In Christ

June 30, 2022 (Thursday)

 

Let’s do a reality check. We can wonder how good we have to be to get to heaven. However, I suspect when we ask that question, we are wondering how bad a person has to be to go to Hell. On the other hand, maybe we are insecure about our eternal destiny.

 

Paul struggled with the human condition. Let’s pick up his very personal thoughts in Romans 7:14, "So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin." [NLT] This section is stuffed with personal pronouns. From this, I understand that Paul is bearing his soul in the battle with sin. Those familiar with other translations might be familiar with the struggle between "the spirit" and "the flesh." "Spiritual" is Christianese for "good and pure." The "flesh" stands for all that is diseased, dying, and decaying in this life. In short, the "flesh" pursues sin.

 

We are sold to sin by two things. Being human, we are sinners by nature. Drawn to sin, we commit sin or omit righteousness. The dynamic of choosing to sin leads to slavery. “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” [Romans 6:16 NLT]

 

Those of us who are followers of Jesus have been freed from the slavery of sin. "Sin will have no power over you, because you aren’t under Law but under grace." [Romans 6:14 CEB] The question then becomes, if we have been freed from slavery, why go back to it? The reality is that this is not a matter of willpower. It’s about our nature, "the flesh," continually dragging us back to the vomit (see Proverbs 26:11).

 

Recognizing the failure of his will to do the things he wants to do, Paul perceives, “But now I’m not the one doing it anymore. Instead, it’s sin that lives in me.” [Romans 7:17 CEB] In what feels like the cry of a desperate man, Paul admits, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” [Romans 7:19 ESV] Can you hear the frustration as he voices his failure? Again, he claims, “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” [Romans 7:20 ESV]

 

Even when he does manage to do right, Paul anguishes, "So I find that, as a rule, when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me." [Romans 7:21 CEB] In other words, even when he does what is right, he is doing what is wrong. He cannot escape the mantle of the flesh, dragging him back into the pit of slavery. What Paul is noticing is, "but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body." [Romans 7:23 CEB]

 

Now all this seems to be a deflection of responsibility. Like the old excuse, "the devil made me do it," Paul is recognizing this eternal struggle for his soul. Yet, he understands his liability in the choice to sin, even if his willpower is useless against the "flesh" (sinful nature). He cries out, "I’m a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse?" [Romans 7:24 CEB]

 

One Roman punishment for murder was to strap the corpse of the victim on the back of the murderer. As the corpse rotted, it would rot the living flesh, eventually causing infection and death. The "flesh" (sinful nature... diseased, dying, and decaying) was literally rotting his soul! Paul has only one hope, one answer to his question, and it is a glorious answer: "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 7:25 NLT]

 

Paul declares the highest of Christian beliefs, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” [Romans 8:1 ESV] So, the real question is not how good or bad one has to be. The real question is if the person is “in Christ Jesus.”