“Overcoming” -- Romans 7:14-25

Way back in the good old days—Dec. 29, 2019, to be exact—we began a series of messages centering around the need to live by faith in what the Bible tells us about our relationship with Jesus. We talked about how Satan has to use our feelings to attack us, and that a life of faith will overcome the feelings.

In those messages, we learned that the Bible tells us, among other things, that we are a new creation in Christ, created to do His good works. We are called to a ministry of reconciliation, and that we are secure in our relationship with God through Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are reminded by the Bible that we are God’s children, and that we are inheritors of the promise that is Jesus Christ.

A lot has happened since we began those messages. We have been dealing with COVID and the effect it has had on us as a nation, as a church, and as individuals. We took a detour through the life of Joshua to see how God used this mighty man of faith to fulfill the promise of a new home for Israel and how God used Israel to bring judgment upon those who had turned their backs on God. We then returned to the theme of living by faith over the last two weeks.

Today, as we conclude this series of messages, we want to look at the summary and point out that living in Christ does not automatically free us from our struggle with sin and the sinful nature.

Background

Paul’s letter to the Romans was written as an introduction of himself to the church there in the seat of the Roman Empire. The letter is a broad-based treatise on what Paul believes and teaches about Christ. The core of the letter’s theme is found in Romans 1:16-17: “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it the power of GOd for salvation for everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentiles. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

Paul then explains how no one is worthy to stand before God apart from the saving grace found only in Christ Jesus. He writes about the need for faith and how faith plays so important a part in our relationship with God. Then he writes about what it means to be in Christ—that we are dead to sin in Christ (6:1-14), that we are slaves to Christ (6:15-23) and then uses an illustration from marriage to show how the law has no effect on those who are dead (7:1-6). Following this, Paul writes about how and why we who are in Christ still struggle with sin. It is the last few verses of this passage that we focus on today.

Central Truth: We overcome sin and the sinful nature through Jesus Christ.

Christians who struggle with sin:

have to deal with our sinful nature (14-20)

When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary and was raised again the third day, Satan’s power over us was destroyed. With the promise of eternal life secured in Christ Jesus for all who receive Him as Savior, the fear and power of death were destroyed, and Satan became impotent to do anything about it.

Just because Satan was defeated at the cross does not mean that Satan gave up. Instead, he has used and still uses his most powerful weapons to thwart our efforts to walk in God’s ways. Satan uses what he is best at—the power of suggestion and the twisting of facts and the ability to lie better than anyone or anything has ever been able to do. Satan uses his abilities to confuse us and to dissuade us from choosing God’s will always. He relies on his knowledge of us and how we related to the world before we came to know Christ. He tempts us by seeking to sow doubts about our faith and our relationship with God.

The truth is anyone who is in Christ struggles with sin. We may not all struggle with the same sin, but we are all tempted to sin. Why is that? It comes from the sinful nature that still lives in our natural bodies.

Paul writes about the frustration he and we experience every day. We know what we want to do and what we do not want to do, yet it seems all too often that we do the opposite. Rather than walking in God’s way and doing what we want to do, we instead find ourselves embracing temptations and falling into sin—that which we do not want to do.

Paul gives a very simple but powerful reason for this in v.17—“As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” That is, Satan uses the sinful nature that still lives in our bodies to tempt us. This temptation is so effective because we have lived so long in the sin state that it is powerfully ingrained in our bodies. Paul says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (v.18a).

This sinful nature is the way we always related to the world around us before we came to Christ. Our sinful nature is focused on meeting my needs and only my needs, and it does whatever it takes to ensure those needs are met. We use schemes and plans to get ahead in our world. That’s what the sinful nature does.

The truth of the matter is that our sinful nature is in constant conflict with the Holy Spirit. The sinful nature focuses on me; the Holy Spirit calls us to focus on God and His will. The Holy Spirit knows that God’s way is the best way, and is always the best way. Our sinful nature, on the other hand, doesn’t trust anything but our tried and true ways of getting by. The sinful nature makes us feel that the ways of God may seem good, but we can’t really be sure.

What Satan does is use the sinful nature to try to destroy our witness and our growth in Christ. If Satan can derail our relationship with God through Christ, then he can cause us to question everything we believe about God. He can convince us that being a “good person” is all God wants; that going to church (if we have to) is the mark of a good Christian. Satan will use our sinful nature to make us feel good about ourselves and so make us feel complacent in our relationship with God.

As a result of the sinful nature and Satan’s effective use of this tool, you and I find ourselves struggling with temptation and sin every day. We know what we want to do, but we find ourselves all too often doing just the opposite.

often feel defeated and wretched (21-24)

The problem with Satan’s plan and use of our sinful nature is that it creates conflict with the Spirit that is living inside us. We who are truly seeking after God’s will recognize this conflict. As Paul writes, “So I find this law at work. When I want to do god, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 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” (vs. 21-23).

While Satan wants us to feel complacent in our relationship with God—he wants us to not even think about that relationship, really—the person who has been born again and is indwelt with the Holy Spirit can never truly be complacent with a life of sin. We know, through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, that we are called to a greater calling, that we belong not to ourselves but to Christ. The Holy Spirit is working in us, shaping and molding us to create us to want to do God’s will. The Holy Spirit is transforming us into God’s perfect will for us.

Because of the work of the Holy Spirit within is, we become frustrated by the sin that seems to be so powerful, so controlling, in our world. Paul constantly points out that the power of sin is found in our “members,” that is, the parts of our body. Paul knows that God has saved us, and that the power of that salvation has given life to our spirit and has given a new way of seeing our world and Him. Knowing that we earnestly want to do His will, Paul points out that sin does not take control of us, but only the members of our bodies which is still under the way of our sinful nature.

The battle that rages within us causes Paul to write, “What a wretched man I am!” (v.24a). Paul hates how sin is constantly there beside us, constantly thwarting us and hindering our relationship with God. He finishes the verse with a question, a cry for help: “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (v.24b).

He answers in the next verse.

find victory only in Christ (25; cf. 1 John 4:4)

The answer to Paul’s frustration is Jesus Christ. It is Christ who gives us the victory over sin, who gives us the power to say no to temptation. It is by His Spirit that we are given the fruit of self-control, which means you and I do have the power to overcome sin by telling Satan “no.” We restrict our natural desires through Christ and so submit ourselves to Him through His Holy Spirit.

Paul concludes this passage with the statement, “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” (v.25b).

All of this is fine, but what does it mean? John takes the idea and gives it a powerful promise. The statement of faith that John gives us is this: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). John’s answer to Paul’s question is to recognize that, in Christ, we have overcome the world, and we can overcome the sinful nature, because Jesus—the One who is in us—is greater than Satan—the one who is in the world.

God allows us to be tempted, not because He is callous and doesn’t care, but because He wants to learn to walk in faith. He wants us to learn to call to Him and to turn to Him when we are tempted. He wants us to learn to resist the devil and to cling to Him. The Father wants us to understand that we truly are dead in Christ and that it is Christ living in us (cf. Galatians 2:17-20). As we come to a greater awareness of this truth, we come to see that the life of walking in faith truly is the only way to live.

Conclusion

Life isn’t easy. Walking in Christ isn’t easy. But walking in Christ isn’t something we have to do on our own. Jesus knew how hard it would be. That’s why He asked the Father and sent the Holy Spirit. That’s why He promised never to leave us, to always be with us. That’s why Jesus is at the Father’s side, acting as our Counselor and go-between.

We are never alone in our fight against Satan and against the sinful nature. Understand that you and I will sin, but when we do, realize that the Bible tells us we are still God’s children, we are still sealed with the Holy Spirit and our sins are forgiven. Confess, and learn to turn to Him when temptation first rears its ugly head.

Because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Believe God’s promises, and we won’t fall for Satan’s lies.