All civilizations recognize the internal struggle of good and evil. A parable from the Cherokee (an indigenous tribe of the American south-west) speaks of the two wolves inside of us and which one wins. Oriental culture describes the internal struggle in the yin-yang symbol and striving for balance. In Romans, the Bible identifies this reality in the terms of law. We can’t help it; it is who we are. But God….
The whole passage we are looking at today is Romans 7:14-25. This is the summary of the problem before the solution is revealed. Paul is recognizing his own internal war. He wants to do good but can’t help doing evil. “So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:21–24, CSB)
There have been many solutions for the internal struggle. All are like Band-Aids on a fatal wound. They treat the symptom but never address the root cause. Many have tried to give up the struggle and have given themselves fully over to sin and evil. Many have used personal restrictions to grow the good and lessen the bad. Many have tried to find the balance between the two. All are dealing with the symptoms without recognizing the cause.
The overarching narrative of the Bible reveals the origin of the struggle, the impossibility of solving it ourselves, and God’s redemptive plan to address the root cause and bring us peace. Every other attempt at a solution ultimately fails; the war within us is never over. Our next entry in this series will explore God’s ultimate solution.
Romans applied: None of us likes to recognize the evil, our sin, or our internal struggle. We all think we’re good and, with some rationalization, believe we are doing the right thing, even when it is really evil. The truth is that we are self-centered, selfish wretches whose ultimate good is whatever we think it is. We are our own law. And that is the problem. But we have to realize it. A person who doesn’t see their sin never needs a savior.
Most of the folks reading these words know and have accepted God’s solution for our internal war. We have peace. Peace with God and peace with ourselves. There is still a war, we still fight sin, but things have dramatically changed. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.” (Romans 6:12–14, CSB)
- Romans Applied – The Internal War - June 24, 2026
- Proverbs – Passion - June 22, 2026
- Romans Applied – The Chains of Law - June 17, 2026
