Friday 23 October 2009
- Bible Book:
- Romans
"I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me." (v.18b-20)
Background
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or so they say.Why is it that by 3 January most of us have already broken our newyear's resolutions? And why do we sometimes say "I'll call you" or"I'll be praying for you", only to realise two weeks later that wetotally forgot? In today's passage, Paul (the writer of the Letterto the Romans) is displaying some of this kind of conflictingthinking and acting.
So is Paul saying that all human beings are basically bad? That'scertainly what it sounds like when he says "nothing good dwellswithin me". But what he's getting at is that faith in Christdoesn't automatically turn us all into saints.
Christ has forgiven our sins but not taken away our inclination tosin, so we continue to seek our own satisfaction over the wellbeingof others. For Paul, being redeemed by Christ's death andresurrection wasn't the end of the story - in fact, it was just thebeginning. The call of God challenges our selfish impulses andprinciples and the Christian life can be a lifelong struggle withthese impulses as we move from just representing God's image toreflecting God's own full likeness.
So why can't we do the good we want to do? The fact is we can.Listen to Paul's cry of victory: "Thanks be to God - through JesusChrist our Lord!" (We'll be looking at this a little bit more intomorrow's Word in Time.)
To Ponder
So, what's holding you back today?
Think, for a moment about what you are doingcompared with what Jesus has done for you. How do you respond?