Romans 9: 6-18
But it is not as though the Word of God has failed.
Paul is mourning the failure of most of the Jews who were not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah (see blog entries for November 7 and 8, 2019).
For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but:
Through Isaac your descendants will be named (Genesis 21: 12).
Not all of Abraham's children were chosen to carry the Promise God gave to him to posses the Land and produce the Savior. Abraham had Ishmael by his slave girl, and after Sarah died he married Keturah, who gave him six more sons. But Abraham "gave all that he had to Isaac" (Genesis 25: 5).
That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the Promise are regarded as descendants.
Not even all the genetic children were counted as his physical descendants, so also those who would be his spiritual children to be children of God would be further identified.
For this is the Word of Promise:
At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son (Genesis 18: 10).
God supernaturally gave Sarah a son from Abraham, when it was physically impossible for them to have a child. So Isaac was a product of God's Promise.
God is the One who planned out how He would have this whole story unfold.
And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
So now this miracle child is going to have twins, two children; so God will choose which one will be "the one" to officially carry His Promise.
for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,
it was said to her,
The older will serve the younger (Genesis 25: 23).
Not only will the older, Esau, serve instead of lead, his younger brother, Jacob, who will become Israel, but these two brothers will become two different Nations of people, one who will serve the Lord, and the other who will serve other, false gods.
Just as it is written,
Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Malachi 1:2-3).
By Malachi's time, it was seen how these two Nations have lived, and these two twins, in their personal lives and in their descendants, showed their allegiances, to God and to idols, through time.
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
For He says to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion (Exodus 33: 19).
God is sovereign and He will fulfill all of His Plan, just the way He wants to. He is God, we are not. And He is a good God, who always does right. He is our standard for wrong and right.
So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh,
For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole Earth (Exodus 9: 16).
God saw how the Egyptians were mistreating His covenant people, and when they cried out to Him, He answered (Exodus 3: 7-9; 6: 5). So He already knew how He would do this. He would use Pharaoh, because He knew Pharaoh wouldn't want to cooperate, anyway. God will never violate our will. So He used this king to show His power and authority over all of his gods, and destroyed his little kingdom with all the plagues and the Red Sea (Exodus chapters 5-14).
God knew He would harden Pharaoh's heart, but He let him harden his own heart 6 times before God hardened it. Then he hardened his own heart again a 7th time.
So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
God is God. He gave us the power of choice, and He will not violate our choices. In His foreknowledge, He already knows who wants to come to Him and who is set in their rebellion.
But He does not depend on us, He makes His own decisions, and He decided even before He created, that He would choose the human race to be His children. So He is not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance, and let His Son Jesus be the Lamb of God, the Sacrifice to save them.
O my Father, I thank You, and I praise You for being our good God, our compassionate Father, and our Source of everything.
You have Loved us so much that You gave Your only Son to die to be our Savior, our Messiah, and our Redeemer. You raised Him from the dead with spiritual Resurrection Life to live forevermore.
You have put all of creation into His hand to be Lord over all, and You have done everything possible and impossible to make us fit to live with You where You are, and to rule on Christ's throne with Him, as He rules on Your throne with You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Romans 9: 4-5
My kinsmen according to the flesh,
who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the Temple service and the promises,
whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Paul has just confessed his sorrow for the Chosen People who are not recognizing their Messiah (see Yesterday).
Now he's recounting all the advantages they have been given.
They were chosen by God to be His sons who would be promoted in His Family Business.
They were to receive glorified bodies in order to perform these functions.
They received the Covenants of birth and land.
They received the Law to be able to live their lives according to the way God designed this Earth to function.
They had the Temple of God to worship Him the way He deserves.
They were given all the promises of what God planned to do for them through this life and into Eternity.
They are descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Patriarchs.
This is the same genetic line of Christ Jesus, our Messiah and Savior and Redeemer, our Lord and King. He is the Lord God who spoke in earlier times to introduce Himself to His special creation, to tell us who He is, and how to relate to Him and to one another.
Our Lord God did all this for the children of Israel, so they could show the rest of the World how wonderful our God is, and want to worship Him, too.
And then He came to the Earth as one of us, born as a baby like we all enter this World. Then He grew up, just like everybody else, but then He fulfilled all the things He had told us He would do, as our perfect example, and our substitute in death as the Lamb of God.
Then He rose from the dead, to show us that God the Father had accepted His payment of our debts, and now lives forever, never more to die, as our Lord God and King.
So why did not the Israelites recognize Him? They had all the advantages, in being the first people-group to receive all the benefits. They have always been the first to hear God, receive from God, and worship God.
So what happened? Did God's Word fail?
Tomorrow we will discuss this possibility.
O my Father, thank You for all You have done. Thank You for all You are doing now. And thank You for all You will accomplish in the future, and throughout all future Eternity!
Father, You have planned it all out. You know what You want, and You have arranged for everything You planned to work out just as You desire. And You use us to do it! We are Your hands and feet, Your tongue and mouth, to draw to Yourself all those You made to be Your own children.
Father, continue to send out Your workers into Your fields, to plant and reap all of Your crops, to find and carry in all Your lost sheep.
Fill Your Great House, Father; gather all of Your uncountable number of children around Your Banquet Table to enjoy sweet fellowship forever.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is Messiah, Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Romans 9: 1-3
I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,
that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
This is a shocking statement from Paul, that he would give himself away like that for the sake of the Jews.
But when I think how Jesus, the Son of the Father, who had always enjoyed oneness together as One God, was willing to come to Earth and be separated from His Father for our sakes! When He bore our sins on the Cross, and became sin (II Corinthians 5:21); this means that He carried upon Himself our very sin-nature, the whole basket, including everything in it, all the sins that come from our sin-nature. And when He did that, the Father had to turn His back on Him! For three hours, from Noon to 3:00 pm, the time of day that the Sun shines brightest, it refused to shine at all, and darkness was over the land.
So Paul is identifying himself with Christ so much that he is also willing to suffer that excruciating sorrow of separation for the sake of his kindred, the Jews.
I wonder what I would be willing to suffer, if it means the salvation of others. Would I submit to being separated from my loved ones, who are dearest to me? Would I be willing to suffer privation without any of the "comforts" of civilization? Would I agree to be cut off from my Lord for the sake of my enemies? This is what Christ did for me!
O my Father, I know that You will never leave me! But I want to be willing to suffer anything in this World if it means others would be at Your table. You will receive all the credit for each one.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Romans 8: 26-39
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should,
On our own, we don't even know what to ask God for, or how to ask, or how to talk to God at all!
but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
The Holy Spirit prays prayers on our behalf in such passion that there are not even words in any language that can express them.
and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
He who made us knows us better than we know ourselves, and He also knows what God wants for each of us; so He asks for what He knows we need, the way we need it, when we need it, to accomplish God's will, what He graciously wants for us. There's no way we can beat that deal!
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
God has a purpose for everything He made. Including each of us. And He is so wise and clever that He planned out how He wanted to do everything that gets done, how He would use what He made to accomplish what He wanted done.
God is weaving His Tapestry, composing His Symphony, constructing His Masterpiece; one thread, one note, one stroke at a time. Using each of our stories.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
We will be among all His uncountable number of brothers and sisters.
and those whom He predestined, He also called;
Our destination is predetermined, our way there depends on our choices.
No one can come to Jesus unless the Father calls him (John 6: 44).
and these whom He called, He also justified;
Everyone who responds to the Father's drawing, He washes clean in the precious Blood of Christ, so is justified.
and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
God sees the end from the beginning. Jesus has been glorified, and we will be, too, as His body.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
How can anyone be against us, with the Creator on our side! Or we on His side!
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all,
Yes, He chose the human race to be His children, giving up His own Son.
how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
He placed everything He made in His hand, and we are His!
Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the One who justifies;
Nothing can stick, we're slick!
who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
God sent Christ Jesus to take our condemnation, and raised Him from the dead to prove He accepted the payment in full for us.
Who will separate us from the Love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written,
For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered (Psalm 44: 22).
So there is nothing anywhere that can make God Love us less!
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who Loved us.
Jesus conquered every enemy of ours, overwhelmingly, for us. Because He Loves us so passionately! As His bride.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing living or dead, nothing material or spirit, nothing in any Time-period, nothing in any dimension, nothing in any realm or Universe, can change how much God Loves us, in His own Son, Christ Jesus, who is our Lord!
O my dear Father God, Your Love for us is so far and deep and strong and expansive, our puny brains just cannot conceive it! We can't wrap our heads around Your Love for us!
You have made sure that all our enemies will be defeated and destroyed. And until they are, You will fight for us and protect us from harm; and will hold us and console and comfort us when we're wounded.
But our battle-scars are nothing compared with the hands and feet of our Lord and King! He suffered separation from the Father for three hours, an interminable length of time!
That's how much You Love us, each of us, me! You Love me more than I can imagine! When I think about it, I just can't get to the end of You. I feel that the farther I go into Your Love, the farther there is to go!
O Father, please send more workers out into all Your fields; send us out to find all Your lost sheep. Let everyone hear how much You Love them! Fill Your great house with all Your children, that every place at Your grand Banquet Table will be occupied, and we all will enjoy feasting with You in sweet fellowship!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Lord and Christ, our Lord God Almighty, our sovereign King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Romans 8: 12-25
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--
Paul never gets back to what we are under obligation to, only that it is not to be worldly.
for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die;
All flesh will die. All of our bodies are subject to the death we've earned by our sin. And if we live our lives only in view of this World, then we have no hope of anything else, we may even die sooner.
but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Even our present lives will be healthier and we will live longer if we cooperate with the ways God designed this Earth to operate, by forsaking all the sinful ways that are detrimental to our health and relationships, by looking beyond this life to the next.
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Only those who have been "born" spiritually by God placing His Spirit inside our human spirit can be led by that Spirit, and are children of God Himself.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a Spirit of Adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba, Father!"
This is the reason why God made us. He wants us to live with Him as His family. This is the goal of God sending His Son to cleanse us and send His Spirit to live in us, by which we cry, "Da-da!" "Daddy!" This is the first word out of a little child's mouth!
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
God's Spirit and our spirit are the two witnesses that are required to establish a fact (Deuteronomy 17: 6).
and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
So if we are legitimate children, born into God's family, then we will also be His heirs when we reach the "age of majority." This is already fact, we will inherit everything Christ Jesus receives from the Father: all things have been put into His hands.
if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
This suffering is linked with His glory, so I think it may have a reference to dying in execution with Him on the Cross, as well as the trials and tribulations we face in living a Christian life. Since we died with Him, we also will be glorified in Him.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
No matter what we will face in this "vale of tears," no matter how hard it is, or how tragic it is, or how painful it is, there is no comparison with all the glory God is preparing for us, and not just for us, but actually in us. This is incredible!
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
Even the Universe is looking forward to our resurrection!
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly but because of Him who subjected it,
The whole Universe was cursed with the curse God placed "on the ground" for Adam's sake because of his sin (Genesis 3: 17). The Earth resides in our Solar System, in the neighborhood of the Milky Way, in the "city" of the Universe. So since it's all connected, it all had to be cursed. This is the Second Law of Thermodynamics, called Entropy, things winding down and wearing out, going from order into chaos, and finally death.
in hope
that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
When the curse is removed, then the Universe won't have to wind down any more, it will be free to do what it does in perfect order. We are the key to that happening.
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
We can look around and see all the geological upheavals and stormy weather and earthquakes and lightening fires and tsunamis and all the other writhing of our old Earth, going through the "birth pangs" of getting through this curse.
And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
We are still in our frail bodies, even though we have God's Spirit living in our spirit, as the down payment, the earnest, the first fruits of the whole harvest that we will experience at our "graduation," our "ceremony" pronouncing that we are adults, ready to take on the responsibilities of our inheritance. This is our adoption, a Roman legal term.
For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Our hope is not a worldly wish, but a Divine certainty that we haven't experienced yet. But we know it's coming, so we persevere patiently, eagerly looking forward to that Day.
O my Father, everything You do is with purpose, and You do nothing without purpose. This curse You put on this Universe is serving a purpose of showing us that You are Creator, and that the Universe couldn't make itself. It shows Your glory and magnificence, and You've put Your beauty into every part of it.
Father, Your Love put order into the chaos, and it is Your curse upon it that causes it to wind down back into the chaos again.
And it is Your Love that is the "outside force" that redeems what You have made out of the curse of death and into the glorious state of being You originally planned.
And You will only remove those shackles from the planets and stars and constellations of this Universe when You release Your children from the flesh bodies we inhabit now, into the glorious spirit bodies You originally intended for us to have (that Paul wrote about in I Corinthians 15: 35-50).
O Father, Your Grand Plan for all creation is unfolding through the Ages for all to see. As it appears from our perspective, the whole Earth could be spinning "out of control!" But You have it on Your "string," and You only need to "flick Your finger" to bring it all right back to You, like a yo-yo.
And all things are connected, and all work together in the same Story, the same Tapestry of Time, the same Plan that You planned before You even began.
And it all is for the benefit of Your family! You are amazing, Daddy. You are a wonderful Parent, who cares for Your children more than we can imagine!
Your Love is beyond all comprehension, because You are Love (I John 4: 8). Everything You do comes from Your Love. And You don't want what You made to be locked up in the prison of death and decay, so You will release it all one Day!
And Your glory will shine forth for all to see and enjoy and rejoice in You!
O how I long for that Day, Father. Please send us out to find all Your sheep who are still wandering or stuck somewhere or caught in a trap, to release them and bring them, by the hand or kicking and screaming, into the peace and security of Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
Fill Your house with the uncountable number of Your children, Your sons and daughters, Your kings and queens, to feast with You at Your great Banquet Table!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Lord God Almighty, to the eternal glory of Almight God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Romans 8: 1-11
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Because Jesus took our condemnation upon Himself for us.
For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
We were under the sentence of death for our sin, then Christ Jesus took that sentence upon Himself; now the higher Law of Life has superseded the law of sin that had had authority over us.
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:
In our flesh, we cannot follow all the stipulations of the Law perfectly; so God did it for us.
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
Jesus had to be a real human being to die a human death; He died the death each of us deserves, in our place as our substitute, our personal Sacrifice. This is how God condemned sin in the flesh, Jesus' flesh body.
so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
This is how the Law could be obeyed perfectly, by Jesus living His life in perfect purity, in perfect obedience to the Father. This perfection is given to us, as though we ourselves obeyed all the Law perfectly, and never sinned at all. Jesus did this for us, and it is applied to our account when His blood washes us clean, each of us individually. Then He places His Spirit into our spirit, making our dead spirit alive.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Spirit and flesh are opposites and enemies. When we're thinking in our human nature, we're focused only on Earthly stuff, things we can see and handle, that will one day pass away. But when we're leaning on the Lord and thinking according to the Spirit who lives in us, then we be able to focus on what's real, that affects the World around us, and that will last forever.
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
Everything in the World will pass away; it will wear out, grow old, and die. But God is Spirit, and what is His Spirit is always Alive, because He is Life. Eternal Life. And this brings peace to calm our turmoil.
because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
One who is concerned only with fleshly things is ignoring God, not considering the way God designed this Earth to function (the Law of God), His enemy, and he does not even have the ability to perceive it.
Therefore:
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
How could God be pleased with someone who ignores Him, or who replaces Him with some man-made idol or idea?
Even if someone wants to do something good "for God," he wouldn't be able to, because even the best, most altruistic things we do, even if they are praised by the World, God cannot accept them because they are polluted by the sinfulness of the flesh. (No more acceptable than if one would offer a "filthy rag" which is an uncleanable menstrual cloth, Isaiah 64: 6; this is the only place in the Bible that this word is used for "filthy.")
Only those who have God's Spirit can do anything God can accept, being done in the power of His Spirit, and not tainted by any shadow of a sin.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
So we must make sure we really have let Jesus take our place in death, so He could wash us clean with His precious Blood splattered on the sides of His altar the Cross, to make us fit to have His Holy Spirit come into our spirit to make it alive.
Otherwise, we aren't washed, or ready for the Spirit. So we're not His.
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If Christ really is in us, even though our body will die because of the sin-nature, still our spirit is alive because of the Spirit who lives there, because the righteousness of Christ has been applied to our account.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
But if God's Holy Spirit lives in our spirit, then, because He raised Jesus from the dead, He will also raise our bodies from the mortal, fleshly bodies they are now, into beautiful, spiritual bodies that will live forever, in the very presence of God!
O my Father, no one could have imagined that You would ever put Your own Holy Spirit into our human spirits, so that we could be born into Your own family! That You would be able to clean us up so perfectly that we would be made fit to receive Your Presence inside us!
O Father, Your Plan, that Your Son volunteered to be our Lord God, and give us all the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms, to show us what You would accomplish on our behalf. Then He came and did it all!
Father, this whole story is simply incredible! That You would give us choice, to decide to even turn our backs on You, and, knowing we would do this, and mess up everything, that You would go ahead and do it all anyway!
You are so kind, so patient, so longsuffering with us; then to clean us up so completely that we will be perfect like You. That's why You will Resurrect us as You did Your Son, as our firstfruits, so we could live with You where You are, without Your Presence destroying us!
Then we will be Your kings and queens, ruling in the authority of King Jesus, as He rules in the authority of God the Father.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Lord God Almighty, the King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Romans 7: 14-25
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
Here we have an apparent conflict, between flesh and spirit.
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do but I am doing the very thing I hate.
This is what happens every time we slide naturally into temptation; we tend to sabotage ourselves.
But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
We admit that to do exactly what we're supposed to be doing would turn out to be much better than the laziness we end up giving in to.
So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
We really want to do right, and not slough off our responsibilities, so it must not be us doing it, it must just be that old pesky sinful flesh we live in!
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
Paul admits that his flesh is sinful, and everything he does in the flesh is polluted by that sin. Even when he wants to do well, he sometimes still falls back into old attitudes anyway.
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
This happens to me. I intend to do so responsibly and take care of all the business I've planned to do, then the day just gets away from me with all the distractions. So other stuff ends up running my day, not me. That sin in me catches me up and steals my time.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
Yes, I also find that principle of evil that lives in my flesh, in that damaged DNA I inherited from my father, that keeps me from doing all the good I want to do.
For I joyfully concur with the Law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
God's Spirit in my spirit shows me how to rejoice in how His Law is so orderly and keeps things running smoothly. But I still live in my flesh body, that still wants to draw me away of the good that God wants for me. It's like a heavy anchor pulling me down.
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Paul feels the same way. His flesh body pulls him down, too. Who sets us free?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Yes! Give thanks to God who sent His Son to wash us clean in His precious Blood, and strengthens us in gaining the victory over the flesh.
So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the Law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
So when we live in the flesh, we are following the law of the sinfulness of the flesh; but when we yield to God through Jesus Christ as our Lord, our Boss, then He fights our battles for us, and gains for us the victory over sin in our lives.
O my Father, You are so good, and great, and wonderful! Your order that You placed in this Universe and our Earth shows Your Love for Your creation. And Your Law that You gave to Moses, as well as all the "laws of nature" show Your Love for us all, in teaching us how to love You back, and how to love one another.
Father, You know that we are just dust, damaged goods, wretched sinners, criminal rebels who deserve death. So You sent Your own Son so that we could be redeemed; rescued from all the snares of sin that tries constantly to entangle our feet. You release us from that bondage so that we can run with You!
O Father, continue to strengthen us, prepare Your church to face what You have told us is coming, and use us to find all Your lost sheep, to draw them into the safety and compassion of home in Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
