Slideshow image

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:21-25, ESV)

Pastor Abel’s sermon on Romans 7:13-25 is titled, “The Struggle is Real”.

Have you ever wondered, given the ongoing struggle you have with sin in your life, if something is wrong with you? Well, the Apostle Paul addresses that question in this passage. The short answer is: yes! We are all in a desperate war with our own sin.

In Pastor Abel’s sermon, he touched on many concepts, two of which are: 1) recognizing that sin is sin, or confession, and 2) repenting of the sin in our lives. Both are key elements to successfully waging war in the fight with sin.

Confession of sin is acknowledging our sin before God and agreeing with what God says about that sin. The Apostle John mentions this in 1 John 1:8-9 and gives us the amazing promise that God always forgives confessed sin: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV)

Repentance is the next step after confession, where we turn around, forsaking the sin and returning to God. A beautiful picture of both confession and repentance can be seen in the story of the prodigal son: “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! [18] I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. [19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ [20] And he arose and came to his father.” (Luke 15:17-20a, ESV)

Everything in this passage leading up to verse 20 is confession. But the wayward son truly repented when, after all his planning was done, he got up, left the pig pen, and went home.

In our lives, in the war with sin, we will struggle. And we will fail. So, we must remember these two great weapons available to us. When we sin, we must confess the sin to God, agree with what his word says about our sin, and gladly receive forgiveness. But we must not stop there. We must then imitate the repentant prodigal, get up, leave our sin behind, and return home to God, our loving Father, who will not remember our sin.

 

For Further Study

 

Small Group Questions

  • As you look back over your Christian life, how has the war with sin been going? What has changed? What has stayed the same? Where have you seen steady progress in holiness by God’s grace?
  • Why is it crucial not to believe the lie that once we are saved, we will never struggle with sin?
  • What are practical steps we can take this week to resist sin?
  • What truths should we remember when we stumble and sin this week?