Paul "I do the very EVIL I do not want to do" Rom 7:19
(The Long Version of Roman chapter 7)
In this article we’ll take a more in depth look into why Paul said what he did in Romans 7:15-19
As with any letter that you or I would might read we’ll start at the beginning of the letter to the Romans so as to understand all that Paul said before, and a little bit after, he said what he did in Romans 7.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul begins by identifying those he’s writing to as “saints.”
Rom 1:7 to all who are beloved of Elohim in Rome, called as saints:
Who are the ‘saints’?
The word ‘saint’ is # G40 in the Strong’s concordance is defined as:
“ sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious…) - that is , (most) holy (one, thing), saint.
Paul tells us that it’s the “saints” that have been ‘sanctified,’ meaning ’set apart’ in Messiah Yahoshua. (1 Cor 1:2). It’s the ‘saints’ that make up the household of Elohim (Eph 2:19). It’s the saints that “keep the commandments of Yahuweh and hold to the testimony of Yahoshua (Rev 14:12 ). And it will be the saints that will ultimately be dressed in fine linen at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:8).
Why is it important that we recognize that the letter to the Romans is written to the saints? Because so many times people will pull a passage out of context and come away with a very distorted understanding of it. The letter to the Romans is written to the body of Messiah, those that are called ‘saints’, sanctified in Messiah Yahoshua. Paul is not writing to people telling them how to ‘get saved.’ It’s talking to people that are already saved. As will become very evident as we go through the book of Romans on our way to chapter 7.
So in understanding that Paul’s letters are written to the “saints” it becomes evident why he is, in all his letters, encouraging the brethren to continue being “blameless” “above reproach” unto the return of Yahoshua HaMashiach.
I’m going to quote a little bit more than I intended, but I think it might make the point a little easier in understanding.
Rom 2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
Rom 2:2 And we know that the judgment of Elohim rightly falls upon those who practice such things.
Rom 2:3 But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of Elohim?
Rom 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of Yahuweh leads you to repentance?
Rom 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of Yahuweh,
Rom 2:6 who will render to each person according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for ….eternal life.
Paul tells us it’s through ’doing good’ that we seek for Eternal Life. I realize that might be a shocking thing to hear for someone that believed they are saved by ‘faith’ alone. But the fact of the matter is that the only time the word “faith” and “alone” are mentioned together in the entire Bible is found in James 2:24 where it says. “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
Paul continues on in chapter 2 stating that it will only be those who are obedient to the Heavenly Father Law that will be justified.
Rom 2:11 For there is no partiality with Yahuweh.
Rom 2:12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;
Rom 2:13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before Elohim, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
He’s explaining to these ‘saints’ in Rome that they have to obey the law in order to be justified. For those that live without the Law, they will perish without the Law. Those same people are mentioned by the Savor in Matthew 7:21-23
Rom 2:26 So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Rom 2:27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?
In chapter 3 Paul tells us it’s through faith in the Messiah Yahoshua by which we are saved. Which I’m sure we would all agree with. But the thing is that many people today think that because we’re saved by faith through grace that somehow makes the Heavenly Father’s Law no longer relevant. Paul, anticipating how some people might misunderstand what it is he was saying here, asked the question,
“Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Yahuweh forbid! On the contrary, we establish the Law. Rom 3:31.
Allow me to paraphrase in modern terns what it is Paul just said, “because we’re saved by faith does that mean we do away with the Law? Of course not, Yahuweh forbid! We don’t do away with the Law , “we establish the Law". (Rom 3:31)
(For a full explanation on what Paul meant by saying “we establish the Law through faith” or “we’re not under the Law” or “we’re saved by faith through grace” and many of the other things Paul said that are hard to understand please read Part 2 of “The Hard Sayings of Paul".)
Stop Sinning
On to Romans 6 which I think I’m safe in saying is probably the strongest chapter in the entire bible in which we are exhorted to “stop sinning.”
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
What is ‘grace’? Grace is defined as Yahuweh‘s “undeserved-kindness or favor“ towards us.
And what is ‘sin’? Sin is a violation of the Heavenly Fathers’ Law, that is Lawlessness. (1 John 3:4-10)
So Paul is asking the question, since we’ve found this ‘undeserved kindness or favor’ (grace) in the eyes of Yahuweh does that mean we can continue to violate His commandments? I think we could have anticipated Paul answer to that question before he even gave it.
Rom 6:2 Yahuweh forbid! How can you who died to sin still live in it?
In the strongest possible language Paul could have used he answers his question,
“Yahuweh forbid!“ how in the world can you who died to yourselves continue in sin any longer?’
The key to what Paul is saying here, which so many professed believers today never came to fully realize is the fact that when we came to Messiah we should have “died to ourselves.” Allowing Him to live his life in us and through us. Sadly most people today never did that. I’ll be saying more of what it means to “die to ourselves” later in the article.
Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized (immersed) into Messiah Yahoshua have been baptized (immersed) into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
It’s at baptism that we are symbolically buried with the Messiah into his death. As the Messiah was buried in the earth, we are buried in the waters of baptism (Rom 6:1-4). As the Savior was resurrected, we are raised up out of the water to walk in newness of life. The ‘old’ man should have died, and the ‘new’ man should have taken his place. The new man constantly being transformed into the image of Messiah, as we strive to “walk even as he walked” (Rom 12:1-2; Gal 2:20; 1 John 2:6; Luk 13:23-24)
Rom 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
Rom 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
That is probably one of the biggest “ if’s “ in the entire Bible. “If” we have become united in the likeness of his death. “If” we actually died to ourselves, that is to our desires and passions, then we will be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. And it’s only then, when we’ve ‘died to ourselves,’ surrendered our lives to Him, that someone could understand what it means to have died to sin. “Dead men don’t sin.”
Rom 6:8 Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Rom 6:9 knowing that Messiah, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
Rom 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to Yahuweh.
Rom 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to Yahuweh in Messiah Yahoshua.
Rom 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
Rom 6:13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to Elohim as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to Yahuweh.
Paul isn’t making a “suggestion” here, as if this is something optional, something we can do if we’d like and not do if we choose not to. He’s telling us “do not” continue in sin any longer.
“do not“ let sin reign in your mortal bodies.”
“do not”go on presenting yourselves to sins.”
“present yourselves to Yahuweh as instruments of righteousness.”
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you….
Let me pause here for a moment. Briefly we’re going to be contrasting what Paul said here, and throughout this chapter, with that which he stated in Roman 7, specifically verse’s 15, 19
“ For I do the things I hate to do. The good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evilthat I do not want.”
Could these two statements possibly be coming from the same man? Of course they are, and we’ll see why Paul said what he did in a moment. But keep in mind as we read through chapter 6 what it is Paul said in chapter 7:15,19.
You’ll notice I left off the last half of verse 14 above, “for you are not under law but under grace.” I left it out only for the purpose of focusing on what Paul said about “sin not being a master over us“. For those that have read the ’Hard Sayings of Paul’ you understand the reason behind why Paul says ’we are not under the Law’. As for those that haven’t read the article please ask for a copy of it. I like to go though and explain it again here but this article is going to be a little longer then I anticipated already. I will, a little further down, briefly comment on how it is that we are not “under the Law.”
Rom 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
Seeing as Paul was so misunderstood by so many, even in his own day (Act 20:20-24; Rom 3:8; 2 Pet 3:16) it’s not surprising that he’s again anticipating how people might misunderstand what he meant by his last statement, about ‘not being under the Law’. So he immediately answers his own question by stating again in a language that no one could confuse, “Yahuweh Forbid!” of course by our not being under the Law, does not imply that we can continue in sin.
Rom 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
This is one of the key passages in understand Rom 7. Paul is stating here that ‘if we present ourselves as slaves to sin it will result in death. But if we present ourselves to obedience, that is to the Father, by obeying his commandments (Matt 7:21; 12:50), it will result in righteousness. And of course ‘righteousness’ will lead to life eternal (Rom 1:17; Rom 2:6-7; Ps 119:-1-6).
Rom 6:17 But thanks be to Yahuweh that though you were (past tense) slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
Rom 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
We “were” slaves to sin, but we’re not anymore. Now we are slaves to righteousness. As I’m mentioned numerous times in the past ‘righteousness’ is always ‘obeying the commandments. (Deut 6:25; 1 John 3:4-10; etc.) Why though does Paul say we’re no longer ‘slaves to sin’? Because we became obedient to “that form of teaching (or doctrine) to which you were committed.” That ‘form’ of teaching to which Paul is referring to is stated above. That is, “that we died to ourselves. We were buried together with the Messiah in baptism and rose to walk in newness of life. It is no longer we who live but the Messiah is living his life in us. That’s the form of teaching that “we are committed too.” The ‘old‘ man died and the ‘new‘ man is a new creature. No longer a slave to sin but a slave to righteousness, allowing the Messiah to live his life in us. (2 Cor 5:17)
Rom 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented (past tense) your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
I can’t emphasize this enough how I can really sympathize for people who struggle with sins in their lives. You’ll never be set free from those sins until the day comes when you truly “lose your life.” and let the Messiah live his life in you. Until the day when you can say “it’s no longer I that lives, but it’s the Messiah living in me,“ (Gal 2:20). You‘ll always be battling sin.
When I first gave my life to the Almighty I had no one telling me “how to get saved”. Without going into how the Father got my attention, let me just say that I wasn’t talking to anyone about the bible at the time. No one was telling me to “bow my head and say a prayer”. I started reading the bible for the first time and amazingly it seemed like every passage l read applied to me. No drunkard shall inherit the Kingdom, no immoral person, no thief, no liar, cheat, and on and on, will enter the Kingdom. I didn’t just believe what I was reading the Almighty made it such a reality in my mind, it was the only reality in my life at the time, and it is to this day. So after a period of I think about a month or two of doing nothing else except reading bible, I told the Savior, that’s it, what ever it takes I’m going to do it, I’m giving my life to him. It’s not what I want to do any longer it will be him living his life through me. I don’t have any options any more when it comes to sin, or doing the things I once did, I gave those options up when I gave me life to Him. And until someone “commits themselves to that form of teaching” (verse’s 6,17) you’ll always be battling sin. The battle is over with when we die to our selves.
Rom 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Rom 6:20 For when you were (past tense) slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. (implying that the saints in Rome where no longer ‘slaves to sin’.)
Rom 6:21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to Yahuweh, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages (the payment) of sin is death, but the free gift of Yahuweh is eternal life in Messiah Yahoshua our Master.
The payment for sin, if someone should continue in it, is death, separation from Messiah, and thus from the Father also (1 John 2:4, 24).
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Well, we made it to
Romans 7. Paul begins by addressing “those who know the Law.” (Rom 7:1-4) Using the analogy of a married woman being bound to her husband as long as her husband lives, he explains the same is true of the Law having jurisdiction over a person as long as that person lives. But when that woman’s husband dies she is obviously no longer bound to that man. And the same is true with us.
We are “freed from the Law.” That’s if, there’s that ‘if’ again, if we died to ourselves, then we’re freed from the Law. Because we’ve surrendered our lives to Yahoshua and are allowing him to live his life in us. It’s his sacrifice that will be imputed unto us, thus “fulfilling the just requirement of the Law’ (Rom 8:3-4) The ‘wages of sin‘ had been paid, by the One that died for us. If we allow him to live his life in us. At which point it is “in him that we live and have our being.” (1Jn 4:9; Col 3:3-5)
Again, if you’ve read Part 2 of the Hard Sayings of Paul I think most of these questions are addressed. But let me state here briefly what it means to not be “under the Law” and thus “freed from the Law.“
We’re not “Under the Law”
As we read in Rom 2:12, those “under the Law” will be judged by the Law. And the outcome of that ‘judgment’ is - death (Rom 6:23; Num 15:30-31). For the Law has “shut up all men under sin” (Gal 3:22) that the whole world might be come accountable before Yahuweh (Rom 3:19-21).
According to the Torah when someone sinned ‘intentionally’ in violating the Law, committing a sin unto death, that person was ‘completely and utterly cut off’ from among Yahuweh’s people (Num 15:29-31). There wasn’t any way, according to the Torah, for that person to be reconciled back to the Heavenly Father, Yahuweh. And since we’re told numerous times in the scriptures that all men have sinned (Ecc 7:20; Psa 130:3; Psa 143:3; Job 9:2; 1 Kgs 8:46; Gal 3:22; Rom 3:23). All men are under the death sentence. The only hope any of us had was to live ‘righteously,’ that is obeying the commandments, and ’trust’ that the Father would make a way that we might be reconciled back to Him. Again, a way other then the Law. Because as it’s been shown, according to the Torah there wasn’t any way to be justified for sins that required the death sentence (read it Num 15:29-31).
The “righteous had to live by faith” (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:7; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38) trusting that the Father would make a way in which we might be reconciled back to Him. And He made that way, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. He sent His Son, the first born of all creation (Col 1:15; Heb 1:6; Rev 3:14; Prov 8:22-36), into a sinful world to suffer and die for the sins of that world. For what the Law could not do, and that is justify us from the sins we’ve committed intentionally, Yahuweh did by sending his Son (Act 13:38-39; Rom 8:3-4)
And how is it that the death of Messiah is attributed to our lives? We’re told 6 different times throughout the Gospels that we have to ‘lose our lives’ for Messiah’s sake:
Consider are selves died to sin (Rom 6:2,7,11)
Not allowing sin to rule over us any longer (Rom 6:12-13).
And allow Yahoshua to live his life in us (Gal 2:20).
By taking upon us His Yoke (Matt 11:28-30)
and
“walking even as he walked” (1 John 2:4-6),
in obedience to His Father..
If we do that then his death, his sacrifice, will be attributed to our lives. And as I mentioned that’s a big “if” (Luk 13:23-24; Matt 7:21-23).
(Lose our lives for Messiah’s sake: Matt 10:37-39; Matt 16:24-26; Mar 8:34-36; Luk 9:23-25; Luk 14:26-28; John 12:25-26)
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Rom 7:5
For while we werein the flesh (that is walking according to the flesh), the sinful passions, which werearoused by the Law (the more someone is told “thou shall not” the more the tendency to want to do it.) were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
Rom 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law (that is the ‘curse’ of the Law, for which the Messiah died - Gal 3:10,13), having died to that by which we were bound (that being ‘sin‘ Rom 6:6-7; 17-20), so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (the iswith hearts of flesh and not hearts of stone Ezek 11:19-20).
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Yahuweh Forbid! May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "you shall not covet."
Rom 7:8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. (where there is no Law, there is no sin Rom 4:15)
Rom 7:9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;
For instance: when Paul came to the realization that the sin of 'coveting' only had to take place in teh mind for it to be a sin (Matt 5:27-28), he realized he was under teh sentence of death as an adulterer (Num 15:30-31)
Rom 7:10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;
Rom 7:11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Rom 7:12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Rom 7:13 Therefore did that which is good (the Law) become a causeof death for me? Yahuweh forbid! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
Clearly, the Law is not only “perfect (Ps 19:7) it is also holy, righteous and good. It was ‘sin’ not the Law that became a cause of death for Paul, and us.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
With all that we’ve read thus far, up to this point, about Paul stating how we should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies (Rom 6:12), how we should not yield to sin (vs. 13), how sin ’shall not’ have dominion over us (vs. 14). We are to be slaves to righteousness not to sin (vs.’s 17-18), and how the wages of sin is death (vs. 23). Is he now telling us that he’s doing just the opposite of all that he’s asking us to be? Of course not.
I’d like to suggest, and I think it bear out as we read on, that what Paul just did here with the last statement he made, on down to verse 24, is he’s reflecting back to the time in verse 9, “when the Law came alive he died.” he’s flashing back to a time past, when he was a slave to sin. And he’s leading us to the climax of that time, and it‘s outcome.
So we’ll follow along verse by verse.
Rom 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
“Sin” was controlling his life, he was a slave to sin. I think we can all relate back to a time in our lives when we felt helpless against some bad or sinful habit, that seemed to control our lives. That’s what Paul is describing for us here.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Paul was a slave to sin, the very thing he warns us against in
Rom 6:17-23. Does anyone really believe that Paul was a hypocrite, telling us to do one thing and he, himself, was unwilling, or unable to do it himself? Of course that was not the case. As we‘ll soon see )
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of Yahuweh after the inward man:
He wanted to do what was right, but he found it was sin that was master over him, he was a slave to sin.
Rom 7:23 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.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
And here Paul is crying out in despair. What could this “wretched man” do who was a slave to all the desires and passions of the flesh that had such a hold on him. That he was a slave to, and couldn’t over come? “Who would deliver him from this body of death?”
And the answer is:
Rom 7:25 I thank Yahuweh through Yahoshua HaMashiach our Master. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of Yahuweh; but with the flesh the law of sin.
(But as Paul is about to tell us, he’s not “walking after the flesh.“)
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Messiah Yahoshua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yahoshua has made me free from the law, not from that which is ’good’ (vs.;s 11-12) the Law of life (Rom 8:2), but from the Law of “sin and death“ that once controls us.
(The battle‘s been won. We are no longer slaves to sin, but rather slaves to righteousness, in, through, by and because of Yahoshua our Savior. It‘s his grace that enables us, if we’ll recognize it and accept it. And his grace is “sufficient” (2 Cor 12:9).
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, Yahuweh sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
(“Condemned,” that is ’put an end to sin‘, by destroying the works of the devil, sin in us. Listen to how the apostle John describes it.
1Jn 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
1Jn 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness (that is keeping the commandments) is righteous, just as He is righteous;
1Jn 3:8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of Elohim has appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9 No one who is born of Yahuweh practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of Yahuweh.
Was Paul telling us in Romans 7 that he was a slave to sin, that he was doing the very ’evil’ he did not want to do? Yes, that’s exactly what he told us. But he also tells us how he stopped, how he over came that ’sin master’ that controlled his life, and ours. It was through Yahoshua the Messiah. When we “surrendered our lives to him” and allowed the Messiah to live his life in us, we gave up all control of our lives to Him. We are, or rather should be, “slaves to righteousness.”
That isn’t some ’high-ideal’ in our having to us lose our lives for the Messiah’s sake, it’s a requirement for salvation. Unless you “lose your life you will never see life” is what we’re told 6 different times in the Gospels, and of course all through the epistles.
(Lose our lives for Messiah’s sake: Matt 10:37-39; Matt 16:24-26; Mar 8:34-36; Luk 9:23-25; 14:26-28; John 12:25-26; Rom 6:4-6; 8:3-4; Col 2:12-14; 3:3-4; Gal 5:24; 6:14 etc)
Paul goes on to say in chapter 8:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against Yahuweh: for it is not subject to the law of Yahuweh, neither indeed can it be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please Yahuweh.
Rom 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Elohim dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Messiah, he is none of his.
Is the ‘spirit of Messiah in us? It is if we put ourselves into the same Yoke as the Messiah (Matt 11:28-29), if we walk as he walked (1 John 2:4-6). If we’re walking contrary to Messiah, allowing sin to rule over us (Rom 6:12-15), we’ve severed ourselves from Messiah. His spirit cannot dwell where the ‘works of the devil’ are ruling.
Rom 8:13 For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.
2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of Elohim stands sure, having this seal, Yahuweh knows those that are his. And, Let every one that names the name of Messiah depart from iniquity.
It should be obvious to all by now that in Romans 7 Paul was telling us of ‘a time past’ when he was a slave to sin. But now clearly he’s mortified the deeds of the flesh through Yahoshua the Messiah.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of Yahuweh are the sons of Yahuweh.
1John 3:3 And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
Jud 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
Luke 13:24 "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Rev 21:7 "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his Elohim and he will be My son.
If you haven’t ever stopped and said, Father I’m through living my life, it’s over with. From this day on it ’will be’ Messiah living his life in me and through me‘. May this be the first day of your life. From now until eternity.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know it was rather long. But let me close with this:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered the hearts of men, the wonder things that Yahuweh has prepared for those who love Him” 1 Cor 2:9
A drop of water in the ocean wouldn’t begin to compare to the Eternity that awaits for those who love Him.
Shalom Reuven.
