WAR WITHIN! "The law of my mind" and "another law in my members" are subjective laws. Both of these laws reside within the believer, and are experiential in nature. These are the source of the inner conflict which Paul describes. They are aligned against each other, and cannot be reconciled. -- Tomorrow:
"But I see another law in my members, WARRING against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom 7:23).
Devotion 19 of 23
SUBJECTIVE LAWS
When God writes His law upon our hearts and places it in our minds (Heb 8:10; 10:16), it becomes "the law of my mind." This speaks of a basic propensity to right; of a preference for the holy, spiritual, and good. Experientially, the one who is reconciled to God is in agreement with Him. He wills, or wants, to do the will of God (John 7:17), and is displeased when he does not.
Just as the "mind" of the believer is inclined to the holy law of God, so his unregenerate "members" that are "upon the earth" gravitate to sin (Col. 3:5). This is the "flesh" – the part of us that has been unaffected by the grace of God. Our "members" are recalcitrant, and must be brought into subjection (Rom 6:13,19; 1 Cor 9:27). The natural part of us competes with the renewed part. As the renewed mind is in harmony with the "law of God," so are our "members" in harmony with the "law of sin," which is also in us.
Both righteousness and unrighteousness have an appeal to believers. Righteousness appeals to our renewed "mind," and sin appeals to our "members." There is an undeniable inclination to both good and evil. These propensities, however, are not found in the same part of our natures. The purified heart and mind (Acts 15:9; 2 Pet 3:1) are drawn to righteousness, and our remaining parts are drawn to sin. This condition is the source of the struggle of Romans seven.
Both of these subjective laws ("the law of the mind" and "another law in my members") are principles. They are to the renewed man and the fleshly nature what the law of gravity is to the impersonal creation. Neither of these laws can be altered. To put it another way, what God has blessed cannot be cursed, and what He has cursed cannot be blessed (Num. 23:8). A great deal of effort has been expended in religious circles to bless the flesh. It has been unsuccessful, and, indeed, can it be any other way!
INCLINATION BEFORE INVOLVEMENT
Because of the existence of these laws, involvement in either sin or righteousness is necessarily preceded by inclination. An individual cannot be coerced to do either good or evil. A desire to sin necessarily precedes involvement in it. Likewise, desires for righteousness come before the reception of it and the execution of it.
The implications of this are disruptive to several popular doctrines. Take, for instance, the doctrine that asserts there is a point in time when the believer becomes incapable of sin. Some call it "sinless perfection." Others have dubbed it "sanctification." The error of this teaching is that it requires the elimination of "the law of sin," which is in our members. It also assumes that a desire for sin is no longer possible, even though we remain in a "vile body" (Phil 3:20-21) and in a fallen world.
But our text clearly states that this is not the case. Nearly 25 years after becoming an Apostle, Paul admits to the presence of "another law" in his own members. It is axiomatic that as long as this law is present, the possibility of sin remains. If this were not the case, the "law of sin" would cease to be a principle, for a principle that cannot operate can no longer be called a principle, or a law.
It ought to be noted that sin itself is not said to be "in our members," but the "law of sin." The inclination is there, but the inclination itself does not produce moral guilt. It is only when the individual yields to the inclination that he becomes guilty of transgression.
Since psychological thinking has been allowed to sit upon the throne of religious thought, all manners of explanations have been conjured up for the involvement of professing Christians in sin. Some trace transgression back to flawed genes that lurk in the human constitution – an unfortunate tendency that is traced through the bloodline. Others say a chemical imbalance is responsible. Some even say it can be traced back to a generational curse. Some think of sin as an accident, or a mistake, or something for which they cannot give an account. But all of this is nothing more than vain thought and foolish speaking.
People sin because they want to – and only because they want to. Even Satan knew that Eve would never eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil unless she wanted to. His deception was calculated to awaken a desire for the fruit, and when that came she ate. Since Adam and Eve fell, "the law of sin" is resident in our human constitution. There is also "another law in our members" that cries out to serve that law of sin. When its cries are not denied, crucified, and mortified, sin always erupts. When, therefore, people sin, they have done so because they did not deny ungodliness, as grace teaches the redeemed to do (Tit 2:11-12). They did not "crucify the flesh," as those who are in Christ Jesus do (Gal 5:24). They did not "mortify the deeds of the body," as the Spirit was leading them to do (Rom 8:13-14).
Additionally, when men are righteous, it is not an accident. It is not because their parents were righteous, or because they always ate the right food. They are righteous because they wanted to be, and consequently they fervently sought righteousness, as Jesus said (Matt 6:33). The "law of their mind" prefers righteousness, and earnestly desires the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ (Phil 3:9). That is why they conduct their lives righteously. That is why they hold fast what is good, and abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thess 5:21). It is not because they have to, but because they want to. They have listened to "the law of their mind," and not the "other law" that is in their "members."
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You that the new creation desires the blessings you promise, and that it fights against natural propensities that tend to pull me down.