The Pull Of The Flesh
THE PULL OF THE FLESH
ROMANS 7:21-25
Do you share Paul’s experience of this inner struggle?
In these words there “is a groan of shame and pain from a man who could not be thus tortured if he were not born again. Yet it is also an avowal—as if to assure himself that deliverance is intended and is at hand—that the tyrant is an alien to him as he is a man regenerate …” (Handley Moule, Expositor’s Bible, 5:563-567).
The exclamation of thanksgiving in 7:25 shows that the deliverance he longs for is no postponed and promised consummation, to be granted only in another life. It is part of present experience. The military metaphors of 7:23 show that the battle is on, and no battle is static. All conflict moves towards victory or defeat. Christians are at war, but need not doubt the outcome. We are certain to win. The day will bring its test of strength and will, its wounds and toil, but each day should bring victory closer. Our Ally is at hand, involved in the conflict …
We should be grateful to Paul for this confession. It is too commonly our experience for us not to recognize in it the fight we daily fight. This letter is no mere textbook of theology. It is, like the Psalms, a record of the soul.