ROMANS 7:14-25
I am a history buff. I have all the “nerd” channels
memorized on my TV. Discovery. National Geographic. The Learning Channel. I
love watching documentaries on all things history. As a high school student I
loved learning history. As a high school teacher I enjoyed teaching history.
And while I enjoy looking at the history of other nations, I am especially fond
of studying American History. Perhaps one of the most perplexing events in our
great nation’s story is the Civil War. This young and fragile nation had come
together many times for battle. Though often outmanned and almost always
undersupplied, the brave men of the new republic fought off many foreign
enemies and would be occupiers. They refused to lose. They had escaped the
clutches of tyranny and they would die before they would return. Their rallying
cry was one of absolute solidarity.
Until 1861.
It all changed in 1861. This beloved nation turned on
herself. North against South. Slave owners against abolitionists. Nationalists
against secessionists. And perhaps the most tragic, brother against brother.
While many people read about this dark four years in
American history with tacit bewilderment, I guess I see it all differently. It
makes sense to me that a nation can turn on itself. I mean think about it. Is
it really that different than you and me? Don't you and I fight civil wars all
the time? The Apostle Paul sure did:
“I have discovered
this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do
what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power
within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin
that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me
from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in
Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey
God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”
Isn’t it ironic how
you can do something that you despise (even as you do it) and yet you keep doing it? How you can use your
tongue at one moment to praise our Lord and in the next to shred another to
pieces? How you can crave righteousness in one moment, and in the very next
delight in absolute filth and perversion? The Civil War didn't end in 1865.
Civil wars happen all the time, every day for many of us. Sometimes our spirit
man emerges victorious, though bloody and battle hardened. In other moments we
raise the white flag of surrender, once again defeated by our own sin. What is
to be done with such fickle followers? Such double minded men and women? What
hope is there for any of us?
“The answer is in
Jesus Christ our Lord.” Thank God that when God looks at me, he does not
see me. He does not see my sin. All he sees is the sinless perfection of Jesus
Christ. “For God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against
them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
What Civil War are you fighting today?
Pride?
Anger?
Lust?
Jealousy?
Drunkenness?
Drug Addiction?
Greed?
Gluttony?
Profanity?
Many of us feel defeated and discouraged, wondering if the
enemy of our souls will ever surrender. Some of us have fought so hard for so
long, and yet we still lack the confidence to know if we can win. Some of us
would even be open to a stalemate between us and the devil. We are just weary
with feeling the sickening taste of defeat. I want to speak life to you today
and offer some encouragement.
As long as you are
still fighting, you have not lost.
Isn’t that comforting to know? As long as you are willing to
keep giving your battle to the Lord, you are not defeated. Proverbs 24:16—“For though the righteous fall seven
times, they rise again.”
And while the Lord does not desire that we fall, He gets a lot
of mileage out of our frail humanity. Our struggles remind us that we STILL
need the Lord. We never outgrow our need for His constant presence in our
day-to-day lives. So the next time you
get your butt kicked by sin, rather than falling into condemnation, fall
instead on your knees in desperation. The
answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Whatever your weakness, sin,
struggle—give it to God today. Raise the white flag of your sinful nature and
surrender to his gentle mercy and loving kindness. Confess your sin to Him,
knowing with confidence that He WILL forgive you (see I John 1:9) and you will emerge victorious. As you long as you
are fighting, you are still in this thing.
“If God is for us,
who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
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