It seems to me to be a fact of life that when I want to do right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is. In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Romans 7:21-25Romans 7:21-25
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
21 The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. 22 With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. 23 But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. 24 What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? 25 Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me. So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.
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Sometimes when we talk about the settled work of Christ, and our seated position before him, we can start down a line of reasoning that goes something like this: If God really has changed my heart, making me a new person, then why do I still struggle with sin? Since the struggle often seems to get harder rather than easier, we think we have messed up. That we’re not right with God. That God doesn’t really want us. Paul, more than once, gives us a dose of reality.
Paul seems to accept the fact that the struggle with sin was a present reality. This was not contradictory to the fact that Christ had called him, that God loved him and chose him. Rather than get caught up in feelings of guilt, he recognized that he was surrounded by forces that promoted sin. The world, Satan, even his own flesh were engaged in war against the Spirit at work within him.
Paul also recognized that God offers a permanent solution. In Jesus Christ, we are offered the hope of new creation, untarnished by sin. In the here and now we get a foretaste. We are no longer dominated by sin. We have the power – through the Spirit in us – to overcome the urge to sin. But one day, we will not have this constant struggle. Can you imagine it? I find it hard, myself, but I rejoice that one day, I will not be at war with my own thoughts. That I will desire what God desires. That I will love sincerely. That I will show compassion, tenderness, kindness.
This hope of the future, and the knowledge that Jesus has already begun that work within us, should give us confidence. When we fail, we turn it over to Jesus. When we succeed in our struggle, we don’t boast in our own righteousness, but praise God because he is merciful. How are you doing in your struggle with sin? Are you fighting in your own strength? Have you been backed into a corner, weak and defeated, by the weight of guilt and the voices within and without, voices that lie – telling us that God could not possibly love us in our shameful state? Are you beginning to experience joy, even in the midst of the struggle? Praise to God for his love and patience, his wisdom and kindness!
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