Romans 7:14-25

STRUGGLING WITH SIN

Romans 7:14-25

Rom 7:14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.

The law in our case is what we have been given, the Bible, the Holy spirit that lives within us and our conscious. The Bible tells us in black and white how to live. The Holy Spirit is a constant reminder of what is right and wrong and our conscious is that prickly pear that keeps knowing at our minds. Even with all that our sinful nature tends to win many battles. Why? Because we are as Paul said, human.

Rom 7:15 I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

The Life Application New Testament Commentary wrote a small book on this verse. “By introducing his personal dilemma, Paul invites us to consider how well we understand our own behavior. As long as believers live in this world as men and women of flesh and blood, they will face a constant tension—the conflict between their sinful nature and their new spiritual life. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict” (Gal_5:17).

Paul shares three lessons that he learned in trying to deal with his old sinful desires. (1) Knowledge of the law is not the answer (Rom_7:9). (2) Self-determination (to want to do what is right) doesn’t succeed (Rom_7:15). (3) Becoming a Christian does not stamp out all sin and temptation from a person’s life (Rom_7:22-25).

Being born again starts in a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ takes a lifetime. Paul compares Christian growth to a strenuous race or fight (1Co_9:24-27; 2Ti_4:7). Thus, as Paul has been emphasizing since the beginning of this letter, no one in the world is innocent; no one deserves to be saved—not the pagan who doesn’t know God’s laws, nor the Christian or Jew who knows them and tries to keep them. All of us must depend totally on the work of Christ for our salvation. We cannot earn it by our good behavior.

Rom 7:16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. Rom 7:17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Our original nature that we fight all the time can win out at times and we do something that we know is wrong. It is not your soul that is doing the wrong thing but your sinful nature. I know that is confusing but think on it for a while. That does not mean you can sin at will. That would mean you knowingly are offending God’s law.

Rom 7:18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. Rom 7:19 I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. Rom 7:20 But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Refer to the above answer.

Rom 7:21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. Rom 7:22 I love God's law with all my heart. Rom 7:23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

Paul is putting this in words that I have felt in my own heart. Why did I do that I know it was wrong. Why did I yell at that person? Etc.

Rom 7:24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Rom 7:25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

We are miserable people at times and without Christ’s gift of saving us from our sins our outcome would be very bleak.