Romans 7:14-25

• 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
• 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
• 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
• 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
• 18 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.
• 19 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.
• 20 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.
• 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
• 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
• 23 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.
• 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
• 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! 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.

Introduction: There are three false doctrines about the human body that Christians have been contending with for millennia:

1. That the human body is neither good nor evil, and is simply a vehicle for the soul. This is the view embodied in the NIV translation of the New Testament, which constantly substitutes the phrase "sinful human nature" for the Greek word normally translated "flesh" (SARX in Greek). This is the common view of evangelical Protestantism. I was brought up on it, and it is taught almost universally in Bible-believing churches today. Unfortunately it is not right, and it hinders us in our pursuit of sanctification.

2. The human body is intrinsically evil simply because it is matter, and not spirit. This was the view of first century Gnosticism. They taught that Jesus was not a real human being, but a spirit who took on the appearance of flesh. Also, they said that the Real Ultimate God could never have made Adam and Eve, because flesh is automatically evil. Rather, Adam and Eve were created by a "demi-urge." This view is related to the Christian Science view that the body is not really real, and that if our minds were strong enough we could throw off all sickness.

3. The Christians body was fully redeemed in the salvation experience, and therefore we should experience complete healing and health NOW. This is the Pentecostal/faith healer view. According to them, the health of the body was included in the atonement, and if we suffer sickness and death today, it is simply that our faith is not strong enough.

The truth about the Christian's body is plainly taught in Romans and the other writings of the Apostle Paul:

THE HUMAN BODY IS CORRUPTED BY SIN, IT IS CALLED "THE FLESH," AND IT WILL CONTINUALLY DRAG ON US AND HINDER OUR LIVING FOR CHRIST UNTIL WE FINALLY ARE LOOSED FROM THIS MORTAL BODY AND GET OUR NEW BODIES.

Today I want to emphasize four points from Romans 7:14-25....

I. As Christians, our spirits have been regenerated, but our bodies are unchanged.

Romans 7:14 is improperly translated in the NIV. Paul does NOT write of himself, "I am unspiritual." The Greek word is "sarkinos," which means "in the flesh." Paul is saying "I am in the flesh...I am in this mortal and sin-bent body." In his spirit, he wants to do the will of God.

• "What I want to do, I do not do." (verse 15)
• "I agree that the Law is good." (verse 16)
• "I have the desire to do what is good." (verse 18)
• "It is no longer I (ego) myself who do it (sin), but it is sin living in me." (vs 17) (In his flesh)

As a Christian, YOU NO LONGER HAVE A SINFUL SPIRIT. You have been born again. You have been regenerated. You have a new spirit created in righteousness. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17)

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

Jesus said: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." (Matthew 26:41)

The value in this knowledge is release from despair. It is not the REAL YOU that wants to sin. It is not your spirit, it is your as yet un-redeemed body. In order to defeat your enemy, you must know the identity of your enemy. You are not fighting YOURSELF. So don't feel bad about yourself. Don't let the deceptions of Satan make you discouraged. Your desires to sin don't come from the REAL YOU. They come from the flesh.

II. Christians must battle the temptations of the flesh for a lifetime.

Paul the Apostle was a greater Christian than you or me. But he had a constant battle with his flesh. He writes very frankly about it here in Romans. He writes about it in his other epistles, too...

• 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
• 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
• 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
• 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
• (2 Cor 12:7-10)

• 24 ¶ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
• 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.
• 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
• 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
• (I Cor 9:24-27)

And do you remember what Jesus said about battling the flesh?

• 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
• 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
• (Matthew 5:29-30)

None of Christ's disciples gouged out their eyes, or cut off their hands; so I believe Jesus was simply using stark language to make a point. Your body will tempt you to sin, so keep it under your control. Don't give in to the temptations of the flesh.

Also: We should remember what Paul said earlier in Romans 6:12-14. Sin should not ALWAYS be the winner in our struggle with temptation. In fact, we should be winning OFTEN!

• 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
• 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
• 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

And in I John 3:9-10 the Apostle John reminds us....

"No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God."

So, we will have a life-long struggle. But, we should look for many victories, not just defeats!

III. Christians will sometimes be miserable and distressed because of this struggle with temptation.

This is exactly what Paul says about himself in Romans 7:24. The NIV uses the word "wretched." The Greek word used by Paul is "talaiporos," which can also be translated as miserable and distressed.

Some people think that Christians will be happy all the time. Well, there is a deep seated joy, that is always there, beneath it all. But as we struggle constantly with the sinful inclinations of our bodies, we must sometimes be miserable, and wretched and distressed. It would be a sin to feel that way all the time. But it would mean there is something wrong with you if you NEVER feel miserable about your own sins. King David wrote about his feelings in the Psalms, about how he repented, and about how he trusted God for mercy.

"O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears."

David committed great sins. And he repented and felt very bad about his sins. But he never despaired, because he depended on the understanding and the mercy of a gracious God.

IV. Christians must continue to look to Jesus for the redemption of their bodies.

You and I cannot conquer our bodies in this life. We cannot purify them. We cannot stop our flesh from tempting us to sin. Beware, because it is possible to become a fanatic and go over board with this.

Some people DO go overboard. Some people read the words of Jesus about plucking out eyes, and cutting off hands...and they read the words of Paul about beating his body. And they decided to take these words literally, and to go to any extreme to stop the temptations of the flesh. What did they do?

Some became "flaggelants." Some wore "hair shirts." Some had themselves bricked into tiny rooms, where they spent the rest of their lives. One fellow had himself put on the top of a high pillar, impossible to get down from, and he spent the rest of his life up their, on a little six by six patch of ground. Some people literally cut off their hands, or blinded themselves. It was horrible!

They forgot a very important rule of Bible interpretation: You don't base an interpretation of a verse, or the formation of a doctrine, on a verse taken out of context. They overlooked the OTHER verses of the Bible which inform us that, sinful though our flesh is, the flesh is all we have with which to serve the Lord in this present world?

• How will you preach the Gospel, except with your mouth and tongue?
• How can you sing without a voice?
• How can you play piano without fingers?
• How will you hear the sorrows of those you are called to comfort, without having ears?
• How can you bring food and shelter to the orphans and widows if you have no hands and legs?
• How can you care for your family without a strong back and arms to work?

In Romans 12:1 Paul says...."Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship." And In I Corinthians 6:19-20 he says...."Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body."

Scripture also informs us that there will come a day when our bodies will be fully redeemed, and changed:

• 51 ¶ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-
• 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
• 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
• 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
• (I Cor 15:51-54)

Conclusion: If we are to grow in grace and sanctification, it is valuable to understand the nature of the human body, and how it is a source of temptation. It is important to realize that we no longer have sinful spirits; in order that we would not be overly discouraged and despair. And it is encouraging to know that the redemption of our bodies is someday going to be a reality. We will not always have to cry out like Paul: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24)