ME, MYSELF, AND I

"But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me."  NASB(Romans 7:20)

The seventh chapter of Romans contains a commentary on the inward struggle created by faith. It is a fierce warfare in which good and evil are in sharp conflict. The battle is fought in the mind, where thoughts of varied sorts arise. Some of these thoughts are good and delightsome, and some are evil and repulsive. Some are summoned up by the will, and some fly into the mind against the will, conflicting with what we really want. In describing this experience, Paul refers to three "I's" that are connected with our persons. The first is the total person, comprised of spirit, soul, and body. This is the "ME" ("dwells in me"). The second is the "new man," the new creation in Christ Jesus. This is the "I" that does not want the deviate thoughts, and does not do them ("I do not wish . . . I am no longer the one doing it"). The third is the "old man," or remnants of our old self, unaffected by regeneration ("I am doing the very thing I do not wish"). This part of us is also identified with "sin that dwells in me," and "the law of sin" that is resident in our members, or everything associated with our bodies (7:23,25). This is the part of us to which Satan has access. It is the source of evil thoughts, desires, and notions. The "new man" is the real ME – the one recognized in heaven, and where the preference of the child of God is found. Here is where the Holy Spirit is found, and where the Law of God is written (Gal 4:6; Heb 10:16). Our bodies are the house in which these variant natures reside. Our thoughts are the battlefield in which all conflict is initiated, or begins. When evil thoughts arise in your minds, whether during conscious hours or in your dreams, they are coming from the "old man," the self that is really not you. You are given weapons in Christ that are powerful, capable of throwing down these thoughts and refusing their suggestions (2 Cor 10:4-6). The grace of God also teaches you–the real you–to deny, or reject, these thoughts (Tit 1:11-12). If you do not know the source of the thoughts that course through your mind, they will confuse you. They can even produce great discouragement, and tempt you to think you do not belong to Christ, and are not Christian at all. However, if you know the truth of this text, you can reject unacceptable thoughts, knowing they are not really yours. They belong to the "old man," or "flesh," that still resides in your clay house. Blessed is the person who knows this!