Law
This week is on Romans 7:14-25:
Paul writes about the frustration of trying to live up to the standards of God's law. He does everything he knows to do, and still finds himself sinning. He chooses God's will, and to do the right thing, but still finds himself doing the wrong thing. We've probably all been there.
Paul lived in a society filled with legalism. It was all about human strength. People were brought up knowing God's laws and how to live good lives, but nobody did. It wasn't that they weren't interested in it. They just couldn't be perfect, no matter how hard they tried. It was heartbreaking for someone like Paul, who was a religious man. People looked to him for guidance and to follow his example, but he knew he was imperfect.
We still have legalism today. Have you ever heard phrases like these? "If you really wanted to quit smoking, you would have." "I wish you'd take your alcoholism seriously." "If you really cared, you would have known I wanted you to be there." "If you'd just try, you'd do well in school, but you don't care." "If you had any interest in losing weight, you would. You've chosen to be fat." If you've ever been in a situation where you were trying your best, and someone unloaded one of those gems on you, you probably understand what Paul was feeling.
Nowadays, we have the mistaken belief that everyone is equal not just in worth, but in ability and potential. According to our common wisdom, if you're not scoring the gold medal in the Olympics, it isn't because you're not an Olympic athlete. It's because you're lazy or because you don't value sports. If you tried hard enough, you could be that NBA basketball player, or the President of the United States, or a movie star or pop star. According to our common wisdom, if you keep falling into alcoholism, it isn't because you're an alcoholic. You're just selfish, or in denial, or whatever. There's no concept that someone could be fully committed to something, and still be unable to achieve it. But that's the whole root of what sin is. We can't measure up. It's not that we just don't want to.
I'm not saying that there aren't lazy, apathetic, self-absorbed, selfish people out there. Those are all excellent causes for failure. Paul isn't talking about stuff we can identify and change. There are also imperfections in who we are, hard limits to what we can achieve without help. "All fall short of the glory," as they say. Sometimes trying as hard as you can still isn't good enough. And that's why the law by itself fails.
People talk about "struggling" with addictions and sin more than they do "indulging" in them. But when they speak to others, they take the attitude that the other person has chosen to be like that. They've chosen to be weak, or to be out of shape, or to be socially inept. They've chosen and embraced their sin, and their ineffective attempts to get it under control are a sign of how uninterested they are in change, not that they're still fighting to master it.
Sometimes our sinful nature gets the best of us. Sometimes evil wins. Sometimes well-intentioned people do bad things and fail at life. That's why we need God! That's why we need him, personally, as our savior! That's even why we need to be part of a community of believers. We can't do life alone. We need the humility that comes from having to rely on others for basic needs. We need to realize we're not God, by seeing God do what we can't do ourselves.
Next time you mess something up, remember that Jesus was without sin, but Paul, Peter, and all the others messed things up just like you. When we go to do something wonderful, Evil and Stupid are right there with us, waiting to mess up our self-generated perfection. And next time your neighbor, coworker, friend, spouse, or manservant messes something up, remember that they don't have an exclusive ability to sin. There's no reason to hold them to higher standards than you can afford to be held to yourself.
So that's life, summed up: "I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing." God's grace is so necessary and good.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Paul writes about the frustration of trying to live up to the standards of God's law. He does everything he knows to do, and still finds himself sinning. He chooses God's will, and to do the right thing, but still finds himself doing the wrong thing. We've probably all been there.
Paul lived in a society filled with legalism. It was all about human strength. People were brought up knowing God's laws and how to live good lives, but nobody did. It wasn't that they weren't interested in it. They just couldn't be perfect, no matter how hard they tried. It was heartbreaking for someone like Paul, who was a religious man. People looked to him for guidance and to follow his example, but he knew he was imperfect.
We still have legalism today. Have you ever heard phrases like these? "If you really wanted to quit smoking, you would have." "I wish you'd take your alcoholism seriously." "If you really cared, you would have known I wanted you to be there." "If you'd just try, you'd do well in school, but you don't care." "If you had any interest in losing weight, you would. You've chosen to be fat." If you've ever been in a situation where you were trying your best, and someone unloaded one of those gems on you, you probably understand what Paul was feeling.
Nowadays, we have the mistaken belief that everyone is equal not just in worth, but in ability and potential. According to our common wisdom, if you're not scoring the gold medal in the Olympics, it isn't because you're not an Olympic athlete. It's because you're lazy or because you don't value sports. If you tried hard enough, you could be that NBA basketball player, or the President of the United States, or a movie star or pop star. According to our common wisdom, if you keep falling into alcoholism, it isn't because you're an alcoholic. You're just selfish, or in denial, or whatever. There's no concept that someone could be fully committed to something, and still be unable to achieve it. But that's the whole root of what sin is. We can't measure up. It's not that we just don't want to.
I'm not saying that there aren't lazy, apathetic, self-absorbed, selfish people out there. Those are all excellent causes for failure. Paul isn't talking about stuff we can identify and change. There are also imperfections in who we are, hard limits to what we can achieve without help. "All fall short of the glory," as they say. Sometimes trying as hard as you can still isn't good enough. And that's why the law by itself fails.
People talk about "struggling" with addictions and sin more than they do "indulging" in them. But when they speak to others, they take the attitude that the other person has chosen to be like that. They've chosen to be weak, or to be out of shape, or to be socially inept. They've chosen and embraced their sin, and their ineffective attempts to get it under control are a sign of how uninterested they are in change, not that they're still fighting to master it.
Sometimes our sinful nature gets the best of us. Sometimes evil wins. Sometimes well-intentioned people do bad things and fail at life. That's why we need God! That's why we need him, personally, as our savior! That's even why we need to be part of a community of believers. We can't do life alone. We need the humility that comes from having to rely on others for basic needs. We need to realize we're not God, by seeing God do what we can't do ourselves.
Next time you mess something up, remember that Jesus was without sin, but Paul, Peter, and all the others messed things up just like you. When we go to do something wonderful, Evil and Stupid are right there with us, waiting to mess up our self-generated perfection. And next time your neighbor, coworker, friend, spouse, or manservant messes something up, remember that they don't have an exclusive ability to sin. There's no reason to hold them to higher standards than you can afford to be held to yourself.
So that's life, summed up: "I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing." God's grace is so necessary and good.
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