– Ps. Chaitanya
Romans 7:19-25
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
23 but 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.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 Thanks 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.
Paul is talking about a problem. There seems to be a fight between the members of our body against the Law of God. Our members of our body seem to be driven by our passions and our mind driven by the Law of God.
Seems to be cycle –
o We want to live for God
o We fall in sin
o We ask to forgiveness, get up and we repeat.
Is this a constant cycle? The enemy seems to put to a lie saying that this weakness is constant & defeat is inevitable. Victory seems far away.
Paul asks this question here – 24 Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Paul gives an answer here too – 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Paul in Rom 8 introduces the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 8:13
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
What is Paul is talking when referring to flesh – Anger, Wrath, gratification, sin & so on…
In the OT, it was impossible for the people to follow the law of God because the Holy Spirit was not indwelling.
But, through Christ & the payment for Sin – Not because of our works, but by grace – we now have the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.
Paul encourages here to put to death the deeds of the body.
Rom 8:14, 15
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[f] of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Firstly, Gods spirit is not a Spirit of fear or slavery but of power, love, Self-control.
2 Tim 1:7
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Because the Holy Spirit indwelling in us, is a spirit of Power, we are no longer under slavery. The Spirit of Love, we can forgive & love others. The Spirit of Self-control, we can put to death the deeds of our flesh.
Rom 8: 16-17
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The problem was that Paul wanted to do good but was constantly seems to fall.
Paul’s answer here is –
o Put to death the deeds of the flesh
o Be led by the Spirit of God
o Understand that we have the Spirit of Adoption
o Understand that we have the Spirit of power, love & self-control.
Eph 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Eph 1:13,14
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee[d] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,[e] to the praise of his glory.
In Jesus we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. We may think that when we sin, the Holy Spirit leaves us, or lifts off us. But, scripture says, we are sealed – It cannot be rubbed off or removed.
Paul also says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance.
Eph 1:19-23
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the grave & seated him at Gods right hand, above all things & and everything put under His feat.
Eph 2:1-3
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
We were slaves of the devil, fulfilling the passions of the flesh, under wrath and enemies of God.
Eph 2:4-7
4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God, even when we were rebellious & good for destruction, made us alive through Christ Jesus. Just like Jesus was made alive, we are made alive, filled with His Holy Spirit & made us seated with Him in the heavenly places.
Since Jesus having authority & power, now we too have power & authority. This is the Grace of God manifested. Now, we can now have power & authority over everything that we hold us & chains us.
We no longer need to be afraid that the temptation, sickness, trails & sin in stronger that you. We are seated with Jesus & say no to the enemy and stand in faith.
Sin can have no power over me. Death can have no power over me. I have a Spirit of Self-control, Power & Love.
By understanding the position that we have, we can overcome.
We seem to have settled in our minds that we are forever chained and in bondage; even when we have in us the power to overcome.
We need to change our thinking. We need to understand that victory is near & overcoming is not impossible.
When seated with Jesus, we are called for more.
1 Pet 1:9
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Peter makes a bold statement – We are royalty & priesthood.
Priests in the OT had the functions
o Stand instead of the people
o Minister to people.
In the Lord’s prayer, the 1st request is – Let your kingdom come & will be come.
We need to exercise our priestly authority in expanding Gods Kingdom. We have the power to say no to sin, exercise self-control. We are heirs with Christ, a royal priesthood & expand Gods Kingdom.
The devil does not want the expansion of Gods Kingdom but, wants you to live a defeated life. But God wants you to exercise your true position and partner with God in expanding His Kingdom.
Heb 12:1
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
‘Clings so closely’ refers to besetting sin. The sin that we fall often, that we get enslaved often.
There is a different kind of faith that arises when we pray from our position. It’s as if we were in the war room of heaven, listening & making plans with God. A different authority arises from within of a renewed purpose.
Joseph overcame sin & became a blessing to the people around him. He survived a kingdom because he knew who he was & what purposes he was called to.
God has kept a purpose in every one & wants us walk in it. Are you ready to set aside everything that enslaves us & stand to carry the Kingdom of God?