Oh wretched man that I am…(Romans 7:24).
I’m not sure what I expected to happen to me when I became a Christian as a university student. I’m sure I thought I better clean up my act a bit (it needed much more than “a bit”). And I think I thought being a follower of Christ meant that I wouldn’t cave in to the same desires I had before meeting Jesus. Imagine my disappointment when I found myself struggling with many of the same temptations I had before taking my leap of faith.
It took me a while to realize that there were two big differences in my own personal B.C. vs. A.D. One was that before Jesus I never considered my ungodly desires to be a problem. On the contrary, they were what I lived for! The second was the fact that I had the ability or power to now say “No!” But the fact that I still struggled bothered me. That was why coming across today’s text was such an encouragement. Even Paul struggled. It was normal. The struggle was part of the new life I had begun to experience.
Romans, chapter seven, is another of the classic passages contained in Paul’s letters. In this chapter he exposes his own experience of how the “new nature”, created by the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life, and his “flesh”, or old nature, were in conflict. Paul writes earlier in the chapter:” I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Then he adds: “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” I felt like I was reading the spiritual biography of my newfound faith!
In response to this conflict, Paul asks the right question: “Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?” The answer to the question is given briefly here in chapter seven, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Then he launches into chapter eight where he teaches how the Holy Spirit has the power to win the inner battle. The Spirit enables us to say “no” to the old nature, and “yes” to the new. But we have to make the choice. Paul calls it “walking in the Spirit” in Galatians. He says that if we “walk in the Spirit” we will not “gratify the desires of the flesh”.
The simplest way I know to apply this truth is to imagine that there is a control center in your life. Many have used the image of a throne. Who is on the throne? If it is your own ego, then your are walking in the flesh – the old nature. You will lose the battle, even though you have the inner resources to win. But if you have surrendered the “throne” and invited Jesus Christ to reign over your life…day by day…you will learn to walk in the Spirit, and you will win the battle!
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