Someone is Beating the Snot Out of Me: The Reality of the Christian Struggle

A Summary of the Katy Bible Sermon “Who's the Man?”, preached by Matt Mancini on July 5th, 2026.

If you’ve ever stepped into the ring of the Christian life, you probably know the feeling of the “boxer’s lament.” Picture a fighter slumped onto his stool between rounds. One eye is swollen shut. His nose has abandoned its original coordinates. His gloves hang heavy at his sides while his trainer leans over the ropes, shouting with relentless optimism: "You're doing great! He's got nothing on you!" Finally, through split lips and weary breath, the boxer mumbles, "You might want to keep an eye on the referee... because somebody is beating the tar out of me."

That, in a nutshell, is the experience of Romans 7:14–25.

We come off the highs of Romans 6, where Paul tells us we are freed from slavery to sin and have died to the law’s penalty. We are told we can’t lose—that the fight is already won. Then Monday morning arrives. We lose our temper. We entertain old temptations. We battle familiar fears. We stumble over sins we thought we'd buried long ago. The trumpet of victory echoes in our ears while the bruises of the battle bloom across our souls. And we quietly wonder: Is something wrong with me?

Identifying the Man in the Mirror

Bible scholars have debated for centuries whether Paul is describing his pre-Christian life, a “carnal” Christian who hasn't fully surrendered, or a person under conviction but not yet saved. But the most straightforward reading reveals a startling truth: Paul is giving his own personal testimony as a mature apostle at the very time he wrote these words.

The evidence is in the grammar. In the first half of Romans 7, Paul speaks in the past tense, but in verse 14, he switches abruptly to the present tense. He isn't saying, “I used to struggle,” he is saying, “I am of flesh... what I am doing, I do not understand.”

This is actually a massive encouragement for us.

The presence of this kind of internal conflict is no evidence that Christ has abandoned you. More often, it is evidence that He has claimed you. The unbeliever may regret sin because it brings consequences, but he’s not conflicted over his sin - he doesn’t experience, in himself, an incongruity with God’s holy standards. The believer, though, grieves over his sin because it wounds communion with the God he loves. Only a renewed heart delights in God's Law while mourning its own remaining corruption.

The Anatomy of the War

Paul describes this struggle as a three-fold lament.

First, he acknowledges our condition: while our inner man is a new creation, our "flesh"—the unredeemed part of our humanity—is still waiting for the final resurrection. We are no longer in sin, but sin is still in us.

Second, we see the confirmation of the struggle. It’s the frustrating reality that the "willing" to do good is present, but the "doing" is often absent. We want to be perfect, but we fail. We aim for faithfulness and discover our need. As the saying goes, "I'm not who I once was, but I’m a long way from who I ought to be."

Finally, he identifies the culprit. It isn't the Law of God (the referee) that is beating us up; the Law is good and spiritual. The culprit is indwelling sin. To help us visualize this, C.S. Lewis once described the flesh as a "nasty lizard" sitting on a man’s shoulder, whispering filth into his ear. It digs its claws in when you try to pull it off, making the work of sanctification painful.

Victory Through a New Affection

So, how do we win? The challenge is to realize that we will never achieve victory through fleshly efforts or rule-keeping. You cannot law yourself into holiness. Instead, we must rely on what Thomas Chalmers called "the expulsive power of a new affection."

Think of it like marriage. The wise husband doesn’t follow a checklist of "do's and don'ts" to please his wife; he simply loves her, and that love bears fruit in his behavior towards her. The key to the Christian life is not focusing on the "don’ts," but loving Christ more until everything else fades into the background. Love quietly accomplishes what duty alone could never sustain. As love for Him grows, lesser loves begin to loosen their grip.

Church family, do not be discouraged by the battle. The Christian life is warfare, and it is not for the faint of heart. You are never beyond the reach of temptation, so do not let your guard down or think you’ve "arrived."

But remember: while we are still getting "the tar beat out of us" in this life, we stand in grace. Our identity is no longer defined by the lizard on our shoulder, but by the Savior who has already secured the final bell. Our flesh is wretched, but "thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord," we are rescued. Before you ever entered the ring, Christ had already won the belt.

Keep swinging. The bell will ring. The bruises will heal. The old flesh will one day fall silent.