(old)The Believer’s Struggle

Introduction

As we come to Romans 7 today, we come to one of the most personal and relatable passages in all of Scripture. Every Christian who has seriously fought sin understands the tension of this chapter. Every believer who has ever asked, “Why do I still struggle like this?” understands something of Romans 7.

But before we come to the struggle Paul describes in verses 14–25, we need to understand the argument Paul has been building throughout these last several chapters.

Beginning back in Romans 5, Paul explained that all humanity is represented by one of two heads: Adam or Christ. In Adam came sin, condemnation, and death. But through Christ comes righteousness, justification, and life.

Then in Romans 6, Paul answered the obvious question that comes from such a gospel of grace.

If grace abounds where sin increased, should Christians simply continue in sin?

Paul’s answer was absolutely not.

Why?

Because salvation is not merely forgiveness. Salvation is union with Christ.

The believer has died with Christ, been buried with Christ, and been raised with Christ. Sin is no longer the believer’s master. Christians are no longer under the dominion and reign of sin as they once were.

What we did not have time to look at last week, is Paul continuing this same line of argument at the beginning of Romans 7, where he explains that believers have also died to the law through Christ.

Using the illustration of marriage, Paul shows that death changes a person’s legal relationship.

Just as death releases a married person from the legal bond of marriage, thus allowing them to remarry without committing the sin of adultery, believers have been released from the condemnation of the law because they now belong to Christ.

But Paul immediately clarifies something very important.

The law itself is not sinful.

The law is holy, just, and good.

The problem is not the law.

The problem is our sin.

But now we come to a point that some of you may be confused.

We have spent all last week and the first five minutes this week talking about how the believer has died to sin.

This has likely raised a very fair question for many of you.

If I have died with Christ,

if I belong to Christ,

if sin is no longer my master,

then why do I still struggle so deeply with sin?

I challenged you last week to reckon with these truths.

Consider these facts and have this reality spur you to righteous living.

I hope you did that this week.

But for some, if not all, you found that sin still won far more than you want to admit.

The inner war within you remains.

If that is you this week, I will not excuse your sin, but I will attempt to comfort you in your battle.

Know that you are not alone, but that this is the battle all who are alive in Christ fight.

We who are alive in Christ now have a new heart that loves God and desires holiness, yet the still lives in fallen flesh.

And so a war begins.

As a Christian you are no longer who you once were, but you have not yet been fully freed from the presence of sin.

And what we are going to see this morning is that this struggle does not prove spiritual death.

In many ways, it is evidence of spiritual life.

Dead men do not fight sin.

Only the believer truly wars against sin from the heart because only the believer has been made new.

And as Paul describes this battle, he ultimately drives us toward one great truth: our hope is not in ourselves.

Our hope is in Christ.

So as we come to Romans 7:14–25 this morning, we are going to see three truths about the Christian struggle with sin.

I. The Believer Struggles Against Sin (Romans 7:14–18a)

II. The Believer Is at War Within

III. The Believer Looks to Christ for Deliverance

I. The Believer Struggles Against Sin (Romans 7:14–18a)

As we begin to look at our passage this morning, it is important to see who Paul is referring to in verses 14-18.

Is he refering to himself as a mature believer, himself before Christ, himself as a representative of Israel, or one of the other possible explanations people have given over the years?

This is one of those areas where Christians have a lot of disagreement.

There are some areas where we must agree and there can be no fellowship without agreement.

This however does not fall under that core doctrine category.

We do not have time for me to go into all of these interpretations.

I am convinced that Paul is speaking here as a full alive in Christ believer.

In verses 7–13, Paul mainly speaks in the past tense as he describes how sin used the commandment to expose him.

But beginning in verse 14, the language shifts into the present.

He says, “I am.” “I do.” “I hate.” “I delight.”

Paul seems to be describing a present struggle, not merely a past memory.

And beyond the grammar, look at the heart being described.

This is a man who hates his sin.

This is a man who agrees that God’s law is good.

This is a man who delights in the law of God in the inward man.

That does not sound like spiritual death.

Why would someone dead in sin fight against his very nature in this way?

No, I am convinced these are marks of spiritual life, which is why I have titled our first point as “The Believer Struggles Against Sin”.

And to help us follow Paul’s logic here, we will look at verses 14 to the first half of 18 by seeing three things.

A. The believer recognizes his sin

B. The believer grieves over his sin

C. The believer confesses his weakness

So first, we see this:

A. The believer recognizes his sin

Romans 7:14 ESV

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Paul begins by saying the problem is not with the law.

The law is spiritual.

The law comes from God.

The law reveals the holy character of God.

The problem is not the law. The problem is Paul.

He says,

but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Now Paul is not saying that sin is still his master in the same way it was before Christ.

Romans 6 has already told us that, and he’s not contradicting himself on the very next page.

The believer is no longer a slave to sin.

But Paul is recognizing that there is still something in him that is deeply affected by sin.

And that is part of Christian maturity.

A mature Christian does not become less aware of sin.

May we never get complacent in our walk with God and stop seeing the sins we struggle with.

Ino, the closer we grow to Christ, the more we become aware of the sin still fighting against us.

The closer we walk with God, the more clearly we see what remains in us.

B. The believer grieves over his sin

Romans 7:15 ESV

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Notice that phrase:

but I do the very thing I hate.

Paul is not describing someone who loves sin and wants to justify it.

He is not making peace with sin.

He is not saying,

“This is just who I am.”

He is saying,

“The very thing I hate is the thing I find myself doing.”

Can you see the emotion in these words?

I have told you many times how much I love the logic of Paul, but let’s not think that makes him an emotionless vulcan(do people know what a vulcan is?)

This is not a simple regreting of the consequences of sin.

This is not feeling a little guilty concious about breaking a rule.

Paul is showing us by example that the believer grieves the sin itself.

Now, we need to be careful.

A troubled conscience by itself does not prove someone is a Christian. Lost people can feel guilt. Lost people can regret consequences. Lost people can feel shame.

But what Paul describes here is deeper than that. He hates what is contrary to God. He grieves that sin remains in him at all.

Last week, I mentioned my friend from India who became an American citizen. When he became a citizen, his legal identity changed. His allegiance changed. He had to renounce his old citizenship and embrace his new one.

But that does not mean every old habit instantly disappeared. Old customs, old instincts, old patterns of thought, those things can linger. Not because his citizenship did not really change, but because old habits do not simply go away easily.

And in a far greater way, when we come to Christ, our identity truly changes.

We belong to Christ. Sin is not our master.

But the remnants of the old life still cling to us.

And that is why the believer grieves.

We are not comfortable in sin anymore.

So what do we do with this recognizion and grieving of sin?

We don’t down play it.

We don’t ignore it.

We don’t pretend that we are perfect without failure.

No….

C. The believer confesses his weakness

Romans 7:16–18 ESV

16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Paul is not excusing himself.

He is not saying, “That was not really me, so I am not responsible.”

He is simply showing us the depth of the problem.

He says in verse 17

“sin dwells in me.”

That is strong language.

Sin is not merely something outside of him tempting him. Sin still has a remaining presence in his flesh.

And then Paul becomes even more specific in the first half of verse 18.

He says…

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh”

How on earth can Paul say this after just spending so much time saying that our identity is unity in Christ?

Well, Paul is not saying there is no good thing in him in every possible sense.

He says,

“in me, that is, in my flesh.”

He is speaking of the remaining corruption of the flesh.

The flesh cannot produce holiness.

The flesh cannot please God.

The flesh cannot conquer sin.

So Paul is honest.

He recognizes his sin.

He grieves over his sin.

And now he confesses his weakness.

This is not an excuse for sin.

It is a confession of the seriousness of sin.

And that is exactly where true Christian growth must begin.

We cannot fight sin faithfully if we pretend the struggle is not real.

But neither should we let Satan use the struggle to make us deny what Christ has truly done in us.