Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes. 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. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
There’s a story that rolls around
in my head about the campaign to end the second world war. Secrecy about the place and time of the
invasion was of utmost importance, so the Commanding General called in all the
reporters travelling with the Allied Forces and told them the exact details of
the plan…where, when, how many, and where the plan was vulnerable. He ended his talk with: Now
you know everything…and if this plan fails, I will know one of you leaked it,
and I will have every one of you shot for treason.
History assures us the reporters
kept their mouths shut! But what rolls
around is Paul’s common sense portion of Romans 7 – when you know, it is then a natural response to
want to do. And that’s the rub. Each of those reporters had the scoop of the
century, and had to sit on it. After
all, what good is playing Bernstein and Woodward[1]if you’re lying in an unmarked grave?
And this is the problem of
sin. Scripture tells us that sin is enjoyable…for a season. Reason tells us this is true; why would any
of us get involved in sin if there wasn’t something attractive about it? But the wages of sin is still death, and therein lies the rub of why we do what we do, when
doing so causes such pain. Paul answered
that question: I really don’t understand myself.
Past that self-confessing riddle of
“why” we do what we abhor, Paul arrives at the only possible conclusion – it is
not our nature to do good; we are prone towards rebellion and destruction. If you have doubt about that, 20 minutes with
the morning news cast will open your eyes.
And all of this shouts volumes
about trying to legislate the hearts of people.
If that worked at all there would not have been a cross. God laid out law upon law, written on tablets
of stone for His children. They sinned
anyway. He sent prophets to reinforce
how wrong that was; they sinned anyway.
He sent more prophets, rulers, and priests; they stoned them, drowned
them, hacked some to death, and set others on fire…and sinned, anyway. The problem with knowing what’s wrong is it
entices us to do wrong. And if you doubt
that, just tell a child he can’t have something. Or tell a teenager to be home at a certain
time. Or lay down the rules for social
distancing, handwashing, or mask wearing.
You’ll be convinced of the shortcoming of rules.
The only answer is the heart; and
to get to that you need a Savior, a cross, and blood.
Let’s
Pray Together:
Father, our hearts are the real place for Your law and Your love. We don’t accept rules; our nature sees to it, and is only challenged to break rules. Help us to see love with our hearts; Your love – the kind that went to the cross for us, and willingly took our punishment.
For You Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
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