Emphasis Preaching Journal

In this passage Paul is baring his very soul which is the very essence of the human condition. He knew what was right, he wanted to do right, and yet, somehow, he could never do it. He knew what was wrong. The last thing he wanted to do was to do it and yet, somehow, he did it. He felt himself to be a split personality. It was as if two men were inside one skin. He felt himself pulled in two directions. He knew himself to be in civil war. Seneca talked of "our helplessness in necessary things." He talked about how people hate their sins and love them at the same time. Ovid, the Roman poet, had penned the famous tag: "I see the better things, and I approve them, but I follow the worse." Ben Sirach wrote: God himself created man from the beginning.
And he left him in the hand of his own counsel.
If thou so desirest thou shalt keep the commandments,
And to perform faithfulness is one of thine own good pleasure.
He hath set fire and water before thee,
Stretch forth thy hand unto whichever thou wilt.
Before man is life and death,
And whichever he liketh shall be given unto him ...
He hath commanded no man to do wickedly,
Neither has he given any man license to sin.
-- Smith