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(13) Now then, did that which is good become death to me? MAY IT NEVER BE! But sin, in order that it might truly be exposed as sin in me by that which is good, was working out death; so that, by means of the commandment, sin might become exceedingly sinful. (14) For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, having been sold as a slave under sin; (15) Because what I am working out myself, I do not know. For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do. (16) But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the law that it is good. (17) So then, I am no longer working it out myself; rather, it is sin that is dwelling within me; (18) Because I fully understand that there is not dwelling within me—that is, within my fleshly being—any good. For the desire to do good is present within me; but how to work out that which is good, I do not find. (19) For the good that I desire to do, I am not doing; but the evil that I do not desire to do, this I am doing. (20) But if I do what I do not desire to do, I am no longer working it out myself, but sin that is dwelling within me. (21) Consequently, I find this law in my members, that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me. (22) For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man; (23) But I see another law within my own members, warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin that is within my own members. (24) O what a wretched man I am! Who shall save me from the body of this death? (25) I thank God for His salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this, on the one hand, I myself serve the law of God with my mind; but on the other hand, with the flesh, I serve the law of sin.
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Paul realized to the marrow in his bones that he was sinful. But he wanted to do what is good. He had a will of steel that kept him from committing a great many sins, but he still sinned, and he hated it every time he did. So, he was grieved deeply that he could not perform what God required of him because of that deep-set sin within human nature. Because we are so selfish, we allow human nature to lead us around by our noses and indulge ourselves when we should be sacrificing ourselves.
This sorrow is what Jesus is advocating when He says, "Blessed are those who mourn" (Matthew 5:4). He wants the kind of sorrow that is grieved to our innermost being that we are not like Him, that we are full of sin, that we cannot ever seem to move beyond our carnality. We see it cropping up so often, and we hate ourselves for it. We grieve because of our weakness.
This sorrow is always appropriate and applicable in our walk with God. It is a deep conviction that we are unworthy, and we are upset about it. We grieve that we cannot match the perfection of Jesus Christ. We always have miles to go, but Jesus also promises comfort at the end of that hard road.
— Richard T. Ritenbaugh