Romans 7:20

Romans 7:20 says, Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  Paul had just stated that he didn't do what he should and did do what he shouldn't in verse nineteen.  Now, he gives us the reason.  It is his giving in to sin that dwelled in him.  We know that once a person becomes a follower of Christ that the Holy Spirit dwells in them, but even when indwelled with the Holy Spirit, God does not take away our free choice.  Paul recognized this in his own life, and we must also.  It would be so much easier if once we accepted Christ as Savior and Lord the Holy Spirit would then keep us from even thinking sinful thoughts, but that is not what happens.  There will come a day, when we do depart this corrupted world that sin will no longer be a temptation, but not as long as we live in this body of flesh.  Verse twenty-one adds, I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. Paul recognized the truth that the ability to give in to evil still existed in Him. We might want to think that as followers of Christ this is not true of us, but anytime we doubt God, evil wins.  This can be as simple as giving in to worry, when God has told us to put our trust in Him.  It could be coveting what someone else has or hating someone or some group because of what they have done to us.  It could also be feeling that we are morally superior to others.  I believe Paul recognized that he was still capable of these thoughts, and even actions, and warned us that the same is true for us. For the Bible to be meaningful, it must apply to the life of each individual.  Verse twenty-two continues, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  He delighted in the law of God with the inward, or spiritual, man.  We may delight in the Bible inwardly, or spiritually, but how does that affect our everyday life?  Verse twenty-three states, 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.  I believe Paul was saying that even though he knew what he should do mentally that the lusts of the flesh fought against that knowledge.  We as followers of Christ know what we should do, but we are still at times tempted to give in to sin due to the lusts of the flesh.  We are in a spiritual war, and if we surrender from the leadership and empowering of the Holy Spirit, we will lose.  Verse twenty-four adds, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  He saw himself as wretched and asked Who could deliver him from the body of this death.  When we are not following the will of God through the power of Holy Spirit, we are indeed wretched.  We cannot be faithful to God by our own power. Verse twenty-five continue 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.  After asking Who could deliver him, Paul gave the answer: Jesus Christ our Lord.  Christ was not only Paul's Lord, but the Lord of all who believe.  We must make Christ the Lord of all our thoughts, or by the lust of the flesh we will again fall into sin.