So why is it that although we know what is right, we still do wrong? Why is it that even though we know what temptations we face, and which sin we are susceptible to, we still fall to it? How is it so hard to put the evil ways behind us, even though we don't want to do those things?
I know even the Apostle Paul struggled with this. In Romans, Paul writes,
"We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the Law is good. 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, my sinful nature. For I have every 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. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:14-20
I know I often feel like this--that I completely know what I should do, and want to do, and yet in moments of weakness, or even just inattention, I do what I hate, what is evil. Paul continues,
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against teh law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Do you turn your struggles into praise? I know it's hard to me to sometimes. But I think we have to understand, somehow, that although we sin, and we are in a war between the spirit and the flesh, when we sin it is sin living in me. This means that although I may be a wretched man, in a sense, when we know Christ, it isn't our soul that is wretched. Honestly, I don't fully grasp this concept, except that God's grace and love have rained down to RESCUE ME! And so when I do what is right, it is Christ living in me, just as it is sin living in me when I sin.
So what's the point of this? I think it is just that we have to turn to Christ in everything. Even one of the greatest Apostles had trouble with doing what was considered sin...and yet he knew that Christ saved Him! Do you? Do I?
I know even the Apostle Paul struggled with this. In Romans, Paul writes,
"We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the Law is good. 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, my sinful nature. For I have every 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. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:14-20
I know I often feel like this--that I completely know what I should do, and want to do, and yet in moments of weakness, or even just inattention, I do what I hate, what is evil. Paul continues,
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against teh law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Do you turn your struggles into praise? I know it's hard to me to sometimes. But I think we have to understand, somehow, that although we sin, and we are in a war between the spirit and the flesh, when we sin it is sin living in me. This means that although I may be a wretched man, in a sense, when we know Christ, it isn't our soul that is wretched. Honestly, I don't fully grasp this concept, except that God's grace and love have rained down to RESCUE ME! And so when I do what is right, it is Christ living in me, just as it is sin living in me when I sin.
So what's the point of this? I think it is just that we have to turn to Christ in everything. Even one of the greatest Apostles had trouble with doing what was considered sin...and yet he knew that Christ saved Him! Do you? Do I?
posted by RobMcFarren | 8:08 PM
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