Indwelling Sin-Present in us, Absent in our Lord

In one of the most well-known descriptions of the angst caused by indwelling sin in Scripture, the Apostle Paul writes:

Rom 7:15  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 

Rom 7:16  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 

Rom 7:17  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 

Rom 7:18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 

Rom 7:19  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 

Rom 7:20  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 

Rom 7:21  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 

Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 

Rom 7:23  but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 

Rom 7:24  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

Rom 7:25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 

As I read this passage of Scripture, I began to wonder aloud:

Paul states that his inability to do the good that he desires to do is caused by the sin that dwells in him.  Doubtless, all of us who are now in Christ can relate to this inner turmoil.  The desire to do the will of our Lord and the battle that continually rages between that desire and our "flesh."  The "I must pray," tempered by the, "but I'm so tired."  The "my response in this situation necessarily needs to be gracious," tempered by the "but I am offended, and feel justified in angrily lashing out."  These examples obviously do not encompass the most hideous and heated battles between what we would do and what we actually do, but we can all see truth in them nonetheless.  Think on this though; Christ had NO SIN in Him.   No such thing as indwelling sin for the Savior.  The "temptation" of Christ was not like what we face as believers, since we actually find some aspects of what tempts us appealing.  Christ didn't even have the ability to give in to temptation!!!!  What are the implications of THIS truth?

Well,  I started compiling Scriptures for this post, and came across Phil Johnson's blog over at www.teampyro.blogspot.com.  Phil actually deals with the subject of the nature of our Savior's sinlessness beautifully.  I set out to treat this on my own, but will rely on the Body of Christ as I don't think I could state it any better than my brother.  I would really encourage you to check it out at this link: Pyromaniacs: Back to bidniss

For me, some of the truths concerning the complete perfection and sinlessness of our Savior actually challenged some of my presuppositions.  I thank God for that, and hope you too will be both challenged and edified.  Grace and Peace