Sin: Who’s to blame?

Romans 7:14 New Living Translation 

 “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.”

            Now we are getting to the heart of the matter. Paul sets his sights on the real issue at hand. It’s not the Law, it’s not God; it’s not anyone else but “me”. We have allowed the knowledge of what is wrong in God’s sight to tempt us into doing things we know better than to do.

            When scripture speaks of men being “in the flesh” it’s speaking of unregenerate men. Believers in Christ are no longer “in the flesh”, however, the flesh is in us and shall be until we receive our glorified bodies at the resurrection. This is why we say that our “old nature” has reared its’ ugly head when tempted to sin doing something we know in our hearts we ought not do.

            Someone who is a slave to something or someone is controlled by it. Once sin gets ahold of us, it can become a very ugly scene. We know better but allow ourselves to succumb to the pressure that comes along with temptation. We are painfully human, which is why it’s important for us to feed our spirit man daily. We don’t mature spiritually by osmosis. We must work at it.

            We may have been drawn in and controlled by sin before we met Christ, but we are no longer answerable to that or any other sin any more. We answer to God. He is in us and is with us wherever we go.⁽¹⁾What I’m saying is that no matter where you happen to go during the course of your day, God is with you in the person of the Holy Spirit, who resides within you. While we shouldn’t be prideful or arrogant about that fact, it should make us fearless and bold in the face of both opposition & temptation. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: www.biblegateway.com, The Life Application Study Bible, NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NIV Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible & The Reformation Study Bible.

(1)Genesis 28:15 New International Version - “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."