Introduction
Romans 7:18, “For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
The Christian life is something of a paradox: working yet resting, grieving yet rejoicing, dying yet living.
At the core of the Christian life lies conformity to Christ. The Scriptures call this sanctification, a cutting away of the flesh, a set apartness where the Spirit is shaping the believer into the image of Jesus.
When you are born again, you become a new man, created in righteousness and growing holiness (Ephesians 4:24).
From a distance, all this sounds angelic, almost untainted by sin. Up close, this feels quite different, like the end of a war that never finishes, or a wrestling match that never seems to end.
Paul confesses this struggle:
“The good that I would I do not;
but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom. 7:19).
In other words, Paul is saying, my hands undo my heart. Grace longs, flesh fights. Christ dwells within, yet Adam dwells without.
This is a good time to remind ourselves that regeneration is immediate, holiness is not. The new man, made alive by the Spirit, now delights in God’s law. But there is another law, Paul says, warring with my will to do. The old man, though undeniably crucified with Christ, pulls at my chains, dragging the new me into struggle.
Paul is describing the Christian life as two selves, regenerated, faith filled, justified and indwelt by the Spirit, yet at the very same time wrestling with indwelling sin.
How should the believer understand Paul? How can one possibly endure this warfare? By clinging to the One who began a good work, and who has promised to carry it to completion until the day of glory (Phil. 1:6).
Work and Labor: Before and After the Fall
Before the Fall, Adam worked. It was pure delight void of labor. God placed him in Eden “to dress it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15), and to take dominion over all the earth (Gen. 1:28).
For Adam, work was a sort of earthy communion with his Creator. Botany, zoology, topography, geology, government and rules were all bound up in the creation mandate.
But everything changed after the Fall. All was cursed.
“Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee…
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Gen. 3:17–19).
What once was joy is now labor. What was once work is now toil.
The curse in Genesis 3 was judicial. God subjected all creation to futility for Adam’s sin (Rom. 8:20). The king of the garden was now subject to entropy as his dominion collapsed. The physical world shifted under his feet, as his tools of communion became tools of frustration.
However, labor didn’t arise just because thorns appeared. Something happened inside Adam:
His will was bent. Instead of free obedience, he now resisted God.
His body was weakened, subject to decay, fatigue, and death.
His heart turned inward, and work became labor for self rather than God.
Labor always follows sin because man was made to work in the strength of his God. Once that strength was broken, work lost its sweetness, as toil set in.
When a man is born again, this begins to reverse. Holiness, always meant as joyful duty, is restored according to the inward man, Paul says, renewed day by day and delighting in the law of God (2 Cor. 4:16; Rom. 7:22).
Now, he delights in God’s law, saying with the psalmist:
“O how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).
But the old man, our natural condition, resists like a petulant child dragging his feet in the grocery aisle, making holiness feel like labor.
Now we know why the last Adam, Jesus, labored under thorns and bloody sweat in the garden (Luke 22:44) and wore the crown of thorns upon His head (Matt. 27:29). His toil turned holiness back into fellowship in His blood.
The Spirit’s Joyful Work
At its core, sanctification is joy, because it is the Spirit’s work in you, not apart from you. The Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us that salvation is the gift of God’s free grace, but sanctification is the work of God’s free grace. See the difference? The first is monergistic, meaning alone-work, but sanctification is synergistic, meaning together-work. The Spirit joins the new man and in holiness, they work together.
That is why Paul exhorts:
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).
The power of holiness is divine, which empowers the will and sanctifies the deed.
Again, Paul:
“I labored more abundantly than they all,
yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
In its deepest part, the child of God, the new man, finds God’s commandments “not grievous” (1 John 5:3). But the old man is another story. He is not yet dead. He lives, and must be put to death daily (Rom. 8:13).
Like the old drama: the villain lies still, as if finished, motionless on the ground. But the moment the hero lowers his guard, a hand shoots up, grabbing his throat.
That is the old man in the believer.
John Owen’s words remain sharp: “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.”
Paul laments this struggle:
“I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind” (Rom. 7:22–23).
The old man speaks: You are not holy enough. Why keep trying? God has given up on you. He twists obedience into slavery, work into labor.
That heaviness you feel is his resistance in the flesh.
The Gospel’s Purpose in Conflict
Yet the struggle itself has a blessing. It is proof of life. Dead men do not wrestle. Only the living fight.
Paul explains:
“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17).
Understand, dear believer, two selves dwell within you. The new man delighting, the old man resisting. The blessing is, the old man’s resistance drives the new man to the cross. Grief over sin humbles him. Weariness makes him long for peace.
And Paul asks the believer’s question:
“Who shall deliver me?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:25).
Christ’s all-sufficient grace answers:
“My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Every broken night’s sleep, every sigh in the car on the way to work, every groan for sin is a labor pain, working us into His image.
Practical Implications
Expect Conflict. Jesus said: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Take Responsibility. The old man is no excuse. Your sin is still yours and none other’s. Confess real sin, and trust real blood.
Find Comfort in Groaning. Grief over sin is proof of life. But do not stop there.
Look to Christ’s Complete Work. The old man is nailed to the cross. The new man rises in resurrection life.
Conclusion
The Christian life is lived in paradox: two selves, one laborer, one delighter.
Sanctification is both because of the old and new man. But this labor is not in vain. God bends even our labored heaviness for our good.
Dear child of God, one day the struggle will cease. The old man will be gone forever. Labor will dissolve forever.
“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9).
Until then, we press on.
“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).
Amen.