PAUL’S POSITIVE PLAN FOR HOLINESS in Romans 7-8
by Dr Peter MastersFROM SWORD & TROWEL 2007 No 1
Nestling in Paul’s unfolding of the two natures in the believer is a powerful eight-stage plan
for advancing in holiness and defeating sin. The first step appears in Romans 7.14, and again in
verse 18, and this is essential for any progress in sanctification:-
1 RECOGNISE THE PROBLEM ‘I am carnal,’ Paul acknowledges, adding, ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth
no good thing’ (see 7.14 and 18). We too must accept that the remains of the old,
fallen nature, although defeated and greatly subdued, are still within us, and a battle must be maintained
against them. Failure to recognise this will lead to fatal complacency. Failure to fight will hand dominance
back to the defeated old nature. A serious determination to struggle against sin is the only way to live as a
Christian, yet it is a stance that modern evangelicalism, saturated in worldliness and show-business
informality and entertainment, does not want to take.
The Christian life is the happiest life on earth, but in the struggle against personal sin should be
deadly serious and highly conscientious. We must recognise the problem of the ‘old man’ and be aware of
our sin tendency.
2 HAVE POSITIVE AIMS The second stage in the journey to holiness is found in Paul’s words: ‘For the good that I
would? ’ (7.19a). ‘I would’ means - I choose, determine or intend to do. The term indicates a
clear mental decision.
Without rushing to complete the verse, we see that the apostle has aims or goals in his mind as he
embarks upon his day. He does not stroll into a new day vaguely, devoid of aspirations, but has a clear view
of the standards he hopes to honour.
This is the outlook of the athlete who trains daily to improve performance, working to achieve
certain times or distances. Such an athlete would be a fool to work without positive targets.
We should ask ourselves - What sort of person must I be today? Surely I must pray, and strive for
the fruit of the Spirit. In practical terms I must long and plan to be more patient, more concerned for others
(especially their spiritual well-being), more edifying in speech, and more diligent in all that I do.
In what areas of life and character do we fail? A practical strategy or plan to succeed in these very
areas should be sealed in our minds and committed to prayer as we embark on the working day.
Do we formulate objectives for ourselves regularly, and especially when entering some new phase
or location in life? Paul clearly shows his policy of objectives in those words - ‘The good that I would,’ or
‘The good that I consciously and specifically intend.’ To omit this daily plan and pledge is to lose half the
staircase to the upper floors of the house of holiness.
3 PLAN TO AVOID SIN The third of Paul’s stages is found in the second half of verse 19 - ‘but the evil which I would
not ’ We must again point out the strong note of planned intent in these words, the sense being - ‘the evil
which I determine or intend not to do’.
We are looking at the plan of action in the mind of Paul as he aims not to do certain
things. He furnished his mind in stage 2 with positive good intentions, and now he commits himself to stand
firmly against specific sins.
We dare not presume to know exactly what wrongs were in Paul’s plan, but we know only too
well what should be in our own. Some believers know they fall easily to covetous desires, and they should
commit themselves regularly, perhaps daily, to avoiding them.
Some may have yielded to impure thoughts, and each day must now begin with a firm embargo
and prayer. Some fall readily into testiness or outbursts of temper, and the aim to resist these at all costs
should be uppermost in their daily plan.
Some readily blurt out wrong words, perhaps of gossip or boasting or hurt. Some know that their
‘demon’ is selfishness, others laziness, others untruthful speech ranging from exaggeration to dishonest
excuses or worse.
Sin will not be broken and overcome without a longing to avoid it, and the preparation of a prior
battle-plan of intentions. In our campaign for sanctification do we with Paul practise this plan-and-pledge
stage reflected in the words: ‘the evil which I would not ’?
4 KEEP UP SELF-EXAMINATION Alongside the positive and negative aims, we find in verse 19 that Paul is acutely aware of
his results in the struggle for holiness, saying -
‘For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.’
What would be the point of
setting aims if we took no interest in how we performed? These
matters were so important to Paul that he kept watch and reviewed his conduct, probably every day. He
appears in these verses to be deeply concerned and disturbed when his aims are not met, and no doubt
repentance and renewed dedication followed.
What progress can be made if self-examination is omitted? Naturally, we do not like these moments of shame and pain, but they are not only vital for securing ongoing forgiveness and closeness to the Lord, but they are essential for spurring us on to apply the previous stages. If we leave out these moments of pain and regret, the sin in question will not seem particularly serious. If we bypass the daily spasm of shame the conscience will gradually lose its sensitivity. An old hymn laments the neglect of self-examination:-
O how lightly have I slept
With my daily wrongs unwept,
Sought Thy chidings to defer,
Shunned the wounded Comforter.
It is not advisable to spend a long time in review, but we must seek cleansing for all our
sin in general, and for known specific sins in particular, regretting them before the Lord, and remembering
them ‘in the shadow of Calvary’. Then we should sincerely pledge to avoid them by the help of the Spirit.
Self-examination includes the recognition of our failure to do right (sins of omission), as well as
our known wrongdoing (sins of commission).
In secular life, what business would survive without awareness of its performance and its
finances? Paul’s autobiographical words show that he kept a close watch on his walk by self-examination,
and so must we.
5 LONG FOR OVERALL IMPROVEMENT Paul possessed a deep longing to narrow and close the gap between his present condition and the
pure standard of Christ, and this is seen in his exclamation - ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?’ (Romans 7.24). He realises his weakness, and hungers and
thirsts after righteousness.
This is more than self-examination, which refers to an assessment or review of a person’s
performance. Self-examination faces the facts, while a longing for improvement stretches forward in the
spirit of Philippians 3.13-14:
‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’
Paul also demonstrates this longing in the exhortation of Romans 12.1:
‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.’ Such a longing is ready to dedicate oneself to God for holiness every day, to wage war against
temptation as if life depended on it, to stay clear of circumstances which present temptation, and to
particularly guard the mind and its thoughts.
This longing to improve is a hatred of sin coupled with a strong desire to please God. It is the
spirit of a craftsman seeking perfection, to whom a rough and ready product is something shameful.
Do we have this longing? It is often jolted into existence by self-examination accompanied by
specific prayer for it.
6 SEEK SPIRITUAL HELP This sixth step for holiness also comes from verses 24-25 of chapter 7 - ‘Who shall deliver me
from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.’
Paul provides the detail in chapter 8 in the exhortations to walk ‘after the Spirit’ (verses 1 and 4),
and to obtain power from the Spirit (verses 11 to 14).
The Lord’s Prayer teaches believers to pray: ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil.’ When wrong desires and tempers rise from the old nature, or when strong temptations come from
around us, we call on the Lord. Daily we pray for a lively conscience and a fresh realisation that we are
observed by the Lord. Strong and besetting sins always yield following earnest prayer, because the Spirit
gives power to resist them, often along with a sense of revulsion against the sin.
Much spiritual help comes to believers from reflecting on the arguments the apostle advances in
chapters 6 and 7, appealing to their privileges and saying, in effect, ‘How can we go on in sin?’
As we reflect on all that Christ has done to save us from catastrophe and bring us to glory, we are stirred to
greater determination in the fight against sin.
7 MIND HEAVENLY THINGS Another essential step to advancing in sanctification is the work of actively directing our interests
to spiritual matters. This is described in chapter 8 verses 5-6:-
‘For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’
To ‘mind’ the things of the flesh or of the Spirit means - to set the mind on either of these things.
A parallel text is Colossians 3.2 - ‘Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth.’
Obviously, it is right and healthy to take an interest in many wholesome topics relating to human
affairs, but never to major on them in conversation or personal reflection to the dwarfing of spiritual things.
To mind heavenly things is to be strongly drawn to spiritual study, reading and conversation; to be
keenly concerned to hear about Christ’s mission in this world and the blessings and trials of Christian
workers everywhere; to be sensitive to the needs and experiences of other believers, so as to include them in
one’s personal ministry of intercession; and to be always praying for vital opportunities to witness and
encourage seekers.
If these are the believer’s chief interests, temptation will lose much of its power and tenacity, and
such sins as covetousness find little opportunity to gain a foothold.
The management of interests is a Christian duty that requires a degree of planning, and
frequently the redirecting of thoughts and speech when these drift over to being preoccupied with worldly
interests.
Whatever engages the believer most will shape that person’s heart and outlook, in line with the
words of Christ, ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’ (Matthew 6.21).
8 MORTIFY SIN Now comes the key action of this series of steps, the mortifying of sin, meaning the terminating
of rising sinful desires. Mortification means putting to death these aspirations, and quenching sinful moods,
tempers, words and acts. Paul says: ‘If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live’
(Romans 8.13).
Not one of the steps may be overlooked, but this eighth is probably the decisive one. Grasping the
help of God, by prayer, we put the sin to death and redirect the thoughts to something higher and better.
Over forty years ago my wife and I were engaged in the planting of a new church just north of
London, and in the goodness of God secured a very large area of land for building. The ground was thickly
covered by scrub that had ruled in its soil for decades. The worst of the tangled mass of wild bushes and
thorns was cut down and dragged away by heavy clearing equipment, but the soil remained infected by
obstinate roots. How would these be tamed?
The most achievable solution was to buy a heavy, industrial rotary cutter to regularly mow just
above the ground, and so turn it into a field of grass. The scheme worked well, and soon the area looked
more like a lawn, with little sign of the briars and thorns. For the time being these had been vanquished, but
if the regular mowing was missed, perhaps for two or three weeks, horny, tough shoots began to appear
again, sounding the alarm that the scrub was still there and could regain control of the ground.
Christians have two natures, a superior, dominant new nature, and a defeated and diminished old
nature, but the latter is still there, and the weeds and shoots of the old nature must be cut off the instant they
appear.
Through regular mowing, the task of managing our church meadow became easier both for
machine and operator, but with neglect it became much harder.
If the believer allows old sins to develop even a little, giving them free rein only for a while, they
will become harder to suppress. A little loss of temper, then a little more, then more vehement outbursts, and
in no time the tantrums can barely be controlled.
If a believer makes a dishonest excuse or exaggerates something, or tells a few white lies, a steady
deterioration will develop which will quickly shatter that person’s integrity altogether.
If we mortify the deeds of the body every day, the task becomes easier, by the help of the Lord,
and the likelihood of falling prey to some great sin becomes increasingly remote. But if we mortify only
spasmodically, we subject ourselves to painful work and much failure.
All the steps help greatly
All the steps or stages described here are necessary. In the case of Stage 1 - to fail to recognise the
problem caused by the remains of the old nature leads to confusion, because you must know who your
enemy is and how he fights.
In the case of Stage 2 - to have no positive aims is ‘vagueness gone mad’; and, in the case of
Stage 3 - to have no aims to avoid specific sins is to bring a flabby, purposeless spirit to the campaign.
In the case of Stage 4 - to skip self-examination is to allow indifference and self-righteousness to
take over the heart. In the case of Stage 5 - to have no burning longing to improve is to excuse sin and lose
one’s awe at the holiness and greatness of God.
In the case of Stage 6 - to allow days to pass without calling on God for help in resisting specific
sins, is to surrender to them; and in the case of Stage 7 - to have greater interest in earthly things than
spiritual things is to hand over the mind to spiritual coldness, and to sap vital energy needed for the battle.
Finally, in the case of Stage 8 - to fail in the active termination of sinful desires and acts - the vital
conclusive act - is to make peace with the enemy when victory is within sight.
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