I HAVE A CHOICE...THANK GOD
This
post will wrap this look and meditation of the Apostle Paul's
struggle that he has articulated not only for himself but for all of
us throughout the verses Romans 7: 15 and now to include the
remaining verses to 25. The ultimate confounding of why
do I do the things I do
to realizing the law is
good and just and to the
admission that although I yearn to obey the law in spirit,
my flesh (or as Paul describes as his members) continue to be
uncooperative and lead him into sin.
Romans 7:23 but
I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind
and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
To one degree of
sin to another it is exactly what happens with each and everyone of
us in Christ.
The
acknowledgment that he is a wretched man, of which he reiterates from
his previous statement in Romans 3:10,
as
it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
is the charge of the ever presence of sin in our lives and
the constant battle that is waged between good and evil. Though it
is not that we are merely passive victims in this spiritual battle in the
heavenly realm in which are we either weakened or strengthened by,
but in fact we are the arbiter of the individual battle in our lives.
Yes, we posses the sole power to judge and determine the actions we
will take in every situation that we are confronted with. God in His
grace and love has given us the gift of free
will and
the scripture tells us; 1John 4:4 ...
for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
The
Apostle gives thanks in his acknowledgment of the reality of our
daily lives as children of God, living in a fallen world influenced
and controlled by the enemy of the Almighty. Romans 24-25
Wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks
be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the
law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
I
wrote in my last post that it is not easy. We have to carry our cross
daily and only through disciplined dependence on God are we promised
that Jesus will make light our burdens, but we are promised victory of being bound by sin. Will we perfect a formula of consistent daily victory of overcoming sin? NO!. We are human. We are as broken as the world we temporatily reside in. There are so many distractions, so many shiny objects. Read Genesis chapter 3 carefully. The fall of mankind is clearly defined by the submission to the flesh that we are still subject to today.
In my comments about my direction from my first post, I would like to begin to write and think about the topic of Life Controlling Issues, i.e., my recommendation to go back and read about the Fall.
God Bless Brothers and Sisters
