Romans 7:21-23 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 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.
Paul’s motives are good on the surface, but there is still a deep distortion and misguided motive within. He tries to be obedience to God’s laws. He attempts to live out the laws of God, but he cannot overcome the problem of sin which exerts itself against God’s will in rebellion and transgression. The flesh is weak and easily enslaved by our rebellious self. The flesh succumbs to temptation because it is prone to death and relies only on human strength, thinking, and resources. As long as we look to things on the earth to satisfy the deep longing of our hearts for meaning and purpose, we will end up in this defeated cycle. the Bible is full of examples of people who tried to be their own boss or trust in things of this world and walked away from God. Paul is showing the utter futility and emptiness of human effort to be righteous. This chapter returns to the themes of ch. 2. Now, Paul is showing that the problems of ch. 2, namely pride, arrogance, and self-righteousness, fail because of the problem of sin. If sin is removed as master, then obedience to the law is put in a new perspective and is allowed to be the guide to holiness for which it was meant. The result of following our own path to righteousness, purpose, or meaning, is that our minds become trapped and our thinking distorted. Something radical must take place. A crucial decision must be made about who is in control and by what resource we will live.
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