SIN - The desire for sin and right wars within us
Romans 7:14-24 | So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Are you okay with the sin in your life? Why or why not?
Do you truly want to follow God and do right? Why or why not?
When was a time that you feel like Paul does here- that no matter how hard you try, you’d never ‘get it right?’
What is a sin that you used to struggle with over and over again that you don’t struggle with anymore? What changed?
What goal do you have right now regarding overcoming (stopping) sin and/or doing right? Who can you share this with?
What does Paul say is the answer to the struggle in Him for right and wrong? How did Jesus win the war over sin? [Read Matthew 4:1-11 to see it in action]