I don’t know about you but when I first came to Jesus forty-five years ago life seemed so new and fresh. Old things passed away, behold new things have come was such a reality I could hardly believe it. I couldn’t imagine that anything from what I was or did from my past life would every be an issue in my brand new walk with God. My insatiable hunger for God’s word coupled with a driving passion to be His disciple gave me hope to become all that the Lord created me for. I wish I could write this post telling you that my story is one of notable achievements, commendable endeavors, and that my path to holiness is in the bag. Not so! Instead, I am hoping to bring hope to those who like myself are still doing battle over the flesh, looking to the Lord (again and again) from where our help comes and still pressing forward to what lies ahead.
In Romans 7 the apostle Paul speaks about the conflict of two natures within every believer. In verses 15 and 18 he says, “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. For I know that nothing goood dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
Is Paul making excuses? Has he simply given up and given in to the conflict with evil? No! Instead Paul is giving encouragement to everyone who professes the saving power of Christ and yet is so accutely aware that the struggle is real with our sin nature.
Allow me to share an exerpt from Steven Lawson. “Some people are converted to Christ, join a Bible study, and begin attending a church. They assume that everything in their new Christian life will be an easy walk from there on out. Paul reminds us of the reality in Romans 7, that is an accurate diagnosis. We need these verses to help us see what remains that is wrong with us. The prescription for our ailment is found at the end of Romans 7 when Paul says, “thanks be to God [who gives us the victory] through the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is victory in the Christian life.
We cannot adopt a defeatist attitude, because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Because of the all-sufficient grace of God, we will grow in personal holiness. We will experience ever-increasing victories over sin in our lives. There is still sin within us as believers, but we are, nevertheless, making progress and moving forward into greater conformity to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). In Romans 7, we see our problem with sin, which continues for even the mature believer. But there is great hope in the verses that lie ahead.”
Friends, repentance in the life of the believer should be ongoing. Meaning, when we stop feeling deeply sorry for our sin, when we stop bringing ourselves before Him in prayer seeking fresh grace and fresh pardon and renewal, then we are on dangerous ground. As long as we have a conscience before our God and pray like David “create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” our hope is restored and we get back in the race toward our eternal home.
