Romans 7:18-20

Passage

For I have known that good does not live in me – that is, in my flesh.  For it is at hand within me to desire, but not to accomplish, the good.  For I do not do the good that I desire.  But I do this – the evil which I do not desire.  But if I do this – that which I do not desire – it is no longer I who perform this but the sin that dwells within me.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Good does not live within my flesh.  Stop and consider that point for a moment.  Good does not live within the flesh.  I am not good.  Good does not live within me.  When I die, people should not say, “He was a good man.”  Good does not live within me.  It is not naturally present.  Inherently, I am a person of original sin and rebellion from God.  That is who I am.  If there is any good within, it is because God put it there, not because it is naturally within me.

Why is this a difficult thought to embrace?  What does it mean to you to say that good does not live within the flesh?

Second Thought:

This doesn’t mean that we as human beings have nothing good within us.  This doesn’t mean that we are irredeemable.  After all, God has sought relationship with us.  He has provided the way for redemption!  God puts His goodness within us.  We can conceive of what it looks like and feels like to do good.  We can desire it.  But the goodness that God places within us so often comes out as evil.

What good has God placed within you?  How does the good within you often comes out in undesirable ways?

Third Thought:

We are left with only a single conclusion.  If there is no good within me and even the good that I can conceive of comes out as evil, then sin must be within me.  Sin must be a part of me.  My nature is corrupted in sin.  Even the good that God places within me is at war with the sin that dwells within.

How does this passage set up the war within us between the nature of God’s goodness and the nature of our sin?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 7:21-24