Let's open our Bibles to Romans 7:18-25.

Our struggle with sin is all too real and frustrating, but Christ has the last word.

The Second Lament (vs.18-20)

The Condition (v.18)

The part of his present being in which sin still dwells is his flesh, his old humanness, which has not yet been completely transformed

The Proof (vs. 18b-19)

The perfect doing of the good that Paul’s heart wished for was not present

in his life

The Source (v.20)

It is not Paul that does it, but sin that dwells in him

The Third Lament (vs. 21-23)

The Condition (v.21)

Lingering sin does battle with every good thing a believer desires to do

The Proof (vs.22-23a)

Paul delights in the law of God.

A corresponding but opposite law operates in the members of the believer’s

body

The Source (v.23b)

As long as he remains in his mortal body, he remains subject to temptation and sin

The Final Lament (vs. 24-25)

Robert Haldane: men perceive themselves to be sinners in direct proportion as they have previously discovered the holiness of God and His law

It's only a believer’s body that remains subject to sin and death

Paul longed for the day when he would be rescued from the last vestige of his old, sinful, unredeemed flesh

Summation: Paul serves the law of God with his mind, but with his flesh he serves the law of sin