WORD From The Woods
Romans 7
“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
One of the things I love about Paul’s writings, is his basic honestly about where his heart is at. In this passage you see him pouring his heart out about his struggle with sin. He talks about wanting to live a holy life but falling into sin. The end of this passage reads almost like a riddle where he says “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” The Apostle Paul is one of the greatest pillars of the Christian faith, and he’s someone we should all try to emulate. But, he struggled with sin just as the rest of us do. Paul, talked a lot about a thorn in his flesh is some of his letters. A lot of bible scholars have come up with different ideas about what kind of physical ailment that might have been. I really think is was some sort of sin that Paul struggled with his whole life. We can all relate to that for sure. This passage was really directed at those who grew up under the Jewish religious system, where they were taught that you had to keep all sorts of rules and regulations to try and been holy enough to please God, and then you would make sacrifices to try and cover where you messed up. Paul makes clear that the whole point of the Old Testament law was to reveal the sinfulness of the human heart. The law removes all doubt that we are in desperate need of a savior! The law convicts and condemns us, and hopefully drives us to the foot of the cross. The law shows us that without Christ, we are slaves to sin and death. And as Paul says in the passage, we can’t serve two masters. We can’t belong to the law and to Christ. We can’t be bound in the futile pursuit of trying to follow enough rules to keep God happy with us and belong to Christ. When we come to Christ we are set free from the law of sin and death. We’ll talk more about that next week in chapter 8.
God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-
Romans 7
“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
One of the things I love about Paul’s writings, is his basic honestly about where his heart is at. In this passage you see him pouring his heart out about his struggle with sin. He talks about wanting to live a holy life but falling into sin. The end of this passage reads almost like a riddle where he says “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” The Apostle Paul is one of the greatest pillars of the Christian faith, and he’s someone we should all try to emulate. But, he struggled with sin just as the rest of us do. Paul, talked a lot about a thorn in his flesh is some of his letters. A lot of bible scholars have come up with different ideas about what kind of physical ailment that might have been. I really think is was some sort of sin that Paul struggled with his whole life. We can all relate to that for sure. This passage was really directed at those who grew up under the Jewish religious system, where they were taught that you had to keep all sorts of rules and regulations to try and been holy enough to please God, and then you would make sacrifices to try and cover where you messed up. Paul makes clear that the whole point of the Old Testament law was to reveal the sinfulness of the human heart. The law removes all doubt that we are in desperate need of a savior! The law convicts and condemns us, and hopefully drives us to the foot of the cross. The law shows us that without Christ, we are slaves to sin and death. And as Paul says in the passage, we can’t serve two masters. We can’t belong to the law and to Christ. We can’t be bound in the futile pursuit of trying to follow enough rules to keep God happy with us and belong to Christ. When we come to Christ we are set free from the law of sin and death. We’ll talk more about that next week in chapter 8.
God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-