The Battle Within Series

Paul affirms in the previous section that the Law is not useless. It is not sinful or bad.

• No doubt the Law can only point out our weakness and makes us conscious of our sin; it is powerless to save us but it is not useless.

• It shows us the will of God, the righteous standards of God for our lives. It points us to holiness and hence the goal of our sanctification.

• The sanctified life is God’s blessing for us. Therefore the Law is holy and righteous and good, Paul concludes in verse 12.

Now that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified and made alive to God. We can now live in obedience to the Law.

• We are not obeying the Law to be saved. We are obeying the Law because we are saved. The one who knows God loves the Law and obeys it.

• We are not transformed like the Wonder Woman in the old TV show (those who are older will know this show)- just spin around and you are changed instantly.

• We grow in this new life to be like Christ. We will ultimately be like Him but it takes a process. We call this journey SANCTIFICATION (6:19) or “leading to holiness” (NIV).

It is not instant because we are still living in this flesh in a fallen world on this side of heaven. Sin is very much present and we are tempted in every way.

• Inwardly we have our fleshly desires and outwardly we are confronted by the sinful ways of the world and the snares of the devil.

• This battle is real for Christians because they have a new life in Christ.

• If we face no tension, then we might be moving in the same direction as the world.

• The conflict is there because we know what is holy and righteous and good.

Paul shares the reality of this struggle in his own life - Romans 7:14-25

14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15For I 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! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

7:14 “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” ESV

• NIV puts it “but I am unspiritual”. KJV says “I am carnal.”

• Paul stresses again that the Law is good; it’s spiritual but he is not. His failure to keep it is no fault of the Law.

• Don’t blame the Law for being bad or exposing your sin or judging it. We sin because of our sinful desires.

Paul is not talking about salvation – that is our deliverance from the penalty of sin – which Christ has achieved for us at the cross.

• He is talking about sanctification – our deliverance from the power of sin, from its influence in our lives. We are constantly at war against sin.

• This fight is ongoing because we are still living in the flesh with its desires and in a world that has rebelled against God.

• The battle has already been won by Christ but the fight continues while we live on earth. The war will end when we see Christ again. This is the life of sanctification.

Paul shares with us very honestly his struggles, which all of us can identify with. If you are a Christian seeking to do God’s will, you will feel this.