UBF Daily Bread

WHO WILL RESCUE ME?

Passage: Romans 7:14~25

Key verse: 24,25

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,^(A) sold^(B) as a slave to sin.^(C) ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.^(D) ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.^(E) ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.^(F) ¹⁸For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a]^(G) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^(H) ²⁰Now 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.^(I)

²¹So I find this law at work:^(J) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being^(K) I delight in God’s law;^(L) ²³but I see another law at work in me, waging war^(M) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin^(N) at work within me. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?^(O) ²⁵Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!^(P)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,^(Q) but in my sinful nature^[b] a slave to the law of sin.^(R)

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Footnotes

Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh

1. Sold as a slave (14-20)

In this passage is Paul referring to his pre-Christian life? No. He writes in the present tense because this is the dilemma of human life; everyone is both good and evil. Only God is good. God's law is good, and if we don't break his laws, we are free. But because of Adam's fall, Satan's power rules the world, and I am in bondage to sin. (Jesus called Satan 'the prince of this world.'-Jn 14:30) As long as I am in the flesh, I must grow through struggling with my sinful nature.

2. Two laws at war within (21-25)

Everyone is both good and evil. I have God's image, so I delight in God's law; but there is another law or principle at work in me--the law of the sinful nature. I have no strength to defeat it. Who can rescue me? Only Jesus who died and rose again can rescue me! I must trust him and depend on him every day. Before he knew Jesus, Paul struggled with sin and lived a defeated life. After conversion, Paul struggled with sin and found victory and freedom and peace in Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for Jesus Christ. I claim today the freedom he purchased with his blood.

One Word: Jesus rescues me

Daily Bread

WHO WILL RESCUE ME?

Passage: Romans 7:14~25

Key verse: 24,25

Footnotes

Cross references

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