We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin. In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. Although I don't do what I know is right, I agree that the Law is good. So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.
I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.
The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.
So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.
Romans 7:14-25
Over the years these verses have proven difficult to understand, or maybe it would be better to say easy to misunderstand. If I am not the one doing evil, then who is and why am I held accountable for the things that I do?
If you are honest with yourself you know that your intentions of doing the right thing are often never fulfilled. You want to do right, but you don't do it and you want to never do that "bad thing" again, but you find yourself pulled back to it like a bee to honey!
The answer is simply that you are either controlled by Satan or you are controlled by God. You are not the author of Good and Evil. The choice that we all have is this: We can either give ourselves to Satan to be controlled by evil and the forces of darkness, or we can give ourselves to God and be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave us that option when He died on the Cross! Without Jesus we would all be lost forever and have no hope of being restored to fellowship with God.
When you sin it is because you are not being led by the Holy Spirit. He will not lead you to sin and rebel against God. When you do a righteous act it is because you are being led by the Holy Spirit, so you can praise Him and take no credit for it yourself.
"Lord, I pray that my every decision today will be to let Your Spirit lead my life. Hold me close. I glory in knowing You and nothing else. Amen."
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