"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
In today's lesson Paul very clearly verifies what has been said in theses past several lessons concerning the security of the believer.
Herein, Paul uses his own life experience as the example of how those of us whom have been redeemed by the grace of God struggle with the sins of the flesh while committing them every day.
Paul said, "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." This means that, just like those of us whom are saved today, the righteous things, Paul knew he should do, are not what he wound up actually doing, and, that the evil things, that he knew were wrong, were the things his earthly body wound up actually doing.
Therefore, Paul was just like us. He committed sins of the flesh on a daily basis and struggled with them constantly, but in his spirit, the inner man, he remained sin free and wholly righteous because of the righteousness imputed into Him through his faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul said, "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."
Paul clearly knew, that it was not the "inward" spiritual man that committed the sins, but rather it was the "law of sin which is in my members."
What should we take away from this lesson? We should live our lives knowing that we are bound to sins of the flesh so long as we inhabit these mortal bodies and, that being so bound, we should live our lives, not so much to avoid the sins of the flesh, but to do as Jesus commanded, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Matthew 12:30-31) ~
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