Romans 7:14-25The Tug-of-War Within Us

WREFC 1/20/19

I’d like to read to you portions of a letter written by a missionary. It’s a rather shocking admission from a seasoned servant of God. It made me wonder if this missionary was truly saved or not. You be the judge. Here’s what he said:

“I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to—what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I am breaking. But I can’t help myself … It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things … No matter which way I turn I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway … It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong … In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin … Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in!”

Let me ask the members of our mission’s committee: “Would you recommend that we support a man like this in our mission’s budget?”

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Let me ask you who are members of Efree Church: “Would you call a man like this to be your pastor?”

Before you answer those questions, let me point out that the man who wrote that letter is someone you already know. No, it’s not Don Davis or Mark Doebler. The name of the man who penned those words is Saul, Saul of Tarsus, otherwise known as the Apostle Paul.

What I read to you was taken from Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapt.7, vv.15-24 in The Living Bible. Before we get into the explanation of this passage I would like to reread it from the NKJV. If you need a copy of the NKJ Bible, you’ll find one in the pew rack next to a red hymn book. Whatever translation you use, I highly recommend that you open your bible as we move through the exposition of this text. I’ll begin reading at v.14:

Rd Romans 7:14-25

In order to make sense out of this passage, we need to identify the type of person Paul is talking about. Some feel that Paul is talking about an unsaved man. Others say that the apostle is describing the life of an immature believer who is still struggling with the lusts of the flesh. Some commentators say that Paul is describing the life of

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a carnal Christian—a believer who refuses to live in obedience to God’s Word.

But notice that Paul is writing in the first person singular. He uses the words “I”, “me” and “my” at least 37x in this passage. Paul is talking about his own personal struggle with sin.

We have no problem believing that we and others struggle with sin, but Paul is somehow, above it all. That’s a misconception. Paul is telling us that there is a war going on in his soul—a tug of war between the sin nature and the new nature. The new nature is pulling us in one direction—it wants to do the right thing, but the sin nature is pulling us in the opposite direction. It wants to do the wrong thing. This is how life was for Paul as a mature Christian.

Pastor, theologian, and author, John MacArthur makes this helpful comment: “It seems rather Paul is here describing the most spiritual and mature of Christians, who, the more they honestly measure themselves against God’s standards of righteousness the more they realize how much they fall short. The closer we get to God, the more we see our own sin … The level of spiritual insight, brokenness, contrition, and humility that characterize the person depicted in Romans 7 are marks of a spiritual and mature believer, who before God has no trust in his own goodness and

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achievements. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)

If we’re honest, we would have to admit that we can identify with Paul’s struggle with sin. His words are instructive. He’s not only writing about himself, he’s writing about you and me. So let’s get started and see how our battle with sin is portrayed in this passage. As the title of my sermon puts it Romans 7:14-25 shows us how to win the war with sin:

Rd. Rom.7:14

The apostle says a couple of things here: One, the Law is spiritual; and two, he is carnal or fleshly and sold under sin.

The Law refers to the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai. So, why did Paul mention the Law here in v.14? Why did he say that the Law is spiritual and that he is carnal? He’s trying to show that the problem of sin does not lie within the Law; the problem of sin lies within him!

Paul is continuing his train of thought that he started in v.7. So, let’s go back to v.7:Rd Rom.7:7

Paul emphatically states that the law is not sin. The purpose of the law is to reveal sin, to expose sin, to

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identify sin. Then he gave an example. Paul said that he would not have known that he was covetous unless the 10th Commandment said “Thou shalt not covet”. No one can point their finger at the Ten Commandments and say “All ten of those ‘Thou shalts’ and ‘Thou shalt nots’ are sinful”. Rather, all ten commandments point to you and me and say “You’re sinful, you’re the bad guy, you’re the problem.

Drop down to v.12. There he speaks in glowing terms about the spiritual nature of the Law:

Rd Rom.7:12

Paul’s point is that the law is holy, just, and good, but the law can’t make us holy, just, and good. The purpose of the law is to show us how unholy, unjust, and bad we really are. In other words, the Law cannot change you; but it shows you what changes you need to make so your life conforms the righteous standards of God’s Word.

Like a mirror, the Law exposes the dirt of sin so you can apply the true cleansing agent that will purify your soul. 1Jn.1:7 says “… the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”

Back to Rom.7:14. Paul is telling us that the Law of God is spiritual—it’s holy, just, and good. There’s

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nothing wrong with the Law. The problem is with me. I’m the one who is carnal and fleshly. I’m sold under sin; I’m a slave to sin.

Now, that raises a theological problem. How can Paul say “I’m in bondage to sin”, when he said this in Rom.6:17. “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

Here’s the argument: If Paul tells the Roman believers that they used to be slaves of sin but were now, in Christ, slaves of righteousness, that would certainly be true for him as well. So, how could Paul say that he had become a slave to righteousness, and just a few paragraphs later write, "I am carnal, fleshly, and a slave to sin"?

Paul is not confused; he’s not getting senile; he is in no way contradicting himself. He simply describes what happens when a Christian tries to obey the Ten Commandments in his own strength. When a Christian by sheer willpower tries to do what is right in order to please God, he/she will experience the frustrations and failures of vv.15-23. We’ll look at the section in a moment.

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When Paul says “I am carnal and fleshly” he’s telling us that there is a part of him that is still under bondage to sin! His nature, by birth is fallen. It came as a result of Adam’s rebellion against God. The sinful nature we inherited from Adam is hostile toward God and friendly toward sin. The fact that our sin nature is opposed to the Law of God demonstrates that the cause of all our problems is our sinful flesh, not the Law.

We are at war with the flesh. We are engaged in mortal combat with the old Adamic nature. The conflict is portrayed in vv.15-23. Frustration is written all over this section:

Rd Rom.7:15

Some are convinced, from this verse alone, that Paul was a golfer. If you have ever tried golf, you know what happens when you T-off and swing the driver. You want the golf ball to go straight down the fairway for a hole in one. But the ball it hooks left and lands in a water trap or it hooks right and winds up in the woods. What you want to do, you do not do. What you do not want to do, that’s the very thing you do. That was me 40 years ago. I haven’t played a round of golf since, other than mini-golf. Of course, Paul is talking about a much greater problem than playing a frustrating round of golf.

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Paul marveled at the fact that what he despised intellectually he did volitionally. He said “I know I shouldn’t do what the Law forbids, but I do it anyway. And it amazes me that I don’t do what I know I should do.”

You hear children say that all the time. When they throw a rock through a window, you ask them “why did you do that?” They give you their pat answer: “I don’t know.” When they don’t do their chores, you ask them “Why didn’t you take out the garbage or why didn’t you make your bed?” They say, “I don’t know, I guess I forgot.”

What Paul is saying is true for believers today. There are times when we Christians do some foolish things—even sinful things. When somebody asks us why we said what we said, the only answer we can come up with is, “I don’t know why I said that.” If they ask us why we did what we did, we say “I don’t know why I did that.”

We make a promise and then we break it. We set a goal and we don’t go after it. We’re convicted of sin. We plead with God “Lord, help me never to do that again”, and the next day we do it again. If anybody here says “That’s not true of me!” you’re either not saved, or if you’re saved you’re lying. And there’s another sin you need to repent of.

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What Paul is talking about was true for him—it’s true for me and you too.

This is a picture of a Two-headed Shingleback Skink. It was discovered in Perth Australia nine years ago. The lizard’s two heads are the result of a rare genetic mutation. The article that went along with this picture says that “the heads hate each other … the larger one keeps attacking the smaller one.” (1)

I thought, what a great illustration of true believers. We’re not born with two heads, but we now have two natures. When we’re born physically, we inherit a sin nature that wants to do the wrong thing—it covets sin. When we’re born again spiritually, we receive a new nature that wants no part of sin. It wants to do the right thing. And that creates a lifelong struggle. The two natures pull us in opposite directions. It’s a tug of war within.

We might put it this way:

They say that two heads are better than one, But a two natured man struggles with sin to shun.

Are you struggling to shun the fun of sin? Is it difficult for you to do the right thing and easy do the wrong thing? Don’t despair. Your struggle is evidence that God is at work in your life. It also

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demonstrates that the law is good. That’s what Paul says in v.16:

Rd Rom.7:16

Paul is saying “When I do what the Law forbids, I’m agreeing that the law is good and sin is bad. For example, the Law says "Thou shalt not covet!" We say "I agree! This is a good law! I say ‘AMEN’ to it. I don’t want to covet. I know it is wrong to covet. I hate covetousness. But I covet anyway!" You have just entered the frustration zone!

In v.17, it seems as though Paul is making excuses for sinning:

Rd Rom.7:17

Let’s be clear on what Paul is not saying. He’s not saying “The devil made me do it.” He’s not saying “I was quite helpless when this great force of sin swept me off my feet and down I fell into sin.” There is no way that Paul is saying, “I am like a puppet. There’s something outside of me pulling all the strings of sin against my will.”

Paul is not trying to avoid responsibility for his bad behavior. What Paul is saying is this: “I am the one doing what I hate doing. It’s the “dwelling-in-me sin principle” that compels me to do what I hate doing.

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There is an old cartoon strip called Pogo. It ran in major newspaper publications from 1948-1976. In one famous scene, Pogo, the hero comes and he says “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

That’s what Paul is saying. We have met the enemy. The enemy is us. Actually, the enemy is in us. You can tell that Paul’s frustration is growing in vv.18:

Rd Rom.7:18a

While Paul is convinced that the Law is good, he’s also certain that nothing good lives in him—as he put it “nothing good lives in me.” Notice that Paul defines “in me” with the phrase “that is, in my flesh.” He’s not talking about the world out there, or devil out there, he’s talking about the no-good flesh that dwells in here. The flesh refers to that part of his inner being in which sin still has a foothold. In military terms, the in-me-flesh is that old human nature that establishes a beachhead for sin so it can wage war against the new nature. Paul says that’s not a good thing because it really messes up my desire to do the right thing:

Rd Rom.7:18b-20

Again, Paul is not making excuses for his sin.  

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He’s simply expressing his frustration with that inner struggle between the new nature that wants to please God and the old Adamic nature that’s opposed to God. He hates evil and loves righteousness. He has good intentions to do the righteous thing he loves, but he winds up doing the evil he hates.

Who does that remind you of? How about you—and me?

We have great ideas on how to grow spiritually. We have good intentions to mature in Christ. We make a new year’s resolution to read through the Bible in a year or to memorize a certain number of Scriptures, or to have daily devotions, or to be more bold in our witness, and then fail to follow through?

When we go on a men’s or women’s retreat we get away from worldly influences, we surround ourselves with likeminded Christians, we immerse ourselves in the Word of God, we hear great message from gifted teachers, we take a pile of notes on how to draw closer to Christ. But when we get back from the retreat, we find it very difficult to do those things we want to do or not do those things we know we should not do.

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What happened? It’s that nasty, ugly, deadly principle of sin. It just won that inner tug of war causing you to do what you know is wrong and to not do what you know is right.

Rd Rom.7:21

Paul discovered that evil is a lingering presence. Sin is ready to engage Paul in battle every time he tries to do something good. Every good word, every good deed, every good thought, every good motive; every good intention is challenged by the principle of sin within. If we are able to any good thing, it is always the result of winning the battle against sin!

The Lord warned Cain when he had a hissy fit over God accepting Abel’s sacrifice and not his. In Gen.4:7 God said “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it”.

Sin continues to crouch at the door of our hearts. It’s always ready to spring into evil action in order to get us to do what we shouldn’t do and not do what we should do. It’s true in my experience, as I’m sure you’ll admit that it’s true in your experience too. When you try to do good, there is always temptation to do evil. It’s hard to keep your motives pure, isn’t it? It’s difficult to control your

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thoughts and keep them pure so good wins out isn’t it? Of course it is!

There’s a bright side to your struggle with sin. What’s that you ask? Well, it’s a good indicator that you’re a growing, maturing saint. The closer you get to God, the more you want to distance yourself from sin. And sin is going to do its dead level best to get in your face and harass you with temptation. The only people who do not struggle with sin are those people who are lost in sin! 

Paul further explains the war within in vv.22-23:

Rd Rom.7:22

Now what is Paul’s “inward man”? Kata MacArthur, the inward man refers to “the deepest recesses of … [Paul’s] redeemed person” (2) In other words, from the bottom of his heart, Paul rejoiced in the Law of God. He had the same love for God’s Law expressed in Psalm 119. Over and over again, the Psalmist praised God for His Word:

In v.47 he said “I shall delight in Your commandments, which I love”

In v.77 he said “Your law is my delight” In v.140 he said Your word is very pure,

therefore, Your servant loves it”

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And then there’s Psalm 1:1-2: “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD …”

Unsaved people do not delight in the Law of the Lord. Only redeemed people can delight in God’s commandments, rejoice in God’s Word, and love spiritual truths. Why? Because believers have a new nature that gives them the capacity to love His Word. This is another proof that Paul is talking about saved people in Romans 7.

Are you saved? Have you trusted Christ as your personal Savior? Do you believe that He died for your sins and rose again? Romans 7 is talking about you and your struggle with sin. V.23 says there’s a war going on in your soul:

Rd Rom.7:23

The law here is not the Law of God. Paul is talking about a concept, a maxim, a principle. In vv.17, 20 he called it “sin that dwells in me”; in v.21 it’s that “evil … present with me”. In essence, Paul is talking about the principle of sin as a hostile combatant.

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The indwelling principle of sin is constantly lining up to do battle with us. It wants to discourage us, defeat us, and destroy us. It wants to bring us down and pull us away from God.

In this war, our minds and the members of our body are sometimes on opposite sides. Our renewed minds say “I want to please God. I want to obey His Laws” but the members of our body dominated by the old self want to break those laws.

Other Scriptures remind us of this war within us: Gal.5:17 says “For the flesh sets its desire

against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

Jas.4:1 says “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?”

In 1Pet.2:11 Peter pleaded with his readers: “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

What do you think of first when it comes to spiritual warfare? Your mind is drawn to Eph.6 and the armor of God. You think of the Devil; you think

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of principalities and powers and spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.

After today, when you hear the term spiritual warfare, I hope your mind is drawn to Rom.7 and the war within. Start thinking in terms of a war on two fronts: We are not only battling Satan and the forces of evil on the outside; there’s a war going on with our sinful human flesh on the inside!

I hope the reality of this inner conflict hits home before you get in your car and head for home. As a Christian, you are going to struggle with sin as long as you are in this physical body. If Paul, who an apostle, an evangelist, a missionary, a church planter, and author of nearly half of the N.T., if he struggled with sin, we’re going to struggle too.

The real battle is the one that nobody ever sees. It’s the struggle that goes on in your mind and heart; it’s a hostile confrontation between the new nature and the old nature.

Every Sunday morning we get up, eat up, clean up, dress up, and drive to church, where we sit up, stand up, speak up, and listen up. We look nice in church. We put on a smiley face that gives the appearance that all is well. But deep inside of us there’s a battle going on. One commentator describes the church scene this way:

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“… behind every smiling face is a story of struggle, heartache, despair, defeat, victory, cowardice, bravery, fear and courage all mixed up together. Though we look…good when we come to church, in truth, if we could see our souls, it would be more appropriate to picture us as a group of soldiers staggering out of [the muddy trenches of WWI].” (3)

If that’s how you feel, that’s OK, because you’re in good company. I’m sure most of us feel that way.

Sometimes people tell me “Good sermon preacher” They might not say that if they knew the battles going on in my own heart. And I don’t always win.

Some of us are going to struggle with certain sins for many years. We’re going to win some battles and we’re going to lose some battles. We’re going to be knocked down by sin and by the grace of God, we’re going to repent and get back up.

We’ll never ultimately win the victory over sin until we enter heaven via rapture or death. But until then we can walk in significant victory. Romans 7 is not the whole picture of our Christian experience. Chapter 8 will complete that picture with a focus on the Holy Spirit as key to victory over sin. But Romans 7 is warfare.

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Our 34th president and former Allied Commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower once said, “War is a terrible thing. But if you’re going to get into it, you’ve got to get into it all the way.” (4)

Never underestimate the power of the enemy. It’s a sure way to lose the war. In this life, the war within is winnable, not perfectly, not permanently, but consistently. If we declare total war using God’s resources, we can win consistently!

As I mentioned a moment ago, the full scope of victorious Christian living is found in Romans 8. But until we delve into chapt.8, what will help us with our struggle with sin now? The answer lies in the last two verses of Romans 7.

I’m going to give you three words that will serve as a hook to hang your victory hat on. They are not original with me. But I found them extremely helpful as I deal with my own inner struggles. The words are Honesty, Humility, and Dependency (5)

Let’s take them in order. The first word is Honesty. Paul was brutally honest about his struggle with sin. Notice how he described himself in v.24:

Rd Rom.7:24a

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Remember, that’s a godly, mature, Christian man is talking to us. What Paul said about himself is applicable. Apart from Jesus Christ and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, what a wretched man I am; what a wretched person you are. We come to church; we hear the truth intellectually, but we don’t let the truth impact us spiritually. We put up our sin-nature deflector shields, and the truth never changes us. Honesty about our wretched condition is necessary for spiritual victory.

V.24 also reveals our second word. The last half of v.24 is talking about Humility:

Rd Rom.7:24

The difference between honesty and humility is that honesty says “I am a wretched person” and humility says “I cannot win the war within by myself.” Paul longed for the day when he would be set free once and for all from his sinful flesh.

When Paul used the phrase “this body of death”, he may have had in mind a gruesome practice of executing murders. The corpse of the murder victim was bound face to face with the murderer himself. In time, the rotting corpse would infect the

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murder with disease resulting in a slow, agonizing death.

Perhaps Paul had this ancient torture in mind when he cried out for ultimate deliverance from the torture of his sinful nature. Until that glorious day, be honest about your wretched condition, humble yourself and admit that you can’t save yourself or sanctify yourself—that your need outside help to win the war within. And v.25 points to that help:

Rd Rom.7:25

The word that summarizes v.25 is Dependence—complete dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the answer to everything Paul said so far about our struggle with sin. In fact, all of chapter 8 is an expansion of that phrase “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

You don’t have to live in defeat, although at times you will stumble and fall. You don’t have to stay in the muck and mire of sin, although that’s where you may find yourself at this very moment. As you completely depend on Jesus Christ (Rom.7:25) and as you rely on the Holy Spirit to empower you (chapt.8), you will experience significant victories over sin.

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In order to win the war with sin, we must experience Rom.7. Our struggle with sin is meant to drive you and me into the everlasting arms of Jesus Christ. One person explained the conflict in these poetic terms:

Two natures compete within my breast,The one is bad, the other blest,The new I love, the old I hate;Through Christ the new will dominate. (5)

What’s dominating your life right now? Is it the new nature or the old nature? Remember our three words. Honesty, humility, and Dependency will keep you on the path of victory as we make our way to Rom.8 and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

______________________________________________________________________(1)https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/two-headed-lizard-whose-heads-hate-each-other-discovered-in-australia.html (2) MacArthur, John. The New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8, Moody Press, Chicago, 1991 (3) http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/the-struggle/ (4) https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-41-war-within-romans-721-25 (5)revised from https://odb.org/