Section 7
anything." Whenever a husband is tempted to make up his mind to love his wife, he should immediately say, "Satan, get away from me. I will never try this. Instead, I shall reject the self. My self must go."
Do not make up your mind to do good. Paul said, "To will is present with me, but to do the good is not" (Rom. 7:18). Paul went on to say, "For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil I do not will, this I practice" (7:19). Therefore, in the next verse he concluded, "But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that do it but sin that dwells in me" (7:20). As we pointed out, this was Paul's experience before he was saved, but nearly all Christians pass through it after they are saved. If we do not have such an experi ence, we shall not be exposed to the uttermost and shall not realize how hopeless we are.
Perhaps even today you have made up your mind to do good. It is so natural, so easy, to will. When you were somewhat cold toward the Lord, you did not make up your mind to do good for Him. But after you are revived and come back to the Lord, you immediately make up your mind to do good. Every time you make up your mind to do good, you make a commandment, a self-made law, for yourself. These are not the laws given