Sin: The Struggle, The Revelation

Sin: the Struggle, the Revelation

Our scripture today is Romans 7:14-8:4. I am breaking it in half, for in the first half Paul writes like a frustrated man, but in the second half Paul reveals a wonderful revelation. Listen to how disturbed Paul is in this first half, Romans 7:14-24. "14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Attention getter: Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Even the Apostle Paul was one of the “all have sinned.” Only Christ was without sin. Paul sometimes disappointed people, sometimes made mistakes, and sometimes just plain messed up. Even when we have the best of intentions, we, too, sometime find ourselves in a mess. For example: It was Mother’s Day and Mary, who was both a nurse and the mother of a ten month old, had to leave home at 6 a.m. to work a twelve-hour shift. Her husband John was not about to let Mary miss her first Mother’s Day. So about nine that morning, unbeknownst to Mary, John dressed Jack in his best little suit, put him in a baby carrier, and loaded Jack, a box of candy, some flowers, a nice card and some balloons in their little car and off to the hospital they went.

When John showed up at the hospital unexpected, the other nurses quickly realized the importance of the event and let Mary go for a few minutes to be with her husband and baby. Mary was both surprised and happy. The three had a little party.

When Mary had to go back to work, John somehow was able to lug Jack, the candy, flowers, card and balloons back to the little car. He then carefully placed the card under the candy box and on the seat were it would not slid off, the flowers in the floor where they would not get crushed or turn over and he put the balloons in the back seat so in such a way that they would not obstruct his view out the back window. As he drove off, several cars honked their horns and blinked their lights. John was wondering why when suddenly John heard the sound of something sliding on the roof followed by a thump on the trunk. He looked in terror out the rearview mirror to see the baby carrier sliding down the highway behind him. He slammed on the breaks and ran to Jack; praise God, the baby was safe. With traffic stopped, John quickly put the baby in the car and pull over to side of the road where he broke down in tears overwhelmed by the horror of his carelessness, he cried, “What kind of a father am I!”

There is enough John in each of us that we too have been guilty of carelessness. We have all have had times when rushing around or being annoyed or distracted has caused us to overlook important things, to make mistakes. We all have done the dumb things; it is part of being human.

Need: I. These kinds of incidents cause to understand Paul’s words, “Wretched man that I am! … I do not understand my own actions.” Chapter 7 is one of the most powerful statements about struggling with mistakes in the history of all literature. What makes it so powerful; Paul provides us a glimpse into his own struggle, a struggle we all share.

A. Often when we think of the Apostle Paul, we think of somebody who is bigger than life. We see him standing up and defending his faith in front of the Roman governors and even the emperor. We remember him on his great missionary journeys all over the Roman Empire. We have all read his instructions to the churches to be faithful, and as he encourages Timothy and Titus to remain true to their calling.