The Battle Begins (Romans 7:14–17)

The most confusing part of the Christian life can be the most universal: you love God’s law, you want to change, and yet you still find yourself pulled toward sin. We go straight into Romans 7 and face the tension Paul puts on the page, the good we want to do and the evil that still seems close at hand. If you’ve ever wondered whether real believers struggle this way, you’re not alone, and you’re not crazy. 

We work through the big interpretive question that shapes everything: who is Paul talking about? We walk through the major views and why they matter, from “Paul must mean someone else” to “this is an unbeliever” to the dangerous idea that Romans 7 is just an immature or carnal stage you eventually outgrow. Along the way, we clarify the difference between being free from sin’s penalty and power and still living with sin’s presence and possibility, which keeps temptation and failure on the daily calendar. 

Then we land on the uncomfortable encouragement: this conflict can describe a committed, growing believer. We talk about why the most mature Christians often sound the least impressed with themselves, why spiritual leaders still struggle, and why growth can look like increased sensitivity to sin rather than a polished image of victory. If you want a clear, honest, biblical framework for sanctification, indwelling sin, and the battle within, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most.

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Transcript

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You ask an immature believer how they're doing in their walk with Jesus Christ, and they'll say, Oh, you can't believe the advances I'm making. You ask a maturing believer how he's doing in his walk, and he will say, I am so aware of how far I have to go. Part of the trouble in the church is the immature Christian grabs the microphone first and tells everybody in class or in a Bible study how holy they are becoming, while the mature Christian sits there with his mouth shut, knowing his own

Immaturity And Honest Self-Assessment

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faults and his own besetting sins that he battles daily, and he knows the last thing he wants to do is talk about some spiritual victory because he knows that's like telling hell to come after. Number two, you're gonna get lost if you don't. You're gonna need to track with me through six or seven different points, which will ultimately serve my one major point. I want to begin a series entitled The War Within. The War Within. And as any passage, having come to it for the first time as a teacher or preacher, I'm never really sure where we'll land and how long we'll be there. As I studied and prepared for this discussion today, it became obvious that all I would really do is be able to introduce it and give sort of an overview of this last great paragraph of this chapter. And I'm

The War Within Series Begins

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not sure how long it'll be. I thought you might find it interesting this past week. I picked up my youngest daughter, who's in fourth grade, from school, so we could go to the bookstore to buy a Bible cover. And so we looked at all the different options and some interesting ones, some purple fuzzy kinds and uh denim blue with pink hearts, and lots of different ones. I put them all on the shelf finally, and she made her choice. She picked a black velvet one with little squiggly velvet lines, and she wanted to open the Bible and insert this tab that was built into that book cover. She wanted to put it in the right place, and so she turned to the book of Romans without me saying anything. Imagine that. But then with perfect innocence, she looked at me and she said, Now, Daddy, what verse are you teaching this year? Somebody put her up to that, I'm convinced. Well, how do you battle sin? Does a true believer sin? What do you do with defeat in sin and by sin? How do you treat the principle of sin that seems to linger and make the Christian life so difficult? Is it really true that it does? Or do you reach some state of mature perfection? How do you gain victory as an ordinary average believer in Jesus Christ? That's what I'd want to know. That's why I'm referring to this series as a war. This paragraph in Romans chapter 7 is nothing less than the revelation of a battle that's going on in the believer's life, in their mind and their heart, and their emotions and their will. Now, in saying that, I just tipped my hand because I use the phrase the believer's life. And that will indicate my perspective in approaching this passage. There happens to be quite a controversy over this passage and just who Paul is referring to. And it is no small argument, and we need to deal with it today as a group of students studying the Word of God for our soul's sake. It's no small argument. In fact, it's the most important thing to decide before you ever even enter into the text. Who Paul is referring

Who Is Paul Talking About

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to will make all the difference in the world, not only in the interpretation of this text, but the application of this text? If he's talking about an unbeliever, then we're going to apply it to the life of an unbeliever. If he's talking about a believer, then what kind of believer? An immature believer, a carnal believer, or a maturing believer? Who is Paul talking about in verse 14 when he says, I am sold into bondage to sin? Who's he speaking about in verse 18? For I know that nothing good dwells in me. Who's he talking about in verse 21 when he says, I find then the principle of evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good? Well, there are at least six major views, there are more, but these are the primary viewpoints, and I want to give them to you one at a time and deal with them one at a time. Number one, Paul is referring to somebody else, not himself. He's referring to someone else, not to himself. Surely, as you read this paragraph and just the few verses I have given you, Paul would not be talking about himself, would he? Paul is the victorious believer, right? He is the one who said, Imitate thou me as I follow after Christ. How could Paul ever be so distraught? How could Paul ever be so in the flesh himself to say, the good that I wish to do, I do not do? Well, the trouble with this view is that beginning with verse seven, if you say Paul isn't speaking about himself, it is at verse seven through the end of this chapter that Paul speaks with the personal pronoun. He refers to himself over and over again. In fact, in the earlier part of chapter 7, Paul consistently said, we and our us. Now Paul talks by saying these things about I. This is the good that I wish to do, I do, not do, and his agony will reach this climactic statement in verse 24, when he will cry out, Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Others would argue, another different vantage point or viewpoint, they would believe, number two, that Paul is writing about an unbeliever. There is far too much talk about bondage to sin in this, to be referring to a believer, they would say. In verse 14, he says, sold into bondage to sin. That would reference an unbeliever, right? Didn't Paul say in chapter 6, verse 6, look there, that we should no longer be slaves to sin,

Free From Sin Yet Tempted

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for he who has died is freed from sin. Look down at verse 18. And having been free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. We're freed. We're no longer bound, right? Surely this passage in Romans 7 then would refer to an unbeliever and not to Paul or any other Christian, because the person in view here, according to verse 14, is sold under bondage to sin or sold into bondage to sin. To begin with, you need to understand the emphasis of chapter 6 as one on the new creation and the new nature and the new identity of the one who's died in Christ and now freed to walk in newness of life, as it were. This is the one who has been delivered, as we have talked and taught, from the kingdom of sin. And it is true, we are freed from the penalty of sin, which is judgment. We are freed from the power of sin which produces despair. We have no longer the absolute necessity to sin. You could say that I don't have to sin again. That is our position. Now, the passage in chapter 7 is not dealing with our position in the heavenlies, it is dealing with our experience on planet Earth. Yes, we are free from the penalty of sin, but we are not free from the presence of sin, which spells temptation. We are free from the power of sin, but we are not free from the possibility of sin, which can spell failure. May I remind you that in the midst of chapter 6, and everything that the believer was told by Paul, Paul never told him that he wouldn't battle sin. Look at verse 12 and the implication of verse 12. Therefore, on the basis of this freedom you have, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lust, written, because the implication is that you could do that as someone freed. Verse 13, do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead. So what is true about the believer positionally, we are free from the penalty and power of sin, may not be true for the believer practically, the one who is embracing sin and listening to the lure of temptation. He says in verse 19 of chapter 6, I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. I believe he's referring back to that thought as he writes in chapter 7, verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh. Sarkana. So I am made of the stuff of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. In other words, you have on one hand the holiness of God's law, it's spiritual, that it is good and holy and righteous. You have on the other hand the weakness of flesh and this internal dynamic of sin battling the internal dynamic of spirit. We may be, in fact, slaves of a new master, but we still live in enemy territory. We are still living behind enemy lines. You know, I know Paul is not referring to an unbeliever in this paragraph. Among other things, an unbeliever would never confess in verse 16 of chapter 7 that God's standard is good. The world has a great trouble with the Ten Commandments, right? Great difficulty with that. They'd really rather not be reminded of it. An unbeliever would never say in verse 22 that he with joy concurs with the law of God. It doesn't bring any joy to know there's the law of God to an unbeliever. He does everything but ignore it and redefine it. Or at least he tries to. An unbeliever doesn't want anything to do with the law of God. An unbeliever would never say in verse 18, nothing good dwells within me. No, an unbeliever says, you can't believe how good I am. And God knows me. God knows my heart, and he knows that I'm a good person. The believer says, Yes, God knows me and knows my heart and knows I'm evil, right? I'm sinful. He would never concur with the law of God, which says there is none righteous, know not what? No not one. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. An unbeliever would never say, as Paul says in the latter part of verse 15 in chapter 7, that he hates sin. He hates doing sin. He says, I am doing the things I hate to do. An unbeliever does not hate sin. An unbeliever plans for sin. An unbeliever looks for sin. He sets it up. He saves up his money and buys it. He's encouraged by it and he encourages it. He applauds it and he wants others to applaud it in him. It's an unbeliever. He doesn't hate it. What he hates about sin are the consequences. He hates getting caught. He hates the brokenness and turmoil of broken relationships. He hates the diseases of sexual sin. He hates the penalties and punishments of civil sin. But he doesn't hate sin. He loves sin. Only the Christian abhors sin. Only the believer hates to offend the holy nature and name of God. Only the believer sees the wretchedness of his evil heart. Only a believer, though failing to practically meet the holy standard of a holy God, still can say, like David, Oh, how I love thy law. Only a believer can say that. Paul, I don't believe, is writing to an unbeliever here. The third view is that Paul is writing about an immature Christian or a carnal Christian. Frankly, I think this is the most dangerous view of all so far. Because if he's writing to an immature Christian, then we're all off the hook. We sin, hey, one day I'll grow up and I won't have trouble with that anymore. I'm just, I'm not there yet. The person who holds this view would take this text to defend their perspective of sinning with permission. They would talk like

No Hall Pass For Sin

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this. Well, I've only been a Christian for a few years and I've never really dealt with that temptation until now, and so it's really not that bad of a deal. In fact, don't hold it against me. I haven't matured enough to deal with that sin. I've got a hall pass for this sin. I can be out here in the hallway right now. God knows it. The teacher said it's okay because I haven't grown up yet, so you've got to leave me alone. I don't know how many Christians are running around saying, you can't blame me, I'm the weaker brother. Well, when are you gonna grow up? When are you gonna be the stronger brother? Well, they would say, Well, you know, I'm just not strong in that particular area. This view of carnal or we Christians hides sin behind the excuse of immaturity. And if this passage is referring to that kind of Christian, then frankly, everybody gets a free pass to sin because we're all not as mature as we will be tomorrow, right? We are immature today compared to hopefully what we will be by following the Lord next year and the following year. So if I sin today, well, that's a free pass. I'm just a weaker brother. I'm just not strong there. Yes, Paul says we are weak, but he never excuses weaknesses, does he? Surely this text, though, is referring to a carnal Christian. You look back at verse 14, it says, We know the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh. The word could be translated and is by some carnal, sold into the bondage of sin. The Greek language includes the article so that you can literally translate this, and I suggest you write the word the or the into your text. It reads, I am of flesh sold into bondage to thee. Sin. To thee sin. Sold under the principle of sin, the category of sin. Paul is saying where law is made of spiritual truth, he is made of Adam's flesh, flesh which still houses the principle of sin. He isn't saying that he is still bound to sins, plural, some kind of individual sins that he just can't help. He is saying he is bound to the singular principle or nature of sin, and it remains, it resides, it is retained in his flesh, and he will battle it for the rest of his life. So even though Paul and every believer has been granted a new nature in Christ, we still struggle with this dynamic, this internal principle of sin in our flesh, which so easily cooperates with the lure of sin. Paul is not writing about an immature believer, he's writing about every believer. Because every believer could be said to be immature, right? Will any of us ever perfect our walk? No, but God is progressing us along the way until finally in our glorified state, he will complete the work. So we can, in effect, say we're all immature. And in that way, perhaps. But he's not writing to someone that could use this excuse for sin. In fact, this text, this paragraph is not even using the vocabulary of a backslidden or immature Christian. An immature or backslidden Christian doesn't feel the depth of agony over sin expressed here like he does. A backslidden Christian doesn't have deep joy in the midst of the battle for the law of God, but great guilt. A sin excusing Christian would not be rejoicing in the good and holy and righteous law that finds him so far short of God's good and holy and righteous character. That kind of perspective, that kind of activity is the activity of maturing believers. So I don't think there's any loophole here for those who would say they're just simply immature. The fourth view holds that Paul is referring to himself, but he's referring to himself before he was saved. They are, I believe, getting closer to the truth, but they simply say he's referring to himself before he was saved. Trouble with that is simply the text itself, the tenses of the original language change from aorist and imperfect, which speak about the past experience. They now shift to consistently present tense verbs. In the first part of this chapter, Paul wrote, We were. We were. You were. Now in this section, he shifts to the present tense. I am doing. I joyfully concur. I find then. Oh wretched man that I what not was, oh wretched man that I am. Present tense. In other words, Paul is not writing about his past experience, he is writing about his present experience. John Walford wrote, Paul was describing his present conflict as a Christian with indwelling sin and its continuing efforts to control his daily life. Paul is writing about the battle within. The fifth view is that Paul is writing this about himself, but he's referring to his experiences before he matured in his faith and walk with Jesus Christ. Again, this is not the language of an immature believer. You ask an immature believer how they're doing in their walk with Jesus Christ, and they'll say, Oh, you can't believe the advances I'm making. I'm doing so well. You ask a maturing believer how he's doing in his walk, and he will say, I am so aware of how far I have to go. Of how different my character and my personality is from my Lord. You don't have any idea how far I have to go. Part of the trouble in the church is the immature Christian grabs the microphone first and tells everybody in class or in a Bible study how holy they are becoming, while the mature Christian sits there with his mouth shut, knowing his own faults and his own besetting sins that he battles daily, and he knows the last thing he wants to do is talk about some spiritual victory because he knows that's like telling hell to come after him. So he stays quiet. Let's the immature guy just talk about how great advancement he's making, you know, for God. And he probably begins praying for him because of what it means. When Paul wrote this, he was not an immature Christian. He had been saved now for 25 years when he wrote this letter. So I would say that leads us to the final view, which I believe is correct, and that is this. Paul is writing this as a committed, growing, and two committed growing believers. He's writing this as a committed, growing believer. But you say, wait a second. I mean, I have difficulty with this text, and I want you to know that I personally wrestled with this text for days. Surely this text can't be the experience of Paul or any believer who's serving in the spirit. Part of the problem,

Why Godly People Still Struggle

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I think, is that we've divided our thinking into chapters. It isn't you're living through chapter 7 because you can't wait to get to chapter 8. The truth is chapters 7 and 8 happen at the same time. We've divided it. We've divided his testimony. People like Paul, we would think, don't struggle, we gotta keep moving, and then we'll eventually get to, you know, I thank my God through Jesus Christ, and then live there in perpetual, perfected victory. But this is the experience of a committed growing believer, both chapters 7 and chapters eight. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever known a godly person up close? If you have, then you know the surprise of finding out that they are just like you. Right? I've had the wonderful privilege of having men come and speak in my stead, men I consider giants of the faith. I remember John Walford himself being here dedicating our first campus, planning to dedicate this one, but it became too frail. He is now, this pastor went home to be with the Lord. I remember him talking to me in the car about his desire to just finish well. Man, that was encouraging. He never said to me, I've got it mastered. I'd sit there and go, oh, I can't wait to get to that point of driving my car. Oh, I want to finish well. Have you read a biography of a good Christian, a godly Christian lately? You ought to do that. Read about Spurgeon's despair and Luther's temper. Not so you can excuse yours, so that you can find out that godly people struggle. Those you even look up to fail. I want you to know I can't believe the comments and emails and thank yous I have received from people after I told the story a few weeks ago about yelling at that taxicab driver. I mean, if I'd have known it'd encourage you that much, I could just tell you more sin. In fact, every week I could tell you more stories, but I'm probably not gonna periodically ought to do it though, shouldn't I? We just don't think of our spiritual leaders struggling, do we? If I told you every time I sinned or struggled with sin, we'd have to be on the phone every single hour of the day. There is a battle within that we fight. We just don't think of people like that, do we? I remember one guest I had. He was in his late 70s. My contemporaries and I joked that he Was Moses. Not to his face. We would never say that to him, but behind his back, you know, there's Moses. Well, anyhow, I remember he spoke for me, and I was going to take him out after church on Sunday evening, and I wanted to take him to a really nice restaurant because, you know, he deserved that kind of treatment. And instead, he just wanted to go back to his hotel room and do some work. And I thought, wow. He said, I'll tell you what, though, before we go there, why don't you just run me through the drive-thru at McDonald's? I want to get a Big Mac and fries. And I remembered thinking, literally, Moses eats a Big Mac. I cannot believe this. I could not picture this man stuffing French fries in his face. It shocked me. We really can't imagine, frankly, the great Apostle Paul, this incredible leader struggling with sin, can we? We just can't imagine it. If he walked into this auditorium and down here, we would look at him and say, he's got it nailed down. And then he writes, man, I've got to struggle. The things I want to do, I don't do. And the things I don't want to do, I do. Surely not Paul. Oh, as one author wrote, Paul is describing a maturing Christian, one who clearly sees the inability of his flesh to uphold the divine spiritual standard. And the more spiritual a believer is, the greater his sensitivity to his shortcomings will be. So good. The more Paul grew in Christ, the more aware he was of his body of flesh, the body of death he had to battle with. Early in his ministry, you may know that Paul described himself in 1 Corinthians 15 when he said, I am the least of the apostles. In other words, you line up the other men, and I'll come in last. They're all better men than me. They're all greater men than I. I'm the least of the apostles. Later on in his ministry, he wrote to the Ephesian believers, and he said, This, I am less than the least of all the saints. In other words, earlier he was the least when compared to a handful of incredibly gifted and faithful men. Now he considers himself to be less than the least of the believers living on planet earth. But he wasn't finished. Shortly before his death, he wrote to his son of the faith, and he said this powerful statement. These are his words. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners among whom I am chief. Once he was the least of a dozen men. Then he was the least faithful of all the Christians. Now in his later years, he's the greatest sinner on planet Earth. Here is my point. Becoming a Christian does not end the battle with sin. It begins the battle. Yes, sin no longer has rights over you. It is no longer your sovereign, but it is still your daily adversary. And what is growing in Christ going to involve it is an awareness? Would it be? Of how good you are? Or would it be a growing awareness of how sinful you are? It would be that.