What other scriptures highlight the conflict between sin and righteousness in believers? The Struggle Stated: Romans 7:21 “So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” Paul puts words to the believer’s daily experience: a genuine desire for righteousness meets persistent, internal resistance. Flesh versus Spirit: Clear New Testament Statements • Galatians 5:16-17 — “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to one another, so that you do not do what you want.” • Romans 8:5-8 — “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit… Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.” • Romans 8:12-13 — “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh… If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Together these verses echo Romans 7: the tug-of-war is normal, yet the Spirit supplies power to refuse the old impulses. Old Self and New Self: Putting Off and Putting On • Ephesians 4:22-24 — “Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires… and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” • Colossians 3:5-10 — “Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature… you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” • 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” Scripture pictures two wardrobes: the threadbare garments of sin and the fresh attire of Christ-likeness. Daily, believers choose what to wear. The War Within: Desires and Passions • James 4:1-2 — “What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? You crave what you do not have…” • 1 Peter 2:11 — “Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” • Hebrews 12:1 — “Let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.” Each passage underscores that sin’s battleground is inside; victory starts with recognizing the enemy’s location. Confession and Assurance Amid the Battle • 1 John 1:8-9 — “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us.” • 1 John 2:1 — “I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” • 1 John 3:9 — “No one born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” John balances realism (sin is present) with confidence (forgiveness and new birth are secure), showing confession as the ongoing remedy while God’s seed presses believers toward holiness. God’s Provision for Victory • Philippians 2:12-13 — “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure.” The believer works, yet God energizes the very will and action required. The conflict remains real, but the outcome is certain through divine empowerment. In Sum Romans 7:21 is not an isolated lament; Scripture repeatedly affirms that the regenerated heart still battles indwelling sin. Galatians, Romans 8, James, Peter, John, and Paul’s letters to the churches all highlight this tension, while simultaneously pointing to the Spirit’s power, the necessity of deliberate choice, and the sure hope of ultimate victory in Christ. |
    |