Romans

 

The last blog was very intense for me and probably for you so I'll keep this one as light as possible. Of course it all depends on what the Lord wants to say.

Christians all have a dual personality, one being the flesh and one being the Spirit. To walk in the flesh means you are doing what you want and when you want. Your fleshly desires overwhelm you and most often you succumb to its desires. The flesh, God knows, is in direct violation to who God is. It flies at His face and challenges His authority.

You ever had a rebellious teen do everything opposite of what you asked them to do. I have and it is infuriating to say the least. They challenge you as they grow older and think they know everything. Well, our flesh is like that, the rebellious teen, bound and determined to do whatever it wants. Even after becoming born again, the Spirit is now present to give you guidance and to convict you but no matter how hard you try, you can never seem to get rid of that one pesky thing. Paul puts it this way in Romans 7, if we try to fulfill the law by following it, there's a force at work in me to not obey it. 

In verses 18-20 he says, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Paul wasn't confessing his sins there, He was placing himself in the story of law, sin, death and our ability to not follow the law because of the flesh. He himself is walking in the Spirit, yet for teaching purposes, He placed himself in the story to bring it to relevance for those reading it. However, preachers, and I have heard this used against Paul many times, will say that Paul struggled with his flesh and we will all struggle with our flesh till the day we die. Not true. If I look back at my past and say, the way I behaved was not good, I cursed and cheated and stole and I was always out for myself, does that reflect who I was or who I am now. Obviously me talking about what I was, doesn't necessarily reflect who I am today.

Romans is meant to be read from start to finish as it is a cohesive story from start to finish. Paul is preaching in his letter to Jews and Gentiles both and so he must take into account both cultures. Jews know the law of Moses and they live by that law. From toddlers they are told stories and given laws to follow. Instead of school, children were sent to synagogue to learn Torah (the law). From a very young age Jews were indoctrinated to revere every law and to follow them to the letter. Over 600 laws were being followed by the time Jesus came on the scene. Some of those were added by priests to enhance or to compliment laws already written by God. So Paul had to put into context the complexity of sin without the law, like it was before Moses and like it was for the Gentiles who had no laws from God. Then he had to weave in sin with the law and then he had to introduce the concept of faith by spending a whole chapter on Abraham. After faith he then describes the conflict of sin, law and faith. Finally we come to Jesus who created a better way, not through the law but through faith in Him that fulfills the law in our hearts by faith in Him. It is very complex with the crescendo of the story culminating in chapters eight and nine as he reveals why Christ came and for what purpose we are to follow Him in faith. The remaining chapters are convincing the Jews that they missed the mark and rules for living in the spirit.

Romans has to be my favorite book. It is the plan of salvation laid out plainly and how we should walk in the Spirit and not the flesh. I would not pick one verse out and use it without including the chapters before or after it because it flows as one story and it builds continually from beginning to end like a building. He lays foundations from chapters 1-6 then gets into the building of the structure in 7-9 then the last several chapters are the finishing touches. It is a remarkable book that bares rereading over and over.

That said, read Romans entirely and imagine yourself as a gentile in the first century Rome just hearing about Jesus for the first time. You may have heard His name through a friend and as you noticed a change in their behavior, you asked what was up with them lately. They invite you to someone's house that evening to hear a letter about a man named Jesus. He has changed your friends life. You think sure, why not and you go. The church then was underground as they were being persecuted all over but the house you go to is secluded and hard to find. In the house they read the letter from Paul. Put yourself in those shoes, completely unaware of who Jesus is, who Paul is. Leave all your churchiness behind you and read Romans with new eyes. Ask God to give you insight, understanding and revelation as you read. Like the Jew or Gentiles first hearing of the letter from Paul, the Spirit was at work in their hearts as they saw and heard of the many wonderful things Jesus did and was doing in those that believed. Your curiosity is peaked and your heart opened for truth. Let the Holy Spirit guide you and teach you through Paul's letter to you.

To God be the Glory!