{"id":1700,"date":"2010-05-10T16:22:33","date_gmt":"2010-05-10T22:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1700"},"modified":"2010-05-10T16:22:33","modified_gmt":"2010-05-10T22:22:33","slug":"romans-720-living-on-our-knees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-720-living-on-our-knees\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 7:20 – Living on our Knees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 7:20<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now if I do what I will not<\/span> to do,<\/span><\/em> it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

When we lose a battle against our sin nature we simply need to confess our sin and God removes it from us.<\/p>\n

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

The word \u201cdo<\/span>\u201d (in the expression \u201cI who do it\u201d) is from the Greek word katergadzomai<\/span><\/em>, which we saw back in verse fifteen, meaning \u201cto work fully, to finish, or to fully accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDwells<\/span>\u201d is also a word that we have looked at before. It is the word oike\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cliving somewhere as a permanent residence, as opposed to a temporary residence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

This verse is very similar to verse seventeen, in which Paul identifies the sin dwelling in him as the reason that he does things that he hates. He now states a very similar fact, that it is the sin which has taken up permanent residence in him which fully accomplishes that which he has determined not to do.<\/p>\n

According to Adam Clarke in his Commentary on the Bible<\/em>, Paul is saying;<\/p>\n

My will is against it; my reason and conscience condemn it. But it is the sin that dwells in me – the principle of sin, [the sin nature] which has possessed itself of all my carnal appetites and passions, and thus subjects my reason and domineers over my soul. Thus I am in perpetual contradiction to myself. Two principles are continually contending in me for the mastery: my reason, on which the light of God shines, to show what is evil; and my passions, in which the principle of sin works, to bring forth fruit unto death.<\/p>\n

It is this contention between the Spirit of life within us and the sin nature within us which produces the daily battle that all Christians face: the wholesome desire to obey and please God versus the lustful desires of the sin nature that drag us into sin and guilt.<\/p>\n

We will not leave this battleground until the day that we are taken to glory. We need to learn how to do battle effectively and that is by submitting our will to God and learning repeatedly how to fall to our knees when our sinful tendencies win out over our desire to do good. Remember:<\/p>\n

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our<\/span> sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.<\/span> (I John 1:8, 9<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Also, keep in mind that when he forgives our sins, he removes them from us, as David said in the Psalms:<\/p>\n

For as the heavens are high above the earth,<\/span> So<\/span><\/em> great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west,<\/span> So<\/span><\/em> far has He removed our transgressions from us.<\/span> (Psalms 103:11-12<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

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

Even though we are in a constant battle with our sin nature, and frequently loose the battle, we know that through confession our sins are forgiven and sent away from us as far as the east is from the west. Lord, help us to learn the necessity of living on our knees!<\/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 7:20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Truth to Learn When we lose a battle against our sin nature we simply need to confess our sin and God removes it from us. Behind the Words The […]<\/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":[850,851,844,810,852,276,525],"class_list":["post-1700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-determined","tag-do","tag-dwells","tag-katergadzomai","tag-oikeo","tag-sin","tag-will"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-rq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1700","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=1700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}