Dear Church,
For some of us, our lives could be summed up with these words: “So many good intentions, but so little progress.” Or perhaps we’d say, “I’ve been a believer for 20–30 years, yet I’m discouraged by my lack of spiritual growth.” We still struggle with anger, self-control, jealousy, gossip, greed, lust, and prayerlessness. The list could go on. The Apostle Paul felt this same frustration, and in Romans 7:17-19, he expresses a struggle we can all relate to:
“As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. 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.”
Our Christian life is a struggle that continues to the end. On the one hand, we know that our sins are forgiven, we are eternally secure, and the Holy Spirit is at work in us, promising our future perfection. Yet, on the other hand, we still carry our sinful nature, which causes us to stumble.
Tim Keller describes Paul’s struggle in Romans 7 as a man fighting in a battle that feels unwinnable, but which, in reality, he can’t lose. This is true for every believer in Christ: our struggles are real, but they do not define our outcome.
So, the question is, how do we move from feeling like we’re in a battle we can’t win to knowing we’re in a battle we can’t lose? Paul gives us a key in Romans 6:11: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” We are to “credit” ourselves as already dead to sin, even though sin may still try to sway us.
As we choose to see ourselves as dead to sin and alive in Christ, God empowers us with His resurrection power. Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” This means the same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives within every believer, equipping us with divine strength. So, let’s live with the confidence that we’re in a battle we can’t lose, and let His power work in us daily to transform our lives for His glory.
Be Encouraged,
Mathews
