The Thrill Of Victory Or The Agony Of Defeat?

THE THRILL OF VICTORY, THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

Romans 7:14-25

I. Paul’s Dilemma, 14-20

A. The Problem Pin-Pointed, (14)

B. The Problem Paralleled

14-17 & 18-20 are parallels

1. Each section begins with a frank acknowledgment of our condition, of what we are in ourselves and of what we know ourselves to be.

2. Each section continues with a vivid description of the resulting conflict.

3. Each section ends with a conclusion about the cause of a Christian’s personal, moral inability apart from the Holy Spirit.

II. Paul’s Deductions, 21-23

A. A Companion, 21

B. A Confession, 22

C. A Captivity, 23

III. Paul’s Despair, 24

IV. Paul’s Deliverance, 25

Two men who lived in a small village got into a terrible dispute that they could not resolve. So they decided to talk to the town sage.

The first man went to the sage’s home and told his version of what happened. When he finished, the sage said, “You’re absolutely right.”

The next night, the second man called on the sage and told his side of the story. The sage responded, “You’re absolutely right.”

Afterward, the sage’s wife scolded her husband. “Those men told you two different stories and you told them they were absolutely right. That’s impossible—they can’t both be absolutely right.”

The sage turned to his wife and said, “You’re absolutely right.”

—David Moore in Vital Speeches of the Day

Tommy Lasorda the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager describes his battle with bad habits: “I took a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, stared at it and said, “Who’s stronger, you or me?” The answer was me. I stopped smoking. Then I took a vodka martini and said to it, “Who’s stronger, you or me?” Again the answer was me. I quit drinking. Then I went on a diet. I looked at a big plate of linguine with clam sauce and said, “Who’s stronger, you or me?” And a little clam looked up at me and answered, “I am.” I can’t beat linguine.

In our text, Paul is describing his own personal struggle with sin. This is the most dramatic testimony of Paul’s struggle with sin. We have little difficulty believing that we struggle with sin or that others like Peter struggled, but Paul somehow seems above it all. This is a misconception, as our theology should remind us, and as Paul’s words instruct us. Paul’s struggle is a deeply personal struggle, with sin and with his own flesh. It is a war within. It is a war which results from his conversion, a war which did not exist until he was saved.

I. Paul’s Dilemma, 14-20

A. The Problem Pin-Pointed, (14)

14 ¶ For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Paul has just stated in the previous verses that there is a problem between himself and the Law of God. The problem is not the Law, the problem is Paul.

In 1980 a Boston court acquitted Michael Tindall of flying illegal drugs into the United States. Tindall’s attorneys argued that he was a victim of “action addict syndrome,” an emotional disorder that makes a person crave dangerous, thrilling situations.

 Tindall was not a drug dealer, merely a thrill seeker.

An Oregon man who tried to kill his ex-wife was acquitted on the grounds that he suffered from “depression-suicide syndrome,” whose victims deliberately commit poorly planned crimes with the unconscious goal of being caught or killed.

 He didn’t really want to shoot his wife; he wanted the police to shoot him.

Then there’s the famous “Twinkie syndrome.” Attorneys for Dan White, who murdered San Francisco mayor George Moscone, blamed the crime on emotional stress linked to White’s junk food binges.

 White was acquitted of murder and convicted on a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Nowadays, nobody’s at fault for anything. We are a nation of victims.

—Louis Lotz, Sioux City, Iowa, Leadership, Winter Quarter, 1992, p. 57

B. The Problem Paralleled

14-17 & 18-20 are parallels

1. Each section begins with a frank acknowledgment of our condition, of what we are in ourselves and of what we know ourselves to be.

14, “we know that...”

14 ¶ For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

The word “carnal” means “fleshly”. While the Law would teach man how to live godly, Man’s flesh is only interested in that which is sinful!

Rom 7:18 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.

2. Each section continues with a vivid description of the resulting conflict.

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