Romans 7:14-25
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”
Romans 7:14-25 NIV
So get this, Jesus, yes, He has died on the cross so that we could be forgiven of our sins. So that the payment of our sin has been paid by Jesus, but not just in the past. Even in the present, our battles with sin. He is our rescuer. Jesus is our rescuer, our deliverer. He delivers us from the temptations to sin, from the pull of the flesh every day.
Christ has saved us from the penalty of sin. We now combat sin not merely by saying no, but by running to Christ. We needed Him to do that because we are constantly prone to sin. Prone to not do what God is calling us to do.
Paul's explanation is, “It is no longer I who do it; it is sin living in me.” Isn't that strange? There is a division within our humanity. There is the “I” that wants to do what God wants, but there is also the sin which dwells in “me.”
Human beings are complicated creatures. We have within us a spirit, a soul, and a body. These are distinct. Paul is suggesting here that the redeemed spirit never wants to do what God has prohibited. It agrees with the Law that it is good. And yet there is an alien power, a force that he calls sin, a great beast that is lying still within us until touched by the commandment of the Law. Then it springs to life, and we do what we do not want to do.
This is what we all struggle with. The cry of the heart at that moment is: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Right here you arrive at where the Lord Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.
Blessed is the man who comes to the end of himself. Blessed is the man who understands his own spiritual bankruptcy. Because this is the point, the only point, where God's help is given.
This is what we need to learn. If we think that we have got something in ourselves that we can work out our problems with, if we think that our wills are strong enough, that we can control evil in our lives by simply determining to do so, then we have not come to the end of ourselves yet.
The Spirit of God simply folds His arms to wait and lets us go ahead and try it on that basis. And we fail, and fail miserably until, at last, out of our failures, we cry, “O wretched man that I am!” Sin has deceived us, and the Law, as our friend, has come in and exposed sin for what it is.
When we see how wretched it makes us, then we are ready for the answer, which comes immediately in v25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Who will deliver me from this body of death?
The Lord Jesus has already done it. We are to respond to the feelings of wretchedness and failure, to which the Law has brought us because of sin in us, by reminding ourselves immediately of the facts that are true of us in Jesus Christ.
We are no longer bound to our sinful flesh by the Law. We are married to Christ, Christ risen from the dead. We must no longer think, “I am a poor, struggling, bewildered disciple, left alone to wrestle against these powerful urges.”
We must now think, “I am a free son of God. I am dead to sin, and dead to the Law, because I am married to Christ. His power is mine, right at this moment. Though I may not feel a thing, I have the power to say, ‘No!’ and walk away and be free, in Jesus Christ.”
The gift of the Holy Spirit is the presence of God within us. This Holy Presence gives us the power to overcome sin and leads us in the way of righteousness. The Spirit ensures that we will be raised victoriously from the dead. Jesus' sacrifice is the pivot point of all human history, ensuring forgiveness when we are saved and ongoing forgiveness when we falter.
The Holy Spirit is God's tuning fork that places us in tune with the will of God and then empowers us to live according to His Will. We serve in the new way of the Spirit. We cherish the will and the character of God revealed in the "old way of the written code." We rejoice that we are now called to a higher standard and empowered to holier living through the Spirit of God!!!
Father thank You for this day and how we praise and thank You for Your great plan of salvation, which is mine in Christ. Lord open the storehouse of Your abundant blessings and rain them down upon my friend and family today. Lord thank You that we do not have to justify ourselves nor do we have to sanctify ourselves , but that in all things it is You who enables and strengthens us. Lord help us to grow in grace and in understanding of how to live the Christian life to Your praise and glory. Lord thank You for the wonderful truths that are contained in Your Word. Lord use my friend to be someone’s blessing today.
Father, we love You amen !
Comentarios