The Battle Within

Romans 7:7,12 & 14-25 “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, 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. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! 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.”

When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I didn’t know what would change in me, but what I did expect would change, didn’t. Sin continued to be a part of my life and that didn’t seem fit my perceived definition of Believers. I understood that my Redeemer took my sin upon Himself and, in my place, paid the penalty with His blood on that cross, but I didn’t understand why sinful desires continued within me. There seemed to be a battle within me. I desired to follow the Lord, learning & living by God’s Word, Will, and Way for my life, but my eyes were open and I was sadly aware that my carnal desires had come along for the ride. As the Apostle Paul said above, I had the joy of my salvation (justified by grace through faith), the Spirit within my heart, and the desire to please my Heavenly Father, but the sinful nature of the natural man was waging war within. Reality is that this battle wages within every Christian because the world, the flesh and the devil tempt us daily. It would be discouraging, except we know that God allows this battle within, so that we may see clearly and understand that we can not make it on our own. That we all need to take up our cross daily and follow the Lord; trusting and depending upon Him always and forever. Believers are freed from the bondage of sin in Christ; called to liberty as Children of God. Walk in the Spirit! Be encouraged ... in the end, we win the war.

Galatians 5:13, 16-18 & 24-25 “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

In Christ, Brian