“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” – Romans 7:18-20
The Apostle Paul opens the door to his heart and lets us see the tension that lives inside every believer. When he says, “I am carnal,” he’s not making excuses—he’s acknowledging a deep truth: “I am a sinner.” Even near the end of his life, Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). Not was, but am. Paul wasn’t immature or defeated—he was deeply aware of his humanness. He knew that though he was redeemed, he still lived in a body marked by sin. He even says he was “sold under sin,” pointing back to Adam, whose fall placed all of humanity under the curse of sin. As David said, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Paul is showing us that even the holiest among us still wrestle with the remnants of the old nature.
This isn’t a confession of failure—it’s a declaration of reality. Paul, the Apostle of Apostles, is not hiding behind spiritual perfection. He’s exposing the battle within. Think of someone you admire spiritually—how did you feel when you saw their humanity? Paul would say, “Don’t be surprised. This is how it truly is.” As William Hendriksen put it, we live in the overlap of two ages. We were once only sinners. One day, we’ll be only saints. But right now, we are both—sinner and saint. That tension is not a flaw in our faith; it’s a mark of it. The more spiritually mature we become, the more sensitive we are to sin. And that sensitivity doesn’t drive us to despair—it drives us to Jesus. It frees us from the pressure of pretending and invites us to lean on grace.
Embrace the tension. Don’t deny the struggle or let it discourage you. Let it remind you that you’re alive in Christ. When you sin and feel the sting of conviction, that’s not weakness—it’s evidence of life. The pathway to holiness is paved with a sense of your own wretchedness. That’s what Paul discovered, and it’s what he wants us to know. We are saints in Christ, but we still wrestle with sin. And that wrestling should send us running—not away from God, but toward Him. Let your struggle lead you to surrender. Let your weakness lead you to worship. And let your awareness of sin deepen your dependence on the Savior who conquered it.
“Not only can a Christian say that he still has conflict with sin though he is redeemed, the more spiritual he is, the more likely he is to say it.” – Anonymous
surrendered devotions 