Dear friend, do you ever identify with Paul as you read Romans 7: 15-25? A godly woman who is yearning to grow in the will and ways of the Master does identify with Paul from time to time.
The more we walk in the Word, the more we acknowledge that there are still cesspools of sin in our soul. We talk to God about our frustration over such repetitions. But we repeat the same offenses again, and again, and again. What is wrong????
Perhaps you are plagued with such a question. The godly apostle Paul describes his struggle. “Oh, wretched man that I am” (v. 24). Certainly there is an inner conflict between the two natures that war within.
Harry Foster explains Paul’s frustration this way: “Here was a man, struggling to achieve holiness by personal effort, struggling with all his might to fulfill ‘God’s holy and righteous and good commandments only to discover that the more he struggled, the worse his condition became. It was a losing battle, and no wonder, for it is not in the power of fallen nature to conquer sin and live in holiness” (Toward the Mark, p. 110).
The personal pronouns are extremely prominent in these eleven verses; -- at least forty times! Someone has said that, “People who go through this Romans 7 experience have taken an overdose of ‘Vitamin I.’” I, me, my, myself.
Most Christian psychological counseling focuses on the counselee’s inner self. Christians need to know and remember that we died with Christ and now live in newness of life with Him who is our Overcomer. So we focus on Him and His power to deliver. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:10). “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength ” (Isa. 30:15).
“I am the Lord, I change not” (Heb. 13:8). Jesus assures us that He has the same wonder-working, delivering power for us that He had when He raised Jesus from the dead, and He yearns to use it to meet our need. He assures us with, “I am immutable!” Even the word itself sounds reassuring. Our Lord’s attributes never change.
Jesus is forever and always the same in all the glories of His power. Instead of introspecting, let us turn our eyes upon Him and adore Him as our all-divine, wonder-working Lord Jesus. Let us cling to His immutable truths that we may find comfort in Him when our “earthly gourds wither and our cisterns are broken.” He is the same as when our hearts were first exuberant with His love. “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6).
“For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man’s mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.”
From hymn -- There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, F. W. Faber
(to be continued)
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