WHY WE DO WHAT WE DON’T WANT TO DO?

THE STRUGGLE TO ADMIT THE TRUE NATURE OF THE WAR WITHIN

Charles e Whisnant         October 09 2011

Romans 7:14-25               #45.91

THE STRUGGLE TO LIVE UP TO WHAT YOU KNOW YOU OUGHT TO BE 15-17

“FOR THAT WHICH I DO I ALLOW¹⁰⁹⁷  NOT;³⁷⁵⁶ FOR WHAT I WOULD, THAT DO I NOT; BUT WHAT I HATE,³⁴⁰⁴ THAT I DO” VS. 15.

THAT WHICH I DO, I REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHY I AM DOING IT>”  

·       Paul is saying “I do not understand why I am doing it.  And I do not approve of what I am doing, that is not my understanding of these matters, so that when I do these things I do not understand myself, as it were.  I am doing something which is the opposite of the view I hold.

·       Paul is saying, he is not only simply disapproves of what he does, but he hates it, .

·       Romans 12:9;  Psalms  97:10; 101;3; Proverbs 8:13

We see some “BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOG” here.  Let’s do come Biblical counseling here.

SO WHO IS THIS PERSON IN VERSE 15 TO 25?

IF THEN I DO THAT WHICH I WOULD NOT I CONSENT⁴⁸⁵² UNTO THE LAW THAT IT IS GOOD vs 16  or    

BUT IF I (continually) DO THE VERY THING I DO NOT (continually) WISH TO DO I AGREE WITH THE LAW, CONFESSING THAT IT IS GOOD:

Paul is not talking about his experience as much as he is talking about the Law.   He wants to say that the Law itself is in no way responsible for his failure in practice.   The Law is right and good, and whatever is responsible for Paul’s failure in practice, it is not the Law.

NOW THEN IT IS NO MORE I THAT DO IT vs 17        

Now in verse 17 Paul present another “I”.  The first “I” in verse 16 is a part of the personality of this man who he is describing.   This “I” in vs. 17 is the new inner self,.

This “I”

Paul is saying “There is that in me now” that sees and agrees with the spiritual character of the Law, and therefore dislikes and disapproves the things I Do.

BUT SIN THAT DWELLETH ³⁶¹¹ IN ME vs. 17    

Two things about SIN. First: Sin is something that dwells in us.  Sin is something on the inside of us. Sin is not something that comes to us from the outside and tempts us.   But in reality  we learn that SIN is in our very nature, flesh.  Sin is that which dwells in us

THE STRUGGLE TO COME TO GRIPS WITH REPEATED PERSONAL FAILURE:

MY FLESH RULES  (18-20)

FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME (THAT IS, IN MY FLESH) DWELLETH NO³⁷⁵⁶ GOOD ¹⁸ THINGS: FOR THE GOOD THAT I WOULD I DO NOT; BUT THE EVIL WHICH I WOULD NOT THAT I DO.  NOW IF I DO THAT I WOULD NOT: IT IS NO MORE I THAT DO IT; BUT SIN THAT DWELLETH IN ME: 

Paul had just stated that he had a will to do right.  The predicament that he was descdribing could be that of a Jewish legalist trying to become holy by doing works of self-righteousness. It can also be that of any Christian who is trying by his own will power to be holy. The clue to the problem is in the emphasis on “I”.  The flesh thrives on what “I” can do and on what “I” do not do. No believer has to settle for fleshly efforts, bringing the wretched state of doing what he does not want to do. His deliverance is as near as Calvary. 

Paul has discovered something about himself. This is a little complicated:. Here I am, a personality, an body, a being, Okay, I can talk about the “me” and the “me” that are in me. I know complicated. There is a part of “me” that I can say  I can find no good. I am certainly aware that within me there is a part of me that is no good. But at the same time I am certainly aware of another “me” that desires to good, and wills to do good and wants to live right, and godly toward Jesus Christ.“I” Charles e Whisnant, is able to stand here as a person, and see within me there are two other me. And herein in my predicament, to will is present with me, but how to perform I know not.. Let me ask you today, Do you know what Paul was saying?  If you don’t you have not been saved yet.

THE STRUGGLE TO ADMIT THE TRUE NATURE OF THE WAR WITHIN 21-24

FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME (THAT IS, IN MY FLESH) DWELLETH NO³⁷⁵⁶ GOOD ¹⁸ THINGS: FOR THE GOOD THAT I WOULD I DO NOT; BUT THE EVIL WHICH I WOULD NOT THAT I DO.  NOW IF I DO THAT I WOULD NOT: IT IS NO MORE I THAT DO IT; BUT SIN THAT DWELLETH IN ME:

Paul had just stated that he had a will to do right.  The predicament that he was descdribing could be that of a Jewish legalist trying to become holy by doing works of self-righteousness. It can also be that of any Christian who is trying by his own will power to be holy. The clue to the problem is in the emphasis on “I”.  The flesh thrives on what “I” can do and on what “I” do not do. No believer has to settle for fleshly efforts, bringing the wretched state of doing what he does not want to do. His deliverance is as near as Calvary. 

Paul has discovered something about himself. This is a little complicated:. Here I am, a personality, an body, a being, Okay, I can talk about the “me” and the “me” that are in me. I know complicated. There is a part of “me” that I can say  I can find no good. I am certainly aware that within me there is a part of me that is no good. But at the same time I am certainly aware of another “me” that desires to good, and wills to do good and wants to live right, and godly toward Jesus Christ.“I” Charles e Whisnant, is able to stand here as a person, and see within me there are two other me. And herein in my predicament, to will is present with me, but how to perform I know not.. Let me ask you today, Do you know what Paul was saying?  If you don’t you have not been saved yet.

THE STRUGGLE TO ADMIT THE TRUE NATURE OF THE WAR WITHIN 21-24