Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mt. Olive, Illinois
July 5, 2026
Wretched, Thankful & Blessed
Romans 7.14-25
14We know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Introduction
All of us would like to think that we are pretty good people. We work. We pay our taxes. We obey most of the laws of the state. We try to get along with other people. We even help people out from time to time. Compared to mass murderers and zombified drug addicts, we are certainly very good people. But all of that is really on the outside. All of that is based on comparisons to other people. What about the inside? What about all our thoughts, feelings, and desires? It's easy to live by the standards of men especially when they tend to be lower. What about living to the standards of God? Should we think of ourselves as relatively good people or relatively wretched people? Paul called himself a "wretched man," and "chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1.15). David said he was brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psalm 51.5). Job said "man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward" (5.7). Jesus said all people are evil and that His main purpose was to call men to repentance (Matthew 7.11, 4.17). Are we to take these men seriously? Why do they have such a negative view of humanity? Is that good view to have? This sermon will answer all those questions.
1. What Is the Law, and What Are It's Three Uses?
When God created the universe, He created it to move according to His laws of nature. The speed of light, the force of gravity, and the charge of an electron are all under His divine control. We know this must be true because we live in a universe that has more than twenty of these physcial constants, each of which is necessary for life as we know it. The universe is not an accident. It is not random. It is perfectly ordered, and the One who has ordered it all is God.
Yet even more important than these laws of nature are God's spiritual laws. Paul said in our text that the law is spiritual. There is more to God's law than the laws of nature. God created us with bodies and souls. Our souls are spiritual, not material or physical. My body needs air, water, and food to live. My soul needs words of truth and love to live. When we look at our children, we don't just see the offspring of our bodies. We see them as unique persons, and we love them body and soul. If they become weak or sick, we don't just cast them off like we might cull a sick animal. In every courtroom in American men and women are tested with words to determine the soul and character of their actions, whether they were good or evil. All of this is spiritual law.
Even without the Bible men can know the basic laws of God. The Bible says these laws are written on their hearts (Romans 2.15). In every culture there are laws against murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. The Bible hones these laws and perfects them. The first use of the law is to keep men from going completely evil and annihilating all humanity. Since it is written in all hearts, even though it is disobeyed, it still curbs the evil that has invaded this world. The second use of the law is to show us our sins. Here it isn't just holding us back from doing really evil things, it is bringing us to repentance to turn us to the forgiveness of God so that evil no longer dominates our life. The third use of the law is to guide us in the will of God so that we, by faith in God, learn to grow and increase in our obedience to God's law.
2. Why Does Paul Give Thanks in His Wretchedness?
All of this is good and sensible, but what about this business of wretchedness? Can't we all just learn the commandments of God and begin to do them? Imagine if it were that simple – Everyone obeying God's law. There would be no more need for discipline, for police, for lawyers, or courts. Everyone would be happy. But this is not reality.
Everyone struggles in one way or another with evil in their souls. For some the struggle is very obvious as they find it difficult to control their lying, or violent behavior, or love of money, or love of pleasure, etc. But no one is without sin. No one has perfect thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions. "We all," the Bible says, "fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 6.23). There are two great lies that control people's minds today. One is that they are basically good. This is a very easy opinion to hold of yourself as long as you really don't take God's laws seriously. Jesus taught the law in two parts: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul; and, love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22.36-40). Can anyone say they have done this perfectly? Even adequately? The second great lie is that little sins aren't that big of a problem. Imagine it this way: If I drop a lit flare into a five gallon bucket of gasoline, I will start a huge fire. If I drop a tiny lit match onto some dry newspapers that are lying next to a five gallon bucket of gasoline, I will also start a huge fire. It may take longer, but all sin leads to death and destruction sooner or later.
Paul had been a Pharisee, and the Pharisees were zealous keepers of God's law. However they kept it only in an outward way – only in a way that it could be seen by other men. Paul did this to perfection. But deep inside, he knew something was wrong. His heart wasn't right. The law against coveting, sinful desires, was still raging in his heart. There is an old story about this that helps us understand. A younger and an older Buddhist monk were travelling. They came to a rushing river, and there was a woman who was afraid to cross it. The older monk offered to carry her on his back. They crossed the river, and the monk set the woman down. She thanked him, and they went on their way. Many hours later the younger monk was troubled. "Master," he said, "It is wrong for us to touch a woman. Why did you carry the woman across the river?" The older monk replied, "I carried her for a minute across the river. You have been carrying her in your mind for hours." Jesus taught: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matthew 15.19).
Paul couldn't get rid of his sin no matter how hard he tried. But then Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, the one man who had never sinned. Jesus told him to stop pretending to be holy, and instead to repent of his sin. He told him to believe that He came into this world to take sins away through His own innocent suffering and death. Once there were two soldiers. One was sold out to sin – always causing trouble. The other had a remarkable control over his sinful feelings. He wasn't perfect, but he obviously wasn't a slave to sin. A grenade fell in front of them both. The good soldier immediately threw himself upon the explosive saving the other man's life while losing his own. For years this troubled the sinful man. "It should have been me. I am the worthless one. Why?" One day the old, guilt ridden soldier started reading the Bible. He saw how Jesus, the perfect Son of God, died on the cross for all the sinners – including a Roman centurion. It was then that he realized there is a way out of this trap of sin. It doesn't help to ignore it, give in to it, or think you can fight it on your own. There is only one escape from it – through Jesus, through His blood shed forgiveness. Finally he found the same peace his friend had many years before. More than that, he actually began to live a better life in Christ. Like Paul, he was thankful because he knew that his wretchedness had been taken away by Jesus.
3. Thankful, Wretched People Are the Best Citizens
The founders of our nation all held to this view of life. John Adams wrote: "Human passions unbridled by morality and religion... would break the strongest cords of our constitution." Benjamin Franklin wrote: "If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?” (Letter to Joseph Priestly, 1780). George Washington wrote: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports" (Farewell Address 1796). It was this view that made our country one of the greatest of all time.
Yet many people today are trying to suppress this, and rewrite the history of this country by writing the concern for sin and God out of it. That is because they have a totally different view of life. They are gods unto themselves. They believe that they are inherently good, and that they need no commandments from God or forgiveness from God to live. On the one hand we have a Christian view of life and on the other a humanistic view of life. In one we have fathers and mothers. In the other we have parent one and parent two. In one we have freedom that comes from God, and on the other we have freedom that comes from the government. In one we have freedom of conscience and speech, in the other we have punishments for those who use the "wrong pronouns."
It is as I said last week, in "The Battle of the Prophets." It is nothing new. It is an ongoing confrontation between the Christian view of life and every other view of life. What can we do about this? We do as Paul did. We say, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The battle of worldviews is the same battle that goes on every day in our own hearts. We can give thanks that Christ has gotten the victory for us. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2.20). Every day I thank God for His creation, His laws, and His judgments. I know they are true. Every day I thank God for His love by sending His own Son to die on the cross for my sins and for yours. Every day I thank God for the Spirit of Holiness, who has given me faith and comforts me in all my battles with sin. The battle has been won in our hearts by God. Now we live to see that battle won in the hearts of all who are around us, in our families, in our communities, in our country, and in the world.
Conclusion
What can we do to make this a better country as we look back two hundred and fifty years? Well, I will take you back exactly 251 years, to July 4, 1775. On that day General George Washington gave his first general order. His order was: "The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier." It only gets better. One month later, on August 3, 1775 he ordered: "The General... requires and expects of all officers and soldiers not engaged on actual duty to attend divine service." That remains my hope and trust for myself, for all of you, and for all people. Take this view of life. It will serve you well. It will serve your country well. Amen.
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