Romans 07 Round Two: The Battles Continues

Ever feel that gap between who you want to be and what you actually do? We go straight into Romans 7 and name the tension most of us hide: the law shows us the good, yet our old patterns still tug hard. We trace Paul’s argument with clear examples, moving from the limits of legalism to the freedom of life in the Spirit, and we talk honestly about why the law is holy but powerless to change the heart on its own.

We lay out a simple, memorable framework: the law directs, sin hijacks, and Christ empowers. Through everyday analogies—like learning road rules versus developing real driving skill—we show how commandments can expose desire without supplying strength, and why the Spirit reshapes our wants so obedience becomes natural rather than forced. Along the way, we share practical steps for the daily fight: confess quickly, plan for pressure moments, build habits that anchor your mornings and evenings, and surround yourself with people who remind you of who you are in Christ when you forget.

This conversation is for anyone tired of white-knuckling their way through faith. You’ll hear why struggle can be a sign of life, how sanctification moves at the pace of wisdom, and where to find real hope when you fail. We close by pointing to the only lasting answer—“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord”—and inviting you to keep falling forward, one Spirit-led decision at a time. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us where the message met you today.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Goal Setting
• 1:29 Romans Overview To Chapter 7
• 3:18 Law Versus Spirit Explained
• 6:40 Why The Law Is Good
• 9:10 The Inner War Paul Describes
• 12:15 Hope In Jesus And Next Steps

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's word together. Well, hello, everybody. Hope you are doing well. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Romans chapter 7, and today's title is The Battle Continues. The Battle Continues. I want to ask you a question, and we're going to think about this for a moment. Have you ever just knew you were ready for a test? Maybe you're in school right now, or maybe that was part of your past, and you just knew you're ready for a test, but then you walk in on the day of the test only to realize I'm not ready for the test. You know, you ever done that before? Well, I have, and we're going to talk about what that looks like today in the context of our freedom in Christ. But before that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thank you guys so much for checking out our shorts on YouTube. It's really fun and enjoying putting out those quotes and stuff for you. Also, make sure you are commenting on the video for all of our podcast listeners. You guys are blowing it out of the water right now. Thank you so much for sharing this. And also for everybody, make sure you're going to the Facebook group and thank you so much for sharing what we are doing here with people on social media. I've been seeing how you guys are sharing this. You guys are with us on this road to a thousand. We want to do these different interviews and stuff. And so we've set a goal that we want to, you know, maybe even by the end of the year, haven't put a date on it yet, but maybe by the end of 2023, we want to have a thousand subscribers on YouTube because that opens up our opportunity to do different things. And I'm so thankful. Some of you guys are going and requesting people do that. And I'm so thankful. We got a long way to go, but we're going to get there together as we are slowly building this community of people that man, we're just rallying around reading God's Word. And it's just just awesome. And speaking of that, if you want to get your Bibles out with me and open them up to Romans chapter seven, we're going to read about this idea of the battle continuing. And I'm going to go back to what I was saying before. And that is that in chapter one, you know, we learn that we all went into sin. We all are in that place. Chapter two, nobody is exempt. We're all in that place of all that place of sin. Chapter three is God gave the law, and the law showed us how far we had to go. And then chapter four was then God's word saying, that's why Jesus came. Chapter five, we now have peace with God. And then yesterday, we're no longer slaves of sin. We don't have to live in sin anymore. Chapter seven is that doesn't mean we're done. There, there is this slow walk of freedom, and sometimes there are setbacks. And that's what I was saying is it reminds me of I was the king of doing this, where I would feel so confident about a test. I mean, I would study, I was good to go, I felt great. And then I would walk in and I would get test anxiety. Immediately when I would walk in, I would go, oh no, this is not the day. And sure enough, I was almost always right. It wasn't one of those deals. I wish I could tell you it was a it was a happy ending, where I would walk in and I would see the test and go, no, I got this. No, no, it was usually I'm failing this. And I would. It was it was horrible. And that's what life is like sometimes is we feel so ready for the tests of life. Man, we read our our soap Bible study. We hear Pastor Brandon, you know, you know, someone told me the other day I had a soothing southern draw. It slightly offended me because as a man, I don't want to be soothing, but it is what it is. And so we're we're reading God's word together, we're soaping through it. Awesome. We think we're ready for the test. And then somebody cuts us off in traffic or uh a coworker cusses us out for no reason. We're in school and someone's bullying us at school, or or just, you know, family, whatever, finances. We we get let go from our job. All of a sudden a test comes and we realize I'm not quite as ready as I thought I was. If that's you, and it's definitely me, we're not alone. That's that's just life. Jesus Himself said, In this world we will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. And what God's word is going to tell us today is we're no longer bound by sin, but that doesn't mean that we're completely free. Because God will heal us at a rate that we can stand, and so he will slowly heal us over time. And the trouble is not God's freedom, the trouble is not the goodness of God, the trouble is me being able to keep up sometimes. And that's what Paul's gonna talk about is about how the law is perfect, the law is amazing. The law, God's word, is not the problem. It's me. And we're just gonna read this together and break it down as we go, as always, but at the same time, just enjoy the fact that if the apostle Paul understands what it is to sometimes fail some tests, then it's okay that I haven't made it yet, too. Am I right? So let's read this together. If you have your Bibles with me, you got your coffee topped off, Romans chapter 7, verse 1 says, Now, dear brothers and sisters, in other words, he said, We're about to break it down. Here we go. You who are familiar with the law, that would be the five books of Moses, first five books of the Bible. Don't you know that the law applies only while a person is living? For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the law of marriage no longer applies to her. So, while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries. So, my dear brothers and sisters, in other words, we're breaking it down. This is the point. When you died to the power of the law, when you excuse me, you died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with Him, who is the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us. The law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now, we can serve God not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. So what Paul is saying is, you know, you don't know you're doing something wrong until there's rules telling you what's wrong, right? Like if you didn't know that driving on the opposite side of the road was a bad thing, well, you just drive all over the road. It's knowing that there's rules of the road that lets you know when you're doing it right and when you're doing it wrong. And what Paul is saying is when we live by the letter of the law, leave by live by legalism, doing all the right things just because they're right, it's hard. And as a matter of fact, it's impossible. Like if I want to drive on this side of the road, it's really hard for me to do that just because it's right. Because sometimes I'm gonna feel like it's not fair. Sometimes I'm gonna feel like it's other people's responsibility and all those different things. But when we give our lives to Christ, he changes us from our old nature to our new nature. He gives us a new heart. And so now we do what is right because we want to. We do what is right because it is right. We do what is right because we want to serve and honor God. So he's saying now when we're living in the kingdom of God, we don't need the rule book because we're gonna do what's right because it is right. And so he's saying when we die to that old law and put on the newness of Christ, we're living and doing the right thing because it is the right thing. So, in other words, he's saying we are free to be holy. We don't have to be holy, we're free to be holy. Verse 7 says this. Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Well, of course not. In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting was wrong if the law had not said, Don't you be coveted. But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me. If there is no law, sin would have no power. But one at one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me. It used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. How can this be? Did the law which is good cause my death? No, of course not. Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commands for its own evil purposes. It's like the idea of the road. I know I'm supposed to go on this side of the road, but it would have never occurred to me to go on the other side of the road until someone told me not to. Maybe that's not you, but I think inside of all of us is trapped a two-year-old child who all you got to do is tell us not to do something and we immediately want to do it, right? And so what Paul is saying is that we would have would have never occurred to us to cut someone off in traffic or to go on the wrong side of the road until someone told us not to do that. Now, you know, if we're not living in the kingdom of God and we're not living according to trying to be more like Christ every day, now that's what we want to do. I want to go first. I'm going to cut them off. I'm going to drive on the other side of the road because I just want to, and it just becomes a problem. And then what sin does, and this is what's so crazy about sin, is what sin does is sin will say, You should have it your way. You should do what you want to do. If you want to drive on the other side of the road, that's exactly what you ought to do. And then you know what happens? We drive on the other side of the road, and then sin immediately says, See, you did that wrong. You're you're now you're now wrong. You're a sinner. So sin will entice us to do us wrong, and then use the law to condemn us. And that's why Paul is saying the law didn't do anything wrong. It was sin that enticed us to do wrong, then we did it, and then it used the law to knock us over the head. So that's why he's saying, Man, we we're just in a mess without Christ. Verse 14, let's finish it up. So the trouble is not with the law, for it is this it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me. I am all too human and am slave to sin. I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me. That is my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't do what I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want to do, am I not really the one doing it? It is sin living in me. I have discovered this special principle of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. Come on, Paul, you preaching good. Now, here we go. I love God's law with all of my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to sin that is still within me, to the sin that is still within me. And then he says this, Oh, what a miserable person I am who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and by death. So Paul is saying, he's saying, Have you ever been there? The situation where you want to drive on the right side of the road, you want to do what is right, but you find yourself constantly going to the other side of the road. You find yourself constantly cutting people off in traffic. You're just, and you don't want to, but you keep coming back. And you don't want to, but you keep coming back. And Paul's like, Have you ever been there? Like, I imagine even though somebody else was reading this for Paul in front of the church in Rome, he probably was getting a standing ovation. That's me too. That's me too. And I'll tell you, that's me too. Until he finally says, Oh, it's just miserable when I try to live according to the letter of the law without the Spirit of God leading me. But then he says this, verse 25, thank God, the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is. In my mind, I really want to obey God's law. But because of my sinful nature, I am a slave to sin. And as he said before, the sin that still lives in me. So what's the application point of this? And that is this that when we get saved, our spirit gets saved, but our soul and our body are not saved. So there is a process of sanctification that is the slowly growing toward freedom every day that begins in our life. Because here's the thing Jesus loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way. Uh-huh. Because sin is brokenness in your life. Anything that you have to depend on, anything that takes you away from God, that causes you to serve it instead of God, is a broken place in your life. And God will systematically go to war with every single broken place in your life until you are completely healed and completely clean, and it will take the rest of your life. And so what Paul is saying is, is I don't struggle with the things I don't struggle with anymore. Like if I had an addiction to this particular sin and God has washed it away and I've walked in healing over it, I'm not worried about those anymore. I'm worried about the 99 other things I deal with that are wrong. And then when I try to do it according to my own flesh instead of relying on God to help me, man, I get it wrong all the time when I'm miserable. But thank goodness the answer is in Christ Jesus and when I obey Him. And so Paul is saying it's a lifetime journey of getting it right, getting it wrong, and always falling forward in our life. And so my hope is that's a little bit of encouragement for some of you. Maybe you're in this situation where, you know, maybe you're doing great at a whole bunch of stuff. But there's one or two things that it just seems like you're always struggling with. Well, can I tell you? Just because you're struggling doesn't mean you're bad. As a matter of fact, struggling is a good thing because that means you're trying to head in the right way. The problem would be is if you wasn't struggling anymore, you're like, ah, it is what it is. But if let's say you got 99 things, can I tell you? You may have 99 problems, but Jesus ain't one. And he is extremely interested in your healing. And so God's word says in Proverbs, though a good man, a righteous man may fall seven times, he gets back up again. And that's my prayer for you. Is no matter how many times you may fall, get back up one more time, and God will always lead you toward freedom in your life. Let's pray together. Father, thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy, your kindness. Thank you, God, that you are with us when we're doing great, and you're with us when we would say, like Paul, that we feel like we're a miserable person because we get things wrong. Help us to realize, God, that that's part of the journey. But we're always going to fall in the right direction when we fall closer to you. Help us to realize that Jesus, you are our answer, letting you be the Lord of our life and letting you be in charge. Help us fall forward toward you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. My prayer for you is that you will experience God's word when it says in Romans 1:16, for I am not ashamed of the power of God, the good news of Christ. Why? Because it is the power of God. I said that twice, right? At work, saving everyone who believes. My prayer is that you'll experience the power of God today and that you'll share it with someone as well. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Romans chapter 8.