Tag Archives: Romans 7

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Somebody Save Me From Myself

Lean Into The Great Rescuer

Each of us has an area where we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should, and like the Apostle Paul, we cry out in exasperation, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” That’s the question, isn’t it: who will rescue me since I don’t have much of a track record of self-rescue? The answer, Paul discovered, was the Great Rescuer: “Thanks be to God—it is through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Enduring Truth // Romans 7:15,19,24

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do… For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice… O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Huh? Did you catch that? Paul had a convoluted way of saying something pretty straightforward, which was simply this: “I do what I shouldn’t and I don’t do what I should—man, am I in trouble!”

Can you relate to Paul? I sure can. He was in a wrestling match with sin, and sin was whupping up on him. It was frustrating because Paul knew what he shouldn’t be doing—yet he was drawn to sin like a mouse to a cheese-laden trap.

Let me ask you this: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation? What represents your cheese-laden mousetrap? Maybe it’s a whole container of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey®—perhaps you are an overeater. Maybe you are a sucker for anything that says, “Red Tag Sale”—perhaps you are an overspender. Maybe it’s an adult site on the Internet—perhaps you’ve got a compulsion for porn. Perhaps it’s alcohol or drugs or gambling or gossiping or griping.

Each of us has an area where we end up doing what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should, and we throw up our hands and cry out in desperation,  “What a sicko I am! Who will rescue me from the Chunky Monkey®?” That is the question: who will rescue me since I don’t have a track record of self-rescue?

Jesus will! That’s what Paul said in Romans 7:25, “Thanks be to God—it’s through Jesus Christ our Lord!” When Jesus died, he broke the power of sin, so it no longer has a hold on us. Through the power of the resurrection, Paul says in I Corinthians 10:13 that God has provided a way out from under every temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Did you catch that? Your battle with temptation is winnable. The last part of the verse says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.”

That’s good news. There’s always an escape route—always. When you’re tempted, God himself will provide a way out; he will make a way. God has provided a door—but I must look for it and walk through it!

What are those escape routes?

One way of escape is to immerse yourself in Scripture. Psalm 119:9 & 11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

That’s how Jesus battled temptation in the wilderness. Every time the tempter came at him with something that would tear him away from his Father, Jesus came back at Satan with the truth of scripture. There is no more potent weapon against temptation in your life than in reading systematically, meditating daily, and memorizing strategically God’s Word.

Another escape route from temptation is to become accountable to another believer, especially for your particular weakness. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We need to bring our temptation into the light of accountability to other people—as difficult as that may be.

Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” You would do yourself a huge favor by finding someone with whom you can be accountable for your weakness.

And yet another way out is to ask God to deliver you daily from the tempter. Jesus taught us to pray a daily prayer that acknowledges both our weakness and our need for divine power in this area: “Deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13) As simple as that sounds, the amazing thing is, God hears those prayers. And he provides a way out.

Who will rescue you from this body of death? As Paul says in Romans 7:25,

“Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.”

Thrive: Memorize Romans 7:24-25, “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.”

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Romans 7: Somebody Save Me From Myself

Read Romans 7:7-25

 

Somebody Save Me From Myself

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that
I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do… For the good that
I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that
I practice… O wretched man that I am! Who will
deliver me from this body of death?”
~Romans 7:15,19,24

Going Deeper… Huh? Did you catch that? Paul had a convoluted way of saying something pretty straightforward, which was simply this: “I do what I shouldn’t and I don’t do what I should—man, am I in trouble!”

Can you relate to Paul? I sure can. He was in a wrestling match with sin, and sin was whupping up on him. It was frustrating because Paul knew what he shouldn’t be doing—yet he was drawn to sin like a mouse to a cheese-laden trap.

Let me ask you this: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation? What represents your cheese-laden mousetrap? Maybe it’s a box of Krispy Kremes—perhaps you are an overeater. Maybe it’s the letters S*A*L*E—perhaps you’re an overspender. Maybe it’s an adult site on the Internet—perhaps you’ve got a compulsion for porn. Could it be your compulsion is alchohol or drugs or gambling or gossiping or griping? Maybe it’s the joy of passing judgment on other cheese-eaters, which in reality, reveals your battle with a critical spirit.

Each of us has an area where we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should. “What a sicko I am! Who will rescue me from the cheese?”

Jesus will! That’s what Paul said in Romans 7:25, “Thanks be to God—it’s through Jesus Christ our Lord!” When Jesus died, he broke the power of sin, so it no longer has a hold on us. Through the power of the resurrection, Paul says in I Corinthians 10:13 that God has provided a way out from under every temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Did you catch that? Your battle with temptation is winnable. The last part of the verse says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.”

That’s good news. There’s always an escape route—always. When you’re tempted, God himself will provide a way out; he will make a way. God has provided a door—but I must look for it and walk through it!

What are those escape routes?

One way of escape is to immerse yourself in Scripture. Psalm 119:9 & 11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

That’s how Jesus battled temptation in the wilderness. Every time the tempter came at him with something that would tear him away from his Father, Jesus came back at Satan with the truth of scripture. There is no more potent weapon against temptation in your life than in reading systematically, meditating daily, and memorizing strategically God’s Word.

Another escape route from temptation is to become accountable to another believer, especially for your particular weakness. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We need to bring our temptation into the light of accountability to other people—as difficult as that may be.

Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” You would do yourself a huge favor by finding someone with whom you can be accountable for your weakness.

And yet another way out is to ask God to deliver you daily from the tempter. Jesus taught us to pray a daily prayer that acknowledges both our weakness and our need for divine power in this area: “Deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13) As simple as that sounds, the amazing thing is, God hears those prayers. And he provides a way out.

Who will rescue you from this body of death? Who is going to keep you out of the cheese?

“Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.”
(Romans 7:25)

“Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot
prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no
need that we should let them nest in our hair.”
~Martin Luther

 

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Read Romans 7:1-25
  • Memorize Romans 7:24-25, “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.”
  • Throughout Romans, it seems as if Paul has been pounding on the law.  So was the law bad? Obviously not! So if the law is not bad, yet it doesn’t lead to true righteousness before God, what is its purpose then? Do a word search in Romans and Galatians (www.biblegateway.com is a good source), and read each context in which law is mentioned and see if you can come away with a better understanding of the purpose of the law that was revealed in Old Testament scripture.
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Romans 7: The Great Breakup

Read Romans 7:1-6

 

The Great Breakup
 
When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down
with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to “marry” a
resurrection life and bear “offspring” of faith for God.
~Romans 7:4 (Message)

Going Deeper… They say that breaking up is hard to do.  Whoever “they” are, they’re right.  Whatever else, good or bad, painful or pleasurable, comes out of a breakup, one thing it does is to release those involved from the responsibilities of the relationship.

In this opening section of Romans 7, Paul uses the illustration of a marriage breakup—in this case, a breakup caused by the death of a spouse—to illustrate the Christ-follower’s release from the obligations of the Old Testament law. Now keep in mind that Paul’s primary purpose is not to establish a theology on divorce and remarriage—so don’t go there. What he has to say about that must be considered in the light of the rest of scriptural teaching on the matter.

Rather, Paul is using this marriage breakup illustration to make a different point.  And the point is that when a marriage relationship is broken apart by death, the living partner is morally, emotionally and physically free to pursue another relationship. What bound the person before—which would include all the bad baggage that often attends human relationships—is now null, void, and ineffective. In principle, the living spouse is completely free. Any leftover obligation the living spouse carries is empowered only by the credibility they, and only they, voluntarily place in that obligation.

So as it relates to the Old Testament law, when Christ died those old obligations were completely canceled. His death is representative of our death to the law, and therefore our death to the sin the law revealed and empowered. In Christ, we have gone through a painful, but good breakup with the law that leads to sin and death.

Paul’s illustration here, and the teaching that follows, wonderfully explains the profound contrast between that impossibly burdensome life under the law with the new and life-giving relationship made possible by grace. Through Christ’s death, we have been divorced from the old and are now married to the new—hallelujah!  Watchman Nee describes it well in his book, The Normal Christian Life:

Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain holy and righteous demands which He places upon me: that is law. Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means that He no longer requires that from me, BUT HIMSELF PROVIDES IT. Law implies that God requires me to do something for Him; deliverance from law implies that He exempts me from doing it, and that in grace He does it Himself.

Now keep in mind that the law, itself, was not evil. (Romans 7:14)  In fact, the law was “holy, right and good.” (Romans 7:12)  What Paul is revealing is simply that the Old Testament law cannot deliver people from their sin. And the whole purpose of the law was to remind people under its demands of that very impossibility.  God, the Lawgiver, would have to step in himself and do what we, ourselves, couldn’t do through our efforts to obey the law.

So what all of that means for you and me is that if God’s own law cannot rescue us from sin, how much less can any other human law or religious demand or personal effort rescue us!  Only grace from the Lawgiver that comes through his Son, Jesus Christ, can get that job done for us.

And best of us, under grace we are divorced from the obligation of even trying to live up to the impossible standards of the law.  Rather, by that great breakup we are free to simply enjoy what God has provided.  And that, my friend, is life!
 

“The greater perfection a soul aspires after, the
more dependent it is upon divine grace.”
~Brother Lawrence

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Read Romans 7:1-25
  • Memorize Romans 7:24-25, “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.”
  • Throughout Romans, it seems as if Paul has been pounding on the law.  So was the law bad? Obviously not! So if the law is not bad, yet it doesn’t lead to true righteousness before God, what is its purpose then? Do a word search in Romans and Galatians (www.biblegateway.com is a good source), and read each context in which law is mentioned and see if you can come away with a better understanding of the purpose of the law that was revealed in Old Testament scripture.
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Don’t Tempt Me

Read Romans 7

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do… For the good
that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do,
that I practice… O wretched man that I am! Who
will deliver me from this body of death?”
(Romans 7:15, 18-20, 24)

Food For Thought… Huh? Did you catch that? Paul had a convoluted way of saying something pretty straightforward, which was simply this: “I do what I shouldn’t and I don’t do what I should—man, am I in trouble!”

Can you relate to Paul? I sure can. He was in a wrestling match with sin, and sin was whupping up on him. It was frustrating because Paul knew what he shouldn’t be doing—yet he was drawn to sin like a mouse to a cheese-laden trap.

Let me ask you this: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation? What represents your cheese-laden mousetrap? Maybe it’s a box of Krispy Kremes—perhaps you are an overeater. Maybe it’s the letters S*A*L*E—perhaps you’re an overspender. Maybe it’s an adult site on the Internet—perhaps you’ve got a compulsion for porn. Could it be your compulsion is alchohol or drugs or gambling or gossiping or griping? Maybe it’s the joy of passing judgment on other cheese-eaters, which in reality, reveals your battle with a critical spirit.

Each of us has an area where we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should. “What a sicko I am! Who will rescue me from the cheese?”

Jesus will! That’s what Paul said in Romans 7:25, “Thanks be to God—it’s through Jesus Christ our Lord!” When Jesus died, he broke the power of sin, so it no longer has a hold on us. Through the power of the resurrection, Paul says in I Corinthians 10:13 that God has provided a way out from under every temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Did you catch that? Your battle with temptation is winnable. The last part of the verse says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.”

That’s good news. There’s always an escape route—always. When you’re tempted, God himself will provide a way out; he will make a way. God has provided a door—but I must look for it and walk through it!

What are those escape routes?

One way of escape is to immerse yourself in Scripture. Psalm 119:9 & 11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

That’s how Jesus battled temptation in the wilderness. Every time the tempter came at him with something that would tear him away from his Father, Jesus came back at Satan with the truth of scripture. There is no more potent weapon against temptation in your life than in reading systematically, meditating daily, and memorizing strategically God’s Word.

Another escape route from temptation is to become accountable to another believer, especially for your particular weakness. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We need to bring our temptation into the light of accountability to other people—as difficult as that may be.

Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” You would do yourself a huge favor by finding someone with whom you can be accountable for your weakness.

And yet another way out is to ask God to deliver you daily from the tempter. Jesus taught us to pray a daily prayer that acknowledges both our weakness and our need for divine power in this area: “Deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13) As simple as that sounds, the amazing thing is, God hears those prayers. And he provides a way out.

Who will rescue you from this body of death? Who is going to keep you out of the cheese?

“Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.”
(Romans 7:25)

Prayer… Father you are as close as the very oxygen I breathe. I praise your name. May your will be done completely in my life today—which includes keeping me pure and sin-free. Today I ask that you will deliver me from the evil that the Evil One will tempt me with. I ask this so that I might bring glory and honor and praise to your holy name.

One more thing… “Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.” —Martin Luther