Victory In The War Within

David J. Mullins: Hey, podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jefress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jefress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, Paul talks about his own struggle with sin.
Guest (Male): The real me, the inner me wants to please God and obey the law. But there's a different law that is at work within my body that wages war against my mind. Paul said his real self wants to please God, but he is still inhabiting this body that is riddled with sin, and that's the cause of the battle.
David J. Mullins: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jefress. You know, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. But if that is the case, why do Christians still fall prey to sin and temptation? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jefress turns to Romans chapter 7 to show us how we can have victory over sin in our life. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I'd like to begin today by asking a personal question. Think about this. Have you ever made a sincere promise to God, I'm done with this sin. I'm finished. Never again. Only to find yourself right back in it within a week, maybe within a day? If so, I want you to know you are not alone, and you are not a failure. In fact, the apostle Paul wrestled with the very same thing. He said, I do the very thing I hate. Today, as we conclude our mini series in Romans called Grace Powered Living, I want to bring you real hope for that war within because the struggle you feel is not a sign of defeat. It's a sign of life. And I'll show you why this is a battle you were made to win. But first, a critical point. Today is the final day to request my brand new book, Divine Invasions. It was just released, and I'm humbled to say it's already rising toward the best seller list. This beautiful hard cover volume takes you straight to the scriptures to show you how God still works miracles today, how to discern the genuine from the counterfeit, and what to do when the miracle you've prayed for doesn't come. It's my thanks for your generous gift. Your gift carries the bold, life-changing truth of God's Word into homes where hope has run out. You make that possible. All right, let's begin our study in Romans chapter 7. I've titled today's message, Victory in the war within. Several weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a production company in Hollywood. It's the company that produces these reality shows like Extreme Makeover and The Preachers of LA. And they asked me if I would be open to participating in a new reality show that they are getting ready to do called The Preachers of Dallas. They explained to me what they were going to do if I would allow them to, would send their cameras and they would just follow me around 24 hours a day for a week. They would film me at church. They would film me at home. They would capture my public moments. They would capture my private moments. And the point would be to allow people across America to see me just as I am. It took me all of 10 seconds to say thanks, but no thanks. Trust me when I tell you it would not be a benefit to our church or to the kingdom of God as a whole for people to see me just the way that I am. Now, don't misunderstand. It's not that I walk around the office spewing profanities every day. It's not that I go home and get drunk every night, beat Amy, and watch pornographic movies. I mean, that's that's not my lifestyle. But I have struggles. I struggle with the same things you struggle with. You know, I struggle with temptation. I struggle sometimes with losing my temper. There are times I don't feel like reading my Bible. I mean, I go through the same things you go through, and I just don't think it's particularly helpful for the masses to see that struggle. Which is why I'm absolutely fascinated when I come to Romans chapter 7 because in this chapter the greatest evangelist, the greatest missionary, the greatest theologian the world has ever known, the apostle Paul allows us to follow him around and see him as he actually is. He's up front and shows us his struggle with sin every hour of every day. And though he sometimes loses that struggle with sin, he says victory should be the norm rather than the exception to those struggles. And in Romans chapter 7, he explains to us how we can experience victory in that very real war within every believer. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Romans chapter 7 as we discover how to have victory in the war within. Now, let me remind you where we were last time as we looked at the first 14 verses of Romans chapter 7. Remember, Paul begins talking about our relationship to the law. Now, remember when Paul talks about the law in the first 14 verses, he's talking about the mosaic law, the Old Testament law that had 600 commands about what you can and cannot do. If you're not a Christian yet, you are still under the law. What does that mean? You're under not only the requirements of the law, you're under the penalty of the law. But here's the good news. When you trust in Christ your Savior, you are placed inside Jesus Christ. And what happens to Jesus happens to you. What did Jesus do for us? Number one, he fulfilled the requirements of the law. And not only that, he paid the penalty for our failure to keep the law. When he died on the cross, he wasn't dying for his sins. He died for our sins. So, that's what he's talking about in these first six verses of Romans 7. What is our relationship to the law? We are freed from it. The law has no more jurisdiction over us because just as Christ died, we've died. We have been freed from the law. Now, verse 14 is a hinge verse. It transitions the discussion from the rule of law for the non-believer to the role of the law for the Christian. But now, Paul is going to talk about a new law. See, there's a great misunderstanding about grace. Remember I said in Romans chapter 6, Paul says we are no longer verse 14 under the law. We are under grace. What Paul is saying is we're no longer under the Old Testament law. He's not saying we're under no law. He says we're no longer under the Old Testament law. We are under grace. Now, I want you to write these two statements down about grace because today there is a very great misunderstanding about grace. Few years ago, I wrote a book called Grace Gone Wild about the perversion of the doctrine of grace in the Christian world today. I want you to write down these two statements about grace. First of all, grace does not free us to do what is wrong. It empowers us to do what is right. Grace does not free us to do what is wrong. It empowers us to do what is right. And secondly, second statement, grace does not release us from any law. It places us under a new law. Grace does not release us from any law. It places us under a new law. We are no longer under the old covenant, the Old Testament, the old agreement. We are under the New Testament, the new agreement. And the reason we keep these New Testament laws is not to earn our salvation. That 's impossible. But to please the one who has redeemed us. So, when we get to verse 15 of Romans 7, Paul is going to talk about the struggle we have today as Christians, not with the Old Testament law. He uses law here to refer to God's requirements for us today. And I want you to notice three things Paul says about this struggle with God's standard that we as Christians face. First of all, he talks about the reality of the struggle, the reality of the struggle. I want you to listen to verses 15 to 19 of Romans 7 from the New Living Translation. Paul talks about his own struggle with sin. I don't understand myself at all for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can't help myself because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sin nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. Anybody can identify with that? Every time I read that, I feel like Paul has sneaked a peek at my spiritual journal cuz that's exactly how I feel. I bet it's how you feel sometimes too. You know, you say to yourself in a moment of recommitment, I'm going to end this relationship that I know is displeasing to the Lord, and within a week you find yourself deeper into it than ever. And you say, God, whatever else I do, I'm going to read the Bible and I 'm going to pray every day. And that resolve lasts a week or perhaps two or three days. You say, God, I'm really battling with my temper, but I am going to get a handle on my temper, and within an hour there's an atomic explosion of anger that comes out of your mouth. We've all been there. Paul has been there. We have a desire to do what is right, but we just can't do it. We find ourselves doing wrong. There is that battle between what we know God wants and what a part of us still wants to do. I thought about that battle this week when I read about a young seminary student who had just graduated from seminary, and he was on his way for his first interview for a job as a pastor. And this single seminary student was on an airplane headed to his interview. And before the plane took off, he was thinking about what he wanted for his ministry. And he said, God, I want my ministry and my life to be marked by transparency and honesty. That's what I'm going to be known as, a transparent and an honest minister of the gospel. Well, while they were waiting to take off, the young seminary student noticed a beautiful girl walking down the aisle. He's a young single guy. He kind of got excited about it. He even got more excited when she sat down in the seat next to him. And then she pulled out her Bible and began reading it. And he thought, this is from God. Thank you so much. This is my lucky day. So, he started talking with her and finally he got up the nerve to ask her. He said, tell me, what kind of men are you attracted to? And she said, well, this is going to sound strange, but I have a thing for Native Americans. There's something about their heritage and their determination. I just really like Native Americans. But then she said, you know, I'm also attracted to Jewish men. Their sense of morality really appeals to me. She paused for a moment. She said, but you know, if I'm really honest, I have to say there's just something about good old Southern down home country boys that I really like. She said, my name is Mary. What's your name? He said, my name is Geronimo Goldstein, but my friends just call me Bubba. I mean, he's always going to be honest and transparent. That lasted about 5 minutes. I mean, we all struggle with sin between what we want to do and what we know we shouldn't do. Why is it? Why do we have that struggle? Well, Paul explains the reason for the struggle beginning in verse 21. Look at it. Paul says, I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. The reason we struggle with sin is because there is evil that is still within us. Now, some people believe Paul was speaking about his experience before he was saved. They say this is just inconsistent with what he wrote in chapter 6. Paul is talking about his life before he was saved. Oh, no, he's not. Look at verse 22. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man. Paul says, in my inner man, the real me, I delight in the law of God. I want to perform the law of God. I want to obey God. The Bible says if you are a Christian, you are a new creation. The real you, the inner man wants to please God. The old man does not desire that. The non-Christian doesn't feel that way. But then look at verse 23. He says, but I see a different law in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind. The real me, the inner me wants to please God and obey the law. But there's a different law that is at work within my body that wages war against my mind. Paul said his real self wants to please God, but he is still inhabiting this body that is riddled with sin. And that's the cause of the battle. Look again at verse 23. But I see a different law in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. That is my body. Now, some people say, well, that's a contradiction of what he said in chapter 6. He said we're no longer prisoners of sin. We've been set free from sin. That's right, we have. We'll see that in just a moment. Paul is saying though when you sin and disobey God, you are acting as if you are still a prisoner of sin. Make no mistake about it. That sin still resides in your body. And those desires of the flesh, those desires are deceptive. They are cunning and they are destructive. And that old self that is still residing in your body, it can rear its head at the most inappropriate time and bring death into your life. We've talked about the reality of the struggle. What is the remedy for our struggle? Notice what Paul says here. First of all, if you're going to have victory over the struggle, first of all, realize that the struggle is inevitable. This struggle with your old nature is inevitable. There are some Christians today who say if you can learn this secret formula for a victorious Christian life, you can be rid of that struggle with sin. They're trying to eradicate your sin desires by some special spiritual formula like let go and let God. Or I used to hear this growing up, learn the secret of the crucified life. There's some spiritual secret if you'll just learn the secret, you can get rid of that sinful desire. Let me tell you something. There's no secret formula. There is no one-time or second time experience with the Holy Spirit. There's no kind of therapy that will ever rid you of sinful desires. The Christian life is a struggle. It always has been. It always will be. And that's what Paul is saying here. Paul talked about his own struggle in verse 24 when he said, wretched man that I am, who will free me from the body of this death? But did you know there's something encouraging about that struggle? If you are struggling with sin, understand this. The fact that you're struggling is evidence that you're really a Christian. Non-Christians don't struggle with sin. They only have one set of desires. They don't struggle with this desire. Oh, sure, they may have certain habits in their life that cause problems they would like to get over, but they don't struggle between the desire to please God and the desire to please themselves. They only have one set of desires. If you're a Christian struggling between that desire to please yourself and your desire to please God, it's evidence that you are a child of God. Realize that the struggle is inevitable. Secondly, realize that the struggle is winnable. Remember Romans chapter 6 verses 11 to 12 and 14. Paul said, even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. I want to give you a homework assignment for this week. Memorize those three verses. And every time you are tempted by that old nature to sin, remember Paul's command, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust. Paul says sin has no more power over you than you choose to allow it to have. Remember the struggle is winnable. Thirdly, not only is the struggle inevitable and winnable, realize that the struggle is also only temporary. Go back to verse 24. He says, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death? What does he mean by that? Who will set me free? Time for a Bible quiz. Where was the apostle Paul born? Anybody remember? Saul of Tarsus, Tarsus. Did you know they had a very interesting practice in the city of Tarsus and how they handled somebody convicted of murder? If a man was convicted of murder, he was sentenced to death by a most unusual manner. The body of the corpse of the slain person would be strapped to the back of the murderer. And he was forced to carry that corpse around with him until the decay of the corpse infected his own body, causing him to die a horrible death himself. I believe that's what Paul had in mind here when he said, who will set me free from the body of this death? I'm sure Paul witnessed men carrying around that old corpse on them, suffering the infection from that corpse. Paul said, in my new man, my inner man, I want to please God. But I'm lugging around this old corpse, this old self who's infecting my desires to please God. When oh when God am I going to be released from the body of this death? That's what Paul longed for. And what you notice? In his question, he asked who will deliver me? He's looking to the future. He doesn't say who has already delivered me. He's already said in chapter 6, Jesus has already delivered me from the power of sin. Because I have the Holy Spirit of God in me, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is working in my life. I don't have to obey my sin nature. He's not talking about who will deliver me from the power of sin. He's talking about who God will deliver me from that presence of sin. I'm tired of carrying around this old sin nature. And then he answers his own question in verse 25. He says, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. Paul is looking forward to that day when he will finally be separated from that sinful body. Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you trust in Jesus as your Savior, listen to this. God delivers you from the penalty of sin. Not only that, secondly, Jesus Christ delivers you from the power of sin. The moment you trust in Christ as your Savior, sin is no longer your master. You don't have to say yes to it any longer. God has already delivered you from the penalty of sin, the power of sin. And one day when he returns, he will deliver you from the presence of sin. Ruth Graham, the late wife of evangelist Billy Graham, was one time driving through the mountain roads of North Carolina and she came into a construction zone. And so, she saw for miles all of these warning signs. She had to navigate around the machinery and the workmen. And finally when she came to the end of that construction zone after several miles of driving, she saw one final sign. The sign said, end of construction. Thank you for your patience. When Ruth Graham died in 2007, she decided that on her gravestone she did not want a long list of accomplishments there. Instead, she wanted words that would remind people of the struggle of this life, but also the victory of eternal life. If you go to visit Ruth Graham's grave today, you know what you'll find on it? Those words she had seen years earlier, end of construction. Thank you for your patience. The Christian life is a struggle. It's a real struggle while we're under construction. It's a winnable struggle. But thanks be to God through Christ Jesus that it is a temporary struggle. One day the construction project will be over. Ruth Graham has been with Jesus for nearly 20 years now. And yet the legacy of this godly woman lives on. This is a natural time for me to add this observation. The triumph that Ruth claimed is the same victory we proclaim every day on this program. So, would you be willing to join us in this mission? We cannot accomplish it without the partnership of people just like you. You can give a generous one-time gift, or as God directs, we invite you to become a Pathway partner. As a Pathway partner, you choose the size of your monthly contribution. In this relationship, you multiply the impact of your partnership 12 times over during the course of one year. And this relationship comes with special benefits as well. You can become a Pathway partner right now by going to ptv.org or give us a call at the number David will give you in a moment. Whether you become a Pathway partner or just give a one-time generous gift, I'd like to send you my brand new book, Divine Invasions. So many people today have concluded that miracles belong to another age. In my book, I dismantle that lie and help you see the fingerprints of God all over your everyday life. It comes to your home with my heartfelt thanks for your partnership. So, take a moment to respond today. God will use your generosity to pierce the darkness with the light of his word. Here's David to tell you more.
David J. Mullins: You're invited to request a hard cover copy of Dr. Jefress's brand new book, Divine Invasions, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Just call 866-999-2965, visit ptv.org or text PTV to 78800. And when your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you in addition to the book this month's teaching series on audio and video disc along with the companion study guide. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org. You could always write to us if you'd like, PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next week for the start of a practical series on prayer. It's called Prayers That Really Work. That's coming up Monday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jefress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. The apostle Paul sailed these waters, walked these streets, and the church was never the same.
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David J. Mullins: Set sail May 14, 2027. Call 888-280-6747 or visit ptv.org. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. And we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in his word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go, don't forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. Now, you've heard me and Dr. Jefress talk about this Bible conference at sea and cabins, well, they're going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful Celebrity Infinity sailing round trip from Athens. Now, each day you'll gather for biblical teaching, worship, and fellowship. And then you'll step ashore to stand where Paul stood in Ephesus and walk the streets of Thessaloniki where his letters still speak to the church today. Nine unforgettable nights with more biblical destinations along the way. Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of, plus the joy of traveling with like-minded believers. There's also an optional pre-cruise extension in Athens. To book your spot, go to ptv.org.