ROMANS 7:14-20 UNSEEN BUT REAL How do we deal with the desires to sin that are within us and it seems we have no control over? We should remember first, that in the path of faith, the desperate struggles against indwelling sin should not be normal Christian experience. We who God has saved by His grace alone have been crucified with Christ, yet we live because Christ lives in us. Christ is our righteousness and when we live our life through Him, the Holy Spirit within gives power to deal with the evil desires of sin. When we yield to those inward sinful desires, it is our carnal (fleshly) desires that turn us aside from the deliverance we enjoy by faith. It is never our wishful desire to sin but the principle of sin that challenges us. Being brought into captivity by that sin-principle that is still in the flesh is not what a Christian wants at all. The law with its rules, as good as it is, is not the answer. Self- will or self-determination and relying on one's own strength to overcome sin is not the answer. Becoming a Christian does not eliminate all sin and temptation from a believer's life.
We face a fact: being born again happens in a moment but becoming like Christ is a life-long process. To try to please God by keeping rules and laws without the Holy Spirit's power is absolutely futile. By our nature we still are limited by the flesh from which we have not yet been delivered. There is a difference between the "natural man who receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," and the carnal man who cannot please God in the flesh. We can be delivered out of the state of being carnal. When first saved there was the joy of forgiveness and being justified by the blood of Christ. Soon after, we find there is still a kind of slavery that wants to keep us from the joy of being what we really want to be as a new creation in Christ Jesus. How very important to realize that it is not the one who is risen with Christ that tends to the temptations of the flesh, but it is sin that is still in us and manipulates our body.
Of course, we do not want that sinful nature to have control of our lives, but unless we see ourselves as God sees us, and we find our delight in that fact of our position in Christ, we will find ourselves in a state of unhappiness and sometimes doubt.
We cannot overcome that condition of soul by mere willpower. It is the power of Christ that is available to us that gives us victory over sin. True, it is sin that makes us do what we know is wrong, but again we must realize this is an unnecessary battle if we recognize our position as having died to sin and are alive to God in the Risen Christ. Living by faith in the Son of God "who loved me and gave Himself for me," is normal Christian living.
The testing time is not over, Father, I know this to be true. But I find living on higher ground makes it much easier to get through Those temptations and attractions that lead into the bog-land of sin That threatens me on a daily basis because of the old nature within.
I've found it to be true, Father, that when I am conscious of Thee, At the beginning of each day through Thy Word speaking to me Through the scriptures I read and the thoughts Thou dost give - That those attractions of sin don't fit the way that I live.
But I know myself a little, Father, though not in the way You do. And there still lurks in this flesh of mine a sin-nature so cruel, That it seeks to bring me down in ways totally unexpected, Because the is some inner "wishing" that leaves my flesh infected.
So I reach out to Thee, Father, as each new morning breaks, For within is a hunger for righteousness that in my soul awakes. I so like this higher ground and I pray help from Thee for me to keep From yielding to that sin within when Thy face I seek.
Please, Father, consider the weakness of Thy servant, And build a bulwark of truth in me that sin can't usurp. May I always be ready to claim the Spirit's power - And keep my faith in Thee strong every day and every hour. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."