Romans 7:4-6 - When your
old nature was still active, sinful desires were at work within you, making you
want to do whatever God said not to and producing sinful deeds, the rotting
fruit of death. But now you need
no longer worry about the Jewish laws and customs because you “died” while in their captivity,
and now you can really serve God; not in the old way, mechanically obeying a
set of rules, but in the new way, with all of your hearts and minds.
Paul saw the Jewish laws as a hindrance to
some Jews that clung to their belief that the Messiah had not come yet. He tried to explain that when someone died…using
marriage vows as an example…that the vows were dissolved. He wanted them to
understand that keeping a set of rules did not save them…Christ had come…given
His life for them…and paid the debt for all sin. When He arose victorious over
every penalty for death that needed to be paid to His father…the need for
following a set of rules was dissolved.
The rules were not abolished…they are still
useful to help us identify sin in our lives. It is the relationship we build
with God that shows us how to serve Him…as Paul says…with our whole heart and
mind. The laws never had the power to save
us…Christ gave us that when He willingly gave His perfect life on the cross to
pay the penalty for all sin…the last
blood sacrifice that would ever be needed to atone for sin.
He goes on to talk about the power of sin
to control us. One of my greatest comforts is knowing that as powerful and
faithful as Paul was…he still struggled daily with the power of sin to trick
and fool his heart into sin. Following a set of rules gives us absolutely no
power…it weakens us if we think that we are capable of earning our
salvation. The real power comes when we
turn all our thoughts and actions over to God….allowing Him to do all the
fighting we need done against sin.
I struggle with sin every day. He
identifies a new sin every morning that I need to remove from my heart and
life. I know what Paul is saying is true…because
when I try to fight against sin on my own I fail quickly and completely against
it. But…. when I invite God to do the fighting…sin runs quickly away from me…and
God overcomes the many roadblocks of sin that are presented to me… to help me
build a deeper relationship with Him.
The deeper the relationship we build together…the quicker I call on Him
for help.
Father…thank you for the reminder that you
have power over sin that I do not.
Forgive me for the times that I have allowed sin to overpower me and fool
me into situations that caused me to sin…even justify it as something good. Help me to stay so connected to you that I
can notice the tricks of sin even before you help me see it with daily study of
your word and prayer. Thank you in
advance for all the sin you have helped me to identify…and for the power you
have to remove it from my life. Amen.
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