14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire..

15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

— James 1:14-15

5 For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.

6 But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

17 In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

— Romans 7:5-6, 15, 17-18, 24-25

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, salvation and joy from Jesus Christ to you.

The evil in the world cannot be explained without understanding sin’s stranglehold on human appetites and desires. Sin blinds people to the truth about God and themselves, leaving them easy prey for God’s vicious enemy, Satan. No one will look to Christ for salvation who does not first recognize the rebellion residing in their own hearts and at work in the this world. Without a proper grasp of sins’s destructive power, lies cloud truth and confusion reigns.

God offers a solution to sin’s deception and damage. Grasping the truth that we are utterly ruined by sin prepares us to run to Christ for salvation. Giving up on trying harder to do better represents readiness to receive from Christ what human effort cannot achieve. Only Jesus can take our sin and offer His perfect righteousness in its place. The truth about sin exposes the amazing gift Jesus offers to sinners. The Holy Spirit transforms a believer’s heart to no longer be captivated by sin’s appeal and Satan’s lies. God’s grace through Christ extends to sinners, offer deliverance from wasted lives and eternal protection from Satan’s fury and attacks.