https://youtu.be/07mbZME8MUI
In our study of Romans we are between chapters 7 and 8 where we are discussing in depth some of the factors that Paul is discussing regarding mankind's relationship with God.
We are presently looking at the doctrine of the old sin nature. When we stopped last time we were looking at the fragmentation that the old sin nature causes that are described in Rom 7:14-25;
Rom 7:14; "Certainly, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of (belonging to the realm of) the flesh (sin nature), sold in bondage to sin (sin nature)."
v15 "For that which I am doing (fragmentation), I do not understand. For I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing that I hate (self-fragmentation)."
Rom 7:16; "But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do (fragmenting my own life), I agree with the law that it is good." In 1Timothy, Paul says that the law teaches what sin is.
v17 "But as the case really stands, I am no longer the one doing it, but the sin nature which is indwelling me."
Rom 7:18; "For I know that nothing good of intrinsic value dwells in me, that is in my flesh (sin nature), for the desire is present in me to attain the good (virtue), but I cannot do it."
v19 "For the good of intrinsic value that I desire to do, I do not do (a fragmented believer), but the evil which I do not desire to do I keep practicing."
Rom 7:20; "But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish to do (and I am), I no longer accomplish it, but the sin nature residing in me."
v21 "Consequently, I discover this principle, that when I desire to do the good (virtuous, noble), that evil (fragmented life) is present with me."
Rom 7:22, "For along with other believers, I delight in the law of God (God's protocol plan) with reference to my inner man (doctrine in my mentality)."
v23 "But I see a different law (principle) in the members of my body, making war against the law of my mind (status of fragmentation), and making me a prisoner to the law of the sin nature that is in the members (the cell structure) of my body."
Rom 7:24; "I am a miserable (wretched) person! Who will rescue me from the body of this death (the old sin nature)?"
v25 "Grace belongs to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, on the one hand, with my mind I am myself serving the law of God; but on the other hand, with my flesh (with the old sin nature in control of the soul), I am serving the law of the sin nature."
The sin nature produces six categories of fragmentation Personal or self-fragmentation is related to the sin nature's area of weakness and area of strength.
Heb 6:1, "Therefore, leaving behind (graduating from) the elementary teachings about Christ.
(The basic doctrines of the hypostatic union, Christology, soteriology), let us advance to maturity through the execution of God's protocol plan, the manufacture of invisible heroes, the glorification of God), not laying again the foundation (the doctrines of salvation and spirituality) of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, . . ."
Dead works come from the old sin nature's area of strength. When under the control of the sin nature, all the works that are produced are dead so they will be burned up at the Judgment seat of Christ.
Polarized fragmentation is related to the opposing trends of the sin nature. The sin nature has a trend either toward self-righteous arrogance and legalism or toward antinomianism, lascivious and lawlessness.
Perpetuated legalistic fragmentation results in moral degeneracy. Perpetuated antinomian fragmentation results in immoral degeneracy.
Pre-salvation sinning is solved by faith in Jesus Christ because on the cross Jesus Christ was judged for both the sins of legalism and the sins of antinomianism.
At the moment anyone believes in Jesus Christ, the problem of pre- salvation sinning is solved because those sins are all forgiven and blotted out, Isa 43:25, 44:22; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14.
Post-salvation sinning requires the confession of any known personal sin to God that is God's first problem solving device for the believer. Polarized fragmentation results in conflict among believers who have opposing polarized trends in their old sin natures.
This polarization creates no toleration of others so the conflict drives some believers away from the communication of doctrinal teaching because they view it as being judgmental.
Fragmentation related to subjective arrogance includes unrealistic expectation and role model arrogance. Unrealistic expectation is subjective preoccupation with one's self; role model arrogance is subjective preoccupation with others.
Human relationship fragmentation includes fragmentation in Christian fellowship and fragmentation in marriage. Fragmentation related to emotion involves emotional sins, such as fear, worry, anxiety, hatred, anger, violence, and murder all of which perpetuate greater fragmentation.
God relationship fragmentation includes the failure to understand and utilize God's problem solving devices and the failure to execute God's protocol plan for the church.
Saved believers continue to possess a sin nature and have free volition so after salvation they continue to commit personal sins.
1John 1:8; tells us that believers continue to possess the old sin nature. "If we say (contend, maintain, assert) that we have no sin (nature), we deceive ourselves, and doctrinal truth is not in us."
1John 1:10; tells us that believers continue to sin after salvation "If we say (contend, maintain, assert) that we have not sinned (after salvation), we make Him a liar and His doctrinal truth is not in us."
Since the believer continues to possess the old sin nature and has free volition after salvation, he functions as a walking spiritual suicide bomber because at any time the believer can use his free volition to commit personal sins and commit spiritual suicide.
Being tempted by the sin nature is not itself sin but when a believer uses their free volition to follow the temptation and follow through with the temptation that the believer sins personally and frags himself and everyone around him who doesn't know how to handle it.
That's why the rebound technique that is God's first problem-solving device for the believer is designed to recover the sinning believer from spiritual fragmentation.
The choice to set off the bomb is always related to some form of arrogance that can be manifested in many ways including jealousy, bitterness, hatred, vindictiveness, implacability, self-pity, self-righteous arrogance, motivational and functional revenge, slander, maligning, gossiping, and judging.
When fragmentation occurs in the believer's life the believer moves in the direction of the trend of his sin nature.
If the trend is toward self-righteous arrogance and legalism, the fragment of the spiritual life involves slander, gossip, maligning, judging, and Christian activism.
If the trend is toward lasciviousness and lawlessness, the trend is toward substance abuse, sexual perversion, criminality, and mob violence.
The trend toward self-righteousness and legalism produces such heresies as saying that you cannot commit certain sins and still be a Christian but that is wrong because a believer can commit any sin an unbeliever can commit.
This trend also results in several categories of heretical conclusions including salvation by works and spirituality by works that involve a misunderstanding of our Lord's teaching of "by their fruits you shall know them" means.
Self- righteous Christians misinterpret this verse and falsely conclude that a person is not really a Christian unless they show what they think is a proper manifestation of "fruit."
The trend toward lasciviousness and lawlessness results in antinomianism that reacts against Bible doctrine because it falsely associates God's Word of Truth with the judgment and condemnation of self-righteous arrogance.
False assumptions result from arrogance. Examples of this include the arrogant believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security because he thinks that he can do or not do something to lose his salvation.
He assumes that his sins and failures are greater than God's saving work through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross and the forty things every believer receives from God at salvation.
Other arrogant believers erroneously conclude that they must add something to faith in Christ for salvation. Other arrogant believers erroneously assume that the dead works of legalism and morality are greater than the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside God's spiritual power system. He also falsely assumes that dead works are spiritual.
There is also the arrogant believer who succumbs to the pressures of discipline, suffering, adversity, and injustice who erroneously assumes that his sufferings are greater than God's provision of the portfolio of invisible assets and the problem solving devices of the protocol plan so he thinks that his sufferings are greater all of God's provisions.
There are also arrogant believers who depend on emotional activity, such as dedication ceremonies, tongues, inspirational speakers, and personal attention from the pastor or evangelist, erroneously assumes that his personal feelings and experiences are greater than the power of the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit and the PMA of God's Word of truth.
The arrogant believer, who is involved in the demand syndrome from having unrealistic expectation and role model arrogance, assumes that people are more important than God and His Word of Truth.
The believer is arrogant when he listens to the teaching of Bible doctrine with preconceived ideas that distort the PMA of objective doctrine. The believer is arrogant when he uses epignosis doctrine that he has retained to serve himself rather than to lead him.
The believer is arrogant when he applies doctrine to justify himself or to establish himself in some system of self-righteousness.
This is all summarized in 1Tim 6:3-4. "If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not concur with sound doctrine, those doctrines from our Lord Jesus Christ, even the doctrines pertaining to godliness (life under the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit),
v4 he has received arrogance (fragmentation of the spiritual life), understanding nothing. Furthermore, he has a morbid obsessions about controversies and verbal conflicts, from which originate jealousy, discord, and evil speculations."
Free volition is the issue in committing personal sin because no one sins apart from their own choice to sin. Even if you don't know it's a sin if you do it you did it because you wanted to do it so are responsible for it.
The sin nature is the source of temptation but free human volition is the source of sin. Once you commit a sin, the sin nature controls your soul and from that position it is has a stronger power over you than it had when it was just residing in your biological body.
When the believer uses his volition to sin, he fragments his own life. The Bible describes this self-fragmentation as being carnal or fleshly because it results in being under the control of the sin nature that results in the believer making bad choices from a position of weakness inside of the devil's cosmic system in the stages of reversionism.
The trend toward lascivious lawlessness and the trend toward self- righteous arrogance cause tremendous conflict among believers. People who participate in the conflict between these two opposite trends also become fragmented. This is why we have such chaos in our country today.
Moral and immoral degeneracy are constantly at war so fragmentation is not only the source of personal sinning, but it also creates a state of confusion. Once a believer is in a state of perpetual fragmentation, they will be confused and unable to advance spiritually.
Personal sins in the human race originate from the function of the sin nature in temptation and the function of human volition that produces the act of sinning.
All personal sins in human history can be divided into the two categories of pre-salvation and post-salvation sinning. God judged both categories of personal sin in Jesus' body on the cross.
Prior to the creation of the world God's omniscience gathered all personal sins, past, present, and future that mankind would commit, and gathered them all together in the divine decree and during the 3 hours of darkness during Jesus' crucifixion, God the Father took all of those personal sins and imputed them and judged them all on Jesus Christ.
Rev 13:8; "... the Lamb who was slaughtered from the foundation of the world."
1Pet 2:24, "He carried our sins in His own body on the cross."
2Cor 5:21, "He who did not know sin was made sin as a substitute for us."
Rom 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died as a substitute for us."
1Pet 3:18, "Because Christ died once for our sins, the righteous One as a substitute for the unrighteous ones, that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh (humanity of Christ), but made alive by means of the Spirit."
Gal 3:13, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by having become a curse as a substitute for us, for it stands written, `Cursed is everyone who hangs on a cross.'"