Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

Living in the flesh pulls you down, but living in the Spirit of God pulls you up. Paul says this in multiple ways in Romans chapter 7. Some of you were poorly taught because you were taught that when God forgives you, He doesn’t really change you. You are just the same old sinner you were before you met Jesus. However, Paul taught

in Romans chapter 1 that God sees you as a saint (v. 7). He has something in Jesus Christ to change your status and your condition in relationship to Himself. This doesn’t mean you are perfect, but it does mean you are new. God has begun a change process in your life to make you more and more like Jesus.

The Spirit of God pulls us toward heaven, Jesus, and the Kingdom of God. Paul explains it in three ways in Romans 7. In verse 22, he speaks of our “inner being”—this is a new nature. If you belong to Jesus, God gives you a new nature. God resets the hardwiring within you at the deepest level of your being.

In verse 15, Paul says, “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Have you ever felt that way? You think I wanted to do the right thing, but I didn’t do it. You intended to do the right thing, but you did the wrong thing, and afterward, you wonder, What was I thinking? This is the struggle. We’re not perfect, but we’re new, and the new part of us hates our old habits. The new part of us hates our old behaviors. The new part of us hates our old decisions.

In verse 6, Paul says, “We serve in the new way of the Spirit.” Romans 8 talks about life in the Spirit. The Christian and the non-Christian can both look at the life of Jesus and admire it, but only the Christian can experience it. Many people don’t know Jesus who admire Jesus. Only those who have the Holy Spirit can experience the life Jesus lived by the power He had. The new nature has new desires, and the Holy Spirit brings a new power so you can live a new life in relationship to Jesus Christ that is increasingly more like Him.

The primary difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is the level of desire. What do you want? Christians, at their deepest level, want to do what God says, and they struggle with it because they’re still fighting the flesh. For the non-Christian, the deepest desire is not obedience—it’s disobedience. It’s not holiness but unholiness. It’s not following Jesus but sinning against Jesus.

I grew up in a Catholic home. My mom loved the Lord, but I was totally indifferent. At 19, God saved me in my dorm room at a state university. Then I went on a men’s retreat, and God spoke to me audibly. He told me to marry Grace, preach the Bible, train men, and plant churches. God gave me a new nature, and then He gave me new desires. Then He gave me the Holy Spirit to chase those desires.

Today’s Reflection

What changes have happened in your nature, desires, and power?