We often put biblical heroes on pedestals, imagining they lived above the messy struggles that we face each day. But even the Apostle Paul, the man who wrote half the New Testament, Confessed to doing the very things he hated and failing to do what he knew was right. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl teaches from Romans chapter 7. In this passage, Paul pulls back the curtain on his own spiritual battles, revealing a shocking truth. Even spiritual heroes wrestle with sin.
This isn't a message of defeat. It's your roadmap to victory. Chuck titled his message, Portrait of a Struggling Christian. In our journey through the letter to the Romans, we've arrived at the Classic section that describes what I have called the portrait of a struggling Christian. I don't know how many people upon seeing that title said they could pose as a poster child for that title.
They feel like that. We all do on occasion, even the Apostle Paul. As we read his testimony of the other side of his life, that is rarely even addressed.
So glad he does it in Romans 7. Let me read a few of these verses selectively through the chapter. Romans 7:1, or do you not know, brethren, for I am speaking to those who know the law. that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives. For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living.
If her husband dies, She is released from the law. concerning the husband.
So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, She's free from the law.
So that she is not an adulteress, though. she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brethren, You also were made to die. to the law. Through the body of Christ.
so that you might be joined to another. To him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit. For God. For while we were in the flesh, The sinful passions, which were aroused by the law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit. For death.
But now We have been released from the law. Having died to that, by which we were bound.
So that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness. of the letter. Verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh.
sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For I am not practicing what I would like to do. What I'm doing. the very thing I hate.
But if I do the very thing I do not What to do? I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good.
So now, no longer am I the one doing it. But sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me. That is in my flesh, for the willingness present in me, but the doing of the good. is not.
Now follow this closely. For the good that I want I do not do. But I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it. But sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me. The one who wants to do good. Verse 24. Wretched man that I am. Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then, on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God. but on the other with my flesh. The law of sin. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the Book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook.
by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, Portrait of a Struggling Christian. Dimitri Vale was once a famous portrait painter. In the words of artists, he was a Artistic literalist. His p Portraits were so carefully.
Shaded and colored with just the right touch of the oil on the canvas, that you had to look closely. to determine whether it was in fact a painting or a photograph. Beautiful work. His gallery hung for a long time, many years ago, in the old city of Dallas. and you could visit it and as you did it was like Passing through time among those.
Great celebrities and well-known figures and entertainers of years past. Each one was framed, and each frame included a name at the bottom as if you needed the name. There was Betty Goodman with his clarinet and Tommy Dorsey with his trombone. There was Jack Benny with his famous violin and that smile on his face. Comedians Rowan and Martin and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Red Buttons, Red Skelton.
Sophie Tucker was there, as well as Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and James Dean. Several former presidents that had sent for their portraits to be painted. Along with a couple of astronauts and even some world-class athletes. I remember visiting the gallery, it was over 40 years ago, and taking my time and studying. The man's work.
It was magnificent. Toward the end of the little corridor where the pictures hung, I came to a shaded area. The light seemed to be more dim and The single painting hanging alone smaller in size than the others and Not at all glitzy or glamorous as the other paintings had been. Was this one-framed picture of a rather somber-looking gentleman? His face was drawn and his eyes were dark.
And there was no name. I stood long enough to realize that I do not know the man and I would not know him, and so I. Ask the attendant to Identify who this is. She smiled and said, I am often asked who this picture is. Actually, it's a self-portrait.
This is Mr. Vail. himself. painted rather recently as he has gone through a Deep. Struggling Period in his life.
I found myself, if not shocked, at least surprised. You would think that a man who ran with people like this Those in high places, and entertainers, and comedians, and musicians. and athletes and astronauts. would have a Wow, an enviable life. But in fact He revealed a the life of a struggler.
Just like me. Just like you. As far as we know, the Apostle Paul was no artist, never held a brush and put. Paint on canvas. But he was a genius in theology and a master.
with pen portraits. In fact, you can walk through the gallery of Paul's paintings and you can see. one frame after another as The hall of the letter to the Romans opens up. to those who read its pages. You see the first frame, and you are looking into the eyes of.
The lost person. Chapters 1, 2, and 3. He is portrayed there in In all the truth, that it's a literal painting. depraved Unashamed, inexcusable. Guilty.
Lost. The eyes are vacant. The look is hollow. The colors or somber. The next frame is titled The Justified Sinner, and it's chapters four and five.
Where this person has been transformed. into another.
Now you see a glimmer of a smile and the light is brighter. You remember that to be justified is The sovereign act of God, whereby He declares righteous the believing sinner while we're still in a sinning state. And you realize as you're looking into the eyes of the person inside the frame. You're seeing in chapters four and five, one. who has discovered peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The next frame is chapter six. It's titled The Victorious Believer. And now our hopes are high.
Okay. Here is a man with a broad smile. In fact, he's laughing. He has just heard that he has been emancipated from sin's power. He no longer has to serve the enemy whom he once was dominated by, Satan himself.
Sin has been dethroned in his life, and Satan defanged. And as a result, this individual in chapter 6 is now able to know and to consider it true and then to present himself before God in victory and joy. This is the victorious believer. And then you get to chapter 7. And all of a sudden, without warning, there is a portrait that doesn't seem to fit, at least in the progress.
From the lost to the justified to the victorious. And now this one is titled A Wretched Man. And adding surprise to the shock. you discover it's a self-portrait. Over 30 times in the seventh of Romans, Paul uses the word I.
Or me. Or my For some reason, scholars struggle over who Paul is writing about in chapter 7. I don't know what the struggle is over that.
Sounds to me like the pronoun points the arrows inward. And so one must deal with this theology in order to understand in chapter 7 how this could be the same one who has been portrayed as justified and victorious. Because when we get to chapter 7, We are brought face to face with the reality of an old sin nature that has never left. It just moves over as the Holy Spirit, bringing a new nature, moves in. And there is now the warfare.
the battle that rages. Between The ugly and bad. and the beautiful and good. between ill motives and wrong desires. and uh heavenly motives and Wonderful desires.
The battle. Creates the struggling Christian, and it's the story. of every believer's life. Is there any person in this room today who hasn't felt that way? John Newton writing one of our favorite hymns: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me, we don't use the word today.
It's a little bit of a put-down. No, it's a Dmitri Veil kind of realistic word. Say it like it is. We're a bunch of wretches. That God by his grace Reach down to save.
Not surprisingly, Paul doesn't just suddenly plunge into this, but he prepares us for it. In chapter 6, he has addressed the sin nature, and he's made the announcement for all to read: the Christian is freed from sin's domination. We are free from the clutches. The grip of sin. We do not have to sin.
I have a good friend with the navigators, Leroy Imes, who used to put it like this: We sin because we have a secret, private. Love for sin. We love to sin. Not the new nature. But the old nature that never will be any better than it is.
From start of life to the end of life. The old nature doesn't improve. It keeps loving to sin. But chapter 6 says you don't have to. You have been freed from sin's domination.
Now that we have come to Christ, we have died in Christ, and positionally we are as righteous as God the Son is righteous. Nearer, still nearer, nearer we cannot be, for in the person of his Son, we are as near as he. That's chapter six of Romans. The Christian is freed from sin's domination. When you get into chapter 7, the whole subject of the law appears.
At first it's the civil law he addresses and then the Mosaic law. And we're going to learn today that the Christian is relieved. from the demands of the law. That's chapter 7. Chapter 7 is a wonderful reminder for believers.
who are plagued by legalism. And have trouble coming out of that background, at least we hear again that we are freed from the condemnation and the shame of the Old Testament law. But we'll get there. To begin with, let's notice in verse 1 of chapter 7, Paul's using an analogy that we today would be very familiar with. He turns to civil law, that's why the L in law is not capitalized.
Before he gets to the Mosaic law, where it is capitalized, beginning at verse 4. But look first at 7:1. Or do you not know, brethren, I'm speaking to those who know the law, meaning civil law. Domestic law. Life as we know it in Texas, life as we know it in these United States, life as we know it on the planet.
That the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives. For the married woman is bound by that civil law. to her husband as long as he is living. But If her husband dies, Obviously, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
Now we all know that. If there are widows who are hearing me speak right now, You have been freed from all of the responsibilities and obligations of your first marriage, your husband having died. You are even free to marry again. He goes further, verse 3.
So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. That happens while being married to one person, and yet one is unfaithful and in the infidelity is involved in a sexual relationship with someone not her husband. But Everything is different if a husband has died. If the husband dies, she is free from the law so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man. The implication is she marries again.
What's the point? It's obvious. The woman's second marriage is morally legitimate because death terminated. The first marriage.
So to all widows, We could announce on the basis of this: you are free to remarry in the Lord as you are led to another mate, if that happens to be God's will for you.
Now, he's developing not marriage and home and family, but a theological truth on which this analogy becomes a foundation. Watch closely. Therefore, and by the way, just a little tip, no extra charge. When you run across the word therefore in the Bible, think of a little arrow pointing up into the context of the verses before it. This is a contextual particle, if you will.
This connects you with what has come before and prepares you for what is yet to be presented. It's like the hinge on the door, it's the turning point.
So much for the analogy of the husband and the wife and the marriage that's now over by death. Therefore, my brethren, he's addressing believers, you also were made to die to the capital LAW. When you were born again, you were You died to the law, the Mosaic law, through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Now, this will help. Your first husband was the Mosaic law. Your second husband is the Lord Jesus Christ. The wife in this case is the believer.
So, having died to the first husband, you're now married to the second, so the obligations of the first marriage do not apply to the second marriage. Theologically speaking, we are freed from the law. We die to that first obligation, verse 6. We were released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter. That's an important statement.
Grace has come to our rescue, and because of the presence of grace, we now have a new kind of life called other places in the New Testament the abundant life. One poet put it like this: do this and live, the law demands. but gives us neither feet nor hands. A better word, God's grace. does bring it bids me fly.
and gives me wings. Grace comes along and says, You're now able to fly, and here are the wings to enable you to do it. The law, all the while, anchors us to condemnation and to sinfulness. The point is, we're no longer slaves to sin because we have a new husband. We are now slaves to God.
And our new husband in Christ, who is Christ, causes us to want to please Him.
Now at this point And I realize it's a little bit tedious so far. Welcome to Pauline theology, huh? I realize that if you happen to be Jewish, Or, you know, you have friends who are, undoubtedly by now you're questioning how Paul could write such a thing because it sounds as though he's saying there's something wrong with the law. And you've been reared to revere the law. A Jew could hardly live a week of his or her life without addressing the Torah.
The first five books of the Bible. Especially the commandments of God. Uh It sounds as though he's saying there's something wrong with the law.
So, for the sake of the Jewish reader, I think. Personal opinion. He writes verses 7 through 13 just to help the reader understand: it's not the law problem, it's the sin problem. Let me go further. Verse 7.
What shall we say then? Is the law sinful? May it never be. Strong vocative of negative nature. Never, never, no, perish the thought.
The law isn't sinful, on the contrary. There are benefits in the law. I would not have come to know sin. Except Through the law. And he gives an example.
I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, you shall not covet. But please notice the law gave me no power to keep from coveting. See the next verse? But sin taking an opportunity through that commandment. produced in me coveting of every kind.
For apart from the law, sin is dead. If I don't know something's wrong, I'm not drawn by curiosity to do what's wrong. Once I know it's wrong, there's something inside me that says, give it a try.
Sounds interesting. For example, keep off the grass. You just have to put a foot on grass that says keep off. I've been to public parks where there's a big sign, keep off the grass. People are laying all around on the grass.
They even hung their jackets on the sign that says, keep off the grass. For almost 25 years, we lived in North Orange County in Southern California, and that ought to tell you right away what the county is known for. For years, it Had a vast number of orange orchards, and the smell of the fragrance of the orange blossom could be enjoyed all across that county. Of course, as time has come and the development happened, a lot of those orange groves and orchards have been removed. But even when we were living there, you would drive along a road and to the side, behind a fence, would be just one orange tree after another.
I remember just driving along thinking, how beautiful is that big, luscious orange? And they would drop and land on the ground. And I thought, look at that, what a waste. And then one day, I saw a sign that says, Prohibited. Do not eat fallen oranges.
All of a sudden, I could only imagine how succulent they must be. And I can tell you by experience. That I tried one. I never would have thought to do that if it hadn't been for the rule that said. Don't touch the fallen oranges.
Before it was just, oh, what a waste.
Now it's. Oh man. Am I hungry or what? Why? Verse 8.
Sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment. produced in me coveting of every kind. So let me give you, just as a sidebar here, three of the benefits of the law. Number one, it defines sin. It tells me what's wrong, it tells me what's right.
If I didn't know coveting was wrong, I would covet, not know it's wrong. But if I know it's wrong, it now tells me that's part of what defines life. The law gives us the boundaries. It doesn't give us any power to stop doing what's wrong. There's another benefit to the law.
Verses 8 through 11, it arouses my desire to do wrong.
Now that sounds almost blasphemous, but it's true. Third. Third benefit of the law: it exposes the cause of sin. I am the problem. We got a nature that never will be improved.
We've got to deal with that, and it's from that nature, the struggle. begins. The law of God isn't our problem, it's part of his solution. Chuxwindahl explores this vulnerable moment in Romans seven and eight. Paul breaks every rule of spiritual leadership by confessing his failures and showing us we're not alone in the fight.
You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck titled today's message, Portrait of a Struggling Christian. Whether you're a new student of the Bible or you've been reading God's Word all your life, it's important to renew our minds with these liberating truths. Without constant reminders, it's easy to slip back into old patterns, causing harm to ourselves and others. To inspire you with God's truth, Insight for Living offers a number of Bible study resources.
One of those is Chuck's compelling biography of Abraham. one of the Bible characters that Paul refers to in his letter to the Romans. We've selected a powerful chapter from Chuck's book to share with you. It's the chapter that describes how Abraham earned the title Friend of God and cultivated an unshakable relationship with his Creator. We'd love to send you this deeply personal chapter about cultivating friendship with God.
It'll come as a downloadable PDF so you can read it on your mobile device or print it out. In the chapter titled, Can We Talk?, Chuck wrote these words. God, like a good friend, remains interested and available. ready to hear you express your most private thoughts and ready to offer help for today. Like Abraham, you can maintain your respect for the Almighty while turning to him as a friend.
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or go to insight.org slash monthly companion. Are you tired of fighting your battles against sin? I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindahl describes how to win the war within. Tomorrow on Insight for Living.
The preceding message, Portrait of a Struggling Christian, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
