12-28-25
Romans 7:14
SERMON ON ROMANS 7 — “THE WAR WITHIN”
Opening Prayer:
Father God have mercy on us all. Thank you for the blessing you give us daily. Today as we explore your wonderful word, prepare our hearts to receive exactly what you want us to know in this amazing sermon in Jesus precious name… Amen!
1 of 3 — Romans 7:1–13 — The Law Is Holy, But I Am Not
Introduction:
Romans 7 is one of the most honest chapters in the Bible. Paul lifts the curtains of his soul and lets us see the reality every believer experiences….the struggle between the regenerate heart and the remnants of the old sinful nature. Romans 7 is not written to discourage us, but to drive us to dependence on Christ alone.
Paul has just finished Romans 6, explaining that believers are dead to sin and alive to God. Now in Romans 7 he clarifies: being dead to sin does not mean the struggle is over. Rather, it means that through Christ we have a new identity and a new power, even as we battle the flesh.
I. Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
Here is God’s Word…
Romans 7:1 NIV
Do you not know, brothers and sisters-for I am speaking to those who know the law-that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?
Paul uses a simple illustration: the death of a spouse ends the legal covenant of marriage. Likewise, when we died with Christ, we were released from the Law as a covenant of condemnation.
Romans 7:4 NIV
So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
We died to the Law so that we could belong to Christ.
Salvation isn’t merely forgiveness….it is a new covenant relationship.
The Law could command righteousness, but only Christ can produce it.
II. The Law Reveals Sin, Not Salvation
Romans 7:7 NIV
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
This commandment is internal and exposes the heart, not just outward conduct.
The OT has the same theme:
• Psalm 19:7 NIV
The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
• Psalm 119:105 NIV
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
God’s Law is holy….not harmful. But like light revealing dust in a room, the Law exposes sin without being sinful itself.
Paul says:
Romans 7:12 NIV
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
The Law is good, but it cannot give life. It diagnoses sin, but cannot deliver from sin. It exposes sin, but cannot empower obedience.
III. The Law Stirs Up the Sin Nature
Paul reveals something shocking:
Romans 7:8 NIV
But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
The problem is not the commandment…it is the rebelliousness of the sinful nature. Tell a child, “Don’t touch that,” and suddenly that object becomes irresistible.
The Law is like a mirror showing the dirt….but the mirror cannot clean you. The Law is holy, but it cannot change the heart.
This sets the stage for the deeper struggle Paul describes next:
the battle within the believer.
2 of 3 — Romans 7:14–23 — The War Inside Every Believer
IV. The Believer’s Ongoing Battle With Sin
Romans 7 now shifts from Paul’s past experience under the Law to his present experience as a believer. Notice the repeated use of “I am,” “I do,” “I find,” showing this is a current struggle.
Romans 7:14 NIV
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
Paul does not mean he is unsaved or back under bondage. He means that while the inner man is regenerated, the flesh….the old nature….still resists God.
V. The Paradox of the Christian Life
Paul describes something every Christian understands:
Romans 7:15 NIV
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
There is a war between what we genuinely desire in Christ and the flesh that resists Him.
This is not hypocrisy….this is Christianity.
Hypocrites pretend they have no sin.
Christians grieve over the sin they battle.
Paul says:
Romans 7:18 NIV
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Before salvation, we had no desire to obey. Now we have desire through the Holy Spirit…but we still lack the ability apart from Christ’s power.
VI. The Real Enemy: Sin Living in Me
Paul repeats this phrase twice for emphasis:
Romans 7:17 NIV
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Romans 7:20 NIV
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Paul is not excusing sin.
He is identifying its source.
Our deepest identity as believers is NOT the flesh.
Our deepest identity is the new creation in Christ.
This is why Paul can say in Galatians:
Galatians 5:17 NIV
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
There is a civil war inside the believer:
• The Spirit pulls us toward holiness.
• The flesh pulls us toward sin.
And notice Paul’s honesty:
Romans 7:21 NIV
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Even apostles wrestled with sinful desires.
Even mature believers fight inward battles.
Even those filled with the Spirit feel the pull of the flesh.
This battle does not mean you are losing….
It means you are alive in Christ.
VII. Delight and Conflict Coexist
Romans 7:22 NIV
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;
This is evidence of true salvation.
The unbeliever does not delight in God’s law.
Only the born-again heart desires holiness.
Yet the war continues:
Romans 7:23 NIV
but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
This is the tension every believer feels:
A heart that loves God
Inside a body that doesn’t.
Romans 7 shows us that the Christian life is not the absence of struggle…
It is the presence of conflict because Christ has made us new.
But praise God, Romans 7 does not end with defeat!
3 of 3 — Romans 7:24–25 — The Cry for Deliverance and the Victory in Christ
VIII. The Cry of Every Christian Heart
Paul finally cries out:
Romans 7:24 NIV
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
This is not despair….this is longing.
Paul is not saying, “I am worthless.”
He is saying, “I am helpless on my own.”
The OT saints felt the same tension:
• Psalm 51:10 NIV
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
• Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
• Isaiah 64:6 NIV
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Human effort is powerless.
Moral determination fails.
Willpower is too weak.
Who will rescue me?
There is only one answer.
IX. The Shout of Victory
Paul doesn’t leave us in bondage or self-condemnation. The final verse explodes with hope:
Romans 7:25 NIV
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Not “delivered” only in the past—
but delivers—present tense.
Christ delivers us:
• from the guilt of sin (justification),
• from the power of sin (sanctification),
• and one day, from the presence of sin (glorification).
Romans 7 ends with tension, but Romans 8 begins with triumph:
Here is God’s Word…
Romans 8:1 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
The struggle is real,
But the victory is secure.
X. Application: How Christians Fight and Win
- Acknowledge the battle.
You’re not strange….you’re saved. Struggle is evidence of the Spirit at work. - Depend on Christ daily.
Paul didn’t say, “I deliver myself.”
He said, “Christ delivers me.” - Feed the Spirit, starve the flesh.
Prayer, Scripture, worship, fellowship….these strengthen the inner man. - Walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 NIVSo I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. - Look forward to final deliverance.
One day, the battle will end.
We will see Him as He is.
And the war within will be over forever.
Conclusion:
Romans 7 is the story of every believer:
A new heart
Inside an old body
Empowered by a perfect Savior.
We struggle, but we belong to Christ.
We fight, but He gives victory.
We groan, but glory is coming.
To Him be the praise!
Closing prayer:
Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior thank you so much for this sermon. I pray that we put everything that we have learned into action this very day. Keep us safe, bless our families and let us always rely on you Father. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!!!
Open Door Lake CC 