THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

A tremendous bible study teaching I heard on the radio today, from the book of Romans (that HUGE book of Romans, how convenient to have this teaching), explained about Apostle Paul’s observations of the WRESTLING back and forth in our consciousness of spiritual battles between us being slaves to sin and to the Lord.

Paul gives an “if this, then that” detailed sense, in an almost mathematical proof, of how he wishes that he didn’t do sinful things, knows better, and yet his mind and body does them anyway.  Romans 7

The bible study pastor also spoke of how this IS an example of our born-again nature. To accept Jesus and know we are dependent upon Jesus, we are born again of the spirit (John 3). That we are made aware of our wrestling back and forth, this means that our fight within us makes for moments as Christians which may feel like our “long sufferings”. These could be intense moments of mental stress – even for what used to be simple decisions which were simply NOT thinking but human nature default actions, These could things that we see others doing and say “well, so and so is doing that”. Remember that we were all born into original sin, God has been pulling us back out of the mud ever since. (And remember that the evil one can not touch us, being sealed by the Spirit. We are HIS!)

THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

I can think of personal examples, I’m sure you can too. And can I urge delighting in God and His power to pull me thru them. (I’m not intending to detail them lest I glamorize my sinfulness, we do that too much). I will say that we do wrestle with many things… more than I could or should list… you get my point… we are human. 

THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

How about how we treat people?

How about how we focus or don’t?

How about how about????????

THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

(And don’t dwell on the list, because you become fodder for the devil as if he was playing bingo and saying gee, since you mentioned your sin, let’s take you down that road of not feeling worthy)… LET’S NOT.  Answer instead with Paul’s words and OUR born-again blessing: THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

Like I said (and the radio pastor said), this list of our humanness is long. Paul details humanness to explain that we all go thru wrestling… and because our hope IS, and has to be, IN JESUS, we put ourselves back on track of denying our sinful selves and reaching for Jesus to live within us less cluttered. Jesus will bring the joy over the junk. He will take care of your sin, live in Him.

AMEN 

Romans 7:14-25

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. For I know that good itself does not dwell 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 I do not do the good I want to do, but 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: Although 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 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!