The Law

Read Romans 7

This is one of the most confusing chapters we find in Romans. When we get the point of it, it makes sense. But if we don't then we'll be saying, "Go home Paul, you're drunk!" What it comes down to is Romans 7 gets confusing, depressing, and very round-about. It's all about Paul's take on the Law.

What it comes down to is this: We are no longer under obligation to fulfill the Law, but we fulfill it anyway by being in Jesus.

As long as we are alive we are under the Law, and as we saw in chapter 5, before the Law the people were not bound by the Law, only the commandments of God of listen to him and have good relation with his creation. But, we died didn't we? Isn't that what chapter 6 was about? How we have died to sin and come alive with Jesus? So we have therefore since we are no longer alive, but instead resurrected, we are no longer under the Law. Before we died we belonged to the Law, now we belong to the one who fulfilled the Law: Jesus. Because we have been raised with him we are to bear fruit for God.

If we live in the flesh, we live according to the Law. But if we live in the Spirit, we are no longer under the Law, but the only response to living in the Spirit is to produce fruit for God.

So the big question at the moment is are you busy trying to jump through the hoops? Or are you producing fruit? Are you trying to save yourself or are you acting like you've already been saved?

Then we get into the second half of the chapter, which is where Paul gets confusing. I'll try to make this easy.

-Is the Law sin? No!
-Without the Law though we would not know what sin is.
-The Law is the canon, the measuring stick which says, "This is what is wrong, this is what is right." So without the Law, we wouldn't know what was wrong or right.
-We don't know that we have a desire to sin until we know what sin is. I never wanted to have sex until I knew what sex was. I never wanted to drink until I knew what drinking did. I didn't want to sin until I found out what sin is.
-So there are two forces working in us who are saved. That of the flesh and that of the Spirit.
-The Flesh wants to sin, which is what I don't want to do
-The Spirit doesn't want me to sin, which is what I want to do
-But my body betrays me, and I do what I don't want to do, agreeing with the Law that yes, this thing is bad and the Law is good.
-When my body betrays me and I sin, it is not be who is sinning, but the sin that is in me because in my flesh there is nothing good.
-I cannot do what is good because it is beyond my ability.

There is a war raging in each and every one of us, that sin is crouching at our door, waiting to take hold of us. And no only that buy it's killing us and we can't stop it. Sin dwells in us, making us sin, do evil, and we can't stop.

Who is going to save us from this evil?!

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the Law of God with my mind by with my flesh I serve the Law of sin.

We cannot escape sin on this earth, but God's grace is enough.

We end chapter 7 on that note, and turn the page to chapter 8 where there i hope and good news.