Week 29 - Free Weekend Program for Street and Vulnerable Children

Text : Romans 7:22-25

Theme: Our Inward Struggle and The Power of Christ

Today, we will conclude the last 5 verses of Romans 7.

For the past 3 weeks we have been studying Romans 7:1-22; the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul describes the internal struggle that we (believers, Christians ) face between our desire to obey God’s law and the presence of sin within us, highlighting the tension between the inner man - the new nature and the flesh.

Verse 22 says, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. Within us, within every Christian is a genuine desire to follow God’s teachings and live a righteous life. We take pleasure in God’s laws and genuinely want to obey His commandments. God’s love has been “shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy a spirit, we desire to love God by obeying Him, to love God is to obey his commandment.

Verse 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.” An opposition exists within me, leading me contrary to my true desire to obey God and there is a fight! A war going on inside me. We desire to do what is right, but we also experience another force or law within us that leads us to sin. This internal struggle, fight creates a tension between our desire to follow God’s law and our proclivity, tendency or inclination or desire to move towards sin.

The frustration experienced through this struggle, this fight brings us to verse 24 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” Am dead to the law, am dead to sin, Christ has redeemed me by Hos blood, yet, the desire for sin is still in me and is leading me to sin. Am distressed, angry and frustrated with my own sinful nature. I love God sincerely, i want to please him, obey him, bear fruit for Him, but i can’t help myself, the tendency, desire to do evil still appeal to me.

My old nature lures me continually towards evil and i yield, leading to frustration, misery. Imagine someone who constantly struggles with anger, despite wanting to be calm, gentle and patient. He may exclaim, "I'm like a wretched person, always losing my temper! Who can rescue me from this evil cycle of frustration?

Finally, in verse 25, we see hope! “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Our help is in the name of the Lord. In our journey as believers, Christ is our wellspring of hope and deliverance through His transformative power by the Holy Spirit. Regardless of the magnitude of our struggles or the luring tempting pull of our sinful nature, Christ's omnipotent influence empowers us to triumph over the internal conflict between our longing to abide by God’s law and our innate tendency to stray.

Sin, tantamount to disobedience, invites dire consequences, yet through Christ, we have the resilience to resist its tempting grip - hold. Our daily reliance on Christ becomes the root, the keystone, the foundation of our spiritual resilience. As new creatures in Christ, we find liberation from the clutches of sin by depending on His unwavering strength. Acknowledging that true victory rests solely in Christ and no where else.

The gospel is the power of God that brings salvation, we need to keep hearing this good news of how Christ has redeemed our soul and has promised to save us to the uttermost, to the end. Our redemption is complete, our justification is perfect but our sanctification is still in process.

We must cultivate daily communion with the Lord through prayer and bible study, Through (daily devotion) , we seek not only the strength to obey God, but also the desire, power and diligence to immerse ourselves in His word by reading and studying it daily. Coming to this weekend program, this fellowship is equally enriching, genuine spiritual growth will require the practical application of our these truth, wisdom by the power of God’s Grace.

Cultivating the habit of daily Bible study and prayer should be as natural as our daily routines, akin to the steadfastness with which we brush our teeth every morning. Engaging in a continuous communion with the Lord through prayer and bible study, allows us to share our innermost struggles, asking His guidance to overcome the persistent temptation of our old nature. James 1:22 makes it clear that, it's not just hearing but actively weaving God's teachings into the fabric of our daily lives that will produce fruit in our lives.

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