Gal 5:19-21 (NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery (excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures); idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

You pursued happiness, tried to have fun, and did your best to avoid pain. But, in the pursuit of having fun and being happy, you discovered things that brought you a lot of pleasure. Jesus provides you with things that make you happy and provide you with a mild to moderate amount of pleasure. But, the world provides you with other things that create extreme pleasure and are a lot of fun. Many people mistake this extreme pleasure for happiness and start pursuing it instead. If you are one of those people, then your body is giving you a lot of trouble. Once it experiences extreme pleasure, it wants it all the time.

Mat 7:12 (NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.The mild to moderate pleasure that Jesus provides is called righteousness. The extreme pleasure that Satan and the world provide is called sin. Righteousness will involve you in those things that will help you be an extreme success in life. Sin will drive, pull, and enslave you in a way of life that will be selfish, animalistic, and individualistic. Jesus invites you into the win/win world of friendship, companionship, unity, and love. That can sound too mild and too boring for those involved in extreme pleasure. But, relationships, family, marriage, and partnerships have to do with you not being alone. Christianity is all about you having friends, feeling cared for, valued, appreciated, and loved.

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” The solutions to your problem with anger come through real, honest, loving relationships with God and with people who can love you back. Jesus has set you free from a world where you have to watch your back all the time. Unsaved people have a heart that is controlling their emotions; it is pushing them to make sure they get the best end of every deal. If it is a choice between you getting something good and them getting it, they don’t have any problems with choosing themselves.

Rom 7:15 (NIV) I do not understand what I do. For what I WANT to do I do not DO, but what I HATE I DO. You have chosen to be a Christian; you want to live the righteous life. But, you are having a difficult time between wanting and doing. For you to UNDERSTAND the solution, you must understand Jesus and His plans for your life. He wants to set you free from anger. But, He wants to do it in such a way that you learn how to live the Christian life. It is VITAL that you learn the difference between world training and Jesus’ training. All the self-help training you have had up until now is USELESS. You can use it for the rest of your life and you will continue to fail at Christianity.

Rom 7:16 (NIV) And if I DO what I do not WANT to do, I agree that the law is good. This is you! You have a problem with anger that you know isn’t good for you or the people around you. But, you can’t seem to just start living the way you know the Bible is telling you, you can live. You aren’t sinning; you are just not living the victorious Christian life. You know the Bible tells you to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Eph 6:10). but, for some reason, you aren’t doing it. You agree that the Bible is right. You want what the Bible is telling you to do. You know Jesus wants to empower you to live like that; but, you just aren’t DOING it.

Rom 7:17 (NIV) As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Here is the complicated part! Here is why you are a Christian who isn’t getting the full benefits of what Jesus provided through His wounds and His death. YOU ARE USING THE WRONG METHODS! You have been a human for quite a while; you have been trained how to be a human through some hard effort and study for a long time. You have a lot of skill, talents, successes, and abilities for being a human. But, no one told you that all that training, experience, and skill as a human WON’T WORK in the Christian life. YOU have been delivered from SIN; but, your BODY hasn’t.

• As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it: This won’t make sense until you learn that you and your body are not the same. It is also important for you to realize that your body isn’t just some collection of flesh and bone that responds to signals from your brain mechanically. It has a will, desires, system programing, and goal oriented motivations. When the Bible talks about the sinful nature, it is talking about the “programming” that your body operates on the basis of. It is complex, powerful, and functional.


• But it is sin living in me: When you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He forgave you of all your past, present, and future sins: 1 John 1:7 (NIV) But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from ALL sin. So, how can Romans 7:17 say there is sin living in you? It isn’t saying the sin is living in the spirit you (which is the real you), it is living in the body you. Rom 7:23 (NIV) But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.