Not in your own strength, for it is God Who is all the while effectually
at work in you energizing and creating in you the power and desire
both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
(Philippians 2.13).
HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!
Every man, woman and child has experienced the deep yearning
for significance and expressed a calling upon God, especially in
times of stress. Anyone who ponders the specter of death also
wonders about life beyond death and the awareness of even
resurrection.
The reason men, women and children call upon God is because He
has placed a desire deep in us for Him. He desires us. We are His
masterpiece.
We call on Him because He has already answered us before we call.
He has heard us before we were fashioned. He has provided rest for
our sighing, peace in our weariness and comfort as we cry.
He is the Master of Life and Resurrection. In fact Jesus Christ IS THE
RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. The answer to our question and the
goal of our quest.
Now if I do what I do not desire
to do, it is no longer I who do it,
but sin that dwells in me.
So I find it to be a rule of action
within my being that when I want
to do what is right and good, there
is evil in me, though I desire to do good.
For I delight in the Law of God
according to the inward man.
But I see another law in my members,
at war against the law of my mind,
making me a prisoner to the law of
sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am!
Who will deliver me from this
body of death?
I thank God! He will through Jesus
Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself
serve the Law of God, but with the
flesh the law of sin.
( Romans 7.20-25).
Please consider these points:
1) This dual nature presents a dilemma.
2) Flesh versus mind ( carnal versus
spiritual) continue to be in conflict.
3) The only way out of this dilemma
is to submit to the Lordship of Jesus.
4) The divine rescue mission is
accomplished by Jesus Christ our
Lord and Savior who died to deliver us
from our sins and rose to grant us
eternal life with Him, with The Father
and with the Holy Spirit.
If I do what is contrary to
my desire, I agree with
the Law that it is good.
However, it is no longer
I who do it, but sin
that dwells in me.
For I know that nothing
good dwells in me.
I can will what is right,
but have no power to
carry it out.
For I fail to do the good
that I desire to do.
On the other hand,
I wind up doing what
I do not want to do.
Now if I do what I do not
desire to do, it is no longer
I who do it, but sin that dwells
in me.
Consider this:
1) The inertia that is caused
by human nature.
2) Human nature likes to
take the path of least resistance.
3) Human nature causes failure.
We need God’s Holy Spirit to do right.
THE NATURE OF SIN
What then do we conclude?
Is the Law identical with sin?
Certainly not! Nevertheless,
if it had not been for the Law,
I would not have recognized
sin. For instance I would not
have known about covetousness
if the Law had not said, You should
not covet and have an evil desire.
But sin, finding an opportunity, to
express itself got a hold on me and
provoked forbidden desires such as
lust and covetousness. For without
the Law sin is inactive.
Once I was alive, but quite apart from
the Law. But when the commandment
came, sin came alive and I died.
And the very legal ordinance which was
designed to bring life actually proved
death.
For sin, seizing the opportunity from the
commandment, beguiled me and using it
as a weapon, killed me.
The Law therefore is holy, and the
commandment is holy, just and good.
Romans 7.7-12).
Consider the following:
1) The Law is just, holy and good.
2) The problem is with human
sinful nature.
3) Sinful nature is enticed and
entrapped by the allure of sin.
4) Sin ends in death.
5) This is a vicious cycle which
is at work on those unaware
of the Law also.
6) The notion of sin or taboo is
pervasive in every society and
every human heart.
( More on this in Romans 2.14 and 15).
7) The Law proscribes what is taboo
in God’s sight and regulates human behavior.
However, the root cause of sinful behavior,
the violation of taboo, is wrong thinking due
to sinful nature.
Right action is predicated on right thinking.
A new mind based on spiritual rebirth is required.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grants this to us.
He paid our sin debt in full. We can be reborn of
the water and the Spirit. This is how we enter the
Kingdom of God, become a new creation in Him and live
forever with Him, the Father and the Holy Spirit.
WE THANK YOU FOREVER LORD JESUS!
HALLELUJAH!