Sin's Advantage in the Law

Renewing Your Mind

Ligonier Ministries

Religion & Spirituality, Reformed, Study, Jesus, Preaching, Christianity, Scripture, Spirit, Bible, Holy, Theology, Christian, God, Teaching

4.8 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sin can offer momentarily pleasure, but it will never bring genuine and lasting happiness. From his sermon series in Romans, today R.C. Sproul explains why it is impossible for sin to bring true satisfaction to a child of God.

Request R.C. Sproul's commentary on the book of Romans with your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4345/offer

Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Request the Romans commentary ebook with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global

Meet Today's Teacher:

R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Meet the Host:

Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Transcript

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0:00.0	Think back to your pre-Christian days.
0:03.0	Were you really overburdened by a sense of sin and guilt?
0:09.0	Not until the Holy Ghost brought his conviction on you,
0:13.0	quickened your conscience,
0:15.0	made you alive to the law that you feel for the first time in your life, the weight of your guilt.
0:29.6	What is the purpose of the law? And what did the apostle Paul mean when he said in
0:34.7	Roman 7, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.
0:39.9	I'm glad you're with us for this Sunday edition of renewing your mind as we continue our time
0:44.9	with R.C. Sprole in Romans chapter 7. Each Lord's Day, we feature the preaching ministry of
0:52.0	Dr. Sprawl, and his sermons through books of the Bible
0:55.2	became the foundation for his expositional commentary series. As we're spending a few weeks in Romans,
1:02.3	when you give a donation at Renewing Your Mind.org in support of this daily outreach,
1:07.1	we'll send you his hardcover commentary on Romans as our way of saying thank you,
1:12.1	but respond before midnight as this offer ends in just a few hours.
1:17.5	Well, to consider the relationship between the law, sin, and the Christian, here's R.C. Sprole.
1:26.9	What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known
1:37.3	sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet.
1:48.4	But sin, taking an opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.
1:58.4	For apart from the law, sin was dead.
2:02.4	I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
2:11.3	And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
2:17.4	For sin taking occasioned by the commandment, deceived me, and by it
	...

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