The War within is not a civil War

Romans 7:13-25

If one reads these verses it sounds like a war is going on in each of us who has entered into Christ and to whom Christ has entered into.  Shall we cherry pick some verses out of Romans 7, to make the point.  Beginning with verse 15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” And verses 18-20, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”  And we cannot leave out verses 21-23,“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”

Now that sounds like a defeated life, one totally out of control, and if you sat under some Baptist teachers they use this example; “The old Indian said inside of me is a black dog and a white dog, and they are always fighting over this one bone, so who wins, the one I throw the bone to.”  Or you may have been taught you have two natures living in you the old and the new, WOW that sounds like a civil war going on in the life of each of us, so the question must be asked, has God set us up for failure?  Are these examples in keeping with the teaching of Scripture, and if not what is the Holy Spirit teaching us about this defeated life the apostle Paul addressed?

Let’s address the two natures first, Scripture tells us that we were crucified with Christ in Galatians 2:20, and so we must define crucified: “put (someone) to death by nailing or binding them to a cross, especially as an ancient punishment: two thieves were crucified with Jesus.”  Now I believe Scripture teaches that when you entered Christ and Christ entered into you, something died and you cannot teach this round and square, the old man died, but the flesh and the devil are warring within us.  I’m betting the farm on 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Do your recall Jesus teaching how a house divided cannot stand? (Matthew 12:25)  God has not set us up, for we have this assurance from Jesus in John 10:10b, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  So the question must be ask, where is this battle coming from and the answer is found in Galatians 5:17, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”  The one Jesus referred to as the thief, you remember the one who came to kill, steal, and destroy you, he is a counterfeit or masquerading as the Holy Spirit, but with opposite intent.  He is still using the same lies he used on Adam and Eve, and it is still working.

 Bill Gillham was a good teacher and yes he had a title of doctor, for you who need titles and this is one of his quotes: “The war within is not a civil war between the “old you” and the “ new you.”  If this were so, then you would be condemned to a life of defeat on planet earth, and that is not what the Bible teaches.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice