Thursday July 24, 2014

Read: Romans 7:14-24

Every Christian feels the burden of sin in their lives. No matter how hard we strive, how much we grit our teeth, how earnestly we desire to be totally rid of sin in our lives we are continually confronted by our own sinfulness. We are confronted when that horrifying, sinful thought flashes through our mind. We are confronted when we hear harsh and angry words come out of our mouth. We are confronted when we catch ourselves full of jealousy towards another person. So often we are confronted with our own sinfulness and we are reminded just how far we fall short of God’s perfect standards.

Paul’s words here in Romans 7 provide great comfort when all of us are confronted by our own sinfulness. This isn’t a problem limited to half-hearted Christians or even to unbelievers. Even the Apostle Paul a mature, holy-spirit enabled, totally committed (just read 1 Corinthians 11:23-29) believer who was used by God to share the gospel with thousands of people and even write a large portion of the Bible struggled against sin in His life. That is what Paul is talking about throughout this section. When he says that what he hates he does he is talking about struggling against sin. When he talks about keeping on doing evil he is talking about his struggle with sin. Paul is struggling and fighting against sin in his life. Like us he is confronted by how terrible it truly is.

But how is this possible? If we are dead to sin in Christ (ch 6) why do we still battle against sin? Although the battle has been decisively won by Christ at the cross and sin no longer has power over us the effects of this are still being worked out in our lives. The effects of this sin nature linger and we battle with sin in our lives despite the fact that the sin nature itself has been totally defeated.

Here’s a practical although somewhat gross illustration. Have you ever had a wart frozen off? You go to the doctor and they use the can of liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart all the way to the core. At the moment that the doctor freezes the wart it is absolutely and totally dead. The blood vessels that supply it have been killed and its tissue has been destroyed. There is no coming back from such a killing blow. Even so you normally still need to wait a few weeks for the wart to fall off, the skin to heal and the wart to be gone. For a few weeks you still need to live with the wart and all its effects, even though it is dead.

In the same way God has dealt the killing blow to our sinful nature in Christ. The job isn’t half done, its finished, our sin has been totally destroyed and we have been freed to live with Christ. This is what Paul talked about in Chapter 6 when he said that we had been totally freed from sin and that the body of death had been done away with. Even so we still need to live with the lingering effects of sin during this life. Like waiting for the wart to fall off we are waiting for the day when it and its effects will be gone forever.

This is a great encouragement when we are confronted by our sin and battle against it. Although all of us battle against sin, even the Apostle Paul, we know that the victory has been won once and for all by Christ. What hope it gives us to know that our battles have already been decisively won on our behalf. Praise God!

Prayer:

Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

¥ Pray for those in your congregation who are discouraged and downcast in their struggle against sin. Pray that God would encourage them and strengthen them in the knowledge that He has won the victory. Pray that they might be empowered by the Holy Spirit that they might stand up under temptation. Pray that God would help you encourage and serve them also.

 Walk Moment:

Every time you struggle with sin you can remember that the victory has been decisively and fully won by Christ. Find a way to encourage yourself with this each time you struggle with sin.

 Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. What would you say to a believer who is feeling downbeat, discouraged and anxious about their sin?

2. How could you remind yourself of this when you sin?

 Discipleship Moment For Girls

Intro: Every person struggles with sin. Sometimes it’s really hard to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing.
Share: A time when you found it really hard to do the right thing. What happened? What did you do?
Read: 1 John 2:1-2. Every Christians struggles with sin. Sometimes we end up giving in and doing the wrong thing. This battle can be really hard. What does John say will happen if we do sin? What does it mean that He is the sacrifice for our sins? It’s okay to ask mum or dad for help with this one. Does this mean we should sin? What does John say at the start?

Pray Together: Thank God that He forgives us and helps us when we sin.

 Discipleship Moment For Boys

Intro: Every person struggles with sin. Sometimes it’s really hard to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing.
Share: A time when you found it really hard to do the right thing. What happened? What did you do?
Read: 1 John 2:1-2. Every Christians struggles with sin. Sometimes we end up giving in and doing the wrong thing. This battle can be really hard. What does John say will happen if we do sin? What does it mean that He is the sacrifice for our sins? It’s okay to ask mum or dad for help with this one. Does this mean we should sin? What does John say at the start?

Pray Together: Thank God that He forgives us and helps us when we sin.