{"id":1697,"date":"2010-05-09T19:28:30","date_gmt":"2010-05-10T01:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2010-05-09T19:28:30","modified_gmt":"2010-05-10T01:28:30","slug":"romans-719-surrender-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-719-surrender-to-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 7:19 – Surrender to Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 7:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the good that I will<\/span> to do,<\/span><\/em> I do not do; but the evil I will not<\/span> to do,<\/span><\/em> that I practice.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Overcoming our enemy, our sin nature, is not ours to do.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in verse sixteen we looked at the word \u201cwill.\u201d There are two Greek words that are translated \u201cwill\u201d or \u201cwish:\u201d thel\u014d<\/span><\/em> and boulomai<\/span><\/em>. The difference is that thel\u014d<\/span><\/em> implies an active impulse whereas boulomai<\/span><\/em> implies a passive acquiescence. Therefore, boulomai<\/span><\/em> implies simply a wish or a desire whereas thel\u014d<\/span><\/em> implies a preference, a choosing, or a determination. To understand the difference, imagine that you give a child a dollar and let them go into a candy store to buy anything he or she wants. The child\u2019s desire is to buy everything (desirous will) but the child determines to buy something specific for a dollar (determined will). The word in the current verse translated \u201cwill<\/span>\u201d is thel\u014d<\/span><\/em>, determined will.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood<\/span>\u201d is from agathos<\/span><\/em>, which refers to goodness in general. It is sometimes translated as benevolent, profitable, useful, or excellent.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvil<\/span>\u201d is from kakos<\/span><\/em>, which refers to something that is worthless or wicked. It is believed to be derived from the verb chaz\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto retreat.\u201d It is a picture of a worthless soldier who, instead of standing up against the enemy, retreats.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At first glance this verse seems to say the same thing as verse fifteen did. But on closer inspection we can see that there is a slight difference between these verses. Verse fifteen says:<\/p>\n

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In this earlier verse (Romans 7:15<\/span><\/strong>) Paul is contrasting what he is determined to do versus what he hates. In the current verse (Romans 7:19<\/span><\/strong>) he is contrasting what he is determined to do versus evil. Paul is saying that his determined will is to do good but he doesn\u2019t do it. His determined will is also not to do evil, but that\u2019s exactly what he does do. This is another indication that Paul is truly saved. Only someone whose heart has been regenerated will truly desire to do good and truly desire not to do evil. Unfortunately for Paul, and for the rest of us as well, the sin nature that dwells in this flesh of ours continues to overpower us even against our desire.<\/p>\n

The significant thing to take away from this verse is the fact that it is not the will of man that draws him away from God. Few people, if any, actually want to be evil, but none of us, left to our own devices, will avoid evil because of the powerful sin nature that has mastery over us.<\/p>\n

Once again let me say that the only way to have victory over this sin nature is first to be genuinely saved and then to submit our will to God and obey Him as our master instead of our sin nature. As we submit to Him and commit to His ways, we have victory and peace!<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is far easier for us to do that which is evil than to stand and fight for that which is good. And, it is easier to stand and fight against evil in the face of incredible odds, than it is for us to stand against our sin nature. That\u2019s why we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Only a committed Christian surrendered to the will of God can succeed in overcoming his or her sin nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, who gets the praise when we submit to God\u2019s will?<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Truth to Learn Overcoming our enemy, our sin nature, is not ours to do. Behind the Words Back in verse sixteen we looked at the word \u201cwill.\u201d There are two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[821,847,848,499,86,849,840,525],"class_list":["post-1697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-agathos","tag-boulomai","tag-determine","tag-evil","tag-good","tag-kakos","tag-thelo","tag-will"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-rn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}