THE CONFLICT WITHIN

We know that the Apostle Paul was a devoted servant of God, yet he confessed to an ongoing battle being waged in his personal walk of faith. It is common to all who are followers of Christ ... 

For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one who does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. Romans 7:18-20 

Even after our birth from above, we (in our own strength) are unable to overcome the latent sinful nature. Just as a man cannot save himself, so a Christian cannot sanctify himself. 

Newell - Forgiven, justified, he knows himself to be: and he has the joy of it! But now to find an evil nature, of which he had never become really conscious, and of which he thought himself fully rid, when he first believed, is a "second lesson" which is often more bitter than the first-of guilt! 

Christians live simultaneously on two planes. Longing to be obedient to the law of God on the higher plane, we are sadly aware of the indwelling sin that keeps pulling us down to the lower plane. Any time you depend on self-effort to please the Lord, you encounter frustration and bondage.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Romans 7:24-25

Ironside - If I am addressing any believer who is even now in the agonizing throes of this terrific struggle, endeavoring to subject the flesh to the holy law of God, let me urge you to accept God's own verdict on the flesh and acknowledge the impossibility of ever making it behave itself. Do not fight with it. It is as we turn altogether from self-occupation we find deliverance and victory in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Christianity is ultimately a 'death sentence' to any self-righteousness ... 

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Allow Him to be obedient through you.