“I agree about Peter; but I think Paul was the “numero-uno”…He NEVER got over what he did to Christians before his acceptance of Christ. I think this is why he was pushed and pushed himself like he did…he always said of himself: I was a sinner…” This was the response I received from a friend after posting Part 2. Paul had a lot of guilt to live with after he became a Christian. How could he forget watching Stephen being stoned to death and “giving his consent” as if he were the ring leader? Unfortunately, we all must live with thoughts of what we have done in the past. Paul’s worst sins were behind him when he found Christ, but he also had to deal with the sins he committed after being saved. We read about his struggles in Romans 7.
“Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, ‘You must not covet’. But sin used this commend to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.” Rom 7:7-12 (NLT). What was Paul talking about here? I think Paul was referring to his coming out of childhood innocence. His parents watch him grow from an infant, toddler, to a young man, and as he grew, they taught him the Scriptures. As an innocent young child, he didn’t understand that it was wrong to have something that belonged to his friend; that was the nature of childhood innocence. But one day as his parents read or quoted the Scripture “you shall not covet what belongs to your neighbor”, it dawned on him that he had been coveting things that belonged to someone else and that was against one of the great commandments God had given to His people. All of a sudden, his innocence was gone, and he realized he had sinned in the eyes of God.
“But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.” Rom 7:13 (NLT). Paul continues: “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want do do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 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.” Rom 7:14-25 (NLT).
We all feel this way at times. How can we as Christians be so double minded? How can we live with the guilt of doing the things we really don’t want to do? Why do I struggle so? Is there an answer so I don’t have to live with this guilt? Flip Wilson, a great comedian, use to have a character he portrayed named Geraldine. Geraldine’s answer to the problem of bad behavior was “the devil made me do it”. Flip Wilson hit on a very common problem we all have; we all want to blame someone or something else for our sin. We don’t want to live with that guilt. Paul said, “It is not the devil but the old sin nature that still lives in me”. But Paul found the solution and tells us about it in the beginning of Romans 8.
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” Rom 8:1-4 (NLT).
Yes, because of what Christ did on the cross, we are released from the power and guilt of sin in our lives. Now, that doesn’t mean we are perfect, but we are free from sin’s power. We don’t have to live with a nagging conscience for the rest of our lives; we can be free to do the will and work God has planned for us to do. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10, “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (NLT). No, we won’t be perfect, but we can still live for the Lord and share with other people that we are not pretending to be perfect. Like Paul, we can say, “I am the chief of sinners”, and happily tell others how they can experience the same redemptive power in their lives that we have because of the wonderful grace of God.