Romans 7:12-20
12: So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13: Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
14: For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15: For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16: But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17: So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18: For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19: For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20: But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
Paul had already explained how the Law exposed sin. Yet he clarified that the Law itself is good. The Law was not to blame for the death it caused in a person who broke it. Truth, instructions, and warnings are not responsible for those who choose to ignore them. If you turn on a light and see a snake in your living room, it's not the light’s fault.
Paul explained the conflict of the two opposing natures within. The fleshly nature mankind inherited in the fall tempts and urges people to do the very things we know are wrong. Any sin that you have been entangled in will still try to enslave you. Even sin you’ve not been caught up in will try to get a hold of you if possible. The temptation in the flesh is very real, but as Paul explained here, if he fell into it, he hated it, and knew he had done wrong. When we do right, we know it’s right, yet there remains a desire in the flesh that doesn’t want to do good.
Paul described this conflict and said that if he did fall into sin, it was no longer him—his spirit—doing it, but the sin living in him that did. Thus, he described the struggle in the flesh to live a holy life before God. The struggle is real, but it doesn’t have to defeat us which we’ll see as we continue reading.
13: Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
14: For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15: For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16: But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17: So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18: For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19: For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20: But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
***
Paul had already explained how the Law exposed sin. Yet he clarified that the Law itself is good. The Law was not to blame for the death it caused in a person who broke it. Truth, instructions, and warnings are not responsible for those who choose to ignore them. If you turn on a light and see a snake in your living room, it's not the light’s fault.
Paul explained the conflict of the two opposing natures within. The fleshly nature mankind inherited in the fall tempts and urges people to do the very things we know are wrong. Any sin that you have been entangled in will still try to enslave you. Even sin you’ve not been caught up in will try to get a hold of you if possible. The temptation in the flesh is very real, but as Paul explained here, if he fell into it, he hated it, and knew he had done wrong. When we do right, we know it’s right, yet there remains a desire in the flesh that doesn’t want to do good.
Paul described this conflict and said that if he did fall into sin, it was no longer him—his spirit—doing it, but the sin living in him that did. Thus, he described the struggle in the flesh to live a holy life before God. The struggle is real, but it doesn’t have to defeat us which we’ll see as we continue reading.
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