Romans 7:22-25 “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

When Jesus came to rescue us from sin by paying the debt with his life, he was not a team player. He was more of a lone wolf. His disciples all said that they would never leave him the night he was arrested. They were even willing to die with him. But Jesus didn’t want them to stay with him and die with him. He wanted to die alone. This was not a project to which they could contribute. This was not a situation where they could be any help. He, and he alone, could pay for the sins of the world. He is the Savior from sin, the one who rescues us, not the leader of some other worldly special ops unit, not a divine project manager overseeing a team of heaven’s employees. Rescue is something he does by himself.

When we are wrestling with our own sinful flesh, trying to pin down our thoughts and feelings, trying to get a grip on our behaviors and hold our reactions in check, now Jesus is happy to fight side by side with us. He wants us praying for help, growing in his word, resisting the devil, actively putting faith and love into practice. He is the real power in our fight all the way. But we are with him in this war against our own sinful flesh for control of our body and soul.

It’s a long war. Along the way we lose a lot of battles. We will experience a lot of misery in the struggle. In the end, we will need Jesus to rescue us again and give us the final victory. Only he can take this body, so infected with sin, pull out the soul at our death, strip it of all evil, and put it all back together at our resurrection renewed and perfected and ready for eternity. That, again, is a rescue job. Jesus does all the work. That is what he promises to do.

I really want to be good at this holiness and godliness thing. Even though I don’t have a shred of natural talent, and the struggle gets dark and desperate, God has given you and me a Savior. So don’t be surprised that our struggle ends free from sin.