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This is Your Life…and Mine Romans 7:14-25 |
August 8, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
Our good friends and next-door neighbors are engaged in a very noble endeavor-they are raising their 2 small grandchildren. Their youngest, Kevin is 3 years old and has a propensity for saying some of the funniest things imaginable.
A while back I went over to check out the landscaping project that transformed their back yard into a kid friendly environment. As I was leaving their back yard, I walked past their tool shed. The doors of the shed were opened and I could see that it was tightly packed with all manner of tools and gardening equipment. I also noticed that, wedged into the furthest corner of the shed, in an impossibly tiny space was Kevin.
I stopped and called out to Kevin's grandpa, "Hey, Matt, there's something over here you ought to see." Matt walked over, looked into the shed and saw Kevin and the look on Matt's face told me that he was trying in vain to figure out how in the world Kevin had managed to get back there.
After just a moments hesitation he said, "Kevin, what are you doing in there?"
Kevin paused briefly and said, "I don't know."
It was the perfect response and it came straight from that little 3-year-old heart. And it told the story completely. "You know, now that you mention it, that's an interesting question. I hadn't really planned to climb into the shed, today. Never really thought about it before. Seems to me that I was on my way to ride my bike and…I don't know exactly how it happened, but, somehow this is where I ended up."
I love that story. I love it because it rings so true to my own experience. I used to be Kevin. I don't know how many times I got caught in the "back of the shed," so to speak. I can't even begin to estimate the number of times the best answer I could come up with was, "I don't know how this happened, mom…dad…officer." I can relate all too well to that story.
And not just as a kid. As long as we're being honest here, let me confess that I can also relate to that story as an adult…and as a Christian…and, yes, even as a pastor. Folks, the truth is that to this very day there are still occasions when I am startled by the quiet voice of God asking, "Tom, what are you doing?" And in that moment of surprise as I survey my situation in the glare of God's light, oftentimes, the best that I can do is to hang my head in humiliation and say, "I don't know. I don't know. I hadn't planned for this to happen, but somehow, one thing just led to another and this is where I ended up."
Can anybody else relate to that scenario? Am I the only one here thinking, "Been there. Done that?" I didn't think so. Because, sometimes that's just the way life goes, even if you're a Christian. Well, folks, that's the underlying reality beneath the scripture passage that we're going to be looking at, today. This is the classic biblical passage describing that ongoing struggle with which every serious and honest Christian is all too familiar. It goes like this:
--I know what God wants me to do…
--and I want to do what God wants me to do…
--but all too often, I end up doing something else altogether.
Scholarly Debate
Now, before we dive into the passage, I want to acknowledge that a scholarly debate continues over how best to interpret this particular passage.
--Some scholars believe that what Paul is describing here is his pre-Christian experience. In other words, this is what life was like for Paul before he became a Christian.
--Others believe that Paul is describing his experience as an immature Christian. That this is what his life was like in the early days of his Christian experience.
--And others believe that Paul is describing the real-life, ongoing struggles he faced as a mature Christian trying to live a truly Christian life.
While there is ample support for each of those positions, I place myself within that third group. For me, the most compelling reason supporting this position is the obvious, namely, that when I read this passage it doesn't sound at all like Paul is looking back at the way things used to be, it sounds to me like he's describing his life, today.
Let me read you the passage from, The Message, and see if you don't agree.
"I can anticipate the response that is coming: 'I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?' Yes, I'm full of myself-after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."
Folks, it sounds to me like what we have here is Paul's personal testimony about his daily struggle to live the life that Christ wanted him to live. His daily struggle to attain the high moral standard that is revealed through God's law and embodied in the example of Christ. And his testimony is that there are times when he fails spectacularly. And the implication is that his experience is the rule, rather than the exception. In other words, what Paul is describing here is the normative Christian experience.
And, as such, it is an immensely helpful passage for us as we struggle to live the life that Christ wants us to live. And while it is certainly not a pretty picture it is, nonetheless, a hopeful picture.
--It's hopeful because it tells us that we are not alone in the struggle that we endure in our pursuit of the Christ-modeled life.
--And it's also hopeful in that it shows us how best to engage in this very important and lifelong struggle.
Context: Remember to Read the Whole Story
Now, I want to offer one last word of context to keep us from jumping to some inappropriate conclusions and that is that it is important to remember that the struggle that Paul describes here in chapter 7 does not represent the totality of the Christian experience, but rather one part of the Christian experience. In other words, while it's true that spiritual struggle and even failure are a very real part of the Christian experience, so too are spiritual success and victory. And we'll see that as we move from chapter 7 into chapter 8 in the weeks ahead. So, don't get discouraged by the disturbing picture we examine, this morning, because the picture waiting for us in chapter 8 is one of the most encouraging in the entire Bible.
The Basic Problem Identified
Now, let's dive into these amazing verses. In verses 14-16 Paul identifies a basic problem that every Christian faces. Beginning in verse 14 he writes, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual…"
Here's the point-it should not come as a surprise to discover that we struggle to consistently attain the high moral standard prescribed by God's law, because the nature of God's law and our human nature are so fundamentally different. The law in its very essence is "spiritual" and we are "unspiritual." Now, what exactly does that mean?
In describing God's law as "spiritual" Paul's point is that since God is the author of the law we will always see something of God's character reflected in the law. Paul made the same point back in verse 12 describing the law as "holy, righteous and good." His point is that in God's law we see a Godly standard to be loved and desired.
But here's the problem. While the law is "spiritual," we are "unspiritual." And that means that there is a weakness in our human nature that predisposes us to move in the opposite direction of God's character and desire.
So, Paul concludes verse 14 like this, "…the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin." Now, folks, this is one of the phrases that has contributed greatly to the controversy about how best to interpret this passage. The reason is that in earlier portions of this letter Paul has repeatedly made the point that when we come in faith to Christ, we are freed from our bondage to sin.
In Romans 6:6-7, for instance, Paul writes, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." So, some have concluded that in light of statements like the one we see here in chapter 6, that Paul would never use a phrase like, "sold as a slave to sin," to describe his experience as a mature Christian so, rather he must be describing his life before he became a Christian.
It's a strong point, but I don't believe it's conclusive. I think the point that Paul is making is that on those occasions when he fails, as a Christian, to meet the high standards of God's law it is as if sin has temporarily become his master. Sin, for that moment, is functioning as the dominant influence in his life. And the following verses seem to support that interpretation.
Writing in verse 15 he says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do."
In other words, the problem here is not a knowledge problem. I know the right thing to do. And the problem here is not a desire problem. I want to do the right thing. The problem here is a doing problem. Even though I know what's right and genuinely want to do what's right, sometimes I still end up doing what's wrong. And I hate it when I do.
Which leads him to this conclusion in verse 16, "And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good." In other words, that I regret my actions and have guilt over my behavior proves that I know, in the deepest part of my being, that God's law is, indeed, good and right.
The Sin in Me
Now, as we move ahead Paul tells us that to fully understand the struggle between our desire to do good and our inability to consistently do so, we have to be aware of the role that sin plays in this on-going human drama.
In verses 17-20 he writes, "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, in my sinful nature. For I have the 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."
Some might read this and think that Paul is trying to avoid responsibility for his actions since he twice says, "I didn't do this sinful thing, it was the sin in me that did it." But Paul's not trying to avoid responsibility, rather he's trying to help us understand that our human nature is severely marred by sin, and even after we become Christians and genuinely desire to follow Christ's example, our sinful nature will continue to try to exert it's influence over us, and sometimes it succeeds.
Then, in verses 21-23 we read Paul's conclusion. He writes, "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 the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." Then he adds, at the end of verse 25, "So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
Paul says, "Folks, as a Christian I live every day in a state of tension created by my genuine desire to be the person God wants me to be and the weakness of my human nature, which is constantly attracted to sin."
It's the same dynamic he describes in Galatians 5:17, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."
In other words, every time God's Spirit prompts me to do what is good, my sinful nature immediately starts nudging me in the opposite direction.
A Glimmer of Hope
So, is there any hope for success in this struggle? Yes. And Paul points us in the direction of hope in VERSE 24. He writes, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Key phrase-"Who will rescue me?" Folks, there's only one way to win this struggle against our sinful nature. And that's to recognize that we can't win this battle in our own strength. We don't need to try harder. We need to be rescued. We've all tried the "try harder" approach and it just doesn't work. We take the first step towards victory in this battle when we come to that place of complete humility and say, "How utterly foolish I've been to even think that that on my own I could win this battle against my own flawed nature. Jesus, when I finally realized I couldn't save myself, by faith I trusted you to save me. And You did. Now, I've finally realized I can't possibly win my daily battles with sin by myself, so by faith I'm trusting you to rescue me…one battle at a time."
So, is there a lesson to take from this amazing passage? I believe there is. And this is the lesson:
Mature Christians aren't perfect.
Mature Christians love and delight in the vision of Godly character revealed in God's word and the example of Christ.
Mature Christians delight in the knowledge that as they yield their lives to God and follow Christ, that God by the power of His Spirit, is growing that character in them day by day by day.
Mature Christians know that they will lose the occasional battle with sin, but they hate it when it happens.
And mature Christians never give up. They persevere in the journey of faith knowing that God will one day finish the good work that he as started in them.
Folks, if you're caught in a battle with your own flawed, broken, sinful nature, I have good news for you, today. The one who saved you from the penalty of sin wants to rescue you in your daily battles with sin. I hope you'll ask Him to do so.
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum