The Battle Within (Rom. 7:13-8:11)

The Battle Within (6.13.21 AM)
Introduction (The angel and devil on the shoulders)
The image has been seen on countless cartoons: An angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other: The personification of good vs. evil. What one might want to do and what one knows they should do. The flesh vs. the spirit.
How often do we find ourselves with this dilemma? How often do we feel this inner-conflict, this pull in separate directions?! And How do we overcome this battle within?
Paul addresses this battle in the middle of his letter to the Romans.
The apostle Paul was no stranger to this struggle. He was, after all, a man who was zealous for the Law. He wanted to follow it as closely as possible (in Philippians 3:6, he even refers to himself as blameless when it comes to being right by the law). However, he was also human, and he understood how the flesh battles with the spirit; the mind battles with the body.

Setting the standard
And so here, he analyzes the Law and it’s place in this conflict between the spirit and the flesh.

Paul says (v.8ff) that sin seized an opportunity in the Law. He says that through the Law, sin comes alive. Now what does he mean by that? Does this mean that the Law was bad?

OF course not! Paul even says (V.12) that “the law is holy and righteous and good.”
Here’s an example: think of our rules. Let’s say one of my children uses a word that they shouldn’t use. They don’t realize that it was a bad word, they just heard it at school. Should I just let it go? No! I let them know that that is a bad word and that we should not use it. I’ve set up a rule, a law. . This does not make the rule bad; it shows the error of the action. The Law helps us see the problem of sin.

Illustration: Think of another way: A before/after picture: Have you ever realized that a before picture is not a before picture until an after picture is placed next to it. We don’t realize what state we are in until we see where we could be/should be. The law is the after picture. It was the standard of where one should be. But sin (as we see in v.13), “produced death through what is good (the law), in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.” The Law taught a lesson. Man could not realize what sin is until they could see the standard of righteousness. The Law set that standard

The Dilemma
And thus the dilemma: We have what man should do (Follow the Law of God), and what man chooses to do (follow the “law” of sin). The angel on the right shoulder and the devil on the left. Paul says (v.14) “The law is spiritual…but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” This is the plight of not only the Jews, as described here, but of all people! We know we ought to follow what is spiritual, but we struggle because we are flesh. We are slaves, sold under sin!

Now, I appreciate Paul’s writing style in the next several verses, because, though inspired by God, in these words we see the frustrations that all men trying to live right have. Let’s read, beginning in verse 15, and see if you can grasp what all Paul is saying.
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 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.”
This is an incredible passage of scripture, because it’s confusing, but it’s real. And it’s all too familiar. This is the tension between where we are and where we desire to be. Have you ever struggled with a particular sin, seeking and receiving forgiveness from the Lord, only to find yourself committing that same sin again? We hate sin. We hate Satan and his schemes, yet we find ourselves continually turning to them. We say, “I don’t know why I’m doing this!” So you pray, “God, I know I’ve said I would stop, and I really want to, but I’ve done it again! I’m weak. I’m struggling to overcome. I know what I need to do, but I keep messing up!”
This is what Paul’s talking about. “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate (v.15). I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing (v.19).”
Now, Paul is showing the dilemma of trying to follow the Old Law and yet being unable to do so. Today, this translates to us today trying to live righteously by ourselves. “Why do I keep doing this?!”
It’s a miserable state to be in; one of hopelessness and helplessness. It’s the state of being a slave to sin. And slavery to sin (As Paul says in Romans 6) only leads to death. That’s hopeless. Because we are humans, of the flesh and, as Paul says (v.18), nothing good dwells in the flesh.
And so, in the flesh, we continually fight this miserable battle; a battle that we cannot win alone. Alone we can never be as good as we know that we should be. Like Paul, we may have the desire to do what is right, but we also have the inability to carry it out. No matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfect. We are trapped.
And it’s sin that traps us. Paul says in verse 20, “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.’ Sin traps us in a dark place. In verse 21, Paul says, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” It’s like a shadow of evil looming close behind, no matter how hard we try to do what is right.
He then says (v.21-22), “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being…” “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.” In other words, I want to do what is right! I really do, but I’m stuck. I’m a captive to sin.” Sins traps us with seemingly no way out. We are stuck in this endless sparring match between the flesh and the spirit, where we are and where we desire to be.
Now, Hypothetical: If you were trapped in an elevator, unable to get out on your own. What would you do? Easy: You’d hit the call button. You’d start yelling for help. You’d call someone.
We are trapped in sin, unable to get out on our own. What do we do? We cry out…
Paul, dealing with the same battle that we are fighting, expresses his feeling of defeat, crying out: (v. 24), “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
Who will deliver us? Who will deliver this wretched man that I am?
Wretched. The word here is a combination of two Greek words, meaning – “to bear” and “callous.” So, to bear callouses. It’s enduring pain; deep misery. It’s a feeling that drops us to our knees, pleading: “Who can save me from this? Who can get me out of this battle? Who can deliver me from this trap that I’ve found myself stuck in?!” Hopeless. In need.
Delivered
We, like Paul, need deliverance. And it’s clear. The Law cannot save us. Our good deeds cannot save us. Things of the earth that we often turn to for solace cannot save us. We cannot save ourselves. We will continue to do the evil we don’t want to do and fail to do what we desire to do. Who will deliver us?...
Paul answers his own question: “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v.25). That’s who can save me from the slavery of sin! Jesus Christ our Lord sets us free!
Paul writes earlier in Romans 3:23 a thought that begins with hopelessness. Leading into this verse he says, “There is no distinction…” this is how it is everywhere… “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ALL have sinned.. King David in Psalm 53:3 says, “There is no one who does good (NO ONE), not even one.” Hopeless. But Paul does not end the thought with hopelessness. He says, “We have all sinned, but we are also all …justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.” What a blessing. What Amazing grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Wretched: beaten down. Miserable. Hopeless. And yet, he extends insurmountable, amazing grace to me and to you.
This battle within will be one that we will continue to fight. We will continue to struggle, but let us not forget that the battle belongs to the Lord. That is, if we give the battle over to Him. Because we will continue to have this struggle. We will continue to fail, doing what we shouldn’t do, and failing to do what we should. But, if we surrender and make him master of our lives, he will fight the battle for us.
Without him, sin is our master. That’s what Paul says in v.14: we are “sold in sin.” We are slaves to our vices; to the sins that control our lives. That’s why Paul says in verse 25 “ with my flesh (This “body of death”), I serve the law of sin.” The end result of this bondage of sin is death. The law, because of sin, because of the weakness of the flesh, condemns. But here’s the hope (8:1): “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Hope. The Law condemned man because of sin in the flesh. Sin trapped us. But Romans 8:3 says, “(God) by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Where once we were condemned, now we stand redeemed. Where once sin ensnared us, now sin is condemned. Again, chapter 7 concludes with Paul speaking of the hopelessness of being bound to the “law of sin.” But in the opening of Romans 8 (verse 2), he says, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Jesus is the only master who actually frees us.
He gives us an opportunity to crucify the body of sin with him. That’s what Paul writes in Romans 6:6-8. “Let the old self be crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (verse 7) For one who has died has been set free from sin.” We are liberated. In Him, though we fight the battle, we fight it, not by the flesh, but by the spirit. Paul continues to write in Romans 8 of the importance of living by the Spirt rather than by the flesh. We set our minds on spiritual things, not earthly things. We focus on Jesus. We follow Jesus. And when we follow on Jesus, there is no battle, within or without, that we cannot overcome.
Conclusion:
Paul, inspired by God, says exactly that (Rom. 8:31-38): “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be[l] against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[m] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In Christ, we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS over all of the battles that we face. That’s hope. That’s the victory cry over Satan as he waves the white flag of surrender! Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!
And here’s one last thing I want you to take with you. Who do you know that is fighting that internal battle? Who do you know that is feeling the tension between who they are and who they should be? Who do you know who inside is saying: “Why do I keep doing the things I shouldn’t do! Why?! Why do I fail to do the things that I should do?! Why?! Who will save me from this?!”
Give them the answer: Jesus. Jesus will deliver you. Jesus, who (as Rom. 5:8 says) loved us and died for us while we were still sinners. Tell them of the one who has won the victory over the battle within.

Give invitation.

Outline for Powerpoint:
Setting the Standard (v.8-13)
The Law helps us see the problem of sin.
The Law set the standard for righteousness.
The Dilemma (V.14-24)
What man should do vs. what man chooses to do
The state of being a slave to sin is one of helplessness and hopelessness.
Sin entraps us (v.24).
Delivered (7:25-)
Jesus delivers us from our slavery to sin (v.25).
Once we were condemned. Now we are redeemed (8:1-3)
Jesus is the only master who frees (8:2)
Rom. 6:6-8