Going Up the Hill : Thoughts from Romans 7
Going Up the Hill - Thoughts from Romans 7
Have you ever walked up a hill for a long way and found it hard yet at the same time invigorating? I lived in S. Korea , and the Retreat House for us was in Seoul, at the top of that hill. I even tried to run up the hill, which was very difficult. It was such a beautiful place to be away from the duties and up the hill . I wonder if we feel that life is a hard walk up that hill? It can be very healthy to walk up the hill but it can be very hard especially in conditions of warm weather. But when you get to the top you are content to draw in the air and relax.
Our vs from Romans today remind of that hill with the huge incline. It is difficult to go against the grain of the society and culture around us, yet if we see its value, that is the law, holy and good , we will be rewarded . The God who made us gave us His Word and His law for our good and His glory. Yet there is a struggle. We struggle because though we be in Christ we are still here in the flesh and are drawn away to things in the culture, the world that are not always very helpful. The law's purpose is to reveal our sin.
Rom 7:12- " The law is holy, righteous and good..." " the law is spiritual...vs 14" So if you discount the law, the Word the Commandments, you set yourself adrift in a lawlessness. There is no law. There is no commandment. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Sound familiar? Judges 17: 6 " In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." What is the standard then? If there are no restraints, who makes the decisions? Does the majority rule? I suppose so, but what is the basis for their thinking? Is anything wrong? What values do we have?
By the law is the knowledge of sin. Sin is lawlessness. Sin cannot bring us happiness and life here in its fullness as well as the life to come. Sin is separation from God and His love. Our love is not the same as God's love. "If we love God, we should keep His commandments"
The world says go with your own ideas which is fine and good but what are the parameters and boundaries? What is good? What is true? What is helpful to live so we can have life abundantly now and then forever?
2. Struggle is not bad, but good as we climb the hill . We should struggle. Saying no to sin is good. "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my fl esh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out" Romans 7
The Church as the Body of Christ in our worship and should help us to grow out of this sin pattern. This is what Lent is trying to tell us. Grow. Listen. Obey. Be quiet. We are not the answer. Christ is.
But without repentance what kind of faith do we have? We cannot save ourselves. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. The law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, so we see why we need the law !
3. " Wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." 7:24-25 Through faith we make it to the top of the Hill of the Retreat Center, in Christ we live. In Him we have life. Life everlasting, and life abundantly here on earth. Whatever we face we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Conclusion: The law of God is there for us to savor, love and obey through Christ in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit. No, we do not like to hear it sometimes because it is hard, but God does not want our half. He wants our whole. One person committed to Him can do all things through Christ. May we try that? Look at what we are leaving out and ask ourselves, " What does God want?" Not , what do we want. Blessings.
Have you ever walked up a hill for a long way and found it hard yet at the same time invigorating? I lived in S. Korea , and the Retreat House for us was in Seoul, at the top of that hill. I even tried to run up the hill, which was very difficult. It was such a beautiful place to be away from the duties and up the hill . I wonder if we feel that life is a hard walk up that hill? It can be very healthy to walk up the hill but it can be very hard especially in conditions of warm weather. But when you get to the top you are content to draw in the air and relax.
Our vs from Romans today remind of that hill with the huge incline. It is difficult to go against the grain of the society and culture around us, yet if we see its value, that is the law, holy and good , we will be rewarded . The God who made us gave us His Word and His law for our good and His glory. Yet there is a struggle. We struggle because though we be in Christ we are still here in the flesh and are drawn away to things in the culture, the world that are not always very helpful. The law's purpose is to reveal our sin.
Rom 7:12- " The law is holy, righteous and good..." " the law is spiritual...vs 14" So if you discount the law, the Word the Commandments, you set yourself adrift in a lawlessness. There is no law. There is no commandment. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Sound familiar? Judges 17: 6 " In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." What is the standard then? If there are no restraints, who makes the decisions? Does the majority rule? I suppose so, but what is the basis for their thinking? Is anything wrong? What values do we have?
By the law is the knowledge of sin. Sin is lawlessness. Sin cannot bring us happiness and life here in its fullness as well as the life to come. Sin is separation from God and His love. Our love is not the same as God's love. "If we love God, we should keep His commandments"
The world says go with your own ideas which is fine and good but what are the parameters and boundaries? What is good? What is true? What is helpful to live so we can have life abundantly now and then forever?
2. Struggle is not bad, but good as we climb the hill . We should struggle. Saying no to sin is good. "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my fl esh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out" Romans 7
The Church as the Body of Christ in our worship and should help us to grow out of this sin pattern. This is what Lent is trying to tell us. Grow. Listen. Obey. Be quiet. We are not the answer. Christ is.
But without repentance what kind of faith do we have? We cannot save ourselves. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. The law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, so we see why we need the law !
3. " Wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." 7:24-25 Through faith we make it to the top of the Hill of the Retreat Center, in Christ we live. In Him we have life. Life everlasting, and life abundantly here on earth. Whatever we face we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Conclusion: The law of God is there for us to savor, love and obey through Christ in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit. No, we do not like to hear it sometimes because it is hard, but God does not want our half. He wants our whole. One person committed to Him can do all things through Christ. May we try that? Look at what we are leaving out and ask ourselves, " What does God want?" Not , what do we want. Blessings.
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