Abridged version presented originally to Warehouse Mission 614 am service, 04 February 2018.
Click here to read to full version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/02/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html
To read a 2019 version presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/05/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html
In Romans 7, in part, Paul is talking about how each of us reacts when we do know that there are things we should or should not do but we feel this strange compulsion to do them anyway. Paul knows that sometimes even when we do understand that there are some things that are not beneficial for us we still do them. Romans 7:18b-19: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 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.” Any of us ever been there?
Click here to read to full version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/02/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html
To read a 2019 version presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/05/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html
In Romans 7, in part, Paul is talking about how each of us reacts when we do know that there are things we should or should not do but we feel this strange compulsion to do them anyway. Paul knows that sometimes even when we do understand that there are some things that are not beneficial for us we still do them. Romans 7:18b-19: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 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.” Any of us ever been there?
This is an old problem. People smarter than me have wrestled with this one for a long time. Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 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.”
I don't know if anyone has ever read Homer - he wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad is about the Greek and Trojan War and the Odyssey is about the warrior Odysseus' journey home. During his journey home, the main character Odysseus is warned about the Sirens. In Greek mythology, Sirens are creatures with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. (Sometimes they are portrayed as mermaids.) They live on islands and with their irresistible song lure mariners to their destruction as they crash on the rocks near their island. The mariners know they shouldn't steer their ships to their death but once they hear the Siren's songs they seemingly can't help themselves. This is similar to what Paul is saying.Romans 7:18b-19, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 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.” So what can we do?
What can we do when desire to the destruction of sin is pulling upon us like a giant magnet pulling us ever so slowly towards it? Sometimes we grab hold of iron rules or laws all the tighter. Sometimes we try really hard, so hard to avoid a temptation to sin that that all we think about is that sin. Whether we are trying to stop lying, lusting, or smoking crack cocaine; the more we think about ways to avoid it, the more we wind up pondering ways to imbibe it. Soon our every thought is consumed with that sin that we are trying to flee. It is everywhere! …and then it has us.
Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 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.”
There is a secret weapon for seeing sin defeated though. Now I am not saying that if you are a Christian you will never sin but here is the path to freedom, should we choose to take it. Paul says, Romans 7:24-8:2:
7:24 …Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, [He] delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death...
The one who can deliver us from all of this is Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God Himself will transform us. Instead of wrestling with our sins, we can know that Jesus has defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb. We can seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and then God will add to us everything else we need.
We've all heard the analogy about how one spots a counterfeit bill. It is not by studying fake money, it is by studying the real thing. Likewise we do not avoid sin by focussing on sin, rather we avoid sin by focussing on God. They say that as a husband and wife are a long time in a good marriage they become more like each other and maybe even finish each others sentences. Likewise as we spend more time with God, we find that we know what He is saying and He can finish our sentences.
I truly believe with everything in me that there in nothing that you or I or anyone else can do to defeat sin, only Jesus has done that. But we can experience a life free of sin. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we will naturally sin less and less for we will become be more and more like Him. As we pray and read our Bible, as we sing our songs, as we come to Church, as we serve God by serving others in Jesus' Name, as we tell others about the Gospel of Salvation we will be transformed into the very likeness of God Himself! Focus on God and His holiness and that will be reflected in our life! And this, I think, is good news for everyone of us today! What can we do to defeat sin? Nothing, Jesus has already done that! What can we do to experience our life free from sin and instead living out the joy of Salvation with our Lord and Saviour? Spend time with the Lord. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and holiness and everything else will be added unto us!
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’
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