Principles of living a godly life [50] – Christians, ego and divine law [4]

 ‘Now if I [ego] construct this, that I am not intending, I [ego] am no longer fully working it out to completion, but on the contrary, the self-forfeiture sitting and dwelling within me. 21 Therefore I am finding the law or principle that my intention is to manufacture and construct the good, [but] that inner malice and harm is at hand, present with me. 22 Because I closely identify with delight in the Law of God down from the man within; 23 but I perceive another law or principle within my members, waging war against the principle of my mind and taking me captive within the principle of self-forfeiture and loss existing within my members’, (Romans 7 v 20 - 23). 

In verse 20 Paul restates what he said in verse 14, and in the light of what he has said in the intervening verses, he now states it as a sub-conclusion. Self-forfeiture is creating energy, impetus, inclination and movement within his fleshly constitution, within the members of his physical body. This impetus brings to completion speech and behaviour that is not his intention, or even speech and behaviour that he despises. In other words, he is not always completely successful in exercising enlightened self-control and bringing his godly intentions to completion. 

So what is the process and situation that he is describing and how does it relate to good and praiseworthy divine law, and to divine approval moment-by-moment? In verse 21 Paul says that he finds a fundamental principle or process. He says - 

I am desiring and intending to do good in the inner man

Foulness and malice is dwelling within me, in my fleshly constitution

This leads him to a sub conclusion in verse 21. ‘Therefore I am finding the law or principle that my intention is to manufacture and construct the good, [but] that inner malice and harm is at hand, present with me’.  

He then explains this a little more. ‘Because I am closely identifying with delighting in the Law of God down from the man within’. Paul reaffirms not only that the Law down from God is good, but that he is closely identifying with it, agreeing with it and delighting in it. He says that this is coming down from the ‘man within’ as a Christian. In other words he is talking about the intangible realm within him – the ‘inside of the cup’ – and he confirms this in the next phrase, where he refers to his mind. 

This next phrase, (verse 23), is complex, so I will break it down into its parts. He also perceives another fundamental principle or process taking place within him. But this other principle is not taking place within his mind, but rather within the limbs and organs of his body – within the fabric of his fleshly constitution. This fundamental principle of energy, impulse, inclination, impetus and drive within his physical flesh is working in opposition to the first principle that is at work in his mind – in his ‘inner man’. These two fundamental principles within him are in opposition to one another. 

The result is that the impetus within his fleshly constitution is sometimes taking him captive. At this present time, as a Christian, Paul exists in his physical constitution and he is not able to fully, totally and completely live a perfectly clean, godly life day-by-day, because the principle or impetus existing within his fleshly constitution is sometimes taking him captive within self-forfeiture and loss.