15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 18...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. (Romans 7:15, 18, 19)
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. (Romans 7:22-23)
I can totally relate to Paul here. It's frustrating. Deep down, at the very core of my soul, I want to follow Jesus. I want to serve him and love him and trust him. The problem is I'm still human. And I have all these other surface desires that get in the way. I want to be accepted by other people. I want to gossip. I want to lie to save face. Well, deep down, I don't really want to do those things, but I keep doing them! I keep sinning.
It's a struggle. I know I have the Spirit living in me, but I still have my own sinful nature in me, too. How do I win this battle?
Paul says in Galatians 6:16, "live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Again, how? How do we live by the Spirit?
I needed more answers, so I started looking up commentaries on my computer. I know this is long, but I hope you'll keep reading because this is so good! (the bolding is my emphasis)
"Paul's answer is the Spirit of God. So I say, live by the Spirit (v. 16). The command live by the Spirit is the central concept in Paul's ethical appeal. Since the Christian life begins with the Spirit (3:3; 4:6, 29), the only way to continue the Christian life is by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is not only the source of Christian life but also the only power to sustain Christian life. Actually, "walk by the Spirit" would be a more literal translation of Paul's command in verse 16. The command to walk in a certain way speaks of choosing a way of life--or we might say a "lifestyle," as long as we realize that what Paul has in mind is more than a matter of outward style. His command speaks of a way of living in which all aspects of life are directed and transformed by the Spirit.
"In verse 17 Paul explains the basis of his confidence in the Spirit. He describes the war between the flesh and the Spirit and the result of that war. The Spirit and the sinful nature are two hostile forces opposed to each other: the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other. So walking by the Spirit (v. 16) means fighting in a war between the Spirit and the sinful nature (v. 17). The connection between verse 16 and verse 17 indicates that those who live by the Spirit are not neutral in this war. They are committed to fight on the side of the Spirit against the desires of the sinful nature.
"This inner spiritual warfare is the nature of the Christian life; it is the experience of all those who live by the Spirit. The conflict Paul is describing here is not the moral conflict that everyone feels at some time, nor the conflict of a wayward Christian who is no longer committed to Christ. This is the conflict of a thoroughly committed Christian who is choosing each day to "walk by the Spirit." Each day the Christian who chooses to walk by the Spirit is engaged in a fierce battle between the Spirit and the sinful nature. It is important to stress this point, because many Christians feel ashamed to admit that they are experiencing such a conflict. They feel that mature Christians should somehow be above this kind of struggle. They imagine that the great saints were surely too spiritual to feel the desires of the flesh. But Paul flatly contradicts such images of superspirituality.
"Those who are living by the guiding power of the Spirit in their lives and are fighting each day against the influence of the sinful nature do not need to be supervised and restrained by the law. So Paul says, If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law (v. 18). Life in the Spirit was pictured in verse 16 as an active determination: "Walk by the Spirit!" Walking demands active determination to get up out of the soft armchair and endurance to keep going at a steady pace.
"Life by the Spirit involves active obedience to the direction of the Spirit (v. 16), constant warfare against the desires of the sinful nature by the power of the Spirit (v. 17) and complete submission to the control of the Spirit (v. 18). Such a life will be an experience of freedom from the control of the sinful nature and the control of the law." (full commentary here, if you want more!)
Wow! This is amazing. I don't expect the Christian life to be easy, but I'm realizing more and more that the battle is against myself! To win, I must give the Spirit control over my life so that I can fight against all the sinful desires of my flesh. It involves active determination (I like that phrase) to follow the direction of the Spirit. It's NOT going to be easy; it's going to be a fierce fight. All I can say to my sinful self is: prepare for battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment