Title: 13
Author: Joe G
Last saved by: Matt Lawson
Company: GDC

© 2004 Joe Griffin		04-04-08.CC02-272 /

Paul’s Behavior Problem: Submitting to God’s Agenda: the Royal Family Honor Code, Rom 12:9-21; Desire to Do “Good” Doesn’t Imply Execution, Rom 7:19
29.	In order to overcome this habitual lifestyle with its behavior patterns and character traits, the believer must abandon his own agenda and begin to submit to God’s agenda.
30.	God’s plan does not permit man to intrude upon His system with any human ideas for earning the Father’s merit or blessing.
31.	Even when the believer performs deeds which are clearly mandated in Scripture it is of no account to God when they are accomplished by means of human energy.
32.	The believer’s task is to learn what God wants him to do and how He wants it done.
33.	Following salvation, we are left alive in the Invisible War for only one purpose and that is to glorify Jesus Christ and this can only be accomplished when we become good witnesses for the prosecution in the appeal trial of Satan.
34.	This is impossible to do until the believer learns and then executes God’s plan for him revealed in the Bible.
35.	Consequently, God is the One Who decides what we are to do, how we are to do it, and when we are to do it.  (See Romans 12:9-21: The Royal Family Honor Code.)
36.	We must through the development of genuine humility learn to orient to God’s divine policy and adjust to its requirements.
37.	None of these concepts suggest or imply that human ideas, human energy, or good intentions contribute anything to the stated objective of fulfilling God’s plan.  Yet Paul continues to try.
Romans 7:19a - For the intrinsic good which I desire to do, I do not perform…
1.	Next comes the adversative conjunction of contrast, ¢ll£, alla, followed by the neuter singular from an adjective which names one of the children from Paul’s first marriage: kakÒj, kakos: “but the evil.”
2.	Then comes the negative conjunction oÙ, ou, followed by the present active indicative of the verb:
		(#19)	qšlw, thelō -	“I do not desire”
present:	Durative; denotes that which has begun in the past and continues into the present.  [R(1)c.]  It may also be viewed as a “descriptive” of “pictorial” present [R(1)a.] to indicate that which is now going on since its distinctive force is to present to the mind a picture of the event as in the process of occurrence.
3.	Paul has facilitated wheel-tracks which cause him to desire to please and serve God.
4.	Now we see that he also has facilitated wheel-tracks which prevent him from converting his desires into action.
5.	Evil has become so engrained into the memory traces of his brain that they remain paths of least resistance.
6.	Although Paul does not desire to produce evil, that’s exactly what he winds up doing.
active:	Paul produces the action of not desiring to produce evil.
indicative:	Declarative; reality.  The execution of that which he does not desire to do is stated next in the present active indicative of the verb:
		(#20)	prassw, prassō -	 “I keep on practicing”
present:	Durative; used to emphasize the continuation of existing results through the present time.  It refers to a fact which has come to be in the past, but is emphasized as a present reality which is ongoing.  [R(1)c.]
1.	What is the “present reality” that is being emphasized?  Paul, against his own personal desires, chooses to execute paths of least resistance.
2.	These paths of least resistance were established under the tyranny of the first husband and, while in status quo carnality, this tyrant has the power to override Paul’s desires.
active:	Paul produces the action of practicing this evil.
indicative:	Declarative; the fact of the present reality.
Romans 7:19 -	For the intrinsic good I habitually desire [ qšlw, thelō ], I do not in retrospect perform [ poišw, poieō ], but the evil which I continuously do not desire [ qšlw, thelō ], this I keep on practicing [ prassw, prassō ].
1.	As we move through this passage the solution to Paul’s problem clearly revels itself although it is not specifically stated in the context.
2.	The only way to override facilitated wheel-tracks of wickedness is to facilitate wheel-tracks of righteousness.
3.	But this can only be accomplished by utilizing the first two power options: the filling of the Holy Spirit and consistent spiritual growth by means of the Grace Apparatus for Perception.
4.	Even after a period of spiritual growth, during which the believer comes to understand the will of God, it does not necessarily follow that he will execute the will of God.
5.	The inner conflict constantly rages.  On one occasion the believer may perform divine good through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
6.	But on another occasion, even in the same hour, he may choose instead to perform acts of human good and evil.
7.	This war is unrelenting and therefore every exigency in life presents a circumstance for decision making.
8.	When these circumstances challenge the believer’s volition to make choices regarding right or wrong, good or evil, duty or expediency, righteousness or wickedness, honesty or duplicity, morality or immorality, spirituality or carnality, then another battle is joined.
9.	The typical pressures of each day contain vectors which stimulate memories developed during one’s time of unbelief or during periods of post-salvation carnality.

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