Romans 7 Eats My Soul For Lunch

Paul opens Romans 7 by talking to brothers (those who know the law of the Old Testament), in saying that the law is only binding in life. Once death is reached, it no longer holds the person. Using the illustration of a woman who is married and her husband dies, she is free to marry again because death has set her and him free from the law. However, if a woman remarries while her husband is still alive, she is considered an adulteress. All this to point to the fact that the law is no longer binding upon death.

Here's where Paul chose to reach into my abdominal/torso area, pull out my soul, insert into mouth, and chew decidedly. He says likewise, like the woman whose husband had died, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, the one who was raised from the dead (Romans 7:4). Like the woman set free from the law by the death of her husband, we were set free from the law by the death of Christ. This is the reason Jesus must be fully human, if he were not, we would not have been granted freedom from the law. However, because of his perfection as a human being in not breaking the law of sin, he was declared innocent before God.

A law breaker (any normal human being), must bear the punishment of breaking the law, namely, in this case, death (Romans 6:23). In order for Jesus to be a sacrifice, he had to have been not guilty, otherwise, he was merely a sinner being punished for sin. But since he lived a sinless life, he had a "choice" to bear punishment in our stead. The punishment for our sin was death, and he bore that death on Good Friday. This is mind blowing to me- not only did he achieve for us eternal life, but he also died for us. I don't mean the metaphoric died for us in the sense that he loved us so much that he died for us, but in the most literal sense. We were supposed to die, and he did it instead. And Paul says that because he experienced death. all who would follow him for all time are also considered DEAD! I don't have to die to be dead? Seems odd.

Why this is important moves back to Romans 7. Verse 6 says that we may serve in a new way of the Spirit because we are no longer held captive by the law. We can bear fruit instead of bearing death. Why would I follow Jesus one might say? Well, because in Jesus we are dead. Oh what a joy you respond? Great joy is found in knowing that we are free from the law! The law that plagued man for centuries, that marked out morality and man continued to fail at. As every human in history fell short of the life they were called to, Jesus reached that mark. And in his death I consider myself dead and so freed from the law. Being freed from the law, there can be no transgression. Were the law not written I would never have known what it is to covet, had the law not said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7) If the law had not existed, then we would not have recognized sin, and never recognized our own sinfulness, leaving us without need for rescue. But the law was created, and it was holy, but sin seized the opportunity to lead us astray, and so we became slaves to sin. We knew what was wrong and what was right, and yet continued to do what we knew was wrong because we were slaves to sin.

I cannot keep the law. Being born of flesh, I am a slave to flesh, and flesh is sold to sin. It belongs to sin. This is why I prize death. Having died through Christ, my flesh dies- I take on his death as my own. In doing so, I am no longer a slave to sin and am able to bear fruit for Christ. I die with him, but am able to continue living here to do his work while in the flesh, and yet not of the flesh.

I have died through the body of Christ- his human body, and because of His death I am able to preach the gospel today without being a slave to sin. This is the rebirth, the death of my flesh that produces life in my spirit. Oh how I pray that I would be a slave to righteousness and not to sin! That my flesh would be crucified with Christ in order that I may be raised with him to life, and not only life but life in abundance.

The Reflection's Not so Kind

I remember as a kid I would dress up in my dad's cowboy boots, wear boxers, a t-shirt, tie a towel around my neck as a substitute cape, and wear a mask around my eyes. This made me Batman. I say this not to reveal my secret identity, although I am the caped crusader, I say it because there are times I miss those days. I miss being able to look in the mirror and see what I wanted to see. I wasn't phased by my 2'3" frame, I wasn't phased by my sun-bleached bowl cut, and my freckles didn't disqualify me from destroying bad guys. I would put those boots on and I was Batman, it was the equivalent to stepping into a different universe.

There are often times when I look into the mirror today and I see that same little boy. Not Batman, but the little boy who was scared of spiders, scared of being alone, and facing constant doubts. I see that little boy today in different things (although spiders are still all too dangerous). Today I look in the mirror and glaring insufficiency meets my eye line. Doubts about my calling, doubts about my qualifications, and doubts about my faith peak at seemingly audible levels...and I'm forced to turn away. I don't like that man. I don't like the one in the mirror, the man who has issues and problems and fears and difficulties. I can't look at him too long before his soul is exposed and I am overcome with grief for all of my shortcomings. He's not supposed to be a pastor...he's not supposed to be pure...he's not supposed to preach...how could he when he is worse off than the people he's preaching to? Terrifying.

And yet, I still have a mirror. It rests humbly in the bathroom above the sink. I consult it daily to assure that I'm presentable and ready for life. There are moments when I see that man in the mirror, but I am called back to words like these-

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." Col. 3:12-15

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." Psalm 32:1-2

Oh how I rejoice that the man in the mirror is one who is forgiven! A man who the Bible calls blessed, supremely happy, praised because my sin is gone! I can look in that mirror and know that my insufficiency does not play the loudest tune...but like the boy that once pushed back darkness as Batman, I can push back darkness as one saved by God! I can look in the mirror and not see a broken soul, but one knitted back together by the very hands of Christ. I can view myself, not in light of my failure, but in full view of God's glorious success! I can stand, look into the mirror, and see a boy dressed in a man's clothes. I can see a boy who has put on a bathrobe far too large, and it covers up all that is wrong with him. I can put on the righteousness of Christ and know that I am completely covered, even my wickedness, that same boy with all the issues...He can be covered by the righteousness of Christ. That is blessed! I am blessed to know Him.