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.”
Our wills are our active member…..and it is either employed by the devil or by God.
We often think that we are independent of everything….making our own decisions.
But in reality, we are under the influence of our minds and affections….which “push” our wills to action.
When we are still lost….we are darkened….and our wills follow here and there with the crowd, or with our lusts, at the time. (Ephesians 2:2-3)
This is death…..not the body dead, yet….but dead in sins…sinking in the muck.
(Peter calls it “fifth of the flesh” 1 Peter 3:21….and “corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4)
This is the state of a lost person. And our wills are subjects of those sins and lusts…which are subjects of the devil.
When we become born again….we are enlightened ( amazing word! Ephesians 1:18).
Light, by the Holy Spirit, which is given to us at new birth…. to see our sin…..and more,…
….forgiveness from our sin is given:
Romans 5:8-9 “But God commendeth HIs love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more than, being now justified by HIs blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
And more….His life and grace is given to us to be “saved” practically from our sin…
Romans 5:10, 15 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of HIs Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by HIs life.
….For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.”
Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
(Twenty-four times in Romans alone, Paul speaks of “grace”…..the unmerited favor of power….for our lives.)
And then Paul speaks of his own sanctification process: he tried to do “good” after his conversion….but failed, again and again.
For there is within all of us….from our old nature….a principal of rebellion against God, which must be overcome if we are to find…”how to perform that which is good.”
Romans 7:15 “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”
Why did he fail? Because of his lust. What lust? His coveting. He wanted something that was not to be his….whether is was vanity….or attainment…or prestige.
He lusted,….coveted…after what which was not for him. And to him, it was sin.
And it kept beating him up….kept winning, when he went to do the Lord’s Will….these inordinate affections kept him from fulfilling God’s Will, as he should.
We hardly think of the great apostle as such,….but he wrote this that we might see his failure….(even though he “delighted in the law of God after the inward man:” Romans 7:22… he kept failing….like we have, often.)
….yet he wanted us to see his victory in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, as well:
Romans 8:1,4 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk (and here is the willed action) not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
After we are born again….we are sanctified by “walking after the Spirit of God”. This is not getting in line after the Spirit…..but this “walking after” means that we will with the Holy Spirit within us and let Him work through us.
It is conformity, not emulation.
We, through many exercises of our will with the Holy Spirit, become the Will of God wherever we are.
Paul speaks of us as children (what an endearing term!)…..and heirs of God! (what an inheritance!)….joint-heirs with Christ…
Romans 8:17 “ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”
And then names one of these things that we inherit from Christ….His love:
Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
(And Paul had experienced all of these things! So he knew!)
And then Paul tells us that part of our inheritance….through Christ….we become “more than conquerors”! Or to gain a decisive victory!…..no matter what comes into our lives!
Romans 8:37-39 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And this victory is because God loves us….and gives us His love and grace through Christ Jesus.
“To will is present with me.” We have always had our wills….yet now by the salvation of God through Christ Jesus, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit….
….our wills can become a powerhouse for God in our lives….bringing us into the glorious victory of His Purpose and Will.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 