21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:21-25
While encouragement lifts us up, exhortation gives us a gentle push forward. Sometimes we need comfort; other times we need momentum. The biblical concept of exhortation means to “come alongside and steady someone.” At times we need folks who will shore up our weaknesses and gently push us to continue our walk with Christ.
Why? Because we get weak. The circumstances of life wear us down. The constant battle against our sinful nature exhausts us. As Paul confessed in Romans 7, there’s an ongoing struggle between what we know we should do and what we actually do. We know the right path, yet we find ourselves wandering. We know what to avoid, yet we’re drawn toward it.
This isn’t a sign of failed faith—it’s the reality of living in the “already but not yet” tension of the Christian life. We’re already justified, already declared righteous in Christ, already citizens of heaven. Yet we’re not yet glorified, not yet free from the presence of sin, not yet home. As Martin Luther famously said, we are “simultaneously just and sinner.”
In this in-between time, we need each other to exhort us to keep going. We need fellow believers to help us fix our gaze on Christ when a thousand distractions vie for our attention. Satan’s most effective tool in our age may not be outright persecution but simple distraction—pulling our focus toward countless good things that become idols when they displace our devotion to God.
The church provides that necessary exhortation, calling us back to what matters most, reminding us to forget what lies behind and press toward the prize of our high calling in Christ.
Tony French
