I had a great time Wednesday night as I filled in for Pastor Jason. Pastor has been working his way through the Book of Romans. I took over at Chapter 7, Verse 1. My goal was to do no harm. I wanted Pastor to be able to take over next week where he left off.
Chapter 7 of Romans reminds us that we are under the law only as long as we live. When we are born again, the old man dies. With that death, our bond to the law ends and our connection with Jesus begins. The ancient prophecy and God’s promise to write the law on our hearts is finally fulfilled.
Our problem is that, like the Israelites, we want to go back to Egypt. We resist a life not governed by rules but by relationship. How would our marriages be if we followed all the “rules” of a good marriage, instead of living out our relationship from the love that is at its heart?
In our life in Christ it is possible, for the first time, to really overcome sin. When we begin to experience little victories, we get the crazy idea that it’s something we did instead of Christ workng in us. Pride leads us to think we can do it on our own. We begin to contrast and compare our lives with others. God doesn’t grade on the curve. We can’t ever satisfy the law on our own. We can only progress toward that goal through the work of Christ in us.
We measure our progress not by comparison with others but by how much others see Christ in us.
When you have some quiet time, give a listen to our Wednesday night meeting. I hope it will bless as it blessed me. Follow the link and click on “The Law and the Gospel.” As a special treat, if you listen carefully you can hear me trying to sing. This has never been recorded before. This recording may be worth something one day for that reason alone. 🙂
Thanks for the opportunity Pastor Jason.
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