Who Will Deliver Me?

Alba 1-16-2022

WHO WILL DELIVER ME?

Romans 7:14-25

Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses, is also well known for writing The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde first published in 1886.

It is the story of a man who had evil tendencies but wanted to hide them. Using a potion, he was able to change to a completely different person – Mr. Hyde. And as Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll does things he would never do as himself.

It is said that Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how human personalities can hold and display both good and evil.

He was raised in a Presbyterian home but later professed being an atheist. Apparently he was exposing his own desires when writing the story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The sad truth is that all of us seem to fit too well into Stevenson's story about Dr. Jekyll. Because we also seem to have a split personality, at times doing things we know we should not do.

But we're not the only ones. Even the Apostle Paul was troubled by this struggle between good and evil.

Take a look at Romans 7:14-25. Here is where Paul bears his soul. And we see that even he had trouble being the person he wanted to be. Lets read:

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to 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 will deliver me from this body of 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.

The Apostle Paul admits he had a problem. But the first thing we should see in these verses is:

1. He Had a Will to Do What Is Right

His desire was to follow the Lord in all things and be obedient to the will of God. Paul had a deep desire to do what is right and good. This should be the desire of any and all Christians.

If our desire is not to do the will of God, it calls into question whether or not we are truly Christians.

In verse 22 Paul says, For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man. Deep inside himself, Paul delights in the truth and righteousness of the Law of God.

This delight does not come from outside a person, but it is a desire from within. It comes from the new nature that is in the heart when a sinner is born-anew.

It can be seen in the things a person desires and obeys, and in the hate of the things the Law condemns. A proof of this delight in the Law is the persistent effort to keep the Law in spite of constant failure.

The Law guides the mind of the inward man, so that the inner self of the believer truly appreciates of the Law of God. When we know that the Law is holy, and that it is an expression of the will of God, it should cause us to want do God’s will.

This is the proper response of any believer. Through the new birth, a person receives a new nature, and along with it, gets a capacity for loving the spiritual truths contained in God’s Word.

In Psalm 119:97-98 David exclaims: Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me