Morning Message Text: Romans 7: 15-25a
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Morning Message:
Living the Christian life is difficult. That is not meant to be an excuse, but instead, it should give us an awareness of what we are up against as followers of Jesus. We are in a constant spiritual battle as long as we live. How tough that battle will be is up to us in many ways. We cannot have any success in our Christian walk until we recognize and accept our condition. That doesn’t mean that we should accept our condition and give up, but instead we need to accept our condition and then step into the battle. There is a story about a woman walking down the street. As she passes the pet shop a parrot is outside. The parrot says, “Hey lady, you’re ugly.” The woman is offended. The next day she walks down the same street, same shop, same parrot. The parrot says, “Het lady, you’re ugly.” She is offended and marches into the store to speak to the manager. He is apologetic and says this will not happen again. The next day she walks down the same street, same shop, same parrot. The parrot says, “Hey lady, YOU KNOW.” Isn’t that the way the evil one attacks? He is the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12: 10). He says, “YOU KNOW!” “YOU KNOW what you did 30 years ago. YOU KNOW what you did last night. YOU KNOW what you said/thought. YOU KNOW God’s forgiveness is all used up. YOU KNOW God does not love you anymore. YOU KNOW!”
Our scripture today gives us an opportunity for self-examination. A look inside at what motivates us and why we make the choices that we make. I want you to think along with this scripture today. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” This will require honesty. Can you be honest with yourself today? If we prayerfully think about our actions and our lack of action during the course of a normal day, do we ever think to ourselves, “Why did I do that? Why did I act that way? Why, when I know that God calls me to a better way of life, do I fall into that same trap every time?” Come on now, this can’t just be how I feel. We must all at times, feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives and say, I hate what I did. This is the conflict that we live with as Christians. Okay, so listen, I am not making excuses for us, but we have to understand what we are up against. “And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.” There is so much here that is important, but for now I just want you to see the conflict that is going on inside you.
I want you to see three things today that I hope will help all of us as we try our best to walk with Jesus. God knows! God sees! God understands! Salvation is past, present, and future—we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. We often call justification that process by which we are saved from the penalty of our sins. That happens the moment we receive Jesus as our Savior.
God knows! God who knows all things, knows the sins that we are guilty of, every sin that we have committed and will commit and at that moment of accepting Jesus and repenting of our sins we are justified.
Sanctification is the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ as we are set aside for his service. We are being saved from the power of sin.
God sees! God sees the struggles we have. God sees the conflict inside of us as our sinful flesh battles with the Holy Spirit that God has placed inside of us when we came to faith. God sees our failures but fully expects that we will grow through them and become more and more like Jesus. I am not saying that we should be okay with our failures, but we must see them for what they are. If we did not have the Holy Spirit in us, we would not even know that we were falling short of God’s ways. Sanctification is a lifelong process, but God is in the struggle with us.
Glorification will occur when we are raptured or resurrected. Our bodies will be transformed for eternity, and we’ll be saved from the very presence of sin.
God understands! God understands what the end result will be. God doesn’t want us to fall short and fail, but He understands that as long as we are living on this earth we will be subjected to sin and temptation and a sinful nature, but He also understands and knows what our future holds and that we will one day be glorified and made perfect. When we come to Christ, our salvation is complete and final. Our salvation touches our past, present, and future. Romans 8: 17 looks forward to the day when we will be glorified together, changed in an instant, and transformed for eternity. While we wait for that glorious day be aware of the battle that you are in. Don’t shy away from it, and don’t be overwhelmed by your failures. God knows your battle. God sees the condition of your soul. God understands that all of this will soon pass away and you will be a perfect creation in Christ.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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