Most people today will likely consider themselves to be “good.” They look at their behaviors, such as kindnesses they have done and commands in Scripture they have obeyed, to support their claim that they are “good” people. They also list off things they have avoided to prove their morality. The truth is, we can do one million good things, but we will still come up short every time. We cannot do enough “good” deeds or avoid enough “bad” deeds to be deemed “good” by God. After all, only God is good. That is why we needed a Savior to rescue us.
In Romans 7, Paul described his inability to measure up to God’s standard of holiness, explaining a plight we have all felt at some point in our lives. He wrote, “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (verses 21-23). Can you relate to Paul’s struggle? You want to obey, but at times you inevitably give in to sin, doing exactly the opposite of what you want to do. In light of his struggle, Paul declared, “Oh, what a miserable person I am!” (verse 24). Can you sense the desperation through Paul’s words here? Have you experienced that desperation, too? Without Christ, the struggle against sin is ongoing and hopeless. Try as we might, we are not enough. Jesus Himself said in Mark 10:18, “Only God is truly good.” We cannot win this battle against sin on our own. That is why we need a Savior, Jesus, to rescue us.
Recognizing that we are sinful people and that we are not “good” enough to be made right with God points us straight to our Savior. We can turn to Him instead of striving to earn His approval by our good works. He came to earth, lived the perfect life that we could not, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the grave. If we want to find peace with Him, we need only to look to Him for peace and freedom.
Think for a moment about the sin struggle or temptation that you are currently facing. Knowing that you cannot be “good” enough on your own is a reminder that you need help, both from God and from followers of Christ who are willing to hold you accountable. Ask God to help you in your battle against temptation and sin. Next, reach out to a trusted friend for accountability to help you walk away from and let go of that sin or temptation.
“God, on my own, I cannot live the life I want to live that honors You. Help me…”
1Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
