Paul's Conundrum

 

Thursday, June 30, 2022

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love God’s law with all my heart.  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.  This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  So you see how it is:  In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.  Romans 7:21-25

One of the dictionary definitions for the word conundrum is a riddle, or a question asked for amusement, typically one with a pun in its answer.  A second definition is:  a confusing and difficult problem or question.  Paul’s conundrum has none of the first definition; there’s little humor in struggling with sin, doing the one thing you hate most, and not doing what you really want to do, because it is the nature of darkness drawing you to it, with all the power of Hell behind it.  Paul’s conundrum is the second type, a confusing and difficult problem, and the question behind it…why can’t I do better than this?  In short, it’s a living Hell.

Paul’s conundrum is ours.  Somewhere between the cradle and adulthood, most everyone with a reasonable grip on reality begins to understand this most awkward of life’s realities:  you know you were created for better than what you do…and you also know you can’t help yourself.  It’s like that with the chocolate-covered Payday bar that has been sitting on my desk since my birthday three days ago, that I do not want to eat, yet I want to eat it more than take my next breath. 

If I had any sense (about my weight and health) I might be able to take one bite and put the balance in the fridge for next week’s bite.  It would last a month or six weeks, and I’d need that long to burn off the extra sugar thinking about doing some exercise…which is another thing tied to Paul’s conundrum.  (But I digress)

Paul’s condition (that which led him to label himself the worst of all sinners[1]) is, an unanswerable riddle, a plague in the life of everyone in Adam’s lineage.  Paul agonized over his desire to do good, and the eventual result of messing up…again, and again!  And, if you can say with a straight face that you’ve never encountered that in your personal experience, you haven’t lived long enough, sinned big enough, or honestly come face to face with reality of the human condition.  Hang around a little longer, think a little deeper, and keep your eyes open.  You will see the DNA of your personal goodness come untangled at some point.

The good news of Paul’s (and our) condition is, when you ask the same question, Who will deliver me from this hell…there is, and always has been (in the heart and lovingkindness of God’s plan) an answer for any who are willing to bend a knee.  The answer is Jesus Christ; he will BE the power that overcomes sin for you, because He knows you cannot do it by yourself.

For You Today

If you haven’t bumped into this question/conundrum, you either haven’t been honest, or you’ve not been listening.  It’s there, and it is related to whatever troubling behavior, and nagging guilt exists in the back of your mind.  And God has provided the only remedy for what ails you:

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.               1 John 1:9

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

For other posts on this topic:  Impossible and Free Will

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.  1 Timothy 1:15

God's Deep Secrets

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Friday, January 11, 2019

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.  For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.  I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling.  And my message and my preaching were very plain.  Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.  I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.  Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten.  No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.  But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.  That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”  But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit.  For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.  1 Corinthians 2:1-10(NLT)

Mystery and secrets – have I got your attention now?  Musterion is the Greek word Paul used that we translate as “mystery”; it isn’t something hard to understand or figure out…it’s quite simple, once you have the key.

I never liked the way the entertainment industry teases you with coming attractions; they sensationalize next week’s show with what promises to be the best, ever!  Then, they manage to come up with an unashamed tease for the following week that will be the best ever…ever!  All clouds, little rain!  

God, unlike Hollywood, however, always delivers on His promises.  The difference is that God reveals the key to the secret before he asks the question.  God showed up in a manger as our answer to life’s riddle about death, life and what can be done about our lives; then he asked the question:  Do you believe?

When Paul showed up in Corinth he’d had enough of intellectual debate with scholars and the elite.  Paul decided he’d simply declare the unambiguous Gospel, unencumbered by big words.  He told his listeners how Jesus came to us, was crucified by us, rose from the dead to save us, and is coming back for us.

This is hardly a James Patterson mystery novel, or a Steven King story, or a Stephen Hawking physics theorem; it’s plain enough for a child to understand.  Therein is the difference between what we humans usually trust, promises from human experience (what we can see, but don’t understand and can’t fix), over gifts from heaven (what we can’t see because we refuse to see, and don’t need to fix, only accept).

Why we refuse to accept the simple, unvarnished truth about God’s deep secrets of Jesus being the answer to our problems, personal, cultural, and eternal, is a complete mystery to me!

For You Today

Are you confused by why we have so much violence, anger, hatred, and separation in our world?  It’s no mystery in a culture rejecting Christ!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com