:: Saviour: The Message Behind the Song ::

Romans 7:15-25
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do,
but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree
that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but
it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is,
in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,
the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 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.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right
there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I
see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war
against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law
of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—
through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the
sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible
Society

Saviour: The Message Behind the Song

“I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I
do not do, but what I hate I do…for I have the desire to
do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do
is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do no want to
do-this I keep on doing. What a wretched man I am!
Who will save me from this body of death?”
Romans 7:15, 18b-19, 24

I must have read these verses a hundred times until
one day it dawned on me, “Hey, wait a minute. Isn’t this
the same guy who wrote most of the New Testament
and practically established Christianity, as we know it?

How can this be? I always thought of Paul as being this
explosive evangelist that never gave in to any
compromise or temptation whatsoever, but these
verses make him seem like…well…like everyone else.

Now that I come to think of it, there are many other
instances in the Bible where the “mighty men” of God
turned out to be just your normal, failure ridden person
like you and me and yet
God just went right on using them. Hmmm…

Of course in the verses that follow, Paul recognizes
that Jesus Christ is the only One who can resolve his
dilemma, but let’s not move too quickly here. Before we
go on to the “victory in Jesus” verses, why don’t we
pause for just a moment over this struggle Paul is
going through. Does it sound as familiar to you as it
does to me?

I mean I have often wondered why everyone else
seemed to be so strong in his or her faith while I can’t
even take one step without stumbling.

There. I’ve said it

Actually I think I’ve said too much. Well, now that I’ve
“let the cat out of the bag” I think I’m just going to
retreat back behind my safe little mask. But the truth
is I gave an audible sigh of relief when I read those
verses because it (might as well go ahead and get it
out)… it sounds a lot like me. But if Paul struggled with
it, I’m thinking there’s probably a pretty big
masquerade going on.

As for the verses that follow Paul’s confession, there’s
a lot of incredible stuff there that can put the muscle
back into your faith. But it seems like every time I try to
flex those muscles I get a little arrogant
and of course I must be reminded…

“I guess I’ve known it all along,
I wonder where my thoughts went wrong?
When will I get it through my head?
I still need a Savior.”