December 7, 2008

In Romans 6, Paul exhorted us to live as those who have truly died to sin, been set free from it, and now made slaves of righteousness to God. In Romans 7, Paul takes a bit of a detour. He wants first to show that the law is not faulty, and second to set up a contrast that magnifies the blessing that we have in Christ and in the Spirit. So he takes a step back to consider what our life was before our salvation, apart from Christ and the Spirit. Speaking of those "living in the flesh," for whom sin was still master, and in whom sin is still producing death, Paul asks the question, "who will deliver me from this body of death?" This hopelessness and death sets up the contrast that Paul will later make clear in Romans 8. Already in the final verse of chapter 7, we see his answer to this question: Christ Jesus our Lord. In the coming weeks in Romans 8 we will see the riches of what we have in Christ and in the Spirit: life, no condemnation, power to put sin to death, adoption, hope of future glory, God's wise and good care for us, and his love and nearness. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!