In order to understand how we are built for others, we first must revisit God’s character to see who we are built by.
God’s Character:
He is Merciful
He is Love
and He is a Fair Judge
The first two items may be easy to attribute to God, but the third is a place we struggle. Is God a judge, and more to the point, a fair judge? What is a fair judge?
A fair judge is one who rules in a non-partisan way and administers judgment based on impartiality. If you go before a human judge, the judge’s job is to use the law as a basis for his/her judgment. So, if you steal a bottle of shampoo and are caught, the judge is going to look at the law broken, your contrite or oppositional behavior, and render a verdict based on all of the information given. The judgment rendered will be in alignment with the crime committed.
A fair judge rules based on the boundary that was crossed and the contriteness of the lawbreaker. A lawbreaker who is genuinely sorry may be judged with some mercy, but an impartial judge also realizes that a penalty must be paid for the law broken. This is because a judge rules with the law in mind.
If you are a parent, you know this law well. You set boundaries for your children and when they test those boundaries, you, as a fair judge, is going to show them why it is wrong to cross the boundary. It isn’t because you want to be mean to your child, it is because you want your child to understand that the boundary in place is there for their well-being. The boundary to teach them a lesson. It is there to help them avoid getting into further trouble.
Parents and children are great metaphors of how God helps us to understand his love. Because of God’s mercy and love, he created us for communion with him. Sin breaks that communion. When we cross a boundary God has set for us, it is our rebellion against God’s laws. We struggle with this our entire life. We sometimes view God as mean or unloving because of these boundaries, but we have to understand that it isn’t He who does wrong, but us. We forget that those boundaries are there to help us see God in a brighter light.
This struggle is a life-long struggle. It could he a habit or addiction, a mindset or a prejudice. It could be the way you divide people or judge people or the way you look at life in a jaded way. We look at God’s laws and boundaries and want to push through them. This is the creation struggling against the creator.
When God judges, we can look at it as though we don’t deserve it, but God only judges after He has given us a long rope. If you consider many of the stories in scripture of the long rope that God gives (Those created before Noah, Egypt, Canaan, Israel multiple times, Judah), you’ll see that He indeed gives nations, and even people (like David) long stretches of time, and multiple chances to understand the loving relationship He wants us to partake in. When it is time for judgment, it is because we have turned our back on God for an extended period of time. We’ve allowed rebellion into our hearts.
Understanding the relationship
Our relationship is personal
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
We don’t choose God; He chooses us. The relationship that He offers is a gift from God that we can either accept or deny. Of course, there are eternal implications for either choice.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
This relationship, which God has invited us into, has the ability to redeem us. Our belief in Christ, our repentance through Him and our turn from sin marks our adoption into an eternity that is defined by love and intimacy with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Once our life on this earth ends, we will be headed for an eternity. We are all to stand before God based on where we put our faith. If we put our faith in Christ, then we will deal with God’s mercy. If we choose to have faith in ourselves or in the world, then we will deal with God’s wrath.
Our relationship is public
John 3:3
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
The beginning of our public relationship is to understand that once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, it is a new beginning. We become a New Creation, and what that means is that there is an intervention in your sinful life (Christ) and from that intervention there is a change of your heart (rebirth). In that change there is repentance (a change of mind that result sin a change of action). This is shown in your heart and showed outwardly in your public life. Rebirth (The New Creation) is essential for a true, or authentic, conversion.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
What Paul says here is profound. It is that dividing line between the old and new life. It is important to understand that all of that sin and corruption of the old life is gone, now covered in righteousness through Christ, but it doesn’t mean that the consequences, the broken relationships, the human fingerprint of your life is gone. That is part of the past we struggle with, and it is one of the reasons we struggle with the idea of being Christian and still having the impulse to sin. Because those strongholds of the former life are still there, despite the heart changing. When the basis for our life changes from selfishness to love, our motives change moving forward.
C.S. Lewis said this: “If conversion makes no improvements in a man’s outward actions, then I think his ‘conversion’ was largely imaginary.” There is wisdom in this quote. If we accept Christ and there is no visible change, then we have to wonder if the act of accepting Christ was real, because the relationship, by definition, changes the heart.
Our private relationship leads to public action
Colossians 4:5-6
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
When we share with others, it should always be in a gracious fashion.
Mark 16:15
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Sharing should be an extension of the truth. If we understand the truth of Christ, then it is valuable to pepper our conversations with that truth.
John 15:16
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Sharing should be courageous. If we remind ourselves that God chose us for purpose (bearing fruit), then it should translate into how we share with others.
Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
When sharing, we should always be aware of its eternal implications. We have a duty to help others see the light, whether it be through our words, actions or example.
Jesus’ Command
Matthew 22:37-40 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
God must be the center of our life. It is where our time, energy and focus must be. We are in a battle of selfishness vs. selflessness. All of the teachings of the Old Testament, as well as all of the prophets, lead to these two commands, which Christ tells us incorporate all of the commands.
What that means is that if you are loving God as best you can (with all of your energy) and loving others as best you can, then you probably aren’t breaking commandments (stealing, lying, etc.). You are probably treating others properly and contributing to your foundational relationship. It isn’t about being perfect, but about addressing the priorities in our life. Anything, good or bad, has the ability to steal focus of the relationship away from us. That is why we must return to that focus with passion.
James 1:27 says it a different way:
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
What is James saying? Religion, as he puts it, is only recognized by God as valid in two ways: One, to take care of the people around you. Widows and orphans, in James’ time, were the most maligned people in that society. A widow could not remarry, therefore was essentially extradited by society both financially and culturally. An orphan had no inheritance to collect, no bloodline to continue. They were outcasts.
Secondly, he says to stay unpolluted by the world. How does one do that? First, you attach yourself to the truth. You learn who God is. You study the scripture. You deepen relationship with God. It is really the same message as Christ’s.
The Human Problem
When it comes down to it, many of us don’t want to help people. Sure, it sounds lofty and something we’d like to do, but when it comes down to it, we just choose not to. Why? It is because we’ve had a mindset about others for most of our life and have never chose to explore it.
When you were young, you discovered you could squirm out of responsibility. It began with faking a sickness so you could stay home from school, or lying to your parents or teachers about something. The problem was, you got away with it. When you realized this could work for a number of situations, it became clear that you could create not only a habit of this, but a lifestyle. Why? Because it was easier to avoid doing something than to actually do it. You avoided vulnerability. You avoided discomfort. You simply bowed out.
But this hurt you spiritually. It weakened you. How? Because God providentially put people, circumstances and even trials into your life for the purpose of growing you and you refused the lesson! Your training was stunted by your own inability to listen to God. So now, when opportunities, or sin, come along, do you have the ability to rise to the occasion? Can you fight the sin?
This type of thinking is a holdover from the strongholds we built in the former life. Those stronghold against God were built in defiance of accountability. Denying the opportunities to stand up was just another way we opposed God. And here’s the kicker: we are all guilty of knowing God and abandoning Him.
Romans 1 tells us that everyone knows God on some level. If that is the case, what are the underlying reasons we fight against Him?
Romans 7:7
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
When we are introduced to God’s law, we are introduced to boundaries that God sets for us. So the first reason we resist is because the boundaries, drawn by
God, are there to show us where the line is to rebellion.
Romans 7:8-12
8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but
when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
But the law doesn’t just reveal God’s boundaries; it also reveals our weakness. Let’s break it down.
8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
The law reveals our rebellious heart. “Don’t do that!” often causes opposition. Have you ever been told that you can’t do something and that thing, whatever it may be, causes you to want to do it even more? Think of a speed limit sign. How often do we look at it and scoff. Or maybe it’s a different law. Now extrapolate that to God’s law. This is rebellion, built into us and yet independent of us, like a snake that weaves around and through us.
9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
It was easier to live without the law. It was easier to have a life based just upon our selfish desires. But it isn’t sustainable. When we learn about the boundaries, it inspires sin in us. It shows us our guilt.
10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Sin tricks us into thinking it is more valuable than purity.
Sin promises:
Satisfaction
Excuse
Escape from Punishment
But none of these things are true.
Romans 7:13-20
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
The law isn’t the problem; we are the problem. God’s boundaries reveal our sinful nature.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
The law cannot save an unspiritual man. The law doesn’t have the ability to do so. Again, if we think of the law like that speed limit sign, does the sign have the ability to give you a ticket or slow down your speed? It is there as a marker to the boundary of the law.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
We may have the desire to do what’s right, and understand intellectually what is right, but we still don’t have the power in ourself to do it.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For 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. 19 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. 20 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.
We act against the NEW MAN in Jesus Christ. This holdover from the old life, this corrupted way of thinking, actively works against our New Creation status. It
isn’t part of our sinful nature but more a part of our habitual thought process. We con ourself into thinking that we don’t have the ability to rise above sin so we engage in a fight that we know all too well. The fight of what the spirit wants (the New Creation) and what the flesh wants (sin nature/old corrupt thinking).
“No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.” - C.S. Lewis
Romans 7:21-24
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 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.
In this great fight of spirit vs. flesh, who is the real person? Is it the person who yearns after God or the one who sins? The real person is the New Creation, the person who delights in God’s law. What Paul is beginning to do is to articulate the concept of sin being a separate entity.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
When we couple real power with the desire and intellect, we finally have a source to power our faith. It is about understanding that we can’t do it on our own. We need the power of Jesus to overcome.
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.
There is no resolution here. Even though Paul has Christ, he still has the law of sin working in him. This is the same for each of us. We all fight this battle and will continue in battle for the rest of our life. That is why it is important to draw on Christ’s power continually.
ROMANS 8:1-5
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
We are saved by faith in Jesus, saved from sin (flesh)
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
The law (boundaries) can’t save us; but faith in Christ can. The NEW MAN does not live by the flesh (sin), but by the spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The NEW MAN focuses on the spirit (eternal).
The Solution
Our fight is the same fight that goes on in each life
Everyone is bound by God’s law
Everyone has a flesh vs. spirit fight
Everyone sins and falls short
This is the baseline we must use when dealing with people
Four questions:
Do you desire to help others?
If so, how are you helping others?
Do you realize, as a new creation, you can view others through a lens of equality rather than division?
Are you willing to view people differently?
God’s Character:
He is Merciful
He is Love
and He is a Fair Judge
The first two items may be easy to attribute to God, but the third is a place we struggle. Is God a judge, and more to the point, a fair judge? What is a fair judge?
A fair judge is one who rules in a non-partisan way and administers judgment based on impartiality. If you go before a human judge, the judge’s job is to use the law as a basis for his/her judgment. So, if you steal a bottle of shampoo and are caught, the judge is going to look at the law broken, your contrite or oppositional behavior, and render a verdict based on all of the information given. The judgment rendered will be in alignment with the crime committed.
A fair judge rules based on the boundary that was crossed and the contriteness of the lawbreaker. A lawbreaker who is genuinely sorry may be judged with some mercy, but an impartial judge also realizes that a penalty must be paid for the law broken. This is because a judge rules with the law in mind.
If you are a parent, you know this law well. You set boundaries for your children and when they test those boundaries, you, as a fair judge, is going to show them why it is wrong to cross the boundary. It isn’t because you want to be mean to your child, it is because you want your child to understand that the boundary in place is there for their well-being. The boundary to teach them a lesson. It is there to help them avoid getting into further trouble.
Parents and children are great metaphors of how God helps us to understand his love. Because of God’s mercy and love, he created us for communion with him. Sin breaks that communion. When we cross a boundary God has set for us, it is our rebellion against God’s laws. We struggle with this our entire life. We sometimes view God as mean or unloving because of these boundaries, but we have to understand that it isn’t He who does wrong, but us. We forget that those boundaries are there to help us see God in a brighter light.
This struggle is a life-long struggle. It could he a habit or addiction, a mindset or a prejudice. It could be the way you divide people or judge people or the way you look at life in a jaded way. We look at God’s laws and boundaries and want to push through them. This is the creation struggling against the creator.
When God judges, we can look at it as though we don’t deserve it, but God only judges after He has given us a long rope. If you consider many of the stories in scripture of the long rope that God gives (Those created before Noah, Egypt, Canaan, Israel multiple times, Judah), you’ll see that He indeed gives nations, and even people (like David) long stretches of time, and multiple chances to understand the loving relationship He wants us to partake in. When it is time for judgment, it is because we have turned our back on God for an extended period of time. We’ve allowed rebellion into our hearts.
Understanding the relationship
Our relationship is personal
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
We don’t choose God; He chooses us. The relationship that He offers is a gift from God that we can either accept or deny. Of course, there are eternal implications for either choice.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
This relationship, which God has invited us into, has the ability to redeem us. Our belief in Christ, our repentance through Him and our turn from sin marks our adoption into an eternity that is defined by love and intimacy with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Once our life on this earth ends, we will be headed for an eternity. We are all to stand before God based on where we put our faith. If we put our faith in Christ, then we will deal with God’s mercy. If we choose to have faith in ourselves or in the world, then we will deal with God’s wrath.
Our relationship is public
John 3:3
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
The beginning of our public relationship is to understand that once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, it is a new beginning. We become a New Creation, and what that means is that there is an intervention in your sinful life (Christ) and from that intervention there is a change of your heart (rebirth). In that change there is repentance (a change of mind that result sin a change of action). This is shown in your heart and showed outwardly in your public life. Rebirth (The New Creation) is essential for a true, or authentic, conversion.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
What Paul says here is profound. It is that dividing line between the old and new life. It is important to understand that all of that sin and corruption of the old life is gone, now covered in righteousness through Christ, but it doesn’t mean that the consequences, the broken relationships, the human fingerprint of your life is gone. That is part of the past we struggle with, and it is one of the reasons we struggle with the idea of being Christian and still having the impulse to sin. Because those strongholds of the former life are still there, despite the heart changing. When the basis for our life changes from selfishness to love, our motives change moving forward.
C.S. Lewis said this: “If conversion makes no improvements in a man’s outward actions, then I think his ‘conversion’ was largely imaginary.” There is wisdom in this quote. If we accept Christ and there is no visible change, then we have to wonder if the act of accepting Christ was real, because the relationship, by definition, changes the heart.
Our private relationship leads to public action
Colossians 4:5-6
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
When we share with others, it should always be in a gracious fashion.
Mark 16:15
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Sharing should be an extension of the truth. If we understand the truth of Christ, then it is valuable to pepper our conversations with that truth.
John 15:16
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Sharing should be courageous. If we remind ourselves that God chose us for purpose (bearing fruit), then it should translate into how we share with others.
Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
When sharing, we should always be aware of its eternal implications. We have a duty to help others see the light, whether it be through our words, actions or example.
Jesus’ Command
Matthew 22:37-40 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
God must be the center of our life. It is where our time, energy and focus must be. We are in a battle of selfishness vs. selflessness. All of the teachings of the Old Testament, as well as all of the prophets, lead to these two commands, which Christ tells us incorporate all of the commands.
What that means is that if you are loving God as best you can (with all of your energy) and loving others as best you can, then you probably aren’t breaking commandments (stealing, lying, etc.). You are probably treating others properly and contributing to your foundational relationship. It isn’t about being perfect, but about addressing the priorities in our life. Anything, good or bad, has the ability to steal focus of the relationship away from us. That is why we must return to that focus with passion.
James 1:27 says it a different way:
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
What is James saying? Religion, as he puts it, is only recognized by God as valid in two ways: One, to take care of the people around you. Widows and orphans, in James’ time, were the most maligned people in that society. A widow could not remarry, therefore was essentially extradited by society both financially and culturally. An orphan had no inheritance to collect, no bloodline to continue. They were outcasts.
Secondly, he says to stay unpolluted by the world. How does one do that? First, you attach yourself to the truth. You learn who God is. You study the scripture. You deepen relationship with God. It is really the same message as Christ’s.
The Human Problem
When it comes down to it, many of us don’t want to help people. Sure, it sounds lofty and something we’d like to do, but when it comes down to it, we just choose not to. Why? It is because we’ve had a mindset about others for most of our life and have never chose to explore it.
When you were young, you discovered you could squirm out of responsibility. It began with faking a sickness so you could stay home from school, or lying to your parents or teachers about something. The problem was, you got away with it. When you realized this could work for a number of situations, it became clear that you could create not only a habit of this, but a lifestyle. Why? Because it was easier to avoid doing something than to actually do it. You avoided vulnerability. You avoided discomfort. You simply bowed out.
But this hurt you spiritually. It weakened you. How? Because God providentially put people, circumstances and even trials into your life for the purpose of growing you and you refused the lesson! Your training was stunted by your own inability to listen to God. So now, when opportunities, or sin, come along, do you have the ability to rise to the occasion? Can you fight the sin?
This type of thinking is a holdover from the strongholds we built in the former life. Those stronghold against God were built in defiance of accountability. Denying the opportunities to stand up was just another way we opposed God. And here’s the kicker: we are all guilty of knowing God and abandoning Him.
Romans 1 tells us that everyone knows God on some level. If that is the case, what are the underlying reasons we fight against Him?
Romans 7:7
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
When we are introduced to God’s law, we are introduced to boundaries that God sets for us. So the first reason we resist is because the boundaries, drawn by
God, are there to show us where the line is to rebellion.
Romans 7:8-12
8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but
when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
But the law doesn’t just reveal God’s boundaries; it also reveals our weakness. Let’s break it down.
8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
The law reveals our rebellious heart. “Don’t do that!” often causes opposition. Have you ever been told that you can’t do something and that thing, whatever it may be, causes you to want to do it even more? Think of a speed limit sign. How often do we look at it and scoff. Or maybe it’s a different law. Now extrapolate that to God’s law. This is rebellion, built into us and yet independent of us, like a snake that weaves around and through us.
9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
It was easier to live without the law. It was easier to have a life based just upon our selfish desires. But it isn’t sustainable. When we learn about the boundaries, it inspires sin in us. It shows us our guilt.
10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Sin tricks us into thinking it is more valuable than purity.
Sin promises:
Satisfaction
Excuse
Escape from Punishment
But none of these things are true.
Romans 7:13-20
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
The law isn’t the problem; we are the problem. God’s boundaries reveal our sinful nature.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
The law cannot save an unspiritual man. The law doesn’t have the ability to do so. Again, if we think of the law like that speed limit sign, does the sign have the ability to give you a ticket or slow down your speed? It is there as a marker to the boundary of the law.
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
We may have the desire to do what’s right, and understand intellectually what is right, but we still don’t have the power in ourself to do it.
17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For 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. 19 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. 20 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.
We act against the NEW MAN in Jesus Christ. This holdover from the old life, this corrupted way of thinking, actively works against our New Creation status. It
isn’t part of our sinful nature but more a part of our habitual thought process. We con ourself into thinking that we don’t have the ability to rise above sin so we engage in a fight that we know all too well. The fight of what the spirit wants (the New Creation) and what the flesh wants (sin nature/old corrupt thinking).
“No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.” - C.S. Lewis
Romans 7:21-24
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 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.
In this great fight of spirit vs. flesh, who is the real person? Is it the person who yearns after God or the one who sins? The real person is the New Creation, the person who delights in God’s law. What Paul is beginning to do is to articulate the concept of sin being a separate entity.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
When we couple real power with the desire and intellect, we finally have a source to power our faith. It is about understanding that we can’t do it on our own. We need the power of Jesus to overcome.
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.
There is no resolution here. Even though Paul has Christ, he still has the law of sin working in him. This is the same for each of us. We all fight this battle and will continue in battle for the rest of our life. That is why it is important to draw on Christ’s power continually.
ROMANS 8:1-5
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
We are saved by faith in Jesus, saved from sin (flesh)
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
The law (boundaries) can’t save us; but faith in Christ can. The NEW MAN does not live by the flesh (sin), but by the spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The NEW MAN focuses on the spirit (eternal).
The Solution
Our fight is the same fight that goes on in each life
Everyone is bound by God’s law
Everyone has a flesh vs. spirit fight
Everyone sins and falls short
This is the baseline we must use when dealing with people
Four questions:
Do you desire to help others?
If so, how are you helping others?
Do you realize, as a new creation, you can view others through a lens of equality rather than division?
Are you willing to view people differently?