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For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not

  Good morning. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Thankfully he clarified that – in my flesh. In and of ourselves, we can and will do no good thing. Thankfully we do not walk in the flesh, but in the Spirit. For the good that I want, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not want. That is true apart from God. Before we became Christians, we possibly wanted to do good; but were utterly helpless to do so on a regular basis. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. This totally does not sound like a Christian. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man. So is he talking about the Mosaic law before he became a Christian? However, even as Christians we agree with God‘s laws, but sometimes it seems we are unable...
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Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? God 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

  Good morning. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? In other words did it have unintended consequences? God 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. Now we get to the controversial part of chapter 7. Is Paul talking about himself before he became a Christian or afterwards? For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. That is true about our old man, who is now dead. Unfortunately, we do not act like our old man is dead. It seems like he is alive and kicking. We all do go through some form of the following at times. What I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I’m doing the very thing I hate. One would think that after becoming a Christian that Paul’s desire to disobey would be eradicated. But if I do that very thing I do not want ...
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But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

  Good morning. Paul continues: but now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. While we are not under the law of Moses, there are some Christians who live their lives as if they are under some kind of law. They have a list of things that they must/cannot do. We are to live our lives following the leading of the Holy Spirit. No matter how long a list we have, it will never cover every situation. Besides, if we kept the list, we could brag that we were the ones living the Christian life. So if the law of Moses was so bad, was it sin? God forbid! Then what use what is it? 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. Remember that earlier Paul said “until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law“. Sin, taking opportunity through the comma...
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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

  Good morning. Now one of those famous verses that all Christians know: for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You get wages for working, and your paycheck for working all of that sin is death. You don’t have to work for eternal life; it is a free gift. As the current hit song says: I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it; still You give Yourself away. Now we get to the hotly debated chapter 7. Is Paul talking about himself, or is he talking about a generic nonbeliever? In some places it seems like he’s talking about before he became a Christian; and in others it seems like he’s talking about while he is a Christian. As Yul Brenner said in the movie “the king and I”: Tis a puzzlement. Do you not know that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? So that does not sound like he’s talking about a Christian. You were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another...
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Just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

  Good morning. Sometimes Paul likes to say the same basic thing two or three different ways to help you understand. Just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. The choice is up to us as to which one we present ourselves. Just as lawlessness begets more lawlessness; so righteousness begets more righteousness. Legally we are sanctified at rebirth; but it takes a lifetime to work it out in our lives. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. People of the world are not ashamed of what they are doing; in fact they rejoice in them and encourage others to join them. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, ...
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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?

  Good morning. OK so we are not under law but under grace. Does that mean we can do whatever we want? Paul says: shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 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? Grace is not a “free pass“ to do anything that you want. If you do sin, grace means that it’s not all over – that you won’t go to heaven. It’s kind of like with Adam. God said that in the day you eat from the tree, you will die. Eve ate from the tree, and she did not drop over dead. It gave him the boldness to try also. You sin, don’t immediately go to the bad place, so you think why not sin again - I can just ask for forgiveness. After a while, you are hooked and don’t even care whether or not you are forgiven for doing it. But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you became obe...
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Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts.

   Good morning. I hope everything is great there. OK so we are to consider ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus – then what? Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. That is easier said than done. Notice that it says do not “let” sin reign in your body. First of all that says that it is a choice; it doesn’t force you to do anything. Secondly, it says don’t let it “reign”. That does not mean that you won’t ever sin again; but it is not going to be the master of you. You are to be in charge, not it. So what should we do? Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness (we do not put ourselves into situations where we are tempted to sin); but present yourself to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. You have to choose. You are either going to present yourself to sin (as one dead), or to God (as one alive). Sin shall not be ...
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