Romans 7:14-25 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Romans 7:14-25. Let’s go!
Romans 7:14-25 (NIV)
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.
20 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.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
On verses 14-25: In describing his struggle with sin, is Paul talking about what his experience was like before he became a Christian or his experience even after he became a Christian? While arguments can be made for both sides, I believe in the final analysis it is best to see Romans 7:14-25 as Paul sharing very candidly his own personal struggle with sin and temptation even after he became a Christian and all the way till the time he as an apostle was writing Romans.
Ever found yourself in this situation? You know the right things that you ought to do, but instead of doing those right things, you keep doing the wrong things that you know you shouldn’t do. In Romans 7, Paul shares transparently about his own struggle, which all Christians – indeed all people old enough – experience. That is: sometimes we gravitate toward what is wrong despite knowing what is right. Paul writes, “…For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.” (v18b-19). It goes to show that sin is a real struggle for all of us.
Why is it that Christians experience a continuing struggle with sin even after having been saved and cleansed by the Holy Spirit? It’s because for as long as we live on this earth, we are in a war against sin and temptation, such that “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (v21).
Think of it this way: imagine that your life is like a city with many different districts. There’s the commercial district (your work), the library (your thought life), the schools (your studies), the residential districts (your family and friends), the entertainment district (what you do for fun), the financial district (how you manage your money), as well as other districts representing your love life, your self-image, and so on. In the heart of the city there is a city hall where the mayor governs the city.
Imagine further that this city that is your life has been occupied and controlled by Mayor Sin, an evil, corrupt mayor who has been in power for a long time. You’ve felt Sin’s influence on every district in the city. One day you elect Jesus to be the new mayor of the city. Mayor Jesus enters the heart of the city, takes over city hall and assumes official control over the city. He puts in motion a plan to renew, restore, and rebuild the city, and to make it glorious again. However, in the meantime, until Mayor Jesus’ plan is fully rolled out, there will remain parts of the city that are still heavily influenced by Sin. And now there’s a war between Jesus the good new mayor and Sin who once controlled the city.
Growing in your relationship with God is about letting Jesus take over more and more areas of the city, gradually ousting out sin. That means that in certain areas of your life where sin has had especially great influence, there will be a big clash between Jesus and sin. As you give more of your life to Jesus, Jesus will take over more and more of the city and you’ll feel the influence of sin less over time. But that struggle with sin will continue to some degree until Jesus puts an end to sin in your life once and for all on the day you see Jesus in heaven.
In the meantime, let’s use the struggle to our advantage. See your struggle with sin as an opportunity to hang on desperately to Jesus every day. If you fail at any point in the struggle, see it as an opportunity to experience God’s unlimited grace, mercy and forgiveness. And see the struggle as an opportunity for God’s power to reveal itself in our weakness. The fact is that we need Jesus to rescue not just once at the moment of our conversion, but over and over again, every single day.
Don’t give up. Be real with God about your struggle and ask Him for help. He will never let you go through what you cannot handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). Get with other Christians you trust and respect and ask for prayer and support, because though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves (Ecclesiastes 4:12). And thank God that when you go to heaven with Jesus the struggle with sin will be over once and for all.
Praise God! Our struggle with sin is real, but through Jesus Christ you will experience final victory over sin in the end.
Father, when I consider the struggles I still go through with sin and temptation, I can see why Paul would say about himself, “What a wretched man I am!”, for I’m the same way. But thank You that we all have someone who can rescue us from this body of death. Thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the One who rescues us, hangs onto us, and never gives up on us. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
