Our Conflicts

The Struggle Within: Understanding Our Inner Conflict

Bible Passage: Romans 7:14–25

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.”

Summary: In Romans 7:14–25 Paul describes the internal struggle between the desire to do good and the reality of sin that dwells within us. He expresses the frustration of wanting to live righteously but often failing to do so due to the power of sin.

Application: This message can help Christians to understand that they are not alone in their struggles against sin. It encourages them to recognize the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit for victory in their daily lives and embracing God's grace in times of failure.

Teaching: The sermon highlights the reality of the Christian experience—being simultaneously justified yet still battling sin. It teaches the importance of acknowledging our weaknesses and turning to Christ for strength and redemption.

How this passage could point to Christ: This passage points to Christ as the ultimate solution to our sin problem. He fulfills the law and provides the grace necessary to overcome the sin that Paul describes, fulfilling the promise of liberation from our struggle.

Big Idea: Despite our inner conflict and struggle with sin, Christ's grace empowers us to live victoriously and experience true freedom.

Recommended Study: As you prepare this sermon, utilize your Logos library to explore the nuances of the original Greek terms used by Paul, particularly 'flesh' and 'sin.' Investigate how various theologians have interpreted the tension between law and grace in this passage, and consider studying commentaries that discuss the implications of Paul's arguments for daily Christian living.

1. Struggle with Sin: Recognized

Romans 7:14–17

The law was given us as a set of rules for us to live by. As believers we know the law and what that means for us. We are sinners and there is nothing that we can do of our own to successfully live by the law.

Paul is saying that what he is doing. As a believer he knows how he should be living and what he should be feeling, but he is not. Having the Holy Spirit in him, he knows what he should be doing, but doesn’t do them, instead, he does the things that he knows that he shouldn’t.

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

Our hearts and minds would say that the law is good and perfect, but our flesh still remembers our old ways and desires the old feelings. Because of our relationship with Christ our desire is to do good.

1 Timothy 1:8 “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully,”

We should not be consciously deciding to sin. When we are sinning, it is because the sin that dwells in us and our flesh is desiring the feelings of old.

2. Self-Reliance: Rejected

Romans 7:18–20

We should recognize that there is nothing good that is in our flesh. If given to the desires of our flesh, we would be living in sin always. We have the willing in our hearts, therefore, we know that what our flesh is desiring is sinful. The living out the goodness is not in us. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 ““Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.””

We desire to do the things that Jesus has taught us to do, but we find ourselves doing things that goes against what the bible has taught us. We are powerless to do good on our own.

When we are doing these things it is not us making a conscious decision to do it, but the sinful desires of our flesh.

You could suggest that these verses illuminate the inability of human effort alone to achieve righteousness. Despite a desire to do right, Paul illustrates the frustration of repeated failures. Acknowledging this limitation allows listeners to shift their reliance from self to Christ, who offers true deliverance from sin. This humble realization propels believers toward the transforming power of Christ rather than their own ineffective attempts at self-improvement.

3. Spiritual Battle: Realized

Romans 7:21–23

We recognize that there is evil embedded in us, that is, our flesh will always remember its pleasures. The evil that is lived. Our hearts and minds desires to do good.

We have learned how to live by the teachings of Jesus, agree with it, and desire it. Hence the battle of mind and flesh. The flesh follows a very different law. Our flesh so strongly desires it old sinful feelings that it wages war against our minds to do what we know we should not be doing. This makes us a slave to the desires of the flesh.

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

4. Salvation in Christ: Realized

Romans 7:24–25

Our flesh is so wretched!! Who can set me free from this body of sin?

Jesus!!!!! The blood of Jesus covers us and our sins! Because of Jesus we serve the Almighty Father in heaven. We consciously serve Him! We still step in it. In our minds and hearts we desire to live as God would have us live, which is by the example that Christ taught us. Our flesh has no desire for good, other than the “good” feelings of pleasure that the flesh desires.

5. In recap:

We are born again in the blood of Jesus Christ our Savior, our hearts desire to follow Him and live as He would have us to live. Our flesh in sinful and we will never be rid of the desire to satisfy the lusts of the flesh. Not on this side of heaven. Until then we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus paid a debt that we could not. He covered us in our blood and strengthens our heart. We must be careful to not sin and then just use the excuse, “oh this sin is just in my body, I have no control.” Part of having Christ in our hearts to the ever powerful desire to not do it, but understanding that forgiveness is there for a truly repenting heart.

1 Corinthians 15:57 “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”