The Enemy Within ~ Romans 7:15-25

February 28, 2016 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson
Intro: One of my favourite scenes from the LOTR movies is when Gollum argues with himself. If you are familiar with the
scene, you know that at one moment Gollum is reasonable, endearing, & likeable, and in the next moment he is scary,
consumed with malice and fixated on evil.
While in the movie, this scene propels the story along while also providing comic relief, anyone who is a follower of Christ
sees something of Gollums two sides within him or herself.
Today, as we continue our Lent Series, were going to take another step in considering that it means to kill the sin that
kills our joy. And were going to do that by looking at the issue of The Enemy Within ~ Romans 7

Context: New life in the Spirit. Paul has been writing to these new followers of Jesus living in Rome to tell them about
the new life that Christ has given them, a life in which we now keep in step with the Spirit to live the kind of life Jesus died
to give us.
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.
Point #1: As a Christian, you will sometimes feel like a walking contradiction.
1. If you are a Christian, you will sometimes feel like a walking contradiction. You will look at your lifeyour
thoughts, your words, your actionsand say with the Apostle Paul, I do not understand my own actions.
Illus: The university student who came to us, frustrated at her slow spiritual growth and continual struggle with
sin. I had her read these verses out loud, and she burst into tears. I thought I was the only one who felt like that.
2. You actually agree with the law of God, that the things you do are wrong. Rebellious. Evil. Inexcusable.
You find yourself tempted and sometimes doing the very things you hate.
You soberly face up to the fact that there is something still very wrong with you: There is a part of you that hates
God, that insists on your own way, that wants to do what you want to do.
Augustine (attributed): Deliver me from that evil man, myself.
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 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.
Point #2: As a Christian, you will always live with an internal enemy.
1. The reality of indwelling sin: the sin that dwells within me.
(1) Sin Personified: Paul speaks as if there is a monster living within him that takes over and acts through him.
Pauls BC days: I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, You shall not covet. But sin,
seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. Sin, seizing an
opportunity through the commandment, deceived me (Rom. 7:7-8).
- Paul says that enemy still dwells within him and is still at work within him sabotaging him.
In the hit tv series 24, Keifer Sutherland plays the role of a leading CTU agent who is constantly on the front
lines trying to prevent a terrorist attack on the US. There is not only the threat of the terrorists out there, but
there is usually a threat of the terrorists in here, working within CTU. There is always a mole, that is, an insider
who is working with the terrorists.
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- Within your being, there is always a mole: Sin is at work within you to sabotage your best intentions, your
greatest efforts, and your strongest desires to live the Christian life.
(2) The Flesh = that part of your that resists Gods will, that wants to live for yourself, that doesnt want to submit to
God.
NIV translates it as the sinful nature, which is fine in one sense, but its better to say that the Christian has one
human nature that is both fallen and redeemed. We can view the one self from two different perspectives.
The Self from One Perspective:
The Flesh

The Self from Another Perspective

New Creation

You old self / former way of life

Your new self / new way of life

Sin living within me

Christ living within me

Participates now in this present evil age

Participates now in the age to come

Bows to serve sin as its master

Bows to serve Christ as its master

The old person in Adam

The new person in Christ

The fading outer person

The renewed inner person

2. The deeply divided self.

(1) There is a sense in which it is not me who sins, and a sense in which it is me. The real me is the new creation in
Christ, the one being redeemed from the power of sin.
(2) In the 1960s during the Vietnam War, the comic strip Pogo uttered words that have become part of our collective
consciousness: We have met the enemy, and it is us. We are our own worst enemy. And we are always with us.
That means that your greatest enemy to living the Christian life is not the devil. Its not even the world out there
with all its temptations. No, your greatest enemy is the mole within seeking to trip you up, seeking to sabotage
you every step of the way. Its an inside job of trench warfare.
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.
Point #3: As a Christian, you will continually experience an ongoing war.
1. Sin / Evil will always dog your steps, even when you are at your bestwhen you want to do right.
(1) Paul calls this the law of sin - think of it like the law of gravity, something that bends things in its direction.
(2) Illus: Lecrae, Facebook Feb 16, When I decided to follow Jesus that night in Atlanta, I assumed that becoming a
Christian would make life easier. I thought the rest of my life would be smiling and smooth sailing. I assumed I
wouldnt be tempted by women and partying and acceptance and all the things Id been a slave to for so many
years. I thought I would walk around with a continual inner-peace and serenity like Gandhi or something. This
turns out to be a lie that too many people believe. Youll actually experience more temptation, not less, after you
become a Christian.
Lecrae is articulating what Paul was saying: there is now an ongoing war for the loyalty of your heart.
(3) Illus: Freshman Bible Study student had asked his grandfather when the battle with lust ends. It must be when
you get to be older than I am, because I still have to fight against it.
2. You do not negotiate with the enemy. There will never be a cease fire. You must fight it to the bitter end.
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(1) You are licensed to kill the sin that kills your joy. You must be ruthless.
(2) Well talk more next week about this ongoing war, and what it means to fight with the Spirit to live the kind of life
that Jesus died to give us.
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!
Point #4: As a Christian, you must ultimately hope in the salvation of Jesus.
1. The Christian should accurately view him or herself: Wretched man that I am! I am in need of rescue! I need to
be delivered!
(1) Illus: Lecrae, Facebook Feb 16 (cont): Following Jesus doesnt mean youll start living perfectly overnight. It
certainly doesnt mean that your problems will disappear. Rather than ridding you of problems or temptations,
following Jesus just means that you have a placeno, a personto run to when they come. And the power to
overcome them.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not advice on how to fight temptation, but the Good News that Christ died taking
on the penalty of sin himself, and now offers you forgiveness for sins plus power to fight sin.
(2) You have been licensed to kill.
2. Jesus has already dealt a death blow to the enemy that dwells within. He is your dread warrior, and your Great
Ally in killing the sin that dwells within.
Illus: D-Day has occurred. V-day is assured. You are called to join in the mop up work as you battle a defeated,
weakened, and retreating enemy.
3. Where Paul is going: there are two ways of living: by the flesh (which leads to death) or by the Spirit (which is what
weve been rescued from sin to do).
Bottom Line: The enemy of sin may dwell within, but Christ will in the end.
As a Christian
you will sometimes feel like a walking contradiction
you will always live with an internal enemy
you will continually experience ongoing war
you must ultimately hope in Jesus salvation.
What if we owned up to the fact that we are walking contradictions? How would that humility actually increase your
witness? How would knowing that help us to be patient with others who find themselves doing what they hate?
What if we actually owned up to the fact that we are our own worst enemiesand stopped blaming everything and
everyone else for our sins?
What if we actually prepared ourselves for the ongoing internal battle that we face every day, instead of acting surprised
when we find ourselves giving into temptation? What if we stopped playing with temptation and stopped setting up
opportunities for the flesh?
What if our ultimate hope in Jesus salvation actually motivated us to kill the indwelling sin that kills our joy? What if we
battled well with the strength which Christ provides? How would things be different?
Application: Choose this day to side with the war that Christ by his Spirit is fighting against your sin.
The enemy of sin may dwell within, but Christ will win in the end.
NCC may you be a people who refuse to negotiate with the enemy within,
and may Christs ultimate victory over your sin propel you to join in the mop up battle against your sin.
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