"There is a war over the soul of man between the pure and the right on the one hand and the appealing and seductive but wrong on the other."
What would you do if you could be someone else for a night, do whatever you wanted to do, commit whatever sins you wanted to commit, without fear of consequences of any kind?
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Are we good because we want to be good, or are we good because we just don’t want to be punished?
I. BELIEVERS STRUGGLE WITH SIN – ROMANS 7:14-23
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. 22 For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. 23 But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.
Since Christians have died to sin, why do we still struggle with sin?
- Do you ever find yourself doing what you know you shouldn't? So did the Apostle Paul. Listen to him describe his own struggles. “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:17-19)
- As you read this, perhaps you can relate. Have you ever felt this way? Every believer struggles with the conflict of two natures – one that desires to do good, and one that is marked by sin. Even though we desire to do good, we struggle to do it.
Who is this evil that lurks among men? Is evil that guy over there, who takes over my body sometimes against my will?
- The idea of evil as “that guy over there, who takes over my body sometimes against my will” is too simple, and dissociative, and irresponsible. It’s the mistake Jekyll himself makes. Hyde is not someone else who commits Jekyll’s sins for him. Hyde does not exist. Jekyll commits all of his sins on his own.
Our Struggle is:
- Internal: Flesh & Spirit
- External: Satan & World
Does Paul’s tug-of-war testimony confuse, discourage, or encourage you? Why?
- The moment you enter God’s kingdom, He makes you His. He starts polishing and preparing you on the path to holiness. You will still face temptation and feel embarrassed by your misbehavior. But when you’re filled by God’s Spirit you have the ability to move forward, to hold your head up high, to overcome.
- The Holy Spirit is at work.
Will the Christian who continues to sin enter the kingdom of God?
- Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
What is Paul’s answer to this inner problem? (Galatians 5:16-18)
- Paul says the answer is to listen to the Spirit, to live according to the Spirit. In other words, the desires you feel within yourself to do things contrary to the word of God is the sin nature, and the desires you feel to do what is right is the Spirit.
The Hungry Beast of Sin
Attitudes and actions that feed the beast of sin in my life: ___________________
Actions and habits that can starve the beast of sin in my life: ________________
If this battle is going on inside of you, you may want to think of 'love' and 'evil' as 2 dogs in a fight: the one that has been fed will defeat the one that has been starved.
- “AN ESKIMO FISHERMAN came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always brought his two dogs with him. One was white and the other was black. He had taught them to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight and the fisherman would take bets. On one Saturday the black dog would win; another Saturday, the white dog would win - but the fisherman always won! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He said, “I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger.”
- Billy Graham continues by explaining the story. I will now provide a few excerpts to show the connection between this story and the later versions as well of how it’s grounded in Christianity. “This story about the two dogs is apt because it tells us something about the inner warfare that comes into the life of a person who is born again. We have two natures within us, both struggling for mastery. Which one will dominate us? It depends on which one we feed.”
Do you starve God or yourself? Which dog are you feeding in your daily life?
- Habits, of themselves are not evil. Only people can be evil. However, habits do tend to feed one of the above dogs. Which dog do your habits feed?
- The regenerate delight in doing that which is faithful to the law of God.
- As believers, we deal constantly with sin that wants to enslave us.
II. VICTORY OVER SIN COMES THROUGH CHRIST – ROMANS 7:24-8:2
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.
8 Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
To lament is to cry, to wail, to howl, and to grieve. Paul lamented over the disappointing reality of his ongoing sin.
How does freedom in Christ make a difference in our struggle with sin?
- Paul also says in Romans 8:1-10 that the Spirit is God's work, not yours. So while we are to listen to the Spirit, it is God who does that work. Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit is in all Christians, and that God places the Spirit within is. However, as we all know from experience and as Paul describes it in the verse above, while we are in this life there will be a war within us between the two.
- Believers, because they know what is right in God’s sight, are anguished because of the presence and tendency toward sin in them.
- We cannot deliver ourselves from sin, but we praise God that He has delivered us in Jesus Christ the Lord. Because we are in Christ Jesus, we are spared eternal condemnation.
- By choosing to live in Christ and the presence of His quickening Spirit, we are made free from sin and death – now and for eternity.
What weapons have been most helpful to you in your fight against sin?
Let’s conclude by finding some sin-fighting actions to take while we wait for the end of this ongoing battle with sin.
It’s freeing to know that we’ll become more and more like Jesus. But what do we do in the meantime?
- Win the next battle. Just one. Choose to treat someone well. Choose to walk away from the temptation.
- Repent. Talk freely with God about your sin. Confess it and then turn from it. Memorize 1 John 1:9 as a reminder.
- Close the door of temptation. Identify what makes it easy for you to fall into sin and take steps to make it difficult. For example: someone struggling with pornography should place the computer in a public area of the house.
Only the second coming of Christ will end our epic battle with sin. So fight on. Dig in your heels. When sin pulls, pull back until sin falls in the mud. Jesus has already delivered the death blow.
What’s your New Year Resolution going to be this year?
- Many of us make promises to ourselves to mark the beginning of a new year. We make pledges such as I’m going to save more, exercise more, or spend less time on the Internet. We begin the year with good intentions, but before long old habits tempt us to take up our old ways. We slip up occasionally, then more frequently, and then all the time. Finally, it’s as if our resolution never existed.
- Instead of choosing our own self-improvement goals, a better approach might be to ask ourselves: “What does the Lord desire of me?” Through the prophet Micah, God has revealed that He wants us to do what is right, to be merciful, and to walk humbly with Him (Mic. 6:8). All of these things relate to soul-improvement rather than self-improvement. What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? —Micah 6:8
- Thankfully, we don’t have to rely on our own strength. The Holy Spirit has the power to help us as believers in our spiritual growth. God’s Word says, He is able to “strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Eph. 3:16 NIV).
- So as we begin a new year, let’s resolve to be more Christ like. The Spirit will help us as we seek to walk humbly with God.
The law of sin is always present in the life of a Christian. There is a continuing experience of temptation, a real life-and-death grapple with evil. The Christian life ought to be an experience of growing victory over sin, but let no one expect that he will not have to fight the tempter before the victory is won. We rejoice in that we do not struggle alone or under our own power. Christ stands with us. Thus, by our diligent faith we cannot help but win now and in the end.
Prayer of Commitment
Lord, the desire of my heart is to live faithfully for You, but You know full well that I struggle. So fill me with Your Spirit that I may know the joy of victorious living each day. Amen.
Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
