The Fleshly Mind & The Law of God

About this sermon

Introduction: It is not only true to say that salvation is entirely the work of God, it is also true to say that it HAD TO BE GOD’S WORK. When people struggle with the truth that salvation is entirely the Lord’s work, it is because they have refused God’s truth concerning fallen man. Man cannot save himself, not even when he possesses divine revelation. Man cannot save himself, even when he has God’s commandments in his hands. The reason why this is true is because of fallen man’s spiritual condition. Paul has just declared what salvation’s deliverance results in — no condemnation. He has specified who it is that has experienced that deliverance — those in Christ Jesus. He has explained how that deliverance has been accomplished — God saves, in and through His one and only Son (substitution/representation), and the Spirit of God’s application of the Son’s finished work. The result is that the believing sinner is not just forgiven, he or she is transformed. There is freedom, both, from the law’s judgment and from sin’s enslavement. And the reason why salvation is what it is, accomplished in the way that it is, has nothing to do with any kind of imperfection in God’s law, it has to do with man’s spiritual condition since the fall of Adam. Once again, as Paul takes us forward in his explanation and application of the gospel, he is taking us back. He is reminding us, in fresh terms, of what he has already taught us. This is what a good teacher always does. He presents truth in a way that we can see it from several different angles, and in that way, it is cemented in our understanding. So that, this reminder is necessary, and rich and helpful. What the Spirit of God gives us, in verses 5-8, is a FACTUAL description of the condition, and the experience, and the capacities that belong to the natural man. Man might feel that he’s different from the description we find, but God leaves us with no room for misunderstanding. And as the Spirit of God gives us that description, He does so in a contrastive fashion. Paul gives us a contrast between what characterizes a life without the Spirit of God and what characterizes the new life that exists where the Spirit of God has applied Christ’s saving work. We see a contrast between the natural person, and the saved person (or we could say the spiritual person) in three areas. (1) A contrast in disposition (2) A contrast in condition (3) A contrast in ability. This is not only teaching that encourages and comforts the one who has truly been saved (you can see yourself in the descriptions and know what is true of you), it is also teaching that helps CLARIFY who is saved. Examine yourself in the light of these contrasts and ask yourself what your true spiritual condition is. A CONTRAST IN DISPOSITION (vs.5) Why is information not enough to save someone? Why is that true even when the information is perfect? When we can say that it has truly come from God, it is inerrant, it is powerful, it is all-sufficient? Why is it true to say that the natural man in possession of God’s law only finds himself to be an incurable sinner? The answer is found in his nature, and his nature is expressed in his mind. Man’s lost condition is experienced in every realm of his humanness, but at the center of it all is his heart. His mind. The center of how he thinks, what he loves, and what he ultimately chooses. What we are talking about here is the disposition of someone who is IN THE FLESH, still FLESHLY, natural. And what is at the core of the natural man is a poisoned spring. ESV Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ESV Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." The defilement of a life is explained by a defiled heart. His lostness is on display, not only in terms of HOW he lives, but also by what MOTIVATES that living. The explanation is found in what he most desires, and therefore, what he has the power to perform. He lacks power to perform what is right, not because he lacks the NATURAL ability to do it, but because he lacks the MORAL ability to do it. He can’t do it because he lacks the NECESSARY appetite and desire to do it. It’s just not in his nature to do what pleases God. YOU CAN GIVE HIM THE RIGHT INFORMATION BUT HIS DESIRES REFLECT LOSTNESS. YOU CAN GIVE HIM THE RIGHT INFORMATION BUT HIS INABILITY TO DO WHAT HE KNOWS TO BE RIGHT (an inability found in the moral realm) REFLECTS LOSTNESS.

Topics

• Obedience
• Spiritual Growth