1. There have been many great struggles down through history but none greater than the one we want to consider today. I think of King Solomon's classic struggle with the two women claiming to be the baby’s mother. Solomon had to decide and you know the story of how he determined which was the babies real mother.

2.  IMAGE OF GOD Objective: Foundation #1 – To understand man as created  INSIDE OUT Objective: Foundation #2 – To understand man after the fall and after the new birth  IDENTITY RECOVERED Objective: How to recover your stolen identity  IDENTITY TESTED Objective: A test to determine if your lost identity has been recovered  INCREDIBLE TREASURE Objective: To know the power of God available to you  INHERITANCE OF GOD Objective: To know the completeness and greatness of Christ’s sacrifice for you  IN CHRIST Objective: To provide the key to consistent living for the believer

3. Part 4 Identity Tested “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” Romans 7:4

4.  Review – Recovering Your Stolen Identity  We are addressing the stolen identity of the born again believer  Your identity may be stolen but not your citizenship  If you are still an alien you don’t have an identity to be stolen  Romans 6 – 2 weeks ago  The penalty for your sins was paid for by Christ’s blood on the cross  The power over your sin nature was broken by your death with Christ  The latter was something to know and believe.  Your response was to daily hand yourself over to God as His alone  Your Response  Not only recognized but applied  Not only your position but your condition  Not a hyphenated Christian  But living under the power and control of the Lord

5. A Basic Question How do I know in reality if my identity has been recovered? Candida Gutierrez 32 year old Houston teacher Remember Candida Gutierrez from part 1 How would she know if her identity had been recovered? By going to the bank and trying to borrow money! What about you? How will you know if you have recovered your stolen spiritual identity? That’s what we want to look at today.

6.  Romans 7:15 to 23  The famous struggle that men have struggled with for ages!  The good I want to do I don’t do, and the evil I don’t want to do I do.  Question?  Is this struggle something that characterizes your life as a Christian?  I do not do the thing I would like to do (verse 15)  I do the thing I don’t want to do! (verse 16a)  The Test  This is like borrowing money from the bank!  If you find yourself in this struggle then you have failed the test  You didn’t get the loan  Contrary to popular opinion, this is not intended to be the Normal Christian experience

7.  Interpretations of Romans 7:15 to 23  Is this an unregenerate person’s experience or that of a Christian?  Paul uses the first person throughout  So is he referring to himself before or after meeting Christ on the road Before After

8.  Interpretations of Romans 7:15 to 23 1.This was Paul’s experience as a Jew before meeting Christ [false] 2.Paul was so sensitive to sin that this is himself as a Christian [false] 3.Paul in the 3 days after meeting Christ in Acts 9:9 (Kelly ~1890) [maybe] 4.An illustration of failure to believe Romans 6 & 7:1-6  This is not the “Normal Christian Life” (Nee ~1939)  This is an indication of spiritual immaturity!  This indicates that you haven’t got it! Nee “Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. The trouble in Romans 7 is that man in the flesh tried to do something for God. As soon as you try to please God in that way, then you place yourself under law, and the experience of Romans 7 begins to be yours.” Kelly “It is evident that the state described (Romans 7:15-23) is not that of deliverance; it is not therefore the normal state of the Christian, but one of transition.”

9. The struggle is in reality the struggle of a believer under law: Notice it is a struggle between the mind and the flesh (7:23, 25) Between what we know to be true and how we react to situations It is the old train of Facts – Faith – Feelings Our feelings must be based on the facts by faith not the reverse Law of any type  The Old Testament law  Moral, Civil, Sacrificial, Ceremonial OT laws  The expectations of others  Acting as a hypocrite under the expectations of others  Expectations of yourself  I should do this or should not do that

10.  How are we released from this struggle?  The Illustration: Romans 7:1 to 6 Married Husband & Wife Romans 7:2a Husband dies & Wife is free to marry another Romans 7:2b Wife dies and is freed from her Husband Romans 7:4a,6a Wife rises and is free to marry another Romans 7:4b Law You ChristYou Law You X Who can set us free? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (7:25) By knowing you have been crucified with Christ, been raised with Christ to a New life And by handing yourself over daily to Him as the one who owns you.

11.  While you are alive you are still bound to this law principle  It is not the law that has died but you have died  Your co-crucifixion with Christ has placed you under a new husband as it were – Christ Himself  The rule of your new life is now Christ not law  This is why God has placed His Holy spirit within you.  This is far superior to Israel past or future

12. I'm resting in You Lord Resting in Your love You captivate my life Lord Body soul and spirit I've died with You Lord Been raised anew Lord I'm seated with You Lord Hidden in You Lord Live Your life Lord Through my life Lord I give you my heart Lord Every fabric of my being Take my life Lord My new creation life Lord May it be Yours Lord I'm resting in You Lord Resting in Your love THE REAL YOU Resting from the Struggle and Resting in Christ (Your true Identity in Christ)