Romans 7:15-20

"struggling with sin"

¹⁵For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 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.¹⁹ For 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.

romans7:15-20

I've encountered this passage before, but just now i really took the time to dive in and really break it down to figure it out. The whole passage is Romans 7:7-25, entitled, Struggling With Sin. After reading the passage above a few times, i've figured it out, but before i want to get into that i want to briefly explain my thoughts on the passage around this one.

Romans 7:7-15, explains sin, how it came to be. Without law, there technically isnt sin. If you never heard the rule "dont steal", you wouldve never thought there was sin. And the commandments God give arent made to have you sin, its there to keep you on track, to make you righteous and holy. For instance, "do not commit adultery". God created sex not for recreation, but for intimacy. If you break this commandment and sin by having sex with others, you're actually endangering yourself. STDs, Pregnancy, etc... its all out there ready to harm you. Imagine if the world followed this commandment, there wouldnt be STDs, there wouldnt be these dangers. So God creates these rules not to stop you from "having fun" or "enjoying life" but to protect you.

Now the main part. If you havent already read the passage, read it and you'll find out why i decided to break down this passage. Its confusing, its like a tongue twister, but no worries, im here to help break it down with you.

¹⁵For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

- What you hate is sin

- What you want is to be righteous and to do the right thing

- So here, you sin, and fall short of God's glory

¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.

- What you do not want is doing good

- so if you do good, you agree with the law and see the goodness behind it

¹⁷So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

- As a Christian, you die with Christ (Galatians 2:20), to live as a follower of him, but we arent perfect, we are still sinners and sin still lives in us.

- Therefore it is the sin in us that tempts us and pushes us to do what is wrong

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.

- nothing good lives in my FLESH. In our bodies on earth, our mind.

- but we have God in our SPIRIT.

- so its a constant war between good and evil.

This is something i struggle with. I know what is right, i know what is God honoring, i know what God wants, but yet i fight against Satan and fail to carry out what is right. Its so frustrating, and its seems impossible sometimes, but God will NEVER tempt us more than we can bear (1 Cor 10:13).

¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

- this continues the previous verse, we continue to do evil while we fail to do good

²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

- backing up verse 7, it is the SIN that causes you to do it.

- yes i guess you can say that you can blame that for doing it, but its still you. it lives within you, and you have the power to resist and to fight back.

But the hope is Christ's death. He died and because of that we have been forgiven and we have reinforcements when Satan lurks around us, tempting us to fall away from God. Its easy to fall away and hard to resist, but we have to push through. Dont give up!

verse of the day: Romans 7:24-25

Who will deliver me from this body of death? 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.