Romans 7:22-23 For 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, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Peace out was a phrase I used in my hippie days when an argument was posed that I didn’t want to argue. Paul’s argument here is one of those difficult expressions which many do not want to hear and would just as soon not argue.

Jesus preached peace and combated fear in His disciples by simply saying, “Peace, fear not.” Peace be still calms the troubled heart. We are tired of war, tired of fighting. Just give us peace. Peace out.

Paul is addressing an ugly truth that many of us don’t want to talk about. Given that we know the truth, we know what is right, we still make bad choices. How Paul chose to deal with this issue leaves many of us frustrated with a sense of helplessness.

“Bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” is a hard pill to swallow. It sounds like there is nothing I can do to find peace of mind. Paul isn’t directly saying it here and will clarify this later. In the mean time we wrestle with these passages trying to find some glimmer of hope.

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Thank you Paul for the reminder. For those who know the Word, you can see I left out the ending of this quote, once again.

“So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Some of us do not like to hold two opposing thoughts in our minds at the same time.