DAY #234: Romans 7:1-25

Paul was developing an analogy from common living to emphasize his lesson. Having begun the theme of marriage, Paul wants his readers to remember that under normal circumstances any breaking of the marriage vows would be adultery. Having stated that fact, Paul explains its significance.

Just as death breaks the bond between a husband and wife, so a believer’s “death” (death to his old self) breaks the power of the law. The old contractual arrangement had to be completely severed before the new one could begin. This had to be as final as death. Jewish believers could not live with a dual allegiance. They could not be under the lordship of Christ and the lordship of the law. Total commitment to Christ cannot coexist with a total commitment to the law. That would be spiritual adultery. A believer belongs fully to Christ. This happens because of Christ’s death on the cross and the believer’s being united with him in his death and resurrection. The result is good fruit. Only by belonging to Christ can we do good deeds and live a life pleasing to God. This is how we serve in the new way of the Spirit.

Before we realize the seriousness of the law and of sin, we believe ourselves to be fine. But when we understand what the law really demands, then we also come to understand that we have broken the law, we are sinners, and we are doomed to die eternally. The commands, given to show people the way of life, instead show merely that all people have been given the death penalty.

In the Garden of Eden, the serpent deceived Eve by taking her focus off the freedom she had and putting it on the one restriction God had given. Since that time we have all been rebels.
Although it gave him the death penalty, Paul could not speak against the law. The law itself is holy and right and good because it reflects the character and will of God himself, who is holy.

The purpose of the law is to teach us right from wrong, to give us guidelines, and to show sin for what it is. The law helps us live for God, but it cannot save us.

How can we be free from sin and yet continue to do wrong? In Christ, we are free from the penalty of sin (judgment) and the power of sin (hopelessness). But while still in the flesh, we are not free from the presence of sin (temptations) and the possibility of sin (failures). Paul never claimed that being under grace instead of under the law meant that a believer was somehow above the law. In fact, having described such a great distance between the law and sin, he realized that he was still far more acquainted with the reality of sin than the righteous standard of the law.

So, Paul writes, the trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. The law has an uncanny capacity for reminding us of what we once were, and of how captivating that old life can still appear. Our hope never shifts back to the law. We must daily focus on Christ.

By introducing his personal dilemma, Paul invites us to consider how well we understand our own behavior. As long as believers live in this world as men and women of flesh and blood, they will face a constant tension—the conflict between their sinful nature and their new spiritual life.

Being born again starts in a moment of faith, but becoming like Christ takes a lifetime. (this process is called sanctification) Paul compares Christian growth to a strenuous race or fight. Thus, as Paul has been emphasizing since the beginning of this letter, no one in the world is innocent; no one deserves to be saved—not the pagan who doesn’t know God’s laws, nor the Christian or Jew who knows them and tries to keep them. All of us must depend totally on the work of Christ for our salvation. We cannot earn it by our good behavior.

The fact of life at work here is the reality that evil is within us, even when we want to do what is right. In fact, it is when we most want to do good that we become most acutely aware of our propensity not to do so. A swimmer has no idea how strong the current is until she tries to swim upstream. When she faces the current, she finds this law at work: the current is against her.

Our bodies are mortal; they are bodies of death. As long as we live on this earth in our human bodies, we will face this conflict with sin. Our place of residence is our place of least resistance. And, as seen above, as long as we are confined to this world, we will experience a measure of struggle and defeat. But, we are not left in miserable defeat, dominated by sin—rescue will come!

Because of Jesus Christ, we are assured of a great future. We will one day join him in eternity with a new body that is free from sin. In the meantime, however, we must realize that we remain in the sinful nature as slaves to sin. But the answer to who will set us free is in Jesus Christ our Lord. The battle ends with a shout of victory. The winners know who really won. The winners also know the war isn’t over. But in the meantime, there are more lessons to learn, and there is more freedom to experience.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

There is something comforting in the knowledge that the Apostle Paul struggled with sin and evil and his old nature. Comforting in the fact that I am not alone. I am not the only one who stumbles an falls over and over again. There is also great encouragement to get up each time I fall. An for me that is the lesson in this passage. Yes, there will be struggle and failure and sin. Yes, I will disappoint myself and others. Yes, I will not live up to the expectations placed upon me at times.

How will I respond to my failure though? Wallow in pain and self-pity? Stay down and defeated? Give up? Turn away from my Lord? Walk away from my responsibilities? NO!!!!!

Never. How could I?

Today Lord, I resolve once again to be the man you have called me to be. I know that i can not do this on my own. Zechariah 4:6 reminds me - "Not by might, nor by power but My Spirit declares the Lord of Hosts."

Lord, just as I prayed yesterday - I need your power. I need your power not just for victory, but for perseverance and stamina and the never-give-up attitude You desire to see in me.