The Divided Man

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Image)

1886 Robert Stevenson - Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde —> the “duplicity of life”

Growing up he had a burdened conscience

Desired a respectable, moral life; but realized he also has darker, corrupt desires inside

“I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth…that man is not truly one, but truly two…I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both.”

Invented a serum that would allow him to separately live out both lives (Jekyll and Hyde)

Jekyll could remain “innocent” and respectable

Hyde would have his fill of pursuing corrupt desires

“I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine.”

Hyde begins to grow stronger, taking over even when the serum isn’t used

Realizing He can’t stop Hyde, Jekyll writes his confession, and takes his own life.

Stevenson, whose father was a minister, borrowed much of his theme and language from Paul and Romans 7.

The Question Paul is answering in Romans 7

We know from last month, from the first part of Romans 7

We are dead to the law, free to remarry a better husband

We are free from the burden and demands of the law that we can’t satisfy

We are free from the condemnation and judgement of the law that we rightly deserve

We no longer serve in the “old way of the law”, but in the “new way of the Spirit”

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The law is good, holy, the Spirit teaches us to interpret and bear fruit.

If the Law is good, and the Spirit leads us to live fruitful lives; why do we still see sin in the lives of believers?

The Divided Man

Paul is going to warn us of the conflict and comfort us with the answer, to what many have referred to as the “Divided Man”

Paul is going to be open and honest with us, notice two things

Paul shifts from talking about sin in a paste tense, to using a present tense - He is in the “now”

Paul uses the pronoun “I”, he is not excluding himself, he is sharing “personal experience”

The Divided Man is aware of the daily struggle with sin.

Paul’s writing here is an offensive strike against legalism and perfectionism

The Bible does not teach that perfection follow redemption, or that we can add to what Jesus finished

Paul warns of that mindset in Gal 3:3 what the Spirit began, are you trying to finish?

Just as there is a hopelessness that comes from rejecting all of God's standards for faith and life, there is also a hopelessness that comes from having perfectionist standards that give no place in real life for the sins of true believers.

Paul is guarding us from being hopeless and defeated

He was aware of his own sin… I do what I hate, what I do not want....I keep doing it (daily struggle)

If anything, we see in the life of Paul, an increase in awareness of his sinfulness

“You are not mature if you have a high esteem of yourself. He who boasts in himself is but a babe in Christ, if indeed he be in Christ at all. Young Christians may think much of themselves. Growing Christians think themselves nothing. Mature Christians know that they are less than nothing. The more holy we are, the more we mourn our infirmities, and the humbler is our estimate of ourselves.”

Paul would refer to himself as the chief of sinners, as the least of the apostles…saw his continued need of grace

The conflict of the divided man is a conflict of will between two “natures”

Rom 8:2 Law of Flesh vs. Law of the Spirit

Col 3:9 - 10 Old self vs. New self

take off the old, put on the new…like changing pants

2 Pet 1:4 Sinful nature vs. Divine nature

The Spirit lives inside us, renewing and correcting,

Inner man vs Outer Man

This is not that the soul is good, and the body is bad (gnosticism)

This is who I “really am” in my heart, versus what is on the surface (fast reaction, caught off guard)

There is a tug of war, there are two attitudes fighting for: mind (thinking), will (desire), emotions (actions)

The Conflict within Paul (I do not understand my own actions)

I do not do what I want, but what I hate

Since I hate what I did, I agree with the law

The more we see God’s beauty, truth and wisdom, the more we will hate sin

We recognize the lie, damage and destruction sin causes — and we hate it, its control, its consequences

I want to do good, but I find that I keep doing wrong

This is not who I am, it is my sinful nature

Paul is not saying “the devil made me do it”, he is not making excuses to justify his sin

Paul is torn, he has a sincere desire to submit to God, but there is enough of the old him left to lead him to sin

“There remains in a regenerate man a smoldering cinder of evil, from which desires continually leap forth to allure and spur him to commit sin.”

Paul gives us an illustration to show how he feels: This Body of Death

In ancient times, a punishment for murder was to have the victim’s body be chained to you

You would feel the weight of the victim as you traveled

You would smell the odor of the corpse decaying

There would be a constant reminder of your crime

Paul is saying, this is me...

It is like I am dragging extra weight, it gets in the way

It stinks, it makes my stomach turn

My present sins are a constant reminder of my past failures

Like Dr. Jekyll searched for an escape from Hyde, Paul searches for relief

Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this burden?

The Divided Man continues to return to Jesus

Paul has just given us a glimpse of the normal Christian life

These are the lights that guide the plane to the runway…this is our hope

We do not live in continual defeat, but when do sin we respond

I love the law of God

We see that our actions were against God’s good design

This is why David says the law is sweet to his lips, it is like honeycomb

I hate what I just did

I have sinned against God, I have caused destruction to myself and others

Lost temper, Slander, Stealing, Lust, Fantasy - there are no victim less sins

Wretched man that I am, who will set me free

In seeing or sin, we realize that “I” can’t fix it

Thanks be to God, the victory will come through Jesus my Lord

With our mind (read, study, discuss, think) we serve the law of God

Our flesh (sinful appities, those sudden urges) are in bondage to sin

We will look at more of “how” this victory comes next time

It’s going to go like Jeklly and Hyde, someone has to die

For now, just continue to run, pursue, and treasure Jesus

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