I am a wretched man. Who will rescue me out from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24).
The inward torment that comes from the sin nature working out the very thing we do not desire to do reveals that, through the flesh, we cannot serve God. Since law is not out from faith, a righteous man cannot work out good through law. Yet thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord—there is freedom from this inward torment.
With the mind, we serve the law of God; however, when we attempt to work out righteousness through the flesh, we serve the law of the sin nature. This means that my actions are not based upon works of righteousness which I can perform—that is, works of the law—but rather that I act in a righteous manner because of who I am in Christ.
In the same manner as the laws of nature operate, so also does the working out of righteousness for the grace believer. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When we seek to be justified in our actions through the flesh, we serve the sin nature and work out its desires. In contrast, when we serve God with our mind and therefore seek to live out the righteousness we have in Christ through faith, our conduct is righteous, and we have victory over the sin nature. Just as a body at rest will remain at rest, or a body in uniform motion will continue in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force, so also is it with living out the righteousness we have in Christ as opposed to seeking to be righteous through law. When we serve God with our mind, we will produce righteousness because of who we are in Christ—but that changes when we attempt to work out righteousness through law. When we seek to live by the law, we will work out the strong cravings of the sin nature until we set our minds on things above—thereby interrupting a life lived by law and choosing instead to live out from faith, which results in the sin nature losing its control over our lives and true righteousness being manifested.