Q117_072426 Rom. 7:14 The Law Is Spiritual. The Problem Is, I Am Carnal

Q117_072426 Rom. 7:14 The Law Is Spiritual. The Problem Is, I Am Carnal

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol, drugs, or other compulsions? This episode of *How it Happens with Colin Cook* zooms in on a famous inner struggle from Romans 7 to speak directly to that battle. Colin walks through Paul’s words, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin,” and connects them to the experience of addiction.

That feeling of doing what you hate and failing to do what you genuinely want to do? He shows how Paul describes exactly that: “For the good that I will to do, I do not do. But the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.” Rather than blaming God’s law, Colin insists “the law is very spiritual.

I am the one that's carnal, not the law.” He contrasts legalism with what Jesus actually taught in the Sermon on the Mount, quoting passages about lust, anger, divorce, and oaths to show how deeply God’s standard reaches into thoughts and motives. Anyone who has ever promised themselves they’ll quit a destructive habit and then slipped back will likely recognise this inner conflict.

He explains that the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ teaching don’t act as a ladder to climb into heaven, but as a mirror that shows how much help is needed. That’s where his core message lands: the law “leads us to call out to God for mercy,” so that broken, “poor in spirit” people can find peace in Christ instead of chasing perfection.

Aimed at people wrestling with addictions of all kinds, this short teaching offers a spiritual lens on compulsion, shame, and hope. It invites anyone who feels “wretched” or stuck to trade self-reliance for trust in a Saviour who, Colin says, has “taken the judgment of every human being upon the cross.” If you’ve ever wondered why you keep doing what harms you, could this be a way to see that struggle differently?