Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, January 9, 2022

When Temptation Comes Calling

Today Pastor Michael is in Romans, with Paul, in a general theme of discovering why it’s easier to do the wrong thing than the right thing.  Especially after we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Paul here is chronicling inner conflict in his life before Christ.  A person desiring to obey God’s law and hating his sin.   

(Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes) Some think Paul is focusing more abstractly on how the law does its work, and is not concerned with whether a converted or an unconverted person is in view. Many believe these verses describe the struggle of believers, even under grace, as we find that we often act against our own beliefs and will (v. 15). Each of these struggles confirms the goodness of the law (v. 16) and the persistence of sin’s effects (v. 17). We must always acknowledge that, although the gospel has brought Christ’s goodness into our lives already, we are not yet perfected in him (vv. 18–19). There remains still a despicable presence of sin in our actions despite our cleansed status through faith in Christ (v. 20).

Whichever interpretation we take, this passage drives home the profound and perplexing disorder that sin introduces into the human mind, a disorder that can be healed only by the even more profound grace of God in the gospel.

In closing, Michael gave a story, very paraphrased here, as a man gave his live to Jesus and felt as if two , sparring dogs lived within him.  A dark dog, wanting to revert him back to his pre-saved days and a lighter dog wanting to embrace Jesus and His love.  He felt as if they were constantly sparring.  He asked a friend, which dog will win this battle?  The friend replied, “The dog you feed the most.”

If we want to stay in Christ’s light we need to feed the Spirit.  By prayer, by reading the Bible, by being with other believers.  Seek to live by the teachings of Jesus!

Today’s verses can be found in Romans 7: 15-25