Salvation and Law

About this sermon

Introduction: When we started the 5th chapter of Romans, I made the point that the main theme running from chapter 5 through 8 is the absolute security of the person who has been reconciled to God through Christ. The 5th chapter opens on the note that having been justified by faith, we now have peace with God (5:1). The 8th chapter ends on the note that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (8:39) We stand in peace, and nothing in all the universe, nothing present, nothing ever to come, can change that standing. Everything Paul writes between those two verses either explains the security of the believer, by explaining the true nature of salvation, or defends the security of the believer, by answering objections to the gospel; by showing that the all-wise God is not at odds with Himself, when He says that He hates sin, and also pronounces His people fully and finally forgiven. Having said this, we still recognize something unique about chapters 6 and 7. Chapters 6 and 7 are parenthetical in that overall argument. They are focused on something specific. Paul takes on two giants in the realm of objections, and he knows that he must slay them. The first giant is the accusation that the gospel of grace encourages sin, or minimizes sin, or gives opportunity for sin. He slays that giant by showing that salvation has not just changed the believer’s status, it has yoked the believer to righteousness. Coming into the realm of grace you are assigned to a new master. The slavery to sin is broken, a new slavery to obedience, to righteousness, to God, is the result. To continue in sin, after having met with the grace of God, is not just unthinkable, it is impossible. And now, Paul comes to chapter 7, and there is a second giant in the realm of objections that must be slain. The second giant is the claim that salvation makes the law of God meaningless. In a way that was almost passing, Paul announced in chapter 6 that the believer is no longer under law but is under grace. He knows that that statement will need explanation. He knows that that statement will meet with objection. The objection is that Paul’s preaching of the gospel of grace would mean that God’s law never really had a purpose. Or that grace has the effect of destroying God’s law. Is the gospel a denial of the law? Is the gospel something that comes out of left field, as it were, with no relationship whatsoever to the law? THIS IS THE OBJECTION THAT PAUL MUST ANSWER IN THE 7TH CHAPTER. And I would remind us, that he answers these objections, for two reasons. He answers them so that the people of God would have a better understanding of what God has done in saving them. He also answers these objections because he faces them as he preaches the gospel. And he knows that YOU will face these objections as YOU preach the gospel. And so, the church has increased hope and is better equipped to give a reason for our hope. This 7th chapter brings us into the realm of theological controversies.

Topics

• Salvation