Who Before Do

Romans 7:15, 18–19, 24–25

Read Romans 7:15-25

We all know what it is to want to do right and still find ourselves doing wrong.

We make promises to God.

We make promises to ourselves.

We say this time will be different.

Then before long, we are back in the same attitude, the same habit, the same weakness, the same failure.

That is why habits can be so discouraging.

They expose us.

They remind us that wanting change and experiencing change are not always the same thing.

Romans 7 brings us into that struggle.

Paul speaks with painful honesty.

He describes the inner conflict of a man who knows what is right, desires what is right, and yet feels the misery of his own weakness.

But he does not leave us in despair.

He points us to the only place where real victory can be found.

He points us to Jesus Christ.

The problem with many people is that they start with “do.”

I need to do better.

I need to stop this.

I need to start that.

But before the Christian life is about what we do, it is about who we are in Christ.

If you do not settle identity, you will keep fighting habits with the wrong weapons.

Lasting change begins when we stop defining ourselves by our failures and start living from our identity in Christ.

I. The Conflict We Feel

Paul says, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”

Every honest Christian understands that verse.

There is a war within.

The saved man has new desires, but he still battles the flesh.

A. A Difference Between Desire And Discipline

It is possible to sincerely want what is right and still fail to practice it.

Good intentions are not enough.

A desire for holiness is important, but desire alone will not overcome deeply rooted patterns.

Peter had a sincere desire when he said he would never deny the Lord.

But sincerity without watchfulness left him vulnerable.

Matthew 26:41 reminds us, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”

Wanting to stand is not the same as preparing to stand.

Many believers are discouraged because they confuse desire with maturity.

They think, “Because I want to do right, I should automatically do right.”

But sanctification is not automatic.

Growth requires dependence upon God, renewal of the mind, and repeated obedience.

B. A War Between The Inward Man And The Flesh

Paul says in verse 18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.”

He is honest about the source of the struggle.

The flesh is not a friend to be managed.

It is an enemy to be mortified.

Galatians 5:17 KJV

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The Christian life is not a playground.

It is a battleground.

That helps us because it reminds us that conflict does not always mean hypocrisy.

Sometimes conflict is evidence that God has truly changed you.

Before salvation, sin may have ruled with little resistance.

After salvation, there is a fight.

There is grief over sin.

There is longing for righteousness.

There is a new heart that hates what once it loved.

A dead man does not fight.

A living man does.

C. A Danger In Growing Used To Defeat

Paul describes repeated failure, and that is where many believers live far too long.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

We fail, we confess, we fail again, and then we begin to assume that defeat is normal and unchangeable.

That is very dangerous.

It is one thing to struggle.

It is another thing to settle.

Israel wandered in the wilderness way too long because bondage thinking still controlled them, even after they were delivered Egypt.

In much the same way, many Christians have been delivered from the penalty of sin, but they still think like slaves.

The devil loves to convince believers that their struggle is their identity.

He whispers, “This is just who you are.”

But temptation is not identity.

Failure is not identity.

Your worst moment is not your name.

II. The Cry We Make

Paul says in verse 24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

This is not the cry of a man who is comfortable in sin.

It is the cry of a man who is tired of being dragged down by it.

A. Honest Grief Over Sin Is A Healthy Sign

There is something hopeful about Paul’s cry.

He is miserable over what sin does in him.

He is not shrugging it off.

He is not excusing it.

He is not blaming others.

He is grieved.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:4

Matthew 5:4 KJV

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

The man who mourns over sin is nearer to victory than the man who casually tolerates it.

The world laughs at sin.

The flesh excuses sin.

But the Spirit of God causes the believer to grieve over sin.

A tender conscience is a gift.

Do not despise it.

B. Self-Awareness Is Good, But Self-Deliverance Is Impossible

Paul does not say, “What new strategy shall deliver me?”

He says, “Who shall deliver me?”

That is a vital shift.

The answer to our deepest spiritual struggle is not found in self-improvement alone.

There is a place for discipline.

There is a place for wise structure.

There is a place for habits.

But habits without Christ become another form of self-salvation.

A man can organize his day and still have a proud heart.

A woman can improve routines and still be empty inside.

External structure may help us, but only Christ can free us.

John 15:5 KJV

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Not without me you can do a little.

NO! Ye can do Nothing.

That means habit change is not first about grit.

It is first about grace.

C. Despair Can Become A Doorway To Hope

Paul’s cry sounds dark, but it is actually turning him in the right direction.

He has come to the end of confidence in himself.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

That is often where real help begins, true grief and despair over our sin.

As long as a man believes he can fix himself, he will not cling to Christ like he should.

But when he sees the depth of his need, the sufficiency of Christ becomes precious.

It becomes a wonderful thing to a man when he realizes he cannot do it to realize that he doesn’t have to…Christ will work in us.

Ephesians 2:10 KJV

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The prodigal son came to himself in the far country before he ever came back to the father.

Sometimes God lets us feel the bitterness of our weakness so that we will quit leaning on ourselves.

No it is not self-sufficiency it is about…

III. The Christ We Need

Paul says, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

That right there is the turning point.

Not discipline first.

Not technique first.

Christ first.

A. Christ Gives What The Flesh Never Can

The flesh promises pleasure and gives bondage.

Christ gives grace and gives freedom.

Romans 6 teaches that believers are no longer slaves to sin.

Romans 6:6–7 KJV

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

That does not mean the battle is over, but it does mean the tyrant has been dethroned.

Sin may harass the believer, but it no longer has rightful dominion over him.

That is some glorious news for the Christian who is trapped in bad habits.

In Christ, you are not merely a struggler trying to improve.

You are a redeemed person learning to live in the freedom Christ purchased.

B. Christ Changes More Than Behavior

Religion often tries to modify behavior without transforming the heart.

But Jesus works from the inside out.

Ezekiel 36:26 KJV

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

That is why Christianity is not just moral reform.

It is new life.

A new heart!

A drunk man may quit drinking and still be lost.

A proud man may become disciplined and still be proud.

A fearful, anxious person may become productive and still be ruled by fear.

Jesus does not come merely to polish old flesh.

He comes to make all things new.

C. Christ Is The Source Of Both Pardon And Power

Some believers know Christ as the One who forgives, but they do not think of Him as the One who empowers.

Yet the same Savior who pardons also strengthens.

Philippians 4:13 KJV

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

That is not a slogan for athletes.

It is a confession of dependence.

You do not overcome sinful habits by staring at the habit all day.

You overcome by looking to Christ, walking with Christ, depending on Christ, and submitting to the Spirit of Christ.

IV. The Identity We Must Embrace

If we are going to deal with habits biblically, we not start with “What do I need to do?”

We must start with “Who am I in Christ?”

A. I Am No Longer Defined By My Worst Failure

The enemy loves labels.

He says, “You lost your temper, so you are an angry person.”

“You failed again, so you are a failure.”

“You gave in again, so you will never change.”

But where Chapter 7 ends, Chapter 8 begins with:

Romans 8:1 KJV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The believer may be convicted, but he is not condemned.

He may be chastened, but he is not cast off.

When a child of God sins, that sin is serious.

But it is not his master, and it is not his name.

B. I Am Called To Live Out What Grace Has Made Me

Ephesians 4:24 KJV

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

That means the Christian life is not pretending to be something you are not.

It is learning to live out what God has already made you in Christ.

A godly man says no to lust because lust is beneath who he is in Christ.

A godly woman says no to bitterness because bitterness does not fit the grace she has received.

A believer prays, forgives, serves, and obeys not to earn a new identity, but because grace has already given one.

This is where habits begin to change.

You ask, “What would the person God is shaping me to be do right now?”

C. Small Acts Of Obedience Become Steps Of Transformation

No single act changes everything at once.

But repeated obedience matters.

SANCTIFICATION CHART

Small faithful choices matter.

You read your Bible today.

You pray when you do not feel like praying.

You turn away from temptation.

You speak kindly when your flesh wants to snap.

You confess quickly.

You get up after failure.

Those small obediences do not earn God’s love, but they do train your life in the direction of Christlikeness.

An oak tree does not appear in a day.

A godly life does not either.

But over time, by the grace of God, repeated obedience bears real fruit.

A man once asked Michelangelo how he created such breathtaking sculptures.

He answered that he simply chipped away everything that did not belong.

That is a wonderful picture of sanctification.

God is shaping Christ in His people.

And one act of obedience at a time, He chips away what does not belong.

Conclusion

Many people begin by asking, “What do I need to do differently?”

That is not a bad question.

But it is not the first question.

The first question is this:

Who am I in Christ?

And who, by His grace, is He shaping me to become?

Paul knew the agony of inner conflict.

He knew the misery of failure.

But he also knew the answer.

“Who shall deliver me?”

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

That is where habit change begins.

Not in pride.

Not in mere willpower.

Not in self-help.

But in Jesus Christ.

So stop defining yourself by your struggle.

Stop bowing to the labels of the flesh.

Stop assuming that repeated failure must be your future.

Come again to Christ.

Thank Him for grace.

Stand in your identity.

Then take the next small step of obedience.

Because when you know who you are, you begin to know what to do.

I have on your notes a QR code to a list of who the Bible says you are in Christ, with the verses to prove it.

There are over 100 verses and descriptions of who you are in Christ.

Do me a favor…would you read that list over, skim it.

But bookmark it - so you can come back to it from time to time to remind yourself.

If you don’t have a smart phone, there are a few copies on the back table, please pick one up.

I just didn’t want to print out a bunch of copies.