romantic literature.
In his list of seven essential types he describes literary Subjectivism
as a means of the romantic search for something to fill the heart.
Of course, in his commentary he leads his readers to the final
understanding that there is only one person who can fill the heart, and for the
elect, any lifelong pursuit of romanticism must finally end in Jesus Christ.
Now,
the modern era is very widely committed to Subjectivism.
So I should explain the meaning of this foundational term for our time.
Subjectivism is defined by Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
as a doctrine where
individual feeling or experience is the ultimate criterion of the good and the
right.
This theory would also limit knowledge to conscious states and elements.
If you have ever sat through a Woody Allen movie, watching the assorted
and sordid characters wrestle with their life experiences and wonder at their
meaning, that egoism is subjective.
In such a way of self analysis and experiential consideration, very many
intelligent people are trapped by professional “counselors” in a lifetime of
weekly advisory meetings where no final truth is ever found in the ever
continuing discussion of life’s experiences.
It
is extremely rare for any one afflicted with such an egocentric experiential
conditioning to escape to a rational and realistic appreciation of the harsh
reality of sin.
The very idea of a body of law that would trash the enjoyable moments of
their sordid experiences would be considered bad beyond measure.
After all, the whole psychobabble movement founded by Freud has been
dedicated to erasing the guilt trips supposedly erected by ministers, parents
and judges. Freedom from guilt, and freedom from religious oppression, are the
bywords of a generation that would not know sin nor the God who would define it.
And yet in the subjective search for reality, a whole generation has been
trapped by the high priest counselors who prosper by encouraging phobias and
dysfunctional behaviors.
A
few years ago a noted counselor in our area spoke at a teacher’s meeting to
describe the dysfunctional people who allowed themselves to be oppressed by the
bad habits and personalities of alcoholics, druggies and authoritative religious
nuts.
After the two hour affliction was finally over, one of the staff wondered
how they had survived a miserable childhood and a lost war, and yet managed to
make it without a weekly session with our “brilliant” speaker.
I shared something that I had read once about the fact that the majority
of life’s less perfect experiences could usually be survived and forgotten
within a few weeks.
The greatest danger was to remember and to continually wallow in thinking
about what might have been.
“Get
over it and get on with your life,”
seems to be more healthy and a whole lot cheaper advice than lengthy counseling.
The other person agreed and said that they were almost convinced that
they might need regular counseling because of all that the speaker had shared.
“Precisely,” I agreed.
“How else can modern counselors persuade otherwise healthy people to
turn their souls over to their humanistic care?”
Only in a world where any final truths are denied and sin abolished could
such craven characters with their worthless degrees lord it over the misery of
millions.
“Is
the law sin?”
Paul asks.
The worldly today would automatically agree that Paul’s question is
truthfully put.
This is why the faith once given to the saints is so sadly neglected.
This is why emotionalism and an emphasis on feel-good worship is so
widespread even within Christ’s church.
This is why so many people are lost and trapped in the mindscapes
invented by humanist philosophers.
Thanks
be to God, Paul challenges us in such a culture today,
thanks be to God that the law convicted him of sin and led him to
salvation.
The commandment that spoke to his heart was the one that taught
“You shall not covet.”
And by this commandment of the law the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart and
convicted him of sin.
In
verse nine, Paul refers back to his previous life before conviction.
“I
was alive apart from the law,”
he declares.
John Murray observes that “the
word ‘alive’ cannot be used here in the sense of life eternal or life unto
God. He is
speaking of the unperturbed, self-complacent, self-righteous life in
which he once lived, before the turbulent motions and conviction of
sin...overtook him.”
How many of you in the course of the last few years have realized exactly
what John Murray is talking about!
Once, you could do as you pleased, you worried not about your financial
state, your moral state or your spiritual state.
Like the worldly around us, you lived for the moment.
Now,
life in the Spirit is more complex.
Sincere thought and much prayer must be invested in every decision, and
those decisions must be followed by a disciplined life to please our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Would you prefer the former life?
Ah, isn’t that an oft-recurring temptation?
In that temptation is the revival of sin described also in verse nine.
In that miserable revival Charles Hodge notes that we sense the danger of
death and a consciousness of guilt.
“The
very law which was designed and adapted to secure life...became the cause of
death....The law, so far from giving life, is the source of death, spiritual and
penal; and yet the fault does not lie in the law, but in sin -- that is, in our
own corrupt nature.”
Hodge
goes on to make this important observation, which many of you have already
experienced:
The Apostle “expected
life and found death.
He expected happiness and found misery.
He looked for holiness and found increased corruption.
He thought that by the law all these desirable ends could be achieved,
but he found that it produced exactly the opposite effects.
Sin therefore used the commandment to deceive and by it slew him.
Instead of the law being a source of holiness and blessedness, it brought
death to Paul....[the sinner] turns to the law, to his own righteousness and
strength, but he soon finds that all the law can do is aggravate his guilt and
misery.”
Sin,
and not the law, is the cause of misery.
Therefore, the law is good, righteous and holy.
This is the important teaching that we are to take from this vital
passage.
When you are miserable, when you are depressed, when you are beside
yourself, would life be easier if you knew not the law of God and the gospel of
Jesus Christ?
Of course not!
We have only to look at the worldly around us who do not know the law of
God. They
do not know that they are sinful.
And what will happen to them in the end? To
hell in a handcart, with all of their vices and sins intact.
If you were suddenly compelled to leave your house because of a disaster of some sort, would you grab the garbage sack and sling it over your shoulder as you hurried away to safety? Of course not! You would grab your silver, your children and any other valuables you could lay your hands on. In the same way, we should prepare ourselves for a sudden departure to the next life. Never should we cherish or cling to the sins which infect us with death. Instead, we must cling the the Christ who has delivered us from death by showing us the law which caused us to need Him. May He be our constant desire.
Resources Used: The Holy Bible, New International Version
Places Preached:Hodge, Charles. Romans. Murray, John. New International Commentary: Epistle to Romans.
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America) Post Office Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213-7926
Rom07b.htm 03 September 95
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