"SIN THAT DWELLS WITHIN ME!"

Romans 7:15-20                                  (ESV)

"15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.

17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but "SIN THAT DWELLS WITHIN ME".

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 "." 

There are times when I feel extremely defeated!  I do my best to live a life that pleases GOD, but then, before you know it, I am doing exactly what I promised myself I would never do again!  It seems as though the enemy knows the precise moment that I will be at my weakest and he subtly slips his agenda into my choices.  The Apostle Paul used the words "I do not understand", and neither do I, but we do "the very thing I hate"!  What is the matter with me?  

Before the Apostle Paul was changed from being Saul, he was a zealous supporter of persecuting Believers.  In verse nineteen above, Paul writes that he winds up doing "the evil I do not want" to do.  So if Paul is doing what he DOESN'T want to do, what is making him do it?  Paul writes the "SIN THAT DWELLS WITHIN ME" is the culprit. I hate to admit it, but the "SIN THAT DWELLS WITHIN ME" sometimes gets the better of my actions and causes me to do things I almost immediately regret.  It's almost like it is something I can't overcome!

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 the Apostle Paul again writes that he has a problem with sin.  He says that three times he prayed for a "thorn" to be removed from him.  But the LORD said that HE is made strong by our weaknesses, so Paul said he would "boast" in his weaknesses so CHRIST would be elevated!

So when the enemy is beating me up because of my failures, what I need to do is turn my weaknesses over to HIM and let HIM be elevated!  I'm not worthy of forgiveness and I should be condemned to death!  But JESUS CHRIST pain an unimaginable price to become the ultimate sacrifice for mankind, and I am so glad HIS FATHER called me out of darkness into HIS marvelous light!