Westview Church

For the Christian, the battle against sin is never ending and can sometimes be disheartening. If you find yourself in a constant cycle of dealing with your own sinful desires, take heart because you are in good company. In Romans chapter 7, Paul confesses his own constant struggles with sin. If the great apostle Paul struggled so fiercely with sin, we should be able to admit that we don't have it all together either. The most incredible part of this passage is the solution that Paul holds out to us at the end of the chapter. In verses 24 and 25 Paul writes:

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

What is the only solution to the flesh and it's sinful attractions? Jesus Christ! Our flesh is saturated with the sinful effects of the fall, and we live in a world completely corrupted by sin that “lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Thank God that He is SO much greater than these destructive influences!

The only way we as Christians can avoid the powerful enticement of sin is to throw ourselves wholly on Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Though we may have had our hearts of stone replaced with hearts of flesh which hate sin and love God, we do not possess autonomy to gain victory over sin and do good by our own power. If we are to have any hope whatsoever in the battle against the sin that still remains in our flesh, we MUST cling to Jesus. We must fix our minds on Him and call upon his power in times of temptation, all other ground is sinking sand! As Martin Luther put it: Should we in our own strength confide our fighting would be losing.

In Him alone will we find the victory over sin we so desperately need, and in Him alone do we find the loving mercy and grace for when we fail. The ONLY way we will ever progress in our sanctification is through the sovereign sustaining grace and power of God. True, we may be able to change our appearance by our own power so that outwardly we look like we have it all together. But this “solution” is like trying to cover a bullet wound with a band aid! Even if you could stick enough band aids on your skin to cover up the wound, you are still bleeding to death on the inside. Know for certain that the only way we can truly experience legitimate heart change and real victory over sin is by the working of Jesus. He is the only one with the power to deliver us from this body of death on a daily basis. There is no hope to be found anywhere else, and you fight a losing battle against your own sinful desires if you do so from any other source of strength.

So let us seek after Christ, in whom we find grace to protect us from sin's enticements, and grace to restore us when we fail. Here is the power to do right and our motivation for worship: Christ will deliver you from your body of death. No one else can.