You do not want to sin. Often you feel like you do, but it's a lie. God wants you to learn to walk by faith, not by sight, or by feel (2 Cor.5:7). That is why He allows sin to remain in your body, and that is why He allows the Law to come to you and expose the presence of this invisible liar. It happens like this: You are going along in your Christian walk, learning who you are in Christ. Then you conclude that, if that's who you are, then you should be able to act like it. This is a reasonable conclusion, but there are two things wrong with it. One, your attention is on results, not on Christ, the true Object of your faith. Two, you have a long-standing habit of thinking you can live your life on your own. Now that you're a believer, you say that apart from Christ you can do nothing (John 15:5); but while you say that, you are still programmed in your mind to pursue righteousness in your own strength.

So God graciously puts you through these moments of exposure where He floods your heart with light and reveals the dishonest imposter in your flesh. Christ is your life, and this person is trespassing on private property. Out he goes! The Old Testament foreshadowed this moment when the people of Israel got to the edge of the promised land and discovered that there were giants in the land (Num.13:17-33). The Lord had promised that the land was theirs (Gen.12:7, Exod.6:8), but the appearance of things was contrary to God's word. Isn't this exactly how you feel when God tells you that Christ is your life, that you no longer live (Gal.2:20, Rom.6:3-7), while you have hundreds of examples from your life to prove God wrong? But wait! Do you really want to prove God wrong? No, you would love to believe everything He has said. Well, then who is doing all the arguing? Aha! There he is again, that old serpent, just as always. He still asks the same question: "Did God really say that you died? Doesn't he mean he pretends that you're dead, but you're really not? Just look at that tree . . . um, I mean . . . look at your behavior . . . and see how wrong God is. Perhaps you misunderstood Him. He meant for you to learn to be like Christ. That's what you should do. Be like him. Do what Jesus would do."

Do you see him? He is an unwelcome invader pretending to be you. But hear God's word: You are now a slave of righteousness (Rom.6:17-18). You have been united to Christ (7:4). You are now a son of God (8:15-16). Believe His word and enter into His rest (Heb.4:9-11). The people of Israel did not enter into His rest because they did not believe that God had given them the land (Heb.3:18-19). They saw the giants and disbelieved God's word. They were rescued from Egyptian slavery, but they never fully experienced the freedom that was theirs.

Do you ever get tired of "working for God"? Well, He is at rest and would like you to join Him in it. There is a Sabbath rest waiting for you in Christ, and you can "rest from your works just as God rests from His"(Heb.4:10). This rest comes when you stop trying to become what you already are. At the sight of giants in your land, you will be tempted to "take matters into your own hands" and fight them with the sweat of your brow. That is why Romans seven is inserted here, between the identity truths of Romans six and the Spirit-filled life of Romans eight. The position of this chapter tells us that you can't just jump from Romans six (hearing that Christ is your only life now) to Romans eight (experiencing Christ as your life) without first learning your own inability.

A Necessary Stop Along The Way

Abraham showed us in Romans four (vv.18-21) that God will not bring His promises into visible fruition until He has taught us the deadness of our flesh. Of our own strength we cannot live the Christian life. When men offer the Law to God's people as their sustenance they prove that they do not see Christ as our life. But God in His grace uses that very Law to show us that we cannot keep it. Once again we go back to the Lord Jesus and say, "There is nothing good in me; well, really I mean in my flesh. Thank you for saving me from sin, and from myself!"(7:18,25). And indeed He has. But remember that weakness is not sin; it is merely the human condition. Jesus Christ was the weakest Man who ever lived, as He Himself said: "The Son can do nothing of Himself" (John 5:19). He knew that He was a vessel who derived His nature from His indwelling Father. Those who have experienced the greatest awareness of their union with Christ testify to at least one "Romans seven experience" through which they first had to pass. After years of fruitful ministry and relationships, they found that their supply dried up until they no longer felt that they were Christians at all. God removed from their lives so many outward evidences of His presence that all they could now see was their own inability and nothingness. During those times they clung to the Lord as never before, trusting Him alone for everything. All felt cold and dead. But God takes pleasure in bringing life out of death, and the fruitfulness that these men and women experienced afterwards exceeded all that they had known before. No longer did they work in their own strength; they learned to "look off unto Jesus"(Heb.12:2) to be their completeness in everything they did.