Romans – Chapter 7

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. Romans 7:13 – Imagine someone was eating a meal yet after that meal they became sick. You approach the situation, see that they have been using spoiled ingredients and settle that’s why they are feeling sick after eating. You then go and tell them of your discovery of the spoiled ingredients so they’d stop using them and start feeling better. In this situation, were you the problem? Not at all, you were the one to point out the problem was the spoiled ingredients! Such is the law in this chapter. Sin was destroying us, but we didn’t see sin as sin. The Law came and revealed to us the “spoiled” nature of the sin in our life and how it was destroying us. The Law wasn’t the problem, it was the sin. For us our problem in life comes when we don’t see sin as sin. If the sinful parts of our life aren’t seen as “spoiled ingredients,” then we’ll keep cooking with them and keep consuming them and keep getting sick off them. In order to live holy for the Lord, we must see sin as sin, and not see sin simply as something harmless that can remain in our story a little longer. As the law was in this chapter, allow God’s word to be ever present in your story. It points out the spoiled nature of things that we may have never known were sin and reveals to us how deadly such things have been in our life so far. Find yourself in a scripture preaching church, find yourself in community that lifts high God’s Word, and be in the Word yourself. Let the Word of the Lord be for you the light to see the sin hidden in the dark so you can be free of sin’s havoc. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3430

I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. Romans7:9 – It’s like seeing yourself in a mirror and noticing your hair is going crazy. After looking in the mirror you are aware of the messy hair and know something needs to be done to fix it. But did you have messy hair before looking in the mirror? Of course, it wasn’t like you had the perfect do yet the second you looked in the mirror it became messy. So is it with us, sin, and the law. The law is the mirror that helps us realize the sin in our life. It can’t do anything to fix our sin as the mirror can’t fix our messy hair, it can sure though help us see what needs to be done. Sin is a nasty part of everyone’s story that’s keeping us from our Savior. We need the truth of God’s law to reveal our need for Him otherwise we’ll be walking throughout life blind to our sin as someone who has messy hair walks confidently because they haven’t looked in a mirror yet. Listen then to God’s law and share it, not because it can save anyone, but if someone doesn’t yet realize they are lost why would they look for rescue? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1055

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25 – Paul is seeing in himself a constant and real battle. A battle between his desire to follow God and do what is right, but his actions still of turning to sin. While he wants to do what is good he continues to find himself doing what is wrong. In his distress he cries for help and reminds himself that he has the Lord with him to save. Paul here brings up important pieces for us to understand. For a non-Christian, the only way to be saved from our sin is through Jesus. And for a Christian, the only way to live holy for the Lord is through Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, I can’t live perfectly, doing the will of God, living a sin-free life on my own. I don’t possess the power to say no to sin on my own. Yet, with the Spirit of the Lord within me, I can say no to the things I couldn’t say no to before. Jesus is our power and strength against sin and the enemy. As Paul said, thanks be to God that we have this help in Jesus Christ! So know today if we aren’t leaning on the help of Jesus, not using His strength, our battle against sin will not end well. We will continue to stumble and continue to fall prey to the temptations. Yet with Jesus we can find victory over sin once and for all. Lean into His help that He is offering you today. Sin doesn’t have to find victory in your story anymore now that you have Jesus with you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2416