Winning The War Within

The title of this message is taken fron Romans 7:23 "I see another law (principle)...warring...and bringing me into captivity." It is hard to overestimate the importance of rightly identifying the context and terms used in this passage. The message is outlined as follows:
I. Victors in the war within are spiritual realists about what God is seeking to achieve: Romans 8:29--conformity to the image of His Son. If this is not the ulimate good, if this is not our target, then confusion, forfieted peace, and needless pain must almost necessarily follow. Conformity to Christ is of course a progressive process.
II. Victors in the war within are spiritual realists about what opposes them. Indwelling sin, sometimes called the flesh, is your greatest opposition during the whole of your sojourn. The flesh, indwelling sin is not the totality of your being but it is a part of you. Handley Moule said, "There is never an hour when the person who 'says he has no sin' does not 'deceive himself'." Three facts about what opposes you: (a) there is absolutely no good in it: 7:18. (b) It always without exception opposes the Spirit and all the will of God: Galatians 5:16,17. (c) it is unfxable not even by God's law--For the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be: Romans 8:7.
IlI. Victors in the war within are spiritual realists about the frequency of attacks: 7:21--"when I would do good." Always and whenever I would do good.
IV. Victors in the war within are realists about their weapons and resources. Verse 24 is not a wail of despair, it is the shout of a Christian under seige inventorying his weapons. In what way does Christ belong to you?