The Real Me
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Today’s Text: Romans 7:7-25 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Some people think that Paul was speaking rhetorically when he wrote this section—especially when he said things like -
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
— Verse 19
They point to Philippians 3:3-6 where Paul highlights his pedigree and his righteousness under the law. How could such a man struggle with sin as he talks about here?
I think most people, though, can understand that Paul was speaking rhetorically in both passages. His struggle with sin is something that we all experience. There may be some sin that we find so frustratingly difficult to overcome.
The problem arises for some Christians when they cannot recognize the sin in their lives as sin. And the inability to recognize sin may increase the less “severe” or “dramatic”—the more “hidden”—the sin is.
But nothing is hidden from God. And God hates all sin. It is wrong to think that some sin is more acceptable to God than others.
That is why Jesus said that being angry with someone is like committing murder; looking at another woman is adultery.
It is not natural for us to think about sin in the way God does. We want to think about sin on human terms. The problem with thinking about our sin on human terms is that the gospel is nowhere to be found when we do so.
When we think about our sin on human terms, we accommodate our sin and justify ourselves in our sin and become prideful.
But God can clearly see how our sin leads to death, when we cannot.
The springboard to our salvation is to know “What a wretched man (or woman, as the case may be) I am!”
There is no room for any boasting in the kingdom of God.
Father, You alone are righteous. And it is Your righteousness in me that saves me, for I have absolutely no goodness or righteousness in me. My only hope is You. So never let me suppose that I have any advantage over anyone else. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
