For to will is present with me
Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
This is the picture of Paul, a man who has been saved, and is finding out that within him are two principles:
The flesh, which has no good thing. Our flesh, “old man”, or old nature delights in sin. It chooses the darkness and pulls us back into our old habits. (He sees his “lust” or covetousness. Romans 7:7)
Then he sees the Principle of obedience by the Holy Spirit within our spirits, which enlightens and guides us into yielding to God.
It is spoken of by….”for to will is present with me”! How blessed, that the Lord gives our wills the desire to will with Him when we are born again!
Yet it is the power to perform that which is good…or the acceptable will of God, which is lacking.
That comes by yielding to the Holy Spirit within,….and becoming more and more under HIs control.
He gives us the power of choice….not just the desire to do God’s Will….but the real power in our lives to say no to our sin, and self….
….and say yes to God’s direction and Word.
Romans 7:22 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”
Here is a picture of a truly born again one. They “delight” in the law of God!
(there is only one “delight” in the New Testament…and it is here. Delight means “to rejoice with oneself”. It suggests a knowledge of ourselves….yet with a rejoicing that we can know and do the law of God!)
Here is where we need to be strengthened,…..in the inward man.
For in the Holy Spirit,…there is more than ample strength…when we learn to “yield”.
We stress “yield” often…..for it is a gentle term.
The Holy Spirit calls us to follow the Word we have just read, or the Word we have just heard preached, or taught…..and His call comes to us a dove….cooing to us.
(Have you ever heard turtle doves cooing to each other? It is not the caw of the crow,….nor is it even loud. But the mate of the dove, hears and answers…or comes.
So the call of the Holy Spirit in our spirits when we hear HIs Word is like this gentle call….
…and since we are united to God by the Holy Spirit in our spirits….we answer or come.
This is to yield….to submit in our wills and lives, right then….or sometimes after a battle with our old nature….to come and to do what the Holy Spirit has shown us.)
When we are born again, as children of God, we learn to yield to that inner unction, that is the striving of the Holy Spirit in my spirit.
We learn to hear….and yield…rejoicing that we are one with Him…in all our days.
1 John 2:20 “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
This is what Paul is setting forth in these verses….his experience in learning.
At times rejoicing in the Holy Spirit…
…..and at times crying:
Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
We (as Paul did) learn to thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord for HIs Spirit which lives in and enlivens us.
To be changed from the wretched “lust and covetousness” to “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
How? He had learned….”….in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
Imagine….going from lust and covetousness about things in his life…even spiritual things….
….to contentment….in all things!
And whatever our sin is….we, too, can learn not to “lust after” in our flesh…but to be content with God’s Word and Will….in all things.
Victory in the Holy Spirit can be ours…..it happened to Paul. He learned that he was “quickened” in the Holy Spirit….or given the power to live in Christ’s character or actions…
…as he yielded to the Spirit within.
Romans 8:11, 13-14 “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
We are all new creatures in Christ….and that new nature should grow stronger and stronger….as we yield to the Holy Spirit within.
There often is a battle….but as we yield to the calling of the Holy Spirit, by the Word of God within….then the answer from our hearts and lives will be to lose our self-life….
…and to find our lives in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Victory and contentment in the Will of God can be ours, by yielding. Will we?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 