THE INWARD BATTLE OF ROMANS SEVEN -- Tomorrow:
"For what I will to do, that I do not practice." Paul will now show us that the human will, even when sanctified, is not the seat of our power. Through his will, as sanctified by faith, he was able to stop persecuting the church. After he believed on Christ, his will never again allowed him to consent to the stoning of a believer in Christ. There are things the will CAN do, and do well. It can move you to want to be absent from the body and present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). It can provoke you to give beyond your means (2 Cor 8:3,12). The will can move a rich believer to share his wealth with others (1 Tim 6:18). It can constrain us to "live honestly" (Heb 13:18). However, there is an area where the will is powerless! It is in the matter of stopping unwanted thoughts and lusts from entering the mind!
Other versions translate this expression as follows. "For what I would, that do I not." KJV "For what I want to do I do not do." NIV "For I do not do what I want" NRSV "For not what I would, that do I do, I do not" BBE "For I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it." NLT
This is an arresting word! It reveals a heart that has been sensitized by grace. Here is a condition in which the individual is acutely aware of the nature of everything that courses through the mind. "I DO NOT DO WHAT I WANT!" And what is it that Paul wanted? What was his will on the matter being considered?
At this point, we must rise above the details of life. "What I want" refers to the fervent desire for total purity before the Lord, with not a single deviation. Speaking through Paul, the Spirit here throws down the notion that man can please the Lord in the energy of self strength, without the help of the Lord. Even when the will is strengthened by the Spirit, and the affection is set on things above, it cannot close the gate of the mind tight enough to forbid the entrance of profane thoughts. "I do not do what I want!"
It is as though he said, "I do not want my flesh to lust against the Spirit, but it does anyway. I want no part of my thinking to be unacceptable, yet I find such a part." Do not think for one moment that when Paul acknowledged he was not "already perfect" (Phil 3:12), it was a casual statement. He fervently desired to be "absent from the body and present with the Lord" (2 Cor 5:87), but he was not. His presence in the body, and current absence from the Lord, produced all manner of things he did not want. There were deviate thoughts so close to him they had to be taken captive and made to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5).
"What I want," then, refers to a perfectly consistent life for the Lord, with no interruptions or inconsistencies particularly in the mind. However, Paul was not able to achieve such a condition because of the presence of the flesh, or sinful nature.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You that I have been made willing in the day of Your power. Grant me grave to strengthen that will, but to rely upon Your grace.