Monday, April 7’s devotional. Romans 7:14 says, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave under sin.” Paul’s raw confession sets the tone for one of the most honest portrayals of spiritual conflict in all of Scripture. He’s not talking about life before Christ—he’s describing the tension believers feel in the present. Paul uses the present tense throughout this section, indicating this is his ongoing experience as a believer.
God’s law is good. It reflects His holiness and righteousness. But here’s the tension: “Although the law is spiritual, I am not,” Paul admits. The problem isn’t with the law—it’s with us. We are still in the flesh. That doesn’t mean we’re unregenerate, but that our bodies remain corrupted by sin. As Mark puts it, “There’s nothing wrong with the law, but everything wrong with me.”
Have you ever felt like you know what’s right, yet consistently fail to do it? Paul knew that feeling intimately. “There’s a disconnect between my inner desire and my outer practice,” he says. Romans 7 doesn’t minimize this tension—it magnifies it so we can be honest about it. “This isn’t a passage of triumph, but of transparency,” Mark observes. “It invites you to stop pretending, and start confessing.”
This passage also highlights the believer’s dual nature. Paul delights in the law of God in his inner being (v. 22), but he also sees “a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin” (v. 23). The war is internal, constant, and deeply personal. Mark notes, “This is not defeatism—it’s realism. Paul isn’t excusing sin, he’s exposing the battlefield.”
Today, let this passage remind you that you’re not alone in your struggle. Even the apostle Paul cried out, “What a wretched man I am!” (v. 24). But he didn’t stay there. His eyes lifted toward deliverance: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 25).
Prayer:
Lord, give me the honesty to see my weakness and the humility to depend on Your strength. Amen.
This devotional content is not penned by the preacher. It is derived from the sermon notes. We aim to provide bite-sized reflections throughout the week for devotion and reflection.