Romans 7:14-25

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Sermon: Romans 7:14-25

14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin

Introduction:

I tell you this week has been one of those weeks just loaded with troubles, stress, and mistakes,

the devil has really beaten me up this week.

on top of everything else that has happened this week I came down to the wire so to speak on preparing the sermon

I did not have much time with all that I was doing this week and I tried to prepare this message in a rush but I just couldn't get it together

then I realized that I had forgotten the most important part.

I forgot to ask God for guidance.

I forgot the very basic principal of being a servant of God….talk to him…pray.

to ask for his help

I spent all this week being totally frustrated.

Finally last night I broke down and cried out for help from God

And he answered….

He pointed me to Paul.

A man who suffered ship wrecks, persecution, beatings, stoning, and imprisonment.

The one man second only to Jesus that probably shaped the history of Christianity more than any other.

God answered me by saying that I wasn’t alone.

That Paul himself had been frustrated as well.

Frustrated and disappointed in himself.

Paul lays out his disappointment of his present life as a Christian.

He acknowledges that he daily has the opportunity to do good in the eyes of God – he wants to do good in the eyes of God because he is thankful that God brought him to believe in Jesus as his Savior.

However, he is ashamed of where his spiritual life is

verses 14-16

14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Paul is confessing that many times he is confronted with circumstances where he knows exactly what the right, God-pleasing thing to say or do would be – but then he’s startled when he does something different than what he wanted to do or says something other than what he wanted to say.

John Ortberg, in his book The Life You Always Wanted, explains it quite well.

"I look in on my children as they sleep at night, [and] I think of the kind of father I want to be. I want to create moments of magic, I want them to remember laughing until the tears flow ... I want to have slow, sweet talks with them as they’re getting ready to close their eyes. I want to chase fireflies with them, teach them to play tennis, have food fights, and hold them and pray for them in a way that makes them feel cherished. "I look in on them," he writes, "and I remember how the day really went. I remember how they were trapped in a fight over [a game] and I walked out of the room because I didn’t want to spend the energy needed to teach them how to resolve conflict. I remember how my daughter spilled cherry punch at dinner and I yelled at her as if she’d revealed some deep character flaw; I yelled at her even though I spill things all the time and no one yells at me; I yelled at her - to tell the truth - because I’m big and she’s little and I can get away with it. I remember how at nights I didn’t have slow, sweet talks, but merely rushed the children off to bed so I could have more time to myself. "I’m disappointed," Ortberg says, "not just with my life as a father. I am disappointed with my life as a husband, friend, neighbor and human being in general