Devotional - Denise Copeland
Romans 7
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
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24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
I’ve been spending a lot more time at home these days, so in my mind I planned all these different ways I was going to be intentional in seeking God. Now, I don’t know about you, but it’s been a struggle lately to get myself to focus on anything for longer than, I don’t know… 30 seconds. So every time I’ve tried to start praying or read the Bible, my mind goes to a million different places. I find it impossible to make it through this moment, let alone try to make this a daily practice in my life. And even worse, it’s during these times of idleness that the sins that I’ve worked so hard to stash away make their back way into my life.
Earlier in Romans 7, Paul talks about how the Law of the Old Testament served to bring out the realities of our sins. He continues in these verses by stating that nothing that is in us is actually good; that there is this battle between what we want to do, and what we actually are prone to do. The Law not only revealed the sins of our hearts, but also our inability to follow God’s commandments on our own. This is seen in generation after generation in the Bible as they consistently fell back to their sin. Paul states, “for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” Ultimately, as much as we try to do good, we are not able to do this on our own, and we will find ourselves in this constant struggle of failing even our own expectations.
These are hard words for me to hear, because ultimately I want to claim the victory as my own. But the truth is, I have and always will fail. I’m not good enough, and there’s no amount of will power that can change that. Yet it is in this place of recognition where Jesus comes in. This chapter ends with this exclamation: “thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus died and resurrected for our failures and our sins, for our inability to carry out what is good. Every time we approach God, we must recognize that it is only through Jesus that we can carry this out. He redeems what is wretched in us, and only through Him are we made good.