learning to see and savor the glory of Christ.

I read an excellent sermon by MacArthur on Romans 7 on the reality of indwelling sin in the believer’s life. It was refreshing, and very helpful. A brief excerpt:

What he’s saying is I know I haven’t gotten there yet. And that’s all you have here in Romans 7 is a recognition of what he isn’t. It’s a perspective. It’s not all that could be said about him but it is something that could be said about him. It isn’t all that could be said about me to say I am unspiritual but it is true about me to say I am unspiritual, I have not yet become fully what I will become, right? It is a non-technical view. It is a perspective. It is the same perspective that made Paul say “I am chief of sinners,” 1 Timothy 1:15.

And what do you say gives that perspective? Well, listen very carefully. It is an understanding of the pure, holy, just, good law of God. And when you see yourself against that law, you are very much aware of how sinful you are. Now when you see a Christian, calls himself a Christian, or herself, and they appear to be very content with where they are spiritually and they want to make sure you know how really holy they are and how pious they are, that is not to indicate to you that indeed they are holy, but rather indeed they don’t understand the Word of God. That is evidence not of their holiness but an evidence of their ignorance of God’s holy law, for the better we understand the infinite perfection of God’s holy law, the better we will understand our own imperfection, true? And so I submit to you that what we have in Romans chapter 7 is not only the testimony of a Christian but a very mature one and a very insightful one and a very spiritually minded one.

MacArthur did a great job unpacking, clearly explaining the passage and demonstrating how the passage speaks of the Christian, particularly a mature one, and not the non-Christian, nor the immature or new Christian. I highly recommend the message, which can be found here:

http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/45-53.htm

It reminded me a lot of the humble condition and hope conveyed in this quote from John Newton (one of my favorites!):

I am not what I ought to be; ah, how imperfect and deficient. I am not what I wish to be; I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good. I am not what I hope to be soon; soon I shall put off, with mortality, all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say that I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan. And I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am.