Indwelt against the Indwelling

18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

From Romans 7

Paul is speaking here, in what can be a confusing passage, about the two laws that are in him. There is the law of sin, that which "dwells within" him, and the "law of God," in his inner being.

Let's set the stage first. This is about believers. Unbelievers have a law of God, in the ten commandments and later the sermon on the mount. These are unscalable walls. These laws are strict and harsh, and one transgression blows it (that is apart from sacrifice). But unbelievers do not have a law in their inner being. They have an external law, but they are without the grace of the Spirit indwelling them and writing the law on their hearts.

For us believers, what does this mean?

It means first, that we must be humble.

We are the enemy. Do you understand? We are the rebel! A holy God demands purity from us, but not only are we not pure, but we are hateful. We are dreadful, we are evil, and against God. How could we possibly be less deserving? And yet, we are the special objects of God's grace. He has chosen us, and set his love upon us. Read through Romans 8, in light of these truths, and feel the depths of his love.

It means second, that we must be watchful.

Be holy as I am holy is still a command for us. We are no longer under the law in the sense of seeking our acceptance before God based on the law, but we are still under the law in the sense of seeking to obey and please our great God. We do not work to be saved, but because we are saved, we must work! His grace demands action (see earlier post on being Bound to the Free Gospel). If we would please God, we must be ever watchful against this enemy within us, and we must act quickly against the first showings of his work (taken from John Owen).

Finally, we must depend on the Spirit.

Paul's question above, 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? He answers. Verse 25:

25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Behold, your deliverer. Jesus Christ has made a way, and through His sacrifice, God has forgiven this law of sin within us and given us His law written on our hearts. He will ultimately deliver us fully (death, resurrection), but even now He is delivering us by the changing of our natures. We are being changed! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Let us make war against our indwelling sin through the indwelling Spirit our God has given us.