Romans 7:15-25
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
I've appreciated that passage for years, sometimes WAY more than at other times....today is one of those days. Paul's words are so twisting and crazy-sounding in and of themselves (well, the English version of his words, anyway), not even to speak of their meaning, that they perfectly capture one of my greatest inner turmoils.
"Wretched."
"Rescue me?..."
"Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Is anyone else super grateful this passage got written and stuck in the Bible where we would see it centuries later? The fact that Paul was as screwed up as me (and like me, probably in ways not visible to the general public) always makes me feel better, somehow. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment