This morning I want to talk about a problem that
some of you are struggling with right now-----in your spiritual life. And a
problem that all of us struggle with at one time or another--- all of our lives
And the problem is this: You look at God’s Word and then you look at your own life and you
make the comparison between what you are--- as opposed to what you
ought to be, and you get discouraged.
The struggle is that you do not always and
consistently live the kind of life that God wants you to live.
And, as a result, you came to this service today
feeling,
thinking, and saying:
“What’s
wrong with me?”
“Why
can’t I do what God wants me to do?”
“I
am supposed to be a Christian.”
“I
see what the Bible says, but I cannot seem to live up to it”
And You don’t think you are good enough. You can’t seem to do what you want to do. You’ve
have made one resolution after another to change your life around, and it isn’t
working! You’ve turned over so many new leaves that there are no more leaves to
turn over.
You
want to do what is right, but as hard as you try to do it, you find that you
cannot do it.
And, as a result, you came to this service today
feeling, thinking, and believing that something is wrong with you because you
can’t seem to do
what God wants you to do -----and
what God doesn’t want you to do, you end up doing…over and over again.
But you know what? That’s normal. That’s the human condition
That’
something we all struggle with.
As
a matter of fact, it is especially true for believers. Following Jesus Christ
is a real struggle, most of the time. Some people have the misimpression that
whenever people come to know Jesus their problems are over.
But,
they are soon rudely awakened by the reality that their problems, far from
being over, have really just begun. Some have struggled to the point of
absolute despair and discouragement.
And
what makes it worse for some of us is that many people around us seem
like they are on the spiritual mountaintop.
We look at them and they seem to have it all together. They are riding high spiritually …and we
envy them.
But
things are not always what they seem, are they?
Oh, we put on a facade at times---a
front---especially when we are around other Christians.
When
you come to church, you look as good as you can.
When
you come to church, you are on your best behavior.
When
you come to church, you want to seem the best that you can be.
But, often, that’s not the real picture, is it?
The fact is that you’re struggling right now with
the sin in your life, aren’t you? You look
at God’s Word and then look at your own life and make the comparison between
what you are--- as opposed to what you ought to be, and you are discouraged.
The
Struggle
15I don't
understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do
it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. 16I know perfectly well
that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that
the Law is good.
Now,
The
Law of God is good.
The
Law of God is important
The
Law of God is necessary. We need to
know and understand that!
The
commandments are good, holy and righteous. We need them.
And
we recognize that The Law of God---The 10 Commandments---are telling us what we
ought to be doing, or not doing. But, as much as we try to keep them, we find
that we cannot always keep them. This
is our struggle.
So…What’s
going on here?
A war, that's what!
There
is a war raging in you and me.
There
is a spiritual battle going on within you and me.
Paul tells us that he suffers from the same
struggle: “I can't do what I would like to do. And what I don’t want to do,
I do anyway. What in the world is happening to my life?”
Verses
17-19 tell us,
17I can't help
myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. 18I
know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is
concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to,
but I can't. 19When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not
to do wrong, I do it anyway.
He
is saying simply that, as Christians…
We
are struggling with our old sinful nature.
We
are struggling with the Devil at work within us.
We are struggling with all of those years we were thoroughly committed
to the practice of sin.
And it is a very real struggle, a struggle that all
Christians face. Here we see Paul struggling as a believer in Christ. And we
struggle as believers in Christ, also!
If
you understand the aging process and its effect on the human body, you will
better understand this passage of Scripture.
For
example, if you try to play any sport, as you grow older, you know that the
things your brain commands your body to do are not always the things you do.
As
I take a swing at that little golf ball on the ground, I know where and how far
I want it to go. But my intention has
nothing to do with where the ball ends up!
If you understand this, you will understand what Paul is talking about
here.
He
is saying,
I
went into this thing with a desire to obey God's Law.
I
gave it my best shot.
And
it did not come out that way.
I
tried to do a good thing and I ended up sinning.
“Why?”
Why? Because, there is a CONSTANT struggle with our old sinful nature.
Look at verse 20,
20 if I am doing
what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is
doing it.
Does
this sound confusing? Paul says
he’s doing it, yet he is not doing it.
Is
this a schizophrenic individual talking here?
How can I be doing it and not doing it?
It is me but it is not me. That doesn’t make sense!
What Paul is saying here is that the person sinning
is the old you.
The
new you, the one who has been set free by the death of Christ is liberated from
sin.
What
is happening is that the real you is desiring to obey God. The old you is
desiring to obey Satan. That is why we have this struggle to begin with.
Before we met Christ, we had no desire to do
anything except our own thing — righteous or unrighteous; it didn’t really
matter. We did what we wanted to do. We had no desire to keep the commandments
of God unless they fit into our own scheme of things. And so, we were not
burdened by a guilty conscience. We
didn’t care
But when we came to know Christ, we found that there
was a new standard and we began to care. We were made alive to the things of
God, and for the first time in our existence…
We really cared about righteousness.
We wanted to please God and do what was right.
We now wanted to do what God wanted us to do.
What
Paul is saying is that there has been a change on the inside, and the real me,
the new me wants to keep God's Word, to keep God's Law. But the old me, the old
sinful nature within me does not want to change. So I struggle with sin.
Verses
21-23 say,
21It seems to be a fact
of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
He
is saying,
I
know that it is wrong to be angry.
I know that it is wrong to be selfish.
I
know that it is wrong to covet.
I
know that it is wrong to think evil thoughts,
I know that it is wrong to use my tongue to slander others.
So,
what’s wrong? Paul goes on to explain:
There is another law at work within me that
is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin
that is still within me.
We know that it is wrong to speak evil of someone,
and yet when we hear another person doing it, we want to enter into it. We know
we should not do it, but there is something in us that delights in it. It is
hard to understand it.
The
answer is that the real you----the inner person who is created after the image
of Christ----wants to keep Christ's Law, but the old you wants to still engage
in sin. Sin's effects die hard.
When
we take a good long look at the depth of sin in our hearts we say,
24Oh, what a
miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by
sin?
You
see…
When we fight by our own strength, we lose the
struggle.
When
we look at our old sinful selves, we quit the fight.
When
we try and go it alone, we are led to despair and hopelessness!
But
it is not hopeless.
In fact, this is precisely the place that God
wants us.
If
you are struggling with sin right now…
if you are struggling with the requirements of God's Law right now…
If
you are struggling with the dilemma of not doing what God wants you to do and
doing what He doesn’t want you to do…
He wants to change
that.
He wants you to come to the end of yourself.
He wants you to quit depending on yourself.
And you know what?
That is the place to which you will eventually come. You might beat your
head against the wall for a while, but sooner or later you will say, “Who can
change me?” And the answer is, of
course, Jesus Christ!
Coming to the end of our self is not bad, if and
when we do we turn to Jesus. The challenge for Christians in our contemporary
society is to quit trying to do it themselves, and let Jesus do it!
I
believe that most people don’t do that, fully and completely.
I
believe that most people participate in worship and stewardship and in and in
church activities on their own terms.
I
believe they participate at their own level ----when and how they want to,
rather than participating with a sense of
true commitment to the Lord
Jesus Christ and to the work of the church
They
want forgiveness, but on their terms, according to their rules.
They
want to participate in giving, but on their own terms, according to their rules.
They
want to serve Christ and His church, but on their terms, according to their
rules.
And that’s when they fail at living the true
Christian life!
But
here’s the good news!
God loves you and me so much that He allows us to
fail so that we will turn to Him. The failure itself may be the very thing that
draws us to God.
The Deliverer
25Thank God! The
answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Only
Jesus Christ can set you free.
Only
Jesus Christ is your Savior,
Only
Jesus Christ is your LIFE.
He did not come simply to forgive your sins;
He came to inhabit your very body with His indwelling presence and to live His
life through yours in order to make you an instrument of His life.
Think of it this way.
You are a container of God.
The living Lord Jesus Christ lives in you.
The Holy Spirit of God dwells in you.
And the life, which we contain, is the life which
sets us free.
If
you are caught in the great STRUGGLE this morning
of wanting to do good,
but not doing it….and
of trying not to do
wrong and doing it anyway, I am here to tell you
not
to despair,
not
to become discouraged,
not
to give up.
Jesus Christ is here to forgive you and to live
within you. And only Christ living in
you can give you the power to struggle
victoriously against the old sinful nature.
As
we surrender to Him, we will find His power to be real, and His Word to be
true. And then we can do the good we
want to do and not do the evil we don’t want to do.
So…
Do
not despair.
Do
not become discouraged.
Do
not give up.
You
can win the STRUGGLE in Jesus and with Jesus and through
Jesus.
Praise be to God! Amen.