Delivered Through Jesus Christ

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Delivered Through Jesus Christ

Date: Apr. 26, 2023

Passage

Romans 7:14-25 (ESV)

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 7:25

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

The law is holy, spiritual, and good. But we are not. We all have sinful natures. Much as we want to be slaves to righteousness and offer our bodies to God, we are still bound to sin. We do what we do not want to do (sin). We do what we don’t want to do (righteousness). We sometimes feel like we have split personalities. We really want to obey God’s commandments. We want to live as good Christians, but try as we may, we cannot get rid of our sinful nature.

So, what do we do? Paul calls the sinful nature “evil (that) is right there with me.” (21) This is what causes the battle inside of us. We delight in God’s law. We love Bible study and time spent in prayer, convening with our God. But there is another law at work, which wages war in us, making us a prisoner of the law of sin. So, again, what do we do?

First, we recognize our wretchedness. We admit we can’t get rid of our sin on our own. Then, we cry out for a rescuer. We admit that only Jesus Christ our Lord can rescue us from this body of sin and death. And then we thank God for him who saved us.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, thank you so much for your Son. We are powerless on our own. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord for our deliverance!

One Word: One Word: We are saved through Jesus Christ

Do Not Rejoice Israel

Hosea 9:1-17

Key Verse: 9:17

  My God will reject them
    because they have not listened to him;
    they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Today's Question

For what do we pray in the fifth request?

See answer and references