Jesus, I will follow you.

Paul then asks this question in verse 24, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”

He follows this up with his profound answer in verse 25, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The answer for any struggle and bondage of sin is Jesus. it’s simply calling upon the name of Jesus as soon as you know the temptation is there.

Temptation will always come; in fact, Jesus even said, “it is necessary that temptations come” (Matthew 18:7 ESV). Without temptation and the decision having to be made between God’s holy, righteous way and our own sinful way, we would not be able to grow. 

We can be at peace in knowing that our God is not a cruel God who allows us to be tempted and then punishes us for it, but Jesus himself was tempted. Right after being baptized and identified as the Son of God (not really any spiritual experience that match up to that) Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Spirit where he is tempted by the devil (Matthew 3:13-4:11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 3:21-4:18). We have to understand that what is a temptation in the hands of the devil, is a test in the hands of God. In all three of the temptations, Jesus responds to the devil with scripture, the very word of God, through the strength of the Spirit. After this Jesus is launched into his ministry and does incredible miracles. His identity is confirmed as he overcomes the temptation from the devil and passes the test from God. 

While Jesus was perfect, we definitely are not. But our hope and our help is found in Jesus.

Hebrews 2:18 says, 

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15-16 says,

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approachGod’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Rest in knowing that God is merciful and loving. Romans 5:8 says,

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Pauls writes,

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

In addition to calling upon the name of Jesus and finding hope and help in the fact that He too was tempted, we need to daily, continually reflect on our identity in Jesus. Just before Paul is transparent about his own struggle in Romans 6:3-14 he says this,

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him^(J) so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Just as Jesus died to sin and for sin once and for all, through our faith and Christ dwelling in us, we too have died to sin. The good news of the Gospel is also that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, giving him the ultimate victory. In the same way, we have a new life because of God’s mercies (which according to Lamentations 3:22-23 are new every morning). We have a freedom that comes through Jesus. It’s a freedom from the bondage of being slaves to sin. Through Jesus we are now free to live lives of righteousness unto God. In order to go forward we must continually look back.

Nothing is more freeing than reflecting on the very source of your salvation. Never forget God’s amazing, vast, abundant love for you. He’s making you new. He’s redeeming you. He’s reconciling you. He’s calling you back to the very purpose he created you for. Don’t let your flesh hold you back from running after that. Live in the freedom and strength that Jesus has provided. 

I really encourage you to really take some time to prayerfully read through, study, and meditate on the scriptures that I have provided. Especially read through Romans 5-8 and then once you’ve really spent some time there I would recommend moving on to Romans 12. The more time you spend in the word, the more you will have to use against the enemy when temptation is brought your way. Your Spirit will be strengthened, and you will be drawn closer and closer to God.

Praying for you!

Be Blessed!
-Nick