Keep Battling Sin!

7th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/31/11
Romans 7:15-25a


Keep Battling Sin!
I. It renders us powerless to stop sinning.
II. It renders us powerless to do good.
III. The victory comes through Christ.


Do you know the name Billy Sunday? He was a baseball player in the early 1900s. In addition to playing baseball, he preached thundering sermons against sin. He also preached Christ as the only answer to sin. In urging his listeners to battle sin, he once told them, “I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot and I’ll fight it as long as I have a fist. I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head and I’ll bite is as long as I’ve got a tooth. When I’m old and fistless and footless and toothless, I’ll gum it until I go home to glory and sin goes home to perdition.” Billy died in 1935, still battling sin.

That’s a battle that has been going on ever since the fall into sin. And ever since that time, human beings have tried to talk their way around sin, belittle the horror of sin and deny sin altogether. We’ve seen those very approaches in our own day to what God calls sin. What used to be sinful lifestyles are now acceptable and mainstream. And with that attitude, it’s no wonder so many people feel no need for a Savior from sin. They’ve come to view their sins as completely acceptable.

Even God’s people aren’t immune at times from that type of thinking. We find ourselves in a situation that calls for action, and we know that what we’re planning to do isn’t quite what our God would want us to do, but we figure it’s the best thing and so we do it anyway. And we’ve stopped battling sin. Or, we resolve to do what’s good and right in a situation, but we get into it and get frustrated with the responses of others, so we allow uncharitable thoughts and feelings toward others to fill our heads and hearts. We can’t even carry out the good thing we wanted to do. We’ve stopped battling sin.

But you’re not alone. The Apostle Paul knows exactly how you feel. He spoke about it in this morning’s reading from Romans 7. In those words he urges you to keep battling sin. In order to do so, let’s see what we’re up against and find our comfort and strength in Christ’s victory over sin for us

Part I.
Have you ever gotten yourself into a major project and suddenly found yourself in over your head? It happens to young and old alike. We think we can accomplish what we set out to do, only to find out we’re powerless to do it.

Paul knows how you feel. He writes, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul did some amazing things in his life. He even faced death rather than deny Jesus as his Savior. And yet every day of his life he found himself battling sin and losing. He couldn’t stop sinning. And it didn’t do any good to tell him, “Well, try harder Paul! You can do it if you try!”

So what was the problem? Paul explains, “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” Paul isn’t excusing sin. He’s not saying he couldn’t help it. He’s not denying responsibility for it. Rather, he’s explaining how deep his problem with sin is. He has a sinful nature. So do we. Every one of us. And it’s powerful. We can’t stop sinning because we have a sinful nature and it afflicts us every day all day long. And, oh, how this flies in the face of modern psychology. We’re not basically good; we’re basically sinful.

Just look how powerful that sinful nature is! Again, Paul states, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul awakes in the morning and looks at his day like an auto assembly line. He plans on putting this and that together, doing this and that all day long, so that at the end of the day, his life will look like this and he’ll have accomplished something he can be proud of. He plans on everything looking great, like a gleaming new automobile. But when it comes out of the painting chamber, it’s a junky old rust bucket. You can’t help but cry out, “What went wrong?” That happens day after day. Our best intentions don’t even come close to producing what we want. And it’s all because we’re afflicted with the power of sin in our lives. It’s our sinful nature. It renders us powerless to stop sinning.

Keep battling against something you’re powerless to overcome? That sounds like the height of frustration. Why not throw in the towel and just give in? Because that’s not who we are. You probably know people who’ve done that very thing, but that’s not who you are. You’re a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ. He has washed you clean of sin at your baptism. He pronounces your forgiveness to you. He brings you that forgiveness daily through his Holy Spirit. Recognize how much you need that forgiveness! We’re powerless to stop sinning. We’re sinful to the very core of our being. Recognizing that fact is the beginning of battling sin. Keep battling it!

Part II.
So we admit it. We can’t stop sinning. But look at all the good things we do. Each day we can point to something good in our lives—we helped our neighbor. We completed a task at home or at work. We even went out of our way to be nice to someone. We refrained from talking bad about someone. Those are all good things.

But we can’t always do the good things we want to do. Sin ruins our efforts. Paul says it like this, “I agree that the law is good.” Paul is referring to God’s law, his holy will for all people. We have a summary of his will in the 10 Commandments. I’m sure you’re familiar with them. “You shall have no other gods. Honor your father and mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.” That’s just a sampling. We agree that those are good things that we want to do. That’s how we want to live. That’s how we encourage others, such as our children, to live. In doing so, we’re agreeing that it’s good to follow the will of God.

But we can’t do it. Not perfectly anyway. There are times in our lives every day when we don’t love our God above all things and we show it by sinning. We don’t regard his word as the one thing we need in this life and we show it by letting all sorts of earthly pursuits crowd it out of our lives. We dishonor the God-given authorities in our lives. We bring harm to our bodies by the way we live. We allow our hearts to be filled with greed and lust. We give in to discontent. We gossip. We start out the day wanting to do good, but we can’t—not the way we want to and not the way our God wants us to. And so we say with Paul, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Sin renders us powerless to do good.

So what should we do? Once again, we might be tempted to throw in the towel. Let’s admit defeat even before we begin. Let’s mark ourselves with an “L” for losers and begin living like it. That’s not who we are. Again, we are children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. He made us his people to glorify him by the way that we live. Your baptism, as Paul pointed out to us last Sunday, conveys the power of the risen Lord Jesus to you. Love for Jesus moves you and me to acts of love and faithfulness each day of our lives. By faith in Jesus, what we do each day out of love for Jesus is good in the eyes of our holy God. It’s all because of Christ, his life and his death and his resurrection for us. So keep battling, my friends. Keep battling sin.

Part III.
Twice now we’ve spoken about the battle we’re in against sin and the fact that we can’t win it. We’ve pointed out that it’s a rather hopeless situation. But along the way, I hope you also heard about the hope that we have in waging this battle. I’ve been alluding to it all along and now Paul brings that hope into full view. He writes, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Our victory comes through Christ. To appreciate that victory more deeply, listen again to Paul speak about his hopelessness and ours, “So I find this law at work: When 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 the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” Paul talks about a law at work. What law? We could call it a pattern, a pattern in our lives, one that we follow over and over again even though we don’t want to go there. It’s a negative pattern and we know it.

What’s the solution? Jesus. Hear again his words in today’s gospel, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:28-29). That rest is the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of our salvation forever. That forgiveness is power. In another letter Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). When we are weary of doing what we know is good and right, the Lord Jesus refreshes us with his forgiveness and empowers us for godly living through his resurrection. So keep battling, my friends. Keep battling sin. The victory comes through Christ.

The world tells you that if you’re not happy in your marriage, look somewhere else. If you’re not happy with your job, then take something from it that will help you feel better about it. Do what others are doing to be happy in life, or at least feel better about yourself. But Jesus says, “Keep battling sin. I have overcome sin with my life and my death on Calvary’s cross. Find your comfort and rest in me. And in the power of my resurrection, live as my child, not as a child of this world.” When we fail to do that, we have his forgiveness. And when we look to him for strength, he empowers us. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s a battle. But don’t surrender! Keep battling sin in the power of Christ who gives us the victory! Amen.