Reading Romans 7 was kind of tricky for me. Reading in verses 1-6 I was able to understand being released from the law and being joined to Christ. I get that no matter how hard I try in my own strength I can never fulfill the entire law. Thank God, now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. (Romans 7:6)

However, I did struggle with reading verses 7-25. I had difficult processing what Paul was saying because the arrogant part of me thought, “well obviously Paul and I need to have stronger mind control.” See in these verses Paul is writing about the complexity of our sinful nature and being under the law. He writes, 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. 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.

After reading this I immediately questioned, How is Paul a slave to sin? Is he not a servant of Christ? Is he attempting to put the responsibility of his sin else where? Just having a basic knowledge of Paul but also knowing that the scripture is God’s word to His people I realized that there was information or a revelation that was missing in my understanding. I learned that Paul was not evading responsibility for his sin. Rather he was saying that because he genuinely wants to do what the law commands, some other factor must bee causing him to do just the opposite. That factor is living in us. Like Paul, we all experience a divide between our will and our actions.

Romans 7:21-25

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Questions:

What do you think about or know about the struggle between loving the law of God and sin living with in us?