Romans 7:12-8:2, 1 John 1:5-2:2
May 31, 2026
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“We may take comfort about our souls, if we know anything of an inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness… Do we find in our heart of hearts a spiritual struggle? Do we feel anything of the flesh warring against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we would? Are we conscious of two principles within us, contending for the master? Do we feel anything of war in our inward man? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probable evidence of the great work of sanctification.”

~ Holiness by J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), English pastor, writer, and Anglican bishop of Liverpool

“Only a continuous reminder of the gospel of God’s grace through Christ will keep us from falling into the good-day bad-day thinking, wherein we think our daily relationship with God is based on how good we’ve been.”

~ The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges, author, speaker, and college minister

“When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.”

~ “Before the Throne of God Above” by Charite Lees Bancroft & Vikki Cook

“If you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ — ‘Come! come!’ You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, ‘Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus.’ And you will be always panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is ‘Come,’ even so will be your prayer to him, ‘Come, Lord, and abide in my house. Come, and consecrate me more fully to thy service; come, and without a rival reign; come, occupy alone the throne of my heart.’ ‘Come,’ then, is the very motto-word of the gospel.”

~ “Come and Welcome” by C.H. Spurgeon

Sermon Passage

Romans 7:12-8:2, 1 John 1:5-2:2 (CSB)

Romans 7

¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. ¹³ Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. ²¹ So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. ²² For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, ²³ but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.

Romans 8

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, ² because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

1 John 1

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. ⁶ If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. ⁷ If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 2

¹ My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. ² He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.