Romans 7:14–25 - The War Within

You need to know the enemy is waging war against you.

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CONTEXT: Yesterday we read about how we've died and been buried to sin in Christ, which could almost make it seem like sin is no longer a temptation or a problem for Christians. But, of course, you know that it is. In today's passage, Paul gives words to the daily struggle with sin that we all face, and often lose.

Romans 7:14–25 (NASB95)

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. ¹⁷ So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. ¹⁹ For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰ But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

²¹ I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, ²³ but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Canons of Dordt

Point V, Article 1

Those people whom God according to his purpose calls into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, he also sets free from the reign and slavery of sin, though in this life not entirely from the flesh and from the body of sin.

Article 2

Hence daily sins of weakness arise, and blemishes cling to even the best works of God’s people, giving them continual cause to humble themselves before God, to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to put the flesh to death more and more by the Spirit of supplication and by holy exercises of godliness, and to strain toward the goal of perfection, until they are freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in heaven.

Summary

Everyone who's been a Christian for longer than a few hours recognizes the struggle that Paul testifies to in today's painful passage. You know that so often, you are not practicing what you would like to do - that is, to live for the praise, honor and glory of our Triune God - but that instead you find yourself doing just the opposite: the very thing you hate.

Paul wants you to know that you're not alone - in more ways than one. First of all, he struggled in the same way! Notice how poignantly he writes here. The somewhat in-your-face diatribe he engaged in yesterday's passage is gone, replaced with humble admissions of his own continual failures.

But Paul provides more than just comradery here. He wants you to know you have the Law on your side too. Maybe that doesn't seem very comforting; after all, nobody likes being continually convicted by a Law we can't keep. But understand that inasmuch as it helps you identify and repent of indwelling sin, the Law is good. You must learn to joyfully concur with the law of God in your inner being, even though it often stings a bit!

  Dig Deeper  

You need to know that you are at war. Maybe that's not quite the best way to put it. Rather, war is being waged against you, even if you're unaware of it and aren't fighting against it.

By God's grace, we're not all that familiar with wars here in North America. We certainly know they're being fought, but the actual battle fronts are always far away on the other side of the world, not in our own communities or neighborhoods. But the war that Paul writes of in today's passage is different - it's as close to home as it gets, because this war is being fought by a sin that dwells in you, and it's making you a prisoner.

This is a battle for your being - for you as a person. It's being waged between the law of your mind - that is, your desire to serve the law of God - and the law of sin which is in your members (Sarx / your flesh). It's a fight you face every moment of every day, although weakness and fatigue so often convince you to just give in and let sin win.

But notice that today's passage doesn't provide any strategies for battling back. In fact, it almost seems like Paul gives up and considers himself a wretched man trapped in a body of death.

The Bible in general, and Paul in particular, provide plenty of tactics for you prevail often in the daily battles you face against sin. But today's passage is more of an intel report than a battle plan. You need to be aware of what you're facing, and that you can't overcome this enemy on your own.

It's starting next week, as we read through the greatest words ever written - Romans 8 - that you'll be reminded why it is that Paul ends this painful passage with thanksgiving. You have been set free from the body of this death, because as we'll read Monday morning, even though you so often fail to prevail in your war against sin, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, to whom we give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord!

  ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength to battle sin daily, even as you know that our Savior has won the war;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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