We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling when you’ve messed up yet again and did the thing you told God you wouldn’t do anymore. You know you shouldn’t have, and for a while, you did so good, but then a hard day or something triggers you and the flesh wins out. And in that moment, the enemy will tell you that you’re the only one like that; like everyone else has it figured out but you’re the only one constantly struggling. Yet, here we have Apostle Paul saying, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” So, if a man like that struggled with this too, where do we find the hope? Let’s study that this week. 

Read Romans 7:13-25 and journal through the following questions this week: 

• What is the inner struggle that Paul felt? 

• Do you recognize this experience of inner struggle in your own Christian life? If yes, how do you deal with it?

• How does sin become more sinful in light of the law? (v. 13)

• Paul says the law is spiritual but he is carnal. In ancient Greek, carnal is sarkikos, which means “characterized by the flesh.” In this context, what does this speak of?

• Paul knew that his real inward man delighted in the law of God. Can you say the same thing for yourself? Why or why not? (v. 22)

• What Paul is describing here is a feeling of desperate powerlessness that comes from trying to battle sin with your power of self. Where is the fallacy in Paul’s approach described here? See Ephesians 2:8, John 14:6, 1 John 2:1-2 and Titus 3:5. 

• Why can’t we use the power of sin or Satan as an excuse for when we sin? (v. 17-20) See also James 4:7 and 1 John 4:4 

• Paul’s writings here have caused some controversy amongst Biblical scholars because what he describes here seems like the life of a non-Christian, not someone who has been made new in Christ. Read this article on the Gospel Coalition website and write down the key points from the article. 

• Being born again takes a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ is a lifelong process. Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and 2 Timothy 4:7. What does Paul compare Christian growth to? 

• What is Paul’s conclusion about himself? (v. 24)

• How does knowing that Paul struggled with sin like this comfort you today? 

Reflect & Respond

• What does this passage teach me about God?

• How does this change the way I live? 

Scripture to memorize

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” -1 John 4:4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yelena is the founder and editor in chief Tirzah. Yelena works as an attorney in tax and in her spare time, she is working on her first book for unmarried twenty-something women in extended waiting seasons and running Tirzah. She has a passion for pointing young women to Christ, and enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and spending time with her family.