October 16, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Devil Made Me Do It?
Scripture: Romans 7(NIV)
1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 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. 19 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. 20 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.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 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. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Devotional
In the 1960s and ‘70s, comedian Flip Wilson made a living with a comedy routine that stated “The devil made me do it.” When a man messed up, it was because “the devil made me do it.” When a woman spent too much, she said, “The devil made me buy this dress.”
In yesterday’s reading, we saw that we have been set free from sin and impurity to live a life of righteousness and holiness. The six hundred plus commandments of the Old Testament law are windows to our souls, showing us that we have broken so many of them in our hearts and minds, with our words and actions. But through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we have died to sin, “released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit” (v. 6).
If then we are dead to sin, why is sin still a problem? This battle between spiritual and unspiritual is like an internal cage fight. God is always good, and He has taken up residence in the believer through His Spirit. Satan is always evil, and he will not go away without a fight to the finish.
As believers, we are called to follow Jesus as both Savior and Lord. Claiming Christ as Savior takes only a moment, giving us the free gift of salvation. But embracing Jesus as Lord takes a lifetime, yielding our sinful nature to His righteous nature.
Here’s the good news. The more that we submit our spirits to His Holy Spirit, the less powerful and influential evil becomes. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul wrote, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
The devil made me do it? No, don’t blame him. That’s the easy way out. Rather, daily submit yourself to Christ, who has power and authority over the enemy of our soul.
Poem
Predicament
I know what the truth is
I want to obey
To reach spiritual heights
To keep sin at bay
To gain full obed’ence
To be faithful and true
To listen to God’s call
And then follow through
To walk in the Spirit
To keep on The Way
Live out my commitment
My faith on display
Yet, here is my problem
Confessed now to You
I mess up, I do wrong
Temptation pursue
The things that I plan
For the glory of God
Get squelched in the havoc
Of my daily plod
This deceit of my heart
I do not comprehend
Why, if I’m so wanting,
Do I often pretend
To live on the outside
All decked up in love
While inside, I do wrestle
With my God above?
This is my predicament
Honestly so
Wretched one that I am
O, to whom can I go?
Only You, Christ have words
Of eternity’s life
I thank you with whole heart
You’ve realized my plight
By grace, re-create me
A new heart, do give
So, to self I may die
And unto You, I live
