Romans 10 Moses’ Description of the Law

 

Romans 10

Moses’ Description of the Law

 

The First Commandment and Greatest Commandment

In Deuteronomy 6

 Moses tells the people, God has a great land with great possessions

A great life He wants to bless them with, they are to do first

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Jesus, the Son of God, who came from Heaven with a message said

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   This is the first and greatest commandment. 

Matthew 22:37-38

Moses said, No, the word is very near you;

it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Deuteronomy 30:14

Paul says it this way

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:8-10

What confession is in your mouth?

What do you believe in your heart?

Justification and Salvation come from our love of God

And the word of faith that transforms our lives

 

 

Moses’ Description of the Law

 

For most of us,

 we do not think of the law of Moses.

 

As we read the New Testament…

 

We read over the verses that speak of

the law very quickly.

 

Paul says…

 

 Christ is the end of the law

so that there may be righteousness

for everyone who believes.

Romans 10:4

 

If Christ is the end of the Law…

 

 Why would it be important to us?

 

It becomes important for many reasons.

 

To understand history…

 

 Everything from creation to the death, burial and resurrection

were types and shadows to help us understand God.

 

Another reason the law is important…

 

 Is it is good.

    

The law was good.

 

 And Jesus did not come to remove it…

 

 But fulfill it.

 

We understand the life of righteousness

because Jesus demonstrated a life of obedience to the law.

 

Sadly, human nature looks to the law

as a way to obtain righteous by works.

 

Paul quotes Moses’ description in Romans 10:5-8…

 

Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law

Romans 10:5

 

The quote is from Deuteronomy 30:11-16…

 

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

 

Moses describes the law as…

 

…is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.

 Deuteronomy 30:11

 

Why would Moses say this

when no one has ever been able to keep the law?

 

Moses says it is not distance that keeps the law from us…

 

 It is not in heaven and we have to bring is down,

it is not across the sea.

 

It is interesting that Moses asked the question…

 

 Who will ascend into heaven

or cross the sea to proclaim it to us?

 

Jesus was the One to do this for us.

 

But Moses said to the people of that day…

 

You don’t need someone to come from

heaven or cross the sea because…

 

The word is very near you;

it is in your mouth and in your heart

so you may obey it.

Deuteronomy 30:14

 

How is this possible?

 

Moses says…

 

 For I command you today to love the LORD your God,

 

Love changes everything.

 

Love is the foundation.

 

If we miss these words…

 

 Love the LORD your God…

 

 We miss the point of everything.

 

The closest things to you are what you love.

 

The things you do are the things you love.

 

Without love for God you cannot…

 

walk in His ways,

and to keep His commands,

decrees and laws;  

Deuteronomy 30:16

 

The law will teach you how to live,

 but it is the Lord who loves us.

 

He wants to bless you and increase your possessions…

 

then you will live and increase,

and the LORD your God will bless you

in the land you are entering to possess.

Deuteronomy 30:16

 

As much as the law helps social order,

 Moses shows us the law was about love.

 

Faith is believing,

it is an affection for something or someone.

 

We missed it if we are looking for the law…

 

 The dos and don’ts in life.

 

Loving the Lord is not so difficult.

 

No, the word is very near you;

it is in your mouth

and in your heart

so you may obey it.

 

When you love God…

 

 His Spirit is with you.

  

Out of love…

 

 You will want to obey Him and do what is right.

 

You and I cannot work our way to God

by trying to obey the laws of God.

 

We must come the way described

in both the Old Testament and the New.

 

 We must come to Him in love.

 

The First Commandment and Greatest Commandment.

 

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses tells the people…

 

 God has a great land with great possessions.

 

 A great life He wants to bless them with.

 

And of all the things they are to do, the first is…

 

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your strength.

 Deuteronomy 6:4-5

 

Jesus, the Son of God,

 who came from Heaven with a message said…

 

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   This is the first and greatest commandment.  

Matthew 22:37-38

 

Moses said…

 

No, the word is very near you;

it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Deuteronomy 30:14

 

Paul says it this way…

 

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Romans 10:8-10

 

What confession is in your mouth?

 

What do you believe in your heart?

 

Justification and Salvation come from our love of God…

 

And the Word of Faith that transforms our lives.

 

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

Romans 10:1-13 NIV

 

10:1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.   3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

 

5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."   6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."   12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  

Romans 7 The Law

 

Romans 7

The Law

Paul recognized by the law, he was a slave to sin

He talks about the constant problem of stepping in “Do, Do” as he lives life

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Romans 7:15-17

Paul recognized he had a sinful nature

And there is nothing good in the sinful nature Romans 7:18

We don’t have to be as knowledgeable as Paul on the law

To identify with the struggle Paul is speaking about

For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:5-6

In some people’s minds, who love the law, they become legalistic

In the minds of the person who hates the law, they become rebellious

But in the mind of the person who, through love, die to sin (the sinful nature)

By becoming a slave to God

Becomes free to love God and others and fulfills the law

 

The Law

 

In order to understand Romans 7

 you need to understand law.

 

You don’t have to be an attorney,

but you need to think like one.

 

Paul says in verse 1… 

 

Do you not know, brothers —

for I am speaking to men who know the law —

that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

Romans 7:1

 

“I am speaking to men who know the law.”

 

So what do we know about the law?...

 

“the law has authority over

a man only as long as he lives”

 

While you and I are alive

there is the authority of the law over us.

 

When you are dead

there is no law or authority that can affect you.

 

So, it is the living who have the authority

of law ruling over what we do.

 

From the time we are born and start living life,

 the authority of the law is over us.

 

Law teaches us what is right and what is wrong.

 

Law tells us what we can do and what we cannot do.

 

Law has the authority to bring punishment.

 

Law and authority come from many sources.

 

As we grow up…

 

 We find ourselves under the authority

of parents, schools, and government.

 

The laws and the way they are carried out

can have negative effects on us.

 

Rebellion is in all of us.

 

We have all heard of teenage rebellion.

 

 And most of us can look back on our teenage years

and see we rebelled against authority.

 

If you lived in a home

where you were left to raise yourself…

 

You might have found it very hard to

be under the authority of others.

 

The force of authority to giving up our own self-governing

and freedom can increase our rebellious attitude.

 

For many of us, we struggle with law and authority.

 

We don’t like not having our way in life.

 

We don’t trust other authority figures

because we see their failures.

 

Paul asks a question…

 

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin?

Romans 7:7

 

Based on our view of laws

made by parents, schools and government,

 we might view the law as sin.

 

But Paul answered the question…

 

 “Is the law sin?”

 

With…

 

 “Certainly not!”

 

So, to understand what Paul is writing about

 we must set aside our rebellion and

look deeper into Paul’s point of the law.

 

 Paul says…

 

 “the law is holy,

and the commandment is holy,

righteous and good.”

Romans 7:12

 

We know that the law is spiritual

Romans 7:14

 

So, what law is Paul talking about?

 

We see Paul in verse 1,

addressing those who know the law and

they were those who studied the law given to Moses.

 

The laws were to help us know right and wrong

 

 There is a way that seem right to a man,

 but the end is destruction.

Proverbs 14:12

 

We all make laws to what we feel or want to be right.

 

The law given to Moses was to teach us right from wrong.

 

All the law Jesus said could be summed up in this…

 

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

 This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

Matthew 22:37-40

 

Paul in Galatians 5:14 makes it even simpler…

 

The entire law is summed up in a single command:

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

 Galatians 5:14

 

The law Paul is talking about in Romans 7…

 

 The law that is summed up in one word “LOVE”.

 

Love God,

Love your neighbor

 

Paul said…

 

 “We know that the law is spiritual;

but I am unspiritual,

sold as a slave to sin.”

Romans 7:14-15

 

Paul later defined the spiritual

and natural or unspiritual.

Paul recognized, by the law,

he was a slave to sin.

 

He talks about the constant problem

of stepping in “Do, Do” as he lives life…

 

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do not do,

but what I hate I do.

 And if I do what I do not want to do,

 I agree that the law is good.

 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,

 but it is sin living in me.

Romans 7:15-17

 

Paul recognized he had a sinful nature

and there is nothing good in the sinful nature.

Romans 7:18

 

We don’t have to be as knowledgeable as Paul on the law

to identify with the struggle Paul was speaking about.

 

Our minds can become callused

 to loving God and others.

 

But there still is a struggle in our minds

with doing right for all and our own desires.

 

It would seem Paul is talking

about our conscience when he says…

 

So I find this law at work:

 When I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

Romans 7:21

 

We could look at this battle

as “love and hate” …

 

But it is more like “love and self-love”.

 

Paul recognized the battle inside himself…

 

 What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Romans 7:24

 

And he defines it this way…

 

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law,

but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Romans 7:25

 

This battlefield is in our minds

to become a slave to two “laws”…

 

 God’s law and the law of sin.

 

The one leads to life the other leads to death.

 

Paul sums it up in the middle of chapter 7…

 

For when we were controlled by the sinful nature,

the sinful passions aroused by the law

were at work in our bodies,

so that we bore fruit for death.

But now, by dying to what once bound us,

we have been released from the law

so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit,

 and not in the old way of the written code.

Romans 7:5-6

 

In some people’s minds…

 

 Who love the law,

they become legalistic.

 

In the minds of the person…

 

 Who hates law

they become rebellious.

 

But in the mind of the person…

 

 Who through love, die to sin (the sinful nature)

by becoming a slave to God

becomes free to love God

and others and fulfills the law.

 

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

 Romans 7:1-8:1 NIV

 

7:1 Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to men who know the law — that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.

 

4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.  

 

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."   8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

 

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

 

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.