Longing for deliverance

This confession here of Paul is not that of an unbeliever. This is not a baby grace. It is a mature saint who has come close to God and who wants and yearns to live holy in God’s sight. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? Paul is longing for deliverance. Paul is not resting in this complaint. It is not a dead complaint. You know, some people can talk like this; they know how to talk the talk. When they are in a religious environment and say: O yes, o wretched man that I am. But, you know, we need an answer to the question: Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? You can say this and be an Antinomian too. Because you can say it in the way that, O wretched man that I am; I cannot get above my sin, and then go on sinning. That is not what Paul is saying. Paul is no Antinomian. He does not mix Christianity and sin. He suffers agony, because of his sin. He is really seeking deliverance. Daily deliverance. He is looking forward to the day when his internal dilemma will end. He has a strong and urgent desire to be delivered in his heart from the remains of his old nature. So, he is not fatalistically resigning to his old nature. He is not shielding himself behind the truth. That the best of believers is imperfect, and therefore he is no different. And so, this is just an empty cry. No, he is taking sins seriously. He longs to be delivered from the body of this death. He longs for total deliverance. This is the cry of a mature believer.¹

Joel Beeke