Bible Study
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Reference: Romans 7:14-21
Focus Verses: Romans 7:
Topic: “I Wouldn’t Do
That If I Were You”
Many of us are afraid to
admit we have struggles. What we define
as struggles may be misconstrued as day to day troubles and trials. Job confirms, “man that is born of a woman is
of few days, and full of trouble” (trouble:
(ro'-ghez); commotion, restlessness (of a horse), crash (of thunder), disquiet,
anger:) Thus, we engage in daily battles to do the right thing and make the best
choices. Our primary goal should be to
do what’s pleasing in God’s eyesight.
The lesson aim is to acknowledge the challenges we face to
do what’s right. More importantly, we
must be transparent in our testimony regarding the fight to live a life that
“holy and acceptable unto God”. Paul
tries to explain how the flesh and the spirit are in constant battle for
control over our minds.
According to the text, Paul educates the church on the
realities of living in Christ. Moreover,
Paul reveals the impact and results of sin in the life of a believer. Paul uses himself as an example to show that
the real struggle is in the mind. The
real battle between our flesh and the spirit has a tendency to bring out the
best and worst in all of us. Paul is not
specific as to what he shouldn’t have done, but he points to the origin of his
challenges. In Romans 8:3-5 Paul also
connects our struggle in the flesh to the redemptive work of Christ.
As Paul builds the bridge from the Old to the New Testament
he concludes that breaking the “law” was common practice. In verse 14 Paul
defuses the argument that sin has more power over him than the spirit. (read
verse 14 and highlight the key words)
[Law –
(nom-os); to parcel out, through the idea prescriptive usage, regulation, used
by Moses and the Gospels, a principle.]
[Spiritual
(pnyoo-mat-ik-os'); non-carnal, i.e. (humanly) ethereal (as opposed to gross),
or (daemoniacally) a spirit (concretely), or (divinely) supernatural,
regenerate, religious:]
[Carnal
(sar'-kee-nos); similar to flesh, i.e. (by analogy) soft:]
What are your current struggles? How are you fighting the temptations in your
life? Is God pleased with your
lifestyle?
Paul’s final statement to the church focuses on the
misunderstanding of how we struggle to maintain control of our thoughts.
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