"For the entire Law is fulfilled in in this one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."—Gal 5:14

The Struggle with Sin—Romans 7

Added on by Lucas Necessary.

The Christian walk is difficult. Okay, there is the understatement of the year! God calls His people to a level of morality that causes even the most battle-tested saints to quiver in fear when they realize just how far they have to go. The hardest part about being a Christian is the fact that a Christian is still prone to his/her own humanness. Paul recognized this struggle as well.

 

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am not longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

-Romans 7:14-20

 

If one of the apostles struggled like this, it is no wonder that Christians today have trouble as well. Paul does not wallow in self-pity when considering his struggle with sin. Instead he turns his attention to the solution to the problem.

 

Thanks 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. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. -Romans 7:25-8:2

 

Those who have been washed in the blood of Christ, belong to God and have been freed from sin and the spiritual death sin required. The one caveat is we must continue to walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh, seeking to do God’s Will even though we continue to stumble. John put it this way.

 

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. -1 John 1:6-7

 

Let us continue to walk in the Light, seeking fervently to honor our God and the sacrifice of His Son on our behalf. By doing so, we will be victorious in our battle against sin.