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Skip Heitzig: Tommy Lasorda was the former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he was candid about fighting his own addictions. He said, "I took a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, I stared at it, and I said, 'Who’s stronger? You or me?' The answer was me. I stopped smoking." Then I took a vodka martini and said to it, "Who’s stronger? You or me?" Again, the answer was me. I quit drinking martinis.

Then I decided to go on a diet. I looked at a big plate of linguine with clam sauce and I said, "Who’s stronger? You or me?" And a little clam looked up at me and answered, "I am!" He then said, "I just cannot beat linguine with clam sauce." I have a hunch there are things that you might say, "I just cannot beat that." You understand that we have a civil war going on inside of us as believers in Christ. The flesh wars against the spirit.

In Galatians 5:17 in the New Living Translation, Paul wrote, "Our sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other." The name of this message is "I Am Saved, but I Feel Addicted." So the question is, is there any hope for those who are caught in these similar cycles?

Now, the top addictions in the United States of America are number one, alcoholism; number two, tobacco; number three, marijuana; number four, opioids. I’m not going to go through the whole list. But there are other categories that are offered as addictions. Coffee is considered an addiction. Gambling—some of you are addicted by two coffees and we help you out over here at Solomon’s Porch. Gambling is one, sexual addiction, internet addiction, and there’s even something that experts are calling "nomophobia."

Nomophobia is a thing. It is short for "no mobile phone phobia." It is—this is the expert language—a psychological attachment to our device. 59%, almost 60% of Americans admit to having this, feelings of desperation and anxiety when separated from their mobile device. By the way, the average American will check his or her phone 144 times every day.

The word "addiction" is not found in the Bible. At least not in my translation of the scripture, the New King James. I don’t think it’s found in the New International Version, I don’t think it’s found in the New Living Translation, nor in the NASB. However, interestingly, the word addiction or addicted is found in the old King James Version. It’s in 1 Corinthians 16:15 where Paul writes about the household of Stephanas: "They have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints." So I guess if there was a healthy addiction, that would be it.

Webster will define addiction as "surrendering oneself to something obsessively and habitually." Though the word addiction or addict or addicted is not found in the Bible, at least in modern translations, there are other words that capture the meaning. One is the word "captive." Jesus said, "I’ve come to proclaim liberty to those who are bound" or the captives. Being captivated by some practice or thought.

Also, Paul writes about, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" or "I won’t be mastered by anything," carries with it the thought also of addiction. Addiction is always the present danger posed by our own nature. And the nature I’m talking about is the old nature, the fallen nature, what the Bible calls, the scripture calls, "the flesh." It's a word we’re about to read.

Now, just a word about this sermon, this message. I am not a psychiatrist, I am not a psychologist, I am not approaching this from a medical perspective. I am approaching this from a biblical perspective. I understand that some addictions require concentrated forms of treatment. I understand that addictions can hard-wire, re-wire the brain. But I do have a text, I do have an outline, I do have principles that will help us conquer the flesh.

But I just want to warn you, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. This is not a formula. It’s not like, "Okay, give me the principles so it can be like, okay, one, two, three, I’m cured." It doesn’t work that way. But I want to give you a straightforward approach. Now in Romans chapter seven, and more specifically in verse seven through 25, you might label this section "The Struggle of a Saved Soul." It is Paul’s own personal struggle with the old nature, with the flesh.

It is autobiographical. It is filled with personal pronouns. The words "I," "me," "my" appear 47 times in these verses alone. Paul has an overdose of Vitamin I. He is just concentrating on his own personal struggle. And I’m thankful that Romans 7 is in the Bible. I’m thankful that he was honest about it. I am thankful that the Bible itself is honest about all of its heroes: Abraham’s lack of faith, Isaac’s lack of faith, David’s adultery, Peter’s impulsiveness, Thomas’s doubt, and the Apostle Paul’s personal struggle.

As we go through chapter seven—and I want to go through some of these things quickly because the real meat is in chapter six, because what Paul does is in chapter six gives us the solution, and then in chapter seven goes through his own personal struggle, and then chapter eight, the victory. But he actually gives us the answer back in chapter six. So what I’d like to do is show you three dynamics that deal with addictive behavior.

And here’s the first: a standard. We have a standard. And the standard we have is the law of God. Verse 10 of Romans 7 begins, "And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore, the law is holy, the commandment holy, just, and good. Has then what is good become death to me?

Certainly not. But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual." Let’s stop there. I want to simplify this. Paul has been speaking of the Old Testament law, the Old Testament Law of Moses in particular, and its relationship to us. The law is the standard. It is God’s standard.

The law is a set of rules, commandments—says do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that, etcetera. Paul says the law is good. Why is it good? Because it comes from God. The law is good because the law comes from a good God. It reveals his standard of righteousness. A couple weeks ago we read in Psalm 19, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."

So the law is good because the law comes from God and the law is scripture. The Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. That includes God’s law. But knowing the standard and knowing what the standard is does not fix the problem that I have. In fact, in some cases it actually makes it worse, because you’re looking way up there at that standard and you see how far you have to climb and you can’t climb that far.

So out on the street, there are speed limit signs. The law is good. Keeps everybody in the flow of traffic at a safe speed. But if there’s a kid out there with a Dodge Challenger Hellcat SRT with 807 horsepower, there’s going to be problems. And the problem is not with the law, but with that kid and that foot on the accelerator. The law is a good way to live. "Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie, murder," etcetera.

Even covet, even desire. So the standard, the law, that’s the ideal. And Leviticus 18 says, "You shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live by them." But Paul said, "Well, the commandment that I thought was going to bring me life actually brought me death." Why? Because the problem isn't with the standard; the problem is with the person, the sinful nature, the flesh.

If you're in a zoo and you go up to the lion enclosure, the lion cage, there may be a law written right on the fence, a sign that says, "Stay back of the railing." Now if you obey that law, the commandment will bring you life. But if you reach your hand through the bars to pet the lion, or you jump over the bars to hug the lion, the command will bring you death.

Paul said the commandment that I thought was going to bring me life—the standard—actually killed me. I’ve told you before that the law is similar to a mirror. You look in a mirror not to fix you but to give you information. It tells you the truth about who you are. Nobody takes a mirror off the wall and puts soap on it and starts scrubbing themselves with the mirror, because that’s futile. It’s not designed to cure what ails you.

So what is the purpose then of the standard that God gave, the law? Obviously not to fix us. What Paul said in Galatians 3 is it points us. It is a schoolmaster, Galatians 3, a tutor that points us to Christ so we come to him for mercy and salvation. So we have a standard. That’s the first dynamic.

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Skip Heitzig: The law is a good way to live. Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie, murder, etcetera. Even covet, even desire. So the standard, the law, that’s the ideal. Second dynamic: we face a struggle. And Paul talks about his struggle. And here’s what you’re going to see. The struggle is twofold: I struggle because of who I am, and I struggle because of what I do.

And what I do is based on who I am. So God gives me a standard, but because of who I am and what I do, I have a struggle. Let’s look at it. Because of who we are. Verse 14, back to that verse. "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am," what’s the word? "carnal. I am carnal, sold under sin." Then let me just move you ahead to chapter eight for a moment.

Look at verse three where Paul says, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh." Now you see the problem. Weak through the flesh. So the law reveals God’s standard, but it also reveals my sub-standardness. David said the law of the Lord is perfect, but Skip is not perfect. In fact, I am perfectly imperfect. Or in his words, I am carnal.

What does that mean, I am carnal? The Greek word is *sarkikos*, fleshly, made of the flesh. It means that our default position is to be governed by fleshly impulses. That’s our old nature. That’s our default position. So yes, the law is good, the law is awesome, the law is holy, the law is spiritual, but he says, "but I am unspiritual, carnal."

So think of the law as a straight ruler. The straight edge of the law shows how crooked I am. Romans 3:20, "By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." So God gave me a standard, but I have a struggle because of who I am. Also because of what I do. Verse 15, see if any of you can relate to this.

"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do—that is what I want to do, what I wish to do—that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me. For I know that in me—that is, in my flesh—nothing good dwells.

For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I want to do, will to do, wish to do, I do not do. But the evil that I will not to do, that I practice." Anybody ever experience any of this? We all experience this. This is who we are. Paul says this is who he was. This is his struggle.

C.S. Lewis once noted, "No man knows how bad he is until he’s tried to be good." He says in verse 15, "I don’t even know what I’m doing. I don’t understand it. What I want to do, I don’t practice; what I hate, that I do." It's like when I was a little kid and my mom said, "Skip, why did you do that?" "I don’t know." This is Paul going, "I don’t know."

Verse 17 bears another look. "But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me." Literally, the dwelling-in-me sin. It’s no longer me; it’s the dwelling-in-me sin. Now this is not a cop-out. He's not saying the devil made me do it, I’m a victim, I’m helpless. He’s not shirking personal responsibility. He is simply speaking of the struggle between what he desires to do, which is right, and what he actually ends up doing.

I think you could sum Paul’s life up into three sections. Section number one is his early life when he was a Pharisee. His growing up, he tried to keep God’s law; he failed at it. Second episode of his life: the Damascus Road experience. He meets Jesus Christ; he’s converted. He goes to Arabia for three years. There he dissects his struggle, unravels that struggle.

And then the third section of his life is victory: the indwelling Holy Spirit enlivens him to serve God. And that’s Romans chapter eight. But here, he’s telling you what he struggles with. And in verse 18, "I know that in me—that is, in my flesh—nothing good dwells." That’s a very important verse. It means that the evil, corrupt nature inherited from Adam is something we all have.

That’s our flesh. That is the problem. And you cannot reform it. You can't give it self-help courses and fix the problem. It must be subdued or the Bible calls it crucified. Subdued by a different nature, a new nature. So look at verse 24. Let’s go all the way down, then we’ll kind of finish this part up. This is Paul the Apostle, the great apostle writing, "O wretched man that I am!" exclamation point.

"Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Now when I read that, it carries a note of exhaustion. He’s struggled so long. He’s saying, "Help!" The New Living Translation renders it this way, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?" This is Paul’s SOS signal. He’s at the end of his rope.

He cries out and he pictures himself as having to carry a dead corpse with him. "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" One translation says, "Who will deliver me from this dead corpse?" Now I’m going to tell you a story that I think is probably what is in Paul’s mind when he writes this. Okay, so where was Paul from? Tarsus.

Paul was born in Tarsus. There’s a tribe in the area of Tarsus that sentenced murderers to a very gruesome death. They would take the person that was the victim, the murdered victim, the dead corpse, and tie it to the murderer, closely to his body, and let him go. What would happen is the corpse would decay, decompose, infect him, and slowly kill him.

He carried around a body of death. And perhaps when Paul said, "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?" he had that practice from Tarsus in his mind as he thinks about his old flesh. Okay, here’s the problem. Many Christians stop right here in verse 24. That’s their end game. They just come to the end of themselves, go "O wretched man that I am!" and that’s where they stop.

The Bible has promised them new life; they keep returning to play in the cemetery, playing with that dead corpse, digging it back up. Like a washing machine caught in a spin cycle, they never get out of it. Only they’re caught in a sin cycle. Just keep going back and back and back to that practice. That’s verse 24.

But in verse 25, notice this. He goes, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now there’s a change, a burst of thanksgiving. It’s as if he can see the beginning of victory. And where is the victory? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then he launches into chapter eight and it’s all about his victory. In the midst of his struggle, he sees the solution.

Now the solution he’s already given to us back in chapter six. That’s just how he wrote it. He gives us steps to victory in chapter six, his own personal struggle in chapter seven, and then the victory chapter chapter eight.

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