Rescued From Death

Creation: A Divine Cycle
The Birthing of a New Community

Freedom in Christ

Romans 7:15-24. The Message

14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

For Reflection

Paul is trying to understand the difficulty of deciding a course of action that represents righteousness.  Following the law seems to work successfully for a while.  But, the longer Paul practices the law the more he realizes that there are many situations that the law either does not address or conflicts with another law making compliant action challenging.

Paul's dilemmas are similar to ours.  Sometimes the choices we are presented do not satisfy our spiritual need and no matter which choice we make there are downsides.  To make matters worse, a decision may result in an unintentional consequence.  His conclusion seems to be that spiritual legalism just doesn't always work the way one expects that it should.  The law alone cannot make you do good.  Only living in the Holy Spirit can help us live a righteous life.  Sin is part of our human condition.  As such, righteousness can be achieved only with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Pray
for the Holy Spirit to fully occupy the entirety of your soul.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for the grace of God and for God's unmeasurable capacity for forgiveness.  Pray that you will seek comfort from the perils of human folly in the abiding love of God.