will of God? "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of

sin" (Rom. 7: 25). This is one whose will has been set free from the bondage of sin and

death, whose will is in bondage now to righteousness, whose cry, because of the conflict,

is "O wretched man that I am!" Paul has no difficulty in desiring that which is good--

"the willing is on hand", as it might be put, "but the accomplishment is not". With all his

heart he desires to do the will of God, but in spite of everything he finds a law "that,

when I would do good, evil is present with me". But because he delights in the law of

God after the inward man (verse 22), because his desire is to do the will of God, he

discovers "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus"

(Rom. 8: 1). The desire for the will of God is accounted to him for righteousness.

This is no easy way out of the problem: it does not mean that the believer can now do

exactly as he pleases. How can the man who desires with all his heart to do the will of

God, now go his own way? This easing of the problem is for the man (or woman) who

has a definite, almost desperate, desire for the will of God; for the one who echoes the

Apostle's cry "O wretched man that I am"--a phrase which could almost be translated

"O suffering man that I am". The conflict between the desire for the will of God, and the

inability `to perform that which is good' gives rise to anguish of spirit. For such, for

those truly desiring `that which is good' then Rom. 8: 28 holds good:

and the will, the desire is accounted for that which is good.

This great doctrine of justification by faith relieves the anxiety of the problem,

enabling us, in addition to desiring the will of God, to set our minds on things above, not

on things on the earth (Col. 3: 2); enabling us to look for Christ, and to leave with Him

the conflict and the problem, for He has set us free (Gal. 5: 1). And as our minds are thus

freed from the strife and anxiety, being set on things above, that which God has worked

in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2: 13), is worked out in our

daily living. It cannot be without significance that that which God works in us begins

with the will, with the desire.

Freewill? No. Free choice?--even here it seems our wills are not free until they are

freed by God working in us. We have a bias, a leaning to go against God. Thus we

naturally, freely choose that which is against the will of God. Even when by faith we are

`in Christ', while we can desire God's will, our will knows not `how to perform that

which is good', for it is not sufficiently free, for there is in the flesh no good thing

(Romans 7: 18). Added to the opposition of the flesh is also the external opposition of

the influence of the fallen race among which we live.

Freedom of will, freedom of choice, becomes possible only in proportion to the

measure in which we yield our bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God . . . . .

that we may prove (or assess) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God

(Rom. 12: 1, 2). Then, as our minds are freed from the bondage of sin and death, we