s20070916m_WHY DO I DO WHAT I DO NOT WANT TO DO
WHY DO I DO WHAT I DO NOT WANT TO DO?--Romans 7:15-18 and 7:24-25a
What Do You Have A Hard Time Controlling?
Your Temper- Drinking - Spending- Sexual Desires- Eating- Procrastinating-Moods-Bad Habits
I. HOW PAUL DESCRIBES OUR PROBLEMS OF SELF CONTROL:
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:15-18
Our Results: * [CONFUSION] * [FRUSTRATION] * [DISCOURAGEMENT] * [DEFEAT]
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Romans 7:24
II. I HAVE TO BE RESCUED BY JESUS CHRIST:
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!...Romans 7:25a
· Since I Need To Be Rescued By Jesus I Have To Get To The Bottom of My Control Problems,:
Which is "MY SIN" Of Believing [I CAN PRESIST IN MY OWN WAY].
19When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. Deuteronomy 29:19
Which is The “FACT” Behind My Self-Defeating Behaviors Are “[DELUSIONS I HANG ON TO]”
20He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” Isaiah 44:20
Which is I Am “DEFEATING MYSELF”, Therefore, I Must Start Holding On To [CHRIST’S TRUTH]!
" 31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. ” John 8:31-32
· Since I Need To Be Rescued By Jesus I Have To Believe [THAT JESUS CAN CHANGE ME]!
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man. Romans 8:1-3
· Since I Need To Be Rescued By Jesus I Have To Commit [ALL I AM TO JESUS]
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Romans 8:5
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17
"The Spirit God gives us doesn't make us timid; instead his Spirit fills us with power, love, and SELF CONTROL." 2 Timothy 1:7
The Bottom Line For Me To Be Rescued Is I Must [COMMIT MY MIND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT’S DESIRES]
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17