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Day 42 - "The Good & The Bad"

"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. For I know that good itself does not dwell 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 I do not do the good I want to do, but 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. So I find this law at work: Although 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 me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" - Romans 7:14-25

Paul here speaks of the conflict within - the battle between doing good or doing evil. The sinful nature is expressed as being what is preventing one from doing good. The person Paul describes in this passage speaks to an individual who is convinced about Jesus Christ yet not changed by His power. This individual is still bound by sin and so is controlled by the law of sin. This individual seems to no longer have a choice in doing good or evil as the good he wishes to do he cannot do and the evil he does not want to do he ends up doing.

The question that I have asked many times in my own Christian life is that is it possible to live a holy, sinless life here on earth? Or am I like the person described in the passage wanting to do good and unable to do it? Such a struggle is real among us Christians as we all have that sin that seems to keep us bugged down, controlled by its trap to fall in it time and time again. "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" The feeling of hopelessness tends to fill us up and it may even push some of us to give up all together on Christ. But the passage says, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Paul explains in that one line that we are not subjected to the sinful nature for we are delivered from it through Jesus Christ. We are delivered from the punishment of sin, we are being delivered from the power of sin and soon we will be delivered from the very presence of sin.

There is that daily conflict raging in all of us Christians to live that holy and righteous life. Galatians 5:7 says,"The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you cannot do the things that you would." Daily it is required that we put off the flesh - the sinful nature. It is a daily war we fight in the mind each day but stay strong for soon this our corruptible body shall put on incorruptible and this imperfection shall put on perfection. This is the fight of our lives.

#good I wish to do #evil present #the good #the bad #sinful nature #flesh vs spirit