SPIRITUAL TUG OF WAR

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”

Romans 7:15-23

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Like most people, I watched a lot of cartoons when I was a kid. Most of them were just flat out funny but one in particular lodged itself into my mind where it has remained fifty years or so.

What made that one cartoon so memorable?

It wasn’t just the fact that it was funny but it served as an illustration of the human experience, especially from a spiritual perspective.

Maybe you have seen this cartoon. It has a person at a moral crossroads, one where they must make a choice between doing right and wrong. As they ponder what to do, a little white angel pops up out of nowhere and perches itself on the person’s shoulder saying:

“You shouldn’t do that because you know it’s not right.”

The white angel barely finishes before a little red devil appears on the opposite shoulder and begins to urge the person saying:

“Do it! Do it! You know you want to do it!”

And so it is with any person in life. They face matters of right and wrong, and then most of the time find themselves in the middle of a spiritual tug of war.

On one shoulder, the Lord is trying to guide them right through their conscience with his still small voice.

On the opposite shoulder, Satan is busy at work whispering in the other ear, using temptation to drag a person into sin.

Hopefully the person does right but the direction they go in is ultimately determined by the choice they make.

For Christians, this spiritual tug of war can be very frustrating. I think many believers think that once they accept Jesus as Savior, they will be protected by wicked enticement but the fact of the matter is that Satan never gives up. In fact, I’m convinced that the stronger a person becomes in Christ, the harder Satan works to bring them to sin and it makes sense. I say this because if Satan can turn a lot of mature, experienced Christians to wickedness then he takes out those who would oppose him, those who would promote Jesus, the One who has already gained victory over the enemy.

As we turn to our scripture passage for today, we see an example of this in the Apostle Paul. Arguably the most dedicated Christian servant of his time, Paul was tempted like any other believer. Look again at his words as he shares frustration over the competing spiritual factions at work in his life:

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Romans 7:15-23

Paul fully knew what the Lord expected. He was as knowledgeable as anyone when it came to the commandments and the righteousness God desired. And yet he was left completely baffled and discouraged by his behavior.

Instead of doing what he wanted to do, he did the opposite. He found himself acting in ways he despised, ways he saw other sinners who had rejected Jesus behave. While he had accepted Jesus into his heart and gained the Holy Spirit, Paul also realized that sin dwelled within him as well. He wanted to do good but evil just wouldn’t stay out of the way. It waged war against Paul’s mind and worked overtime to make him a prisoner of his transgressions, a sin captive.

Maybe you can relate with Paul. I know I can.

For as long as we have breath in this worldly life, we can expect to be attacked by Satan and petitioned to behave in sinful fashion. The little red devil on our shoulder is speaking out loud and bold, trying to drown out the voice of the little white angel. The spiritual tug of war will rage on until that day when this life ends and a Christian receives the kingdom inheritance that was promised them by God the Father.

I see this as just one more thing that makes heaven and our move to glory through salvation so incredibly awesome. For once this life ends for a Christian, they will go onto eternity without ever having to deal with a spiritual tug of war ever again. All things will be made new and the Jesus believer will be set free from the things of the world that afflict them, things like iniquity, illness, hardship, and heartbreak.

The glory of God’s kingdom awaits every Christian but until the time of entry, there’s still a lot of work to do to carry out Jesus’ call to make disciples, all while dealing with the spiritual tug of war that seeks to deter us from the work He has called us to do. It’s incumbent on all believers to draw on the strength of the Lord to battle temptation and the sin living within so to avoid being disempowered in the Gospel with our Savior has called us to. He will always grant us the power we need to persevere and remain on the path of righteousness.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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