Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I ask that you search our hearts and see if there be anything wicked in them. We ask that your Holy Spirit show us what you are saying to us today. I ask that the words on this page would jump out to us as you speak to our hearts and minds truth and life. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Romans 7: 7-25
“What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; 10and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me. 12So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin. 15For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25Thanks 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.”
What the Word is Saying
Paul now begins to wrap up his argument for and against the Law. The Law was necessary in that it showed man what the standard was that God would have us live up to. In that sense the Law is very good. However, what the law was ineffective at doing was changing the heart of man so that he would no longer break the Law. The law introduced sin to us or more precisely told us what sin was. It was always there inside man since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, when the Law came it pointed out those short comings to us. This produced a problem for man.
As Paul alludes to the Law could not prevent us from committing sin. Rather it had the opposite effect. Now that man knew what was wrong, he attempted to stop doing it. However, the Law did not have the power to change the hearts of man. Therefore, as Paul says, we do the very thing we hate instead of what we want to do. The chain binding us to sin was always there, the law only made it visible and showed us how we are unable to break it. As Paul says: “Who will set me free from the body of this death (Romans 7:24)?” The answer is Jesus!
Jesus is of course the answer to how we can overcome sin in our lives. This is explained further in Chapter 8 which is where I began this blog on January 3rd. Please refer to them if you have not read them yet. I assure you they are worth the time. Maybe you do not yet know Jesus as your personal savior. Then you cannot know victory over sin in your life. You are stuck and chained to your sin and need Jesus to rescue you. I can assure you that He is a chain breaker and is ready and willing to help you. You need only ask.
Pray this prayer with me now. Right where you are, say these words aloud: ““Jesus I confess that you are Lord of all, I yield my will to your will for you are greater than me. I believe you came to this world and lived a sinless life; I believe you suffered and died on cross for my sins, I believe they put your lifeless body in a tomb, and three days later you rose from the dead. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me. I also ask that you send me your Holy Spirit to give me power to live a sanctified life and to lead me into all truth. In Jesus name, Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, I urge you to contact us here so that we might come beside you and hold you up in prayer as you begin your journey with Jesus. I assure you that we have all been where you are. We may have committed different sins, but we are just as guilty, nonetheless. We all needed forgiveness and someone else supported us as we began our Journey with Him.
Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying. I pray that God will send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us. So that we can fulfill the mission He left us in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” lockman.org
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