Romans 7: The War Within — A Solo Faith Church Bible Study

In Romans 7, the apostle Paul writes something startlingly honest: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do." If you have ever promised yourself you would change a habit — and then watched yourself slip right back into it — you understand exactly what Paul is describing. This Sabbath Bible study from Solo Faith Church in Concord, NC digs into Romans 7:12–25, one of the most personal chapters in all of Scripture, and finds something unexpected on the other side of that struggle: hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpGchBszid8

The Law Is Holy — But So Is the Problem It Exposes

Verse 12 is direct: "The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good." That settles a question some believers wrestle with — is the law the problem? Is all that Scripture telling us what not to do actually working against us? Pastor Doug was clear: "Something that is holy is not the problem. Something that is unholy, that's the problem." The law is like a mirror. It does not create the dirt on your face — it just shows it to you. The issue was never the commandment. The issue is what lives inside us that keeps reaching for what God says not to touch. As Paul puts it in verse 13, sin used what is good to produce what is deadly — so that "sin might become utterly sinful."

Paul's Honest Confession: "I Don't Understand What I Do"

Verse 15 is one of the most relatable lines in the entire New Testament — and it comes from the man who wrote most of it. Paul says: "For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, that is what I do." It sounds like every January resolution that did not survive February. It sounds like anyone who has given great advice they were not taking. Pastor Doug pointed out just how significant this admission is: "The person that wrote the New Testament is saying — I don't even understand why I'm not doing what I know I'm supposed to be doing." This is not weakness. This is honesty. And it is exactly the kind of honesty that is the starting point for real change. You cannot trust God with a problem you are pretending you do not have.

The Differentiation That Changes Everything

Verse 17 is where Paul does something both theologically precise and practically liberating: "It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me." He draws a line between himself and the sin that operates within him. This is not an excuse — it is a diagnosis. Pastor Doug explained it this way: if you make that differentiation, you stop beating yourself up for every failure and start recognizing that there is a power of darkness at work inside you that is stronger than your willpower alone. Verse 18 confirms it: "I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is in my sinful nature." The flesh — with all its appetites and learned habits — is not going to produce holiness on its own. That is not condemnation. That is the reason you need something beyond yourself.

Who Will Rescue Me? Deliverance Through Christ

Paul's question in verse 24 — "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" — is not despair. It is a setup. Verse 25 answers immediately: "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord." Pastor Doug used a grounded illustration: deliverance is like an Amazon package. Something starts here and is carried to there. That is what Christ came to do — to take you from a place of sinful nature to salvation. "You can take my house, you can take my car, you can take my job — but don't take away my Jesus," he said. "He is my deliverer." Without that delivery, without Christ as the carrier, there is no getting from here to there on your own. Willpower cannot bridge that gap. Discipline alone cannot bridge that gap. Only Christ can.

Hope — And Why You're Here

The closing of this study brought everything together around one word: hope. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." That is why Solo Faith Church — located at 587 Old Charlotte Rd SW in Concord, NC — exists: as a place where the Word is broken down clearly enough that people leave with expectation for what God can do, not just condemnation for what they have done wrong. Pastor Doug told the congregation: "The reason why you are here at Solo Faith Church is because you said this is a place where I trust this place to feed my hope." Chastity, joining remotely, put it plainly: "We need him every day. There is no good in the flesh, and every day we have to reach towards God so that we can kill this flesh daily." That is not negativity — that is the rhythm of the Christian life. Daily reaching. Daily dependence. Daily hope.

From Kenya to Concord: A Global Sabbath Service

This Sabbath service included believers joining from Kenya — Pastor Samuel Peter, William, Emmanuel, and Mr. Asiago — each reflecting on what trusting God looks like in real, uncertain circumstances. William shared a testimony of trusting God through a months-long illness his doctors could not identify. They gave him medication they were not certain would work, and after several weeks of treatment and prayer, he recovered. Emmanuel spoke about leaning on God through COVID-19 when "a lot of people were losing a lot of people" — and how staying in the Word helped lift fear and anxiety. The congregation is praying together for their Kenyan brothers and sisters as Ebola, spreading in neighboring Uganda, has raised concerns throughout the region. Mr. Asiago offered a prayer for the true gospel — not the prosperity gospel or any counterfeit gospel, but Christ and Him crucified — to spread far and wide. "May the people of God be prepared for His second coming," he said. The reach of Solo Faith's digital sanctuary, from Concord to Kenya, is itself a witness that hope travels.

Solo Faith Church shares this Bible study because discipleship is not a passive activity — it is what happens when the Word of God is made plain enough for people to recognize where they are in it. Romans 7 is not a chapter that condemns. It is a chapter that points toward the only One who can carry you from where you are to where God intends you to be.

You're Invited — Visit Solo Faith Church This Sunday

Solo Faith Church meets every Sunday at 587 Old Charlotte Rd SW, Concord, NC 28027. Come as you are. Learn more here.

Community Support Note: This story is part of Solo Faith Church's community journalism initiative to share the Word and uplift the work being done at Solo Faith Church in Concord, NC. The content in this post was drawn from a transcript of a live Sabbath service and Bible study, provided directly for publication.