The Law of Sin

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 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.” Romans 7:22-23

In the first several chapters of the book of Romans, Paul thoroughly demonstrates that every person is a sinner. He makes it clear that we must realize our sinful condition before we can truly understand our need for salvation. After we accept Christ, our sins are forgiven. We are justified in the sight of God. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, our sins are no longer recorded to our account. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us, and we become a new creature in Christ. In the verses above, however, Paul points out that we still have a problem. The law of sin still reigns in our flesh. We still have our carnal appetites, attitudes, and desires. We are still capable of being angry, bitter, unkind, lustful, untruthful, vengeful, hateful, and even murderous. A careful reading of this chapter reveals a struggle between our old nature and our new nature. Many would regard the Apostle Paul as the greatest Christian who ever lived, and yet he says that the things that he wants to do, he doesn’t do; and the things that he doesn’t want to do, he does. He expresses a deep desire to please God with his actions, but he acknowledges the challenge that he personally faced in dealing with his own carnal nature. If we are going to experience success in obeying God’s Word, we must remember that we will never achieve sinless perfection. Every moment of the day, we face a battle against our sinful nature.