“The Battles”
(Romans 7:14-25)
Series: Romans – United in the Gospel [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
May 8, 2022
Introductory Comments:
Most of you know that for part of my adult life I lived in Kentucky. It was a great time in my life and I’m very grateful for it, even though I’m very glad to be back in Polk County. Every November I travel back to Kentucky to spend some time in the woods and visit with some friends. Often, when I go back I drive past the house that my wife and I previously owned at 221 Jefferson Street, in Henderson, Kentucky. Now, could you imagine if I went up to that house, parked my car in the driveway, let myself inside, and put my feet up on the coffee table? How do you think that would go over when the homeowner got home? Not very well, right? You see I don’t own that home any longer. I have no authority over 221 Jefferson Street any longer.
Paul has been spending some time in Romans 6 and 7 reminding us that sin has no authority over us any longer. For those of us who are in Jesus, sin does not have any authority over our lives, no power over our will, and it does not set up a home inside our hearts. Jesus is king over our lives now!
Yet, in Romans 7:14-25 we read of battles that are taking place in the heart and life of the apostle Paul, and by the way, these are battles that we face as well. Today’s sermon is entitled, “The Battles.” [on screen]
So, let’s learn what battles Paul is talking about in this passage. Before we do, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Now, before I get into this, I want to give you a heads up that we’re going to hear about some struggles that Paul is facing. This passage is a little bit of a downer, although it ends well. However, the next passage, Romans 8, is amazingly powerful and positive. I can’t wait to preach that. It’s hard to preach Romans 7 without preaching Romans 8. So, tune in next time!
A few years back, there was a popular country song by a guy by the name of Dirks Bentley. The song was entitled, “What was I thinking?” Have you ever been there before? Have you ever done something and asked, “What was I thinking?” Well, this is what Paul is going through in this passage. He has the feeling of, “What was I thinking?”
However, Paul has not resigned himself to defeat. He has determined to go to battle.
As we look at these three types of battles, let’s first read the entire passage, and then we’ll walk through it. Look with me, if you will, at Romans 7:14-25:
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 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, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
Ok, so I assume you are starting to see some of the struggle, or battle, that Paul is going through. As we look at this passage, let’s look at three battles that Paul is facing.
First, . . .
I. Spiritual VS Physical. [on screen]
Notice the number of times that Paul makes a distinction between spiritual desires and physical desires.
He says in verse 14, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh . . .”
He says in verse 18, “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.”
He says in verses 22-23, “22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.”
You see, church: when Jesus saves us from our sin the change that takes place in us, here and now, is foundationally a spiritual change.
To be sure, there are physical parts of our lives that should change because we have been changed from the inside, spiritually.
Also, one day we will experience a dramatic physical change when Jesus comes back and makes us new and gives us glorified bodies.
However, in the here and now, the biggest change that takes place in us when Jesus changes us is spiritual.
However, in the passage, Paul describes this war taking place between the spiritual and the physical. Between the desires he has to be godly and the desires that come out of what he calls “the flesh.”
Paul says elsewhere in Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.” [on screen]
There is a battle taking place. The physical side of our bodies, what Paul calls “the flesh,” used to be ruled by sin. Sin controlled what we did. Paul is pointing out that even though we have been set free from sin and the Spirit of God lives in us, we still have desires in our flesh to do things that we know we ought not to do and things that we really don’t want to do when we are in our right minds.
I’ll give you a silly illustration. I’m trying to lose about ten pounds right now (I know, many of you will say that I don’t need to lose weight, but I don’t to wait until you say that I do). So, if you ask me right now if I really wanted to eat a plate full of pancakes [show picture on screen], in light of my weight loss goals, I would say no. However, if you put that plate full of pancakes in front of me all of sudden there are desires that arise from my flesh that make me think that I really want those pancakes.
Consider also an alarm clock. [show picture on screen] You set the alarm clock for a certain time because that is when you want to get up. However, what happens when that alarm clock goes off? The flesh is weak. You don’t want to get up at that time any longer. You hate the alarm clock. You hit the alarm clock. The alarm clock which is there to help you has all of a sudden become your enemy. The spirit is willing to wake up but the flesh is not.
Church, there are evil desires that still emerge in our hearts and minds because the physical side of our beings still desires the old way of life. There are some things much worse than pancakes or extra sleep that go against our desire to be holy spiritual beings who chase after Jesus and His ways!
Paul understands the struggle. Paul understands this battle between the spiritual and the physical.
A second battle that Paul describes is the battle of . . .
II. Good VS Evil. [on screen]
Again, listen to parts of this passage:
Paul says in verse 16, “Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.”
Paul says in verse 17, “So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me.”
Paul says in verse 18, “For I know that nothing good lives in me . . .”
Paul also says in verse 18, “For the desire to do what is good is with me . . .”
Paul says in verse 19, “For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.”
Paul says in verse 20, “Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me.”
Paul says in verse 21, “When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me.”
Hearing Paul speak this way reminds me of the old thought of people having a little angel standing on one shoulder and a little devil standing on the other and they are both trying to convince the person to do so something. However, that thought is not reality. There is really no competition between good and evil. Good is way more powerful than evil.
What Paul is talking about here is trying to do good or evil based on his own power. You see, when we try to do good without relying on the Holy Spirit of God, it is a struggle. Paul is struggling to do it on his own. (Spoiler alert: at the end of this passage and in chapter 8, Paul is going to describe the great victory that comes in Jesus).
Paul wants to do good but evil is creeping at the door. Evil is clinging to anything that it can hold onto. If we give evil an inch, it will take a mile. If we crack the door open to evil, it will barge right in.
Listen, church: there is a battle for good and evil taking place inside our hearts, minds, and souls and if we try to fight that battle on our own we will not be victorious. We will be like Paul who says in verse 18, “For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.”
Are you catching on? There is no ability to live our Christian lives by our own power.
Let’s keep going, let’s look at the third battle:
III. The law of God VS the law of sin. [on screen]
First of all, Paul has already said that the law of God is not bad. In fact, he says again here in verse 16, “Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.”
So, the law of God is good and Paul presents this idea of the law of God versus the law of sin. To be clear, the law of sin is not a real thing but it is an idea that Paul presents to identify the opposing forces of the ways of God and the ways of sin.
For example, in verse 21, Paul says, “So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me.”
Again, in verses 22 and 23, Paul says, “22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.”
Then, in verse 25, Paul says, “So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.”
Remember, the law of God shows us our sin when we are without Jesus. It shows us how much we need Jesus. However, once we have Jesus, the law of God shows us how to really please God our Father.
Paul wants to please God. That is why he says, “For in my inner self I delight in God’s law.” However, there is a competing force, a competing law, the law of sin. Paul says that this law is waging war against the law of his mind, which is his desire to please God. There’s a battle going on in Paul’s life.
How many of y’all can say there’s a battle going on in your life at times? We want to please God but that old way is fighting back. The flesh is fighting back. Evil is fighting back. The law of sin is fighting back.
There are some battles taking place in our lives, church. I’m not talking about a battle between us and the world. I’m talking about a battle between godliness and sin within our own hearts, minds, and bodies.
There’s a battle of the spiritual versus the physical, good versus evil, and the law of God versus the law of sin.
Concluding Thoughts:
These battles that we experience are not fun.
If you’re anything like Paul, if you’re anything like me, if you’re anything like most followers of Jesus you can identify with what Paul says in verse 24, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
What are we to do?
Well, let’s look at our bottom line before we rediscover the answer that Paul has already given us.
Bottom Line: We need some help. [on screen]
(repeat)
We need help. [show picture on screen] In fact, we could not have come to Jesus in the first place without realizing that we needed help.
However, the closer you get to Jesus the more aware you are of the sin that is seeking to come back into your life. The holier you get, the more you realize that you really, really need Jesus. The more like Jesus we become the more we realize that we desperately need Jesus.
Paul gives us the answer to our dilemma in verses 24-25, “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!”
Jesus is the answer! Jesus is the help!
What Paul is discovering and describing in Romans 7:14-25 is that he is completely unable to fight these battles on his own. He needs backup! As any good young boy knows who got into a neighborhood fight as a kid, you need back up. We’ve got the ultimate backup and His name is Jesus! We don’t need to fight these battles on our own. We are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, secured by the work of Jesus, and solidified by the promise of God our Father.
So, let us go to battle, not on our own, but in the power of God.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge: [on screen]
1. Pick a fight. [on screen]
Now, hear me clearly: I’m not talking about picking a fight with your neighbor, or with someone from a different political persuasion, or on social media. You can stop all that nonsense as far as I care; that’s not what I’m talking about and that’s not what Paul is talking about.
When Paul says in verse 17, “So now I am no longer the one doing it . . . ,” or in verse 20, “I am no longer the one that does it.” Paul does not mean that he is not responsible for his sin. What he is saying is that this is not who he is any longer. He has been set free from sin. That’s the old man who is sinning. He doesn’t want the old man creeping in anymore.
Just like in the opening of the sermon, I’m not permitted to go back to my old house at 221 Jefferson Street. So also, sin is not permitted to set up residency in our lives any longer. Just as if somebody was living in your house and refused to get out, when it comes to sin, you and I need to pick a fight. We don’t pick a fight based on our own power but based on the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We need to pick a fight with our old selves. We need to pick a fight against our own sin. When we pick a fight, we’re coming with Jesus as our backup because we’re surely going to need Him.
2. Commit to being rescued again and again. [on screen]
Who will rescue you from this body of death? Jesus will, and He will rescue you time and again.
So, commit this week to being rescued again and again. Continue to go back to Jesus.
Closing:
Listen again to what Paul said in verse 18, “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.”
Church, we have no ability on our own to work our way to God; we need Jesus. So also, we have no ability on our own the be holy and to live God’s law the way we should; we need Jesus and the power of God’s Spirit.
Don’t try to come to Jesus on your own and don’t try to stay close to Jesus on your own! Rely on Him and His ways.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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