Romans Chapter 7 cont'd
I know what you're tempted to think. "If this is the case, the Mosaic law is to be equated with sin." Right? Wrong! First of all, this code clearly defined sin from God's perspective. For instance, I didn't know about the evil nature of covetousness until I was taught the Ten Commandments. Before we are educated concerning God's moral standards, we obviously have many ethical "blind spots." But secondly, it created another more subtle and ironic dynamic. When we do become exposed to the knowledge of good and evil, our rebellious hearts spring into action and conceive new ways to sin. (Once I learned about lusting, the latent and hidden lust in my heart went into “overdrive”.) You see, the problem is not in the commandments, it is inside of people's hearts. When I was more ignorant of good and evil, I thought everything was fine; but when I learned more, sin awakened within me, overpowered me and wiped me out. The knowledge of God's commandments, which I stockpiled to equip me for the moral battle, was the very ammunition that sin stole from me and then loaded into its weapons to destroy me. I didn't realize that it had been hiding in the munitions depot the whole time!
Comments:
In Romans 7, Paul speaks in detail about the emotional and psychological processes that we, in our weak humanity, experience in relation to law, ethics, temptation and giving in to sin. One of the amazing things that stands out to me as I read this passage is how God is not shocked, scandalized or intimidated by the sins of humanity...far from it. He knows the conditions of our hearts so much better than we do ourselves, and because of his grace, he wants us to see more clearly how we tend to minimize, suppress, hide, redefine and put "cosmetics" on our brokenness and rebellion. Have you ever raised a beloved two year old?! It seems that, left to ourselves, we are stuck in the "terrible two's", spiritually speaking. Our Father in heaven loves us so dearly, but he calls us to face our failures and limitations head on: "De-nial ain't just a river in Egypt!"
Paul posits the concept that God instituted the law through Moses, among other reasons, to function as a compassionate diagnostician that ferrets out the dis-ease (that which is robbing us of true peace) that has permeated our nature, life and relationships. It is a tool he has used across the span of history and cultures to prepare people to receive the free gift of salvation he has extended to us in Jesus the Christ. Because our inner nature is bent toward "doing our own thing" rather than "minding" God and because we justify ourselves in our independence from him in so many imaginative and self-deceptive ways, he gave us his law to expose to ourselves the mess that our inner being is in. Sin is so bad that God had to come in person to the planet to deal with it in a comprehensive and conclusive way by means of an ultimate personal sacrifice. To cover it up is not the solution to its presence or effects in this world.
God's law provides the necessary dynamic "relief" or contrast so that we can perceive how far short of his beauty we fall when left to our own wisdom and strength. To humbly acknowledge our moral and spiritual brokenness and to gratefully agree to believe in God's miraculous provision for us in Jesus Christ is the only sure foundation for the new life that he longs to freely dispense to any person who will simply receive it like a child.
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