“Funny how everything can obey you—but I can’t.
Well I can, but I don’t, and I want to, but I won’t
And I don’t do what I want to, I do what I don’t mean to “
Todd Agnew, Funny
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The struggle is real.
In our culture, that phrase is used for relatable, often trivial, struggles of modern life.
My Bible has passage headings which are not part of scripture but help us find our place. The Romans 7 passage starting in verse 7 has the heading “Struggling With Sin.” I have to wonder if that heading—that word struggle—minimizes the weight of what Paul is describing: a war.
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…. 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?
Romans 7: 18-19, 21-24
“Struggle” just doesn’t do justice to this level of battle! It’s war. We know it’s true. Our sin nature still pops up and opposes God’s will, revealed through the Spirit.
- We hear God’s whispered prompting and we cover our ears, so to speak.
- We want to assert our rights, while God is telling us to yield.
- We want to get a pass when we’ve been kind 99 times but lash out on the 100th.
- We occupy our minds with unimportant, worldly things.
- That habitual sin we’ve promised God we’re done with is knocking us down.
Galatians 5 tells us the same truth:
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.
It’s our own sin nature that wants what it wants, and takes God’s good law as an invitation to rebel.
But Jesus conquered sin. Why do we still wage this war? I struggle with the notion of this struggle! A full answer is well beyond me, but we can get some insights. John Piper says that in Christ, we are free from captivity to sin, not free from warfare against it. We’re not free from the pull of sin, but free of our powerlessness to fight it. We now have access to the power we need.
Evidence of this war within you is actually a good thing. If you aren’t battling against your sinful nature then you are still a slave to it. A person apart from Christ has no internal conflict as they follow their own desires. Our awareness of this discord is a gift from the same Spirit who gives us power to overcome it: the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 8:25a
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- Do you notice the promptings of God, that are in opposition to what your inner self wants?
- Are you a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness? Are you calling out for the grace needed to obey?
- How is Jesus, through His Spirit, continuing to rescue you?
Church Reading Plan: Proverbs 20; Colossians 3