Confessions of a Struggling Soul

Inner Conflict

We are going to open up with a few interesting verses tonight. Over the last two thousand years there has been much debate among theologians and scholars alike as to exactly what Paul was saying in these verses. Many believe that Paul contradicts himself. We will get to those in a moment.

I want to ask you two question first. Have you ever felt like you were not living up to God’s standard? That you fall short time and again? How about living up to a Christian denominations doctrine? You have to do x, y, and z in order to be a good church member or a good Christian?

As we begin tonight, I remind you that there were 613 Laws of Moses, 613 x, y, and z’s to live up to at the time that Paul wrote this letter. Lets look at Romans 7:14

Romans 7:14 NLT

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.

Paul immediately tells us that the trouble is not with the law. The law was given to Moses through God. The law is good, it came from God! The law is what enables people to see sin for what it is, sin. It was God’s way of dividing the darkness from the light in a way we could understand and apply to our lives. To live for Him.

The Greek word used for human is sarkinos. The carnal person or of the flesh. Paul is observing that in the flesh, we fail in sin. In the Spirit, we are victorious against sin.

Like so many things man puts his hand to, the Pharisees and Sadducees twisted the law into something to be feared. The law was meant to help us live good lives, healthy lives, and to glorify God. The law exposes the fact that people die because they sin. Remember, the wages of sin is death.

Paul says that the trouble is with him. He is far too human and a slave to sin. Wow! He just told us in the previous chapter that we are no longer slaves to sin in Jesus. It appears now that Paul is calling himself a slave to sin rather than a slave to Jesus Christ. Is this a contradiction? No. Paul is using what we will call:

The Divided “I”

Before we continue, there are two things I want you to think about in your life. Remember the Greek word sarkinos (of the flesh), as you contemplate.

Was there a time you recognized your immaturity as a believer and decided to put the effort in to become more mature?

Do you struggle at times knowing what is right, but then doing what is right?

Many of us can answer yes to both questions. The Apostle Paul was no different.

Romans 7:15–17 (NLT)

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.

17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

What Paul is doing is opening himself up and being transparent. Some theologians believed he was taking on the persona of an unrepentant sinner. This can not be the case. The unrepentant sinner does not care about doing what is right, hence the term unrepentant.

Paul is showing us the struggle he had coming to Jesus Christ. The inner conflict. He spent his life dedicated to the law. Dedicated to destroying Christianity. Until he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.

Here is a modern day analogy: Imagine taking every Christian denominations doctrine and having to live up to all of them to be acceptable to God. Those doctrines are supposed to be in place to help us grow, not as a weapon. The law was in place to teach us, Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

Every maturing believer has difficulty at times reconciling God’s word with what we see around us, with how we feel, with our thoughts, and with our own behaviors. This bring us back to the law which was intended to show us our need to depend on God.

When we do what is wrong knowing that it is wrong, we are coming into agreeance with the Law and the Holy Spirit. That conviction, that feeling of guilt, it can be a good thing. That is the Spirit directing us, correcting us, and protecting us.

Paul delivers a deeper message here. It is the most mature of believers whom are concerned about their sin. The more progress a believer makes in pursuit of sanctification, the more our heart and minds desire is to be like Jesus Christ, the sinless one. We all need the ongoing sanctification of Jesus Christ.

In verse 17, Paul points out it is the sin living in him that causes him to sin. Paul is not disclaiming responsibility for his actions. He is explaining that sin lives in the flesh and drives his sinful nature in the flesh. This is the divided “I”.

Has anybody here or online ever said something to this effect: “I do not know where that came from.” “I have no idea why I said or did that!” This is the divided “I” in our lives. The one who knows what is right, yet at times fails to do what is right.

This is an example of the old man or the old woman that battles the inherent sin of the flesh versus the new spiritual creation that we have become in Christ.There are struggles and there will always be struggles in the flesh. It is impossible to be made perfect by the law, by ceremony, or church doctrine in our flesh.

It all comes back to the cross, what Jesus did, and the work of the Spirit in our lives, that convicts the regenerate believer to “go and sin no more.” This brings us to:

The Ministry of Holy Spirit

Romans 8:1 NLT

1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

The law can appear condemning, religious rituals can appear condemning, some church doctrines are condemning. Jesus Christ is the antithesis, the opposite, of condemnation.

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Most of us know this verse and believe this verse. The next verse in John is just as important.

John 3:17 NKJV

17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

This is one of the hardest things for maturing Christians to realize. We want to fix people. We want to fix things. It is the Gospel message that changes lives. It is Jesus Christ who saves. We are to be a beacon in the dark, we are to be Jesus to others. We are to share the Gospel message.

Within the church body, we are to edify, exhort, rebuke, and correct when necessary. The Apostle Paul is telling us that it is the same Jesus the same Spirit and the same God who has walked each of us out of sin, through the fire, and into kingdom living.

Romans 8:2 (NLT)

2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

The Holy Spirit was mentioned once in chapter seven. Holy Spirit is mentioned nineteen times in the first twenty seven verses of chapter eight.

There is a reason. We belong to God. I chuckle when I hear believers talk about the “mark of the beast.” Tattoos, microchips, certain clothes, a vaccine card, the list is endless. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus tonight, you have the “mark of God.” Holy Spirit is His mark on His children.

Where the original apostles lived in the age of Jesus Christ, we live in the age of the Spirit under the authority of Jesus Christ. The power and the ministry of God’s Spirit.

It can not be argued that the Christian life is animated, sustained, directed, and enriched by Holy Spirit. The truth is, without Holy Spirit, true Christian discipleship would be impossible.

When Paul speaks about being “liberated from the law of sin and death through Christ,” he is saying that we cannot look to law, ritual, or rules for justification or sanctification. Justification and sanctification come through Jesus Christ alone.

Paul delivers a gut check in this verse

Indwelling of the Spirit

Romans 8:9 NLT

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

Herein lies the battle. The battle between flesh and Spirit. We decide moment by moment if it is our sinful flesh that directs us or if it is Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.

Again, God’s mark on His people is the indwelling of Holy Spirit. Notice that Paul calls Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ here. This is not to confuse the persons of the trinity, but to show us that the divine essence and the divine will of the “three in one” are inseparable.

What the Father does, He does through the son. What the son does, he does through Holy Spirit. Where there is one, there is all. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Paul is reminding every believer of the promise of Jesus Christ.

John 14:17 NLT

17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

As disciples, as ministers of the Word tonight, we must each ask ourselves: “Is Holy Spirit alive in me?” “Who is master of my life?” Holy Spirit will always point us back to the living Word of God, to Jesus Christ, and to Kingdom living.

God bless you tonight. Let’s pray.