Student Devotion Week 2: The Enemy Within

Key Verses: Romans 7:14-8:2, "¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. ²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."


Do you know people who look as if they have it all together? You can see how close they are to God and how awesome their lives seem. You say to yourself, "I wish I were just like them." Here's a little secret: Even the most spiritually mature Christ-followers sin...all the time. And while you should have people in your life who are spiritual mentors, it's important to realize that no one is good enough in him or herself to live a sin-free life.


Why? Because all people have what's called a "sin nature." This is the part of us that seeks to look out for ourselves first. This is the part of ourselves that we do battle with. Our sin nature is where temptation becomes reality. No one is immune to it. Not even the strongest Christ-followers you know. Not even the Apostle Paul.


Paul wrote an awesome passage about this in his letter to the Romans. You can read the entire passage in Romans 7:14-8:2. But here's a paraphrase of a part of it from The Message paraphrase. In this section, Paul was talking about the internal battle with his sin nature. See if you can relate to his struggle:


“But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.” Romans 7:17-23


Can you relate to Paul? Have you ever felt like there were times when no matter how hard you try, you just could not control your sin nature? What can you do in these times to keep from falling over and over again? Thankfully, Paul gives us some advice:

“I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” Romans 7:24-25


Jesus has set you free from the power of sin. While you will always battle with your sin nature, take comfort in the fact that Christ has ultimately defeated the power of sin over the world. He has given you the strength to fight when you think you cannot fight anymore. Next time you find yourself in the struggle, stop and thank Jesus for providing you with a way out.