Why do we sense we\u2019re in a constant battle? It\u2019s like the cartoon where a devil sits on one shoulder and an angel on the other, each warring for our attention. We are indeed engaged in a battle, but it\u2019s not that kind.<\/p>\n
Paul addressed our real dilemma in Romans: \u201cFor we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.\u2026 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out\u201d (Romans 7:14-15, 18, ESV).<\/em><\/p>\n Paul didn\u2019t mince words as he described his condition: \u201cI am of the flesh. I do evil all the time. No good dwells within me.\u201d Was this Paul\u2019s basic description of a Christian life? Was he saying, \u201cAll your days will be full of such conflict\u201d? Not at all.<\/p>\n Further on, Paul wrote, \u201cSo I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?\u201d (Romans 7:21-24)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Many Christians stop here and say, \u201cThat\u2019s me. I\u2019m saved, but my life is wretched. There\u2019s no way God could ever use me. I spend every waking hour just fighting off sin.\u201d The problem is that these Christians don\u2019t know who they are in Christ, and that was exactly Paul\u2019s point. He painted a full picture of our dilemma, describing our wretched condition, and asked, \u201cIs there any way out? How can I ever be delivered from this? It\u2019s impossible in my own strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, in one of the most amazing passages recorded in scripture, Paul gave us God\u2019s response to the human condition. \u201cThere is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death\u201d (Romans 8:1-2)<\/em>. There is a new law at work in you because there\u2019s a new sheriff in town. Jesus, the new sheriff, has run out the old, corrupt one: the \u201cold man\u201d of your flesh. You no longer live under the law of sin and death for \u201cthe law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n