Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Abiding Life: Part 8 Romans 7: 15, 17, 19 & 20

Romans 7: 15 - 20

 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 
 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I am going g to break this down just a bit... first let's look at verses 15 & 19


 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

 These two verses are full of what I call the "I" factor (otherwise known as me, Me, ME). We as Christians want to serve God but continually fail. Why? The "I" factor. I want to do righteous deeds but because I am born of the flesh I fail. And sometimes find myself falling back on my SIN nature.



Let's take this a bit further by adding verse 17 after verse 15


15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

And verse 20 after verse 19

19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I read this and realized how easily this can be misread.  Paul did not write this as an excuse for his sin nature but rather as an explanation for his sins. 

Basically the way I see it, we want to walk a righteous path but Sin (pride, temptation, etc...) dwells (lives) within us and is constantly tempting us to stray. When we flounder we need to allow God's Spirit to flow through us. And when we stumble, when we falter, when we sin, we need to recognize where it is coming from. Then once again yield to the spirit.

Romans 8:13

13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

A veritable fork in the road. Yes sin dwells within us but we need to consciously choose to live by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

So we make that conscious choice to live by the Spirit. We choose the path we walk on. And once we choose to walk in the Spirit the "I" factor will fade as God's Spirit will shine through.

Shauni

*remember these are my thoughts on this verse and what I took away from my Bible study.. feel free to add yours to the discussion.

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