• Let us Pray:  Holy Father, we thank You that in Your divine providence, You created this nation in which we live.  We have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity relative to the history of mankind. And by Your good & gracious will and guidance, we have liberated millions of people from the tyranny of evil tyrants motivated by their corrupted flesh.  Please send the Holy Spirit so that we see the parallels between the Declaration of Independence and the struggles the Apostle Paul wrote of in his letter to the Romans.  Neither the colonists nor us as redeemed adopted children of Yours can be released from the tyranny of sin, except through the grace of Your Son and our Lord Jesus.  We pray this through You, Father, who reigns with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.
• 250 years ago: It was a big deal this year to celebrate the Declaration of Independence.  It was 250yrs ago 56 brave men, risking execution, signed a document declaring independence from one of the superpowers of the world at that time.[1]  Colonists were royally peeved with King George III of Great Britain.  In the document, they listed 27 paragraphs of specific complaints of oppression imposed by the king.  You can see these 27 paragraphs along with a transcript of the entire document at the National Archives link listed in your bulletin.[2]  Interestingly enough, some of the complaints have relevance even today against our current government. 
  • There is this desire by history revisionists to deny that the fathers of this nation were not motivated by God.  I beg to differ; just read the documents!  For instance, the Declarers cited “Natural Law” in part as a reason for severing the relationship with Great Britain.  King David wrote in Psalm 19:1 about Natural Law 2700yrs prior - The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.[3]
  • The Declarers cited these truths to be self-evident; all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  The document isn’t specific in naming God the Father as the “Creator”, but the three ecumenical creeds of Apostle’s, Nicene, and Athanasian were by then long-established summaries of the Christian faith.  These creeds confess the Father’s role as “Creator”. The Reformation was already over 200yrs old, so these Creeds had to be in wide circulation then.
  • The people had no liberty from the heavy British law bearing down on them, as judged from this quote – “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”
• Apostle Paul: With that basic understanding of the situation in 1776, let’s see some parallels with what we read in today’s Epistle.  The Apostle Paul wrote a letter while he was in Corinth to the Romans, 1700yrs prior to the Declaration.
  • In the letter, there is a continuous train of thought amongst the three chapters of Romans 6-8.  In Rom ch#6, Paul wrote about baptism freeing us from the Law of the Old Testament (OT). We are therefore to be a slave to righteousness and not a slave to sin (Rom 6:12-23).
  • That set up for Rom ch#7, where Paul wrote about the struggles we encounter by being a slave to righteousness.  We literally have our own corrupted flesh waring against us to hinder us from following God’s Law.  Whereas, prior to becoming a baptized child of God, we would follow God’s Law out of fear of punishment.  But now as an adopted child of God the Father, we follow God’s Law because we want to do what is pleasing to Him.
    • To put the motivation to follow the law another way, and in the context of the Declaration of Independence, people in 1776 weren’t following British law because they wanted to.  They feared being jailed without any trial scheduled to determine guilt or innocence. They weren’t following the law because they loved King George for all he did for them, as we do for the Lord.  In fact, the King took from the colonies and gave nothing back.  He taxed them without any representation, so that there was no place to complain and get relief.
  • And finally, in Rom ch#8, Paul declared we are freed from the bondage of sin.  Romans 8 is one of the most consequential chapters in all the Bible.  I encourage you to read it over & over again, because it is chocked full of the acknowledgement of what God has done for us, without any merit or worthiness in us. Despite the struggles we’ll talk more about in a moment, God in His great love, has redeemed us from the evil we face daily.  We’ll get into Rom ch#8 more a bit next week.
• Parallels: There are similarities between the complaints of the colonists and the Apostle Paul.  One big difference between Paul and the colonists is where the enemy resided.  King George was thousands of miles away and detached from any semblance of colonial life. The enemy the Apostle Paul fought was within himself as noted in Rom 7:21 - I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.[4] 
  • Like Paul, we too have this principle at work in us.  We have evil present in our physical self, causing tyranny, a slavery, as Paul noted a few verses earlier - For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.[5]
  • We inherited from our first parents this corruption of God’s perfect creation.  That rebellion against a simple command to not eat of one tree, out of all the trees in the garden, caused the corruption.[6] About 1800yrs after that evil act of rebellion[7], God said this about mankind before the Great Flood -  11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.[8] We’ve had this enemy from within ever since the rebellion, and it continues to fight with us every step of our life.
  • The Declaration had this to say regarding suffering evil from a tyrannical government – “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”  We suffer with a tyrannical government in our flesh that tries to keep us from following God’s Law thereby pleasing Him. Some people are more disposed to suffering with this internal tyrannical government of sin that to seek relief from the Lord.  Let’s not make that mistake.  The Declarers didn’t make a mistake with the British rule, and we should not make the mistake of following the laws of our corrupted flesh and suffering its evil consequences.
• Believer’s dilemma: This concept of the enemy within is what I’ve dubbed the “believer’s dilemma”.  Paul wrote - For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.[9]  Can you identify with what Paul wrote?  I get to feeling this frustration after I eat a dozen cookies in one sitting.  I shouldn’t ever have a lot of sugar, but sometimes the temptations of corrupted flesh overcome me.  I wind up hating what I did, especially when standing on the scale the next morning.
  • If that were the worst of the evils I could commit against myself, I supposed we could consider me fortunate.  But I’ve done a lot worse and I suspect you have as well.  We must be diligent about recognizing nothing good dwelt in Paul, nor in us.  Paul wrote in v18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.[10]
  • King David had the same Spirit dwelling in him as he noted in Ps 51:3 - For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.[11]  He wrote that about himself after getting caught up in lust for someone else’s wife to the point of acting on the temptation and getting her pregnant. That same enemy within is at work in each of us.
  • As a baptized child of God, we know what is right.  We were baptized into Jesus’ death on a cross.  Furthermore, we were baptized into His burial.  But that wasn’t the end of the story.  In our baptism, we were also raised with Him to a new life in Christ.[12]  Because of this experience, God’s Law doesn’t terrorize us.  Instead, we use God’s Law as a guide on what to do that is pleasing to Him.[13] 
    • It is with this background that Paul wrote in Rom 7:21-23 - 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me... 22 …I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.[14]  This passage succinctly states the believer’s dilemma; we want to do what is good in God’s sight, but we have inside us this evil working against us.
    • In Martin Luther’s commentary on Gal 3:6, he coined the phrase in Latin simul iustus et peccator which translated means “at the same time justified and a sinner”.   As a baptized child of God, we are righteous and a sinner at the same time; righteous by faith that Jesus did the work of salvation for us, all the while living in this corrupted flesh.
• No liberty: Maybe now, you can identify with the Apostle Paul’s frustration with living in the condition of the believer’s dilemma - I am a distressed person!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?[15]  Apart from Christ, we would have no liberty.  There would be no July 4th moment for us either now nor in eternity, because we *cannot* clean up our act on our own.
  • The burdens of sin are heavy without forgiveness.  Sin after sin keeps piling up on our soul.  As was said last week, the memories of those sins poke at us like a dagger.  A lot of people try to escape this burden of sin by taking their own life as a way out instead of seeking true peace, that is a peace with God.  Paul wrote in Rom 5:1 - Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.[16]  Justified mean being declared not guilty.  You can’t be guilty of sins that the Lord took away from you!  And they stay taken away by faith in Him.  This is how we are simultaneously justified while still being in our sinful flesh.
    • I hope you agree there’s no way we could keep the Ten Commandments 100% of the time.  That’s what it would take to be righteous on our own merits.  Besides, we already blew it.  Paul tried this righteousness on his own merits when he referred to himself as a Hebrew of Hebrews and a Pharisee of Pharisees (Php 3:2-6).  He failed!
  • Thankfully, the Declarers of Independence appealed to the Supreme Judge of the world to judge their cause of liberty.  They were concerned with how God would look upon their breaking away from British rule. They could justify breaking away in their eyes because the burden was heavy.  But ultimately, they sought God’s favor.  They weren’t going very far with independence from tyranny on their own.  This is a major parallel to Paul’s writings; appeal to God for justification and do not self-justify.
• Conclusion: We can find peace from the believer’s dilemma.  We read it last week about how we have been released from the Law, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter [of the Law].”[17]
  • Paul asked in frustration who would rescue him from this body of death.  He answered his own question for himself, and for us, in the next verse - Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.[18]  We are serving the law of God, because of the gift of the Holy Spirit working within us (Act 2:38-39).  We wouldn’t be able to do anything to serve God except by faith.  And that faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit we initially received in baptism, but continue to receive His gift of faith whenever we hear the word of God, like we are this moment.
    • And the next two verses are even better regarding the release from the Law so that we can serve in newness of the Spirit - Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.[19] Burden? Gone!  Liberty? Achieved through Christ!
  • The war of the believer’s dilemma will eventually come to an end.  You’ll have to come back next week to learn more from Rom 8:18-25 about how that ends. Until then, keep in mind we are not slaves, but instead adopted sons of God (Rom 8:15).  As the war rages, you may not always feel like an adopted son of God. That’s why a theology based on feelings instead of God’s word is so shallow and detrimental to faith.  Feelings come & go, but knowledge of the Holy One and His promises to you are an anchor in the midst of stormy seas.  When times are tough, remember you are a baptized child of God whether you feel like that child or not. 

I leave you with something Jesus said in today’s Gospel - 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”[20]  When the war of the believer’s dilemma seems fierce in your life, take Jesus’ yoke upon you instead of the burden of sin.  The burden of what He asks is a lot lighter than the Law working in our flesh. That sounds to me like liberty for all in Christ!  This is most certainly true.

[1] See https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/declaration-of-independence-signers/ for more details

[2] Transcript at https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript from which this author will quote periodically throughout this message

[3] Ps 19:1 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/psa/19/1/t_concl_497001

[4] Rom 7:21 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/7/21/t_conc_1053021

[5] Rom 7:14 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/7/14/t_conc_1053014

[6] Reference Gen 3:6

[7] Eusebius of Caesaria made a detailed analysis of the history of God’s creation.  Using the Septuagint’s version of the Old Testament, Eusebius noted on p.24 of 90 that there were 2,242yrs from the time of Adam until the death of Noah. Subtract 450yrs to get to the time when God called Noah to build an ark to reach the conclusion of this author.  See https://ia803204.us.archive.org/8/items/EusebiusChroniclechronicon/Eusebius_Chronicle.pdf for Eusebius’ Chronicron.

[8] Gen 6:11-12 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%206&version=NASB1995

[9] Rom 7:15 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/7/15/t_conc_1053015

[10] Rom 7:18 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/7/18/t_conc_1053018

[11] Ps 51:3 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/psa/51/3/t_concl_529003

[12] This was a summary of Rom 6:3-4

[13] The Law as a guide is referred to as the 3rd Use of the Law – see the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article VI

[14] Rom 7:21-23 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%207&version=NASB1995

[15] Translation of Rom 7:24 from the original Greek by Middendorf, Michael P, Concordia Commentary: Romans 1-8, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO, 2013, p.553

[16] Rom 5:1 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/5/1/t_conc_1051001

[17] Reference Rom 7:6 

[18] Rom 7:25 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/rom/7/25/t_conc_1053025

[19] Rom 8:1-2 from NAB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rom%208&version=NASB1995

[20] Mat 11:29-30 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat%2011&version=NASB1995