The Believer And Indwelling Sin

The Believer and Indwelling Sin

Romans 7: 14-25

This is a picture of a soul in conflict...in conflict with his desires, in conflict with his true self, in conflict with the Law of God, and in conflict with Satan.

The conflict is real, intense and strong.

It is summed up in verse 24, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? HE IS MISERABLE OVER THE SITUATION, THE STRUGGLE.

And he ends with the sad realization, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

There is a great debate in some theological circles as to whether these words describe a Christian or a lost person.

Some say there is too much bondage to sin for a Christian

Others say there is too much desire for good for a lost person.

Those who take the “non Christian” side point to verse 14, I am carnal, sold under sin.

And verse 18, for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

They say these show that it has to be non-Christian because the true Christian is no longer under sin and he has the power to do, not just want to do, God’s will (Phillipians 2:13)

How can it be a Christian who says he is “carnal, sold under sin” when 6:14 says “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”

If a person has died to sin (6:11), why does the writer warn them not to let sin reign in their mortal body (6:12)?

It is because SIN IS STILL AN OPTION... It can still move in and begin to rule your physical body.

So, I am convinced that these verses speak of a Christian... in fact, as you will see, I believe they speak of a very mature and spiritual Christian.

!st Proof: v. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Can an unbeliever delight in the Law of God? Not in scripture

Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

2nd Proof: v. 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God.

Two proofs - The unregenerate do not say “Jesus Christ OUR Lord

nor do the serve the Law of God with their mind.(8:7)

3rd Proof: For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

This says there is a battle between a part of him that wants to do God’s will and a part that does not want to.

It is only the Christians that have that part that wants to do right... Phil 2:13

Jeremiah gives the best picture of the heart of the unredeemed. Not a heart that wants to do right, but (17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

4th Proof: verse 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.

Where does the desire to do right come from? FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT!

The heart, the soul, and the mind yearn to do what is good. The bent is toward good

THAT IS CHRISTIAN

Romans 3 says the heart , soul and mind of the un-Christian is different...As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 17And the way of peace have they not known: 18There is no fear of God before their eyes.

There is none of this tension, this battle, between doing right and doing wrong, DOES NOT EXIST IN THE UNSAVED!

OK, LET”S SAY IT IS A CHRISTIAN. WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN IS IT???

Let me say there are two kinds of Christian

carnal Christian... Flesh on the throne

Spiritual Christian.. God on the throne

Some say it is a Christian but it is a CARNAL CHRISTIAN... a Christian on a very low spiritual plane.

One person remarked “This is the abject failure and misery of a Christian who attempts to please god under the Mosaic System. In other words.. A super legalistic Christian trying to crank out his own righteousness in his own flesh.”

If you have ever known a legalist, one thing you know is that they are ALWAYS under the illusion that they are very spiritual.

I believe that this is a very spiritual Christian. This is one who has spent great amounts of time at the foot of the cross and in self examination.