Live is full of assessments. We want a doctor to assess our problems and advise treatment. We look at our budget to assess our finances. Students get school report cards that assess their progress. When we get an assessment we sometimes struggle with the report. We have a choice: we can complain about the test and results or we can learn from what has been revealed and focus on how to improve.
The New Living Translation may help give understanding to Paul’s tone in Romans 7: 7-25. Paul notes for all of us ‘It is my sinful nature that I struggle with’. “Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”
This is where some people get “the devil made me do it” excuse. Paul wants to please God but still has trouble doing right. He doesn’t try to excuse himself or get around it. He is seeking a way to overcome the sinful nature. He realizes he cannot do it on his own. It is not a law problem, but a sin problem. Romans 7:13-15.
The law is the spiritual assessment that reveals where we are and where we need to go, to be. Hebrews 4:12-13.
Paul doesn’t seek loopholes. He asks to see more of the law so he can understand how to live correctly for God. The law revels the sin but has no power to conquer or subdue the sin. The sin wears us down. Matthew 11:28-30.
As we Battle On in the fight against sin, it has less to do with us and more to do with our dependence on Jesus. Romans 7:20-21. The answer is Jesus Christ. Romans 7:25 - Romans 8:1. “There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Jesus stands between us and the judgment we deserve. He keeps working for us – grace at work.
God is righteous; we are wicked. But we are allowed to go boldly to the throne through the grace of our faith in Jesus. Hebrews 4:14-16. Since we have a high priest, hold on firmly to what we have believed…
The Point: When we submit to the revealing word of God, we will Battle On and win!
The word shows us how much we need the Grace of Jesus. We must Battle On by Grace.
This is the “grace” song I pick for today: By Grace Alone.
Verses for Today: Romans 7:23-25 NLT.
23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Lord – Thank You for grace. Help me to Battle On with Your Holy Spirit to guide me and Your Grace to forgive me.
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