The War Within: Understanding Remaining Sin

Scripture References

Primary text

• Romans 7
• Romans 6
• Romans 8

Other references

• John 4
• Psalm 38
• Psalm 39
• Psalm 40
• Genesis 1
• Genesis 2
• Genesis 3
• 2 Corinthians 5
• Galatians 3
• Galatians 5
• Romans 9
• Romans 10
• Romans 11
• Romans 7:21

Overview

Sanctification is a life-long fight: the Christian has been freed from sin’s dominion, yet sin still lingers in the “members” and resists the Spirit’s work. Using Romans 7 as his central text, the teacher traced Paul’s own frustration—“I do the very thing I hate”—to show why believers feel an inner war and how that tension actually confirms spiritual life. Seeing our remaining sin drives us to deeper dependence on Christ, clearer self-awareness, and fresh joy in God’s grace.

Context

This session is part three in a class on “Basics of Biblical Change.” Week 1 covered motives and barriers, week 2 exposed hidden idols of worship; today focuses on “the war within” and progressive sanctification.

Main Points

Progressive Sanctification: growth that spans a lifetime

• Change = being conformed to Christ by the Spirit through the Word; it is gradual, not instantaneous.
• Illustration: a forest of trees growing at different rates—the title slide’s “oversized” tree reminded us that growth is uneven.
• Mark of maturity: decreasing frequency of sin and increasing pain when we do sin.

Why We Must Study Remaining Sin

• Scripture forces the issue—believers cannot read the Bible without confronting personal sin.
• Sin is still in us; pretending otherwise leads to stagnation.
• Looking at sin does not crush the believer because grace is greater; despair comes only if we refuse to look to Christ.
• Illustration (dead weight): a corpse feels nothing under 500 lbs; likewise the unregenerate feel no burden for sin—conviction is evidence of life.
• Studying sin sharpens vigilance; sin itself “doesn’t want to be studied,” like an eye-floater that darts away when stared at.

Walking the “Monkey Bars” of Change

• To move forward you must let go of one rung to grab the next; new, stronger desires push out old ones.
• We drop tempting shortcuts by trusting God’s superior promises even when obedience feels painful.
• Illustration: playground monkey bars—failure comes from gripping both bars instead of releasing the old.

Reading Romans 7 as a Present-Tense Believer’s Struggle

• Paul’s first-person, present language (“wretched man that I am”) shows a saved man battling sin, not pre-conversion memories.
• Law exposes sin; it doesn’t cause it (no-trespassing and speed-limit sign examples).
• Residual sin resides in our “members” (bodily powers, faculties) even though the ruling “head” of sin was severed at conversion (snake-with-the-head-cut-off illustration).
• Conflict summary (vv. 21-23): whenever we want to do right, evil is “close at hand.”
• Hope (v. 25): deliverance comes “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” pointing straight to Romans 8’s Spirit-empowered life.

Practical Gain from Knowing Our Sin

• Better grasp God’s holiness.
• Increased self-awareness and readiness for temptation.
• Heightened hatred of sin and love for righteousness.
• Deeper dependence on God; more earnest prayer.
• Healthy distrust of fluctuating feelings—only Spirit-promptings that align with Scripture should direct us.
• Freedom to humbly confess, clearing the conscience and energising service.
• Redirected hope toward heaven as the body decays (2 Cor 5).

Key Truths

• Conviction over sin is a sign of spiritual life, not failure.
• The law reveals sin’s presence; only Christ and His Spirit can subdue it.
• Remaining sin lives in our bodily faculties, but it no longer reigns.
• True change replaces old affections with stronger, Christ-centred ones.
• Maturity grows through honest self-examination coupled with fresh faith in the gospel.

Response

• Examine this week why specific temptations still appeal; trace the lie behind them.
• Confess sin quickly, refusing to defend or downplay it.
• Set aside focused prayer time, battling the fleshly urge to “get busy.”
• Feed new affections: meditate on promises of Romans 8 until they outshine shortcuts of the flesh.
• Use your spiritual gift—even imperfectly—in service, resisting excuses rooted in self-focus.

Closing

Paul’s anguish in Romans 7 mirrors our own: we long to obey yet stumble. That very struggle proves we are alive in Christ and points us to the only deliverer from “this body of death.” “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord”—the gospel both forgives our past and fuels present change until the day the conflict ends.

Prayer

The teacher asked the Father for wisdom and grace, that Scripture would show us Himself and, by contrast, reveal us to ourselves so we might please Him more fully and find joy in doing His will through Christ.

Resources

• Thomas Chalmers, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection” (19th-century sermon pamphlet)
• John Piper, modern-language article summarising Chalmers’ work (copies provided)