I Know That in Me Nothing Good Dwells

If the Bible never revealed the truth of who we are, the revelation of the Creator and the Savior would be deficient in addressing that thing which fallen humanity needs most. The deficiency would be that we would never know our need if the Scriptures never opened our eyes to the devastating effects of sin on all of Adam's children. Of course, we would (and do) experience those effects, but as we can see in the increasingly anti-biblical culture around us, the misinterpretation of those effects is pervasive. Every damaging effect of sin is judged to be due to lack of education, money, parental love (or discipline), or intervention by the civil power. That is, the problem is rarely attributed to the universal sin-nature of humans and therefore, the answer is never the biblical answer. The gospel of Jesus Christ reveals both the problem of sin in Adam's descendants and also the solution. Yet, we also know from the Scriptures that even those who have trusted in the saving work of only begotten Son of God, there remains a struggle against the remnants of that sin nature. Someday, we will be delivered from it, but while we remain, the struggle continues. That is the subject of today's text. – Pastor Schlegel