Romans 5-8

November 25

Romans 5-8

Sin is the curse that hangs over humanity. God gave us free will so that we could choose to love Him, but instead it was used to turn away from Him. There is no genuine love apart from free will, but the consequences of human decision have rippled out throughout the generations. Sin affects every person born into this world. It affects the environment, it brings unintended consequences. " Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—" (Romans 5:12, NIV)

There is no human solution to sin. It is too deep seated to overcome. The damage of sin is irreversible. But God became the solution; God brought reparation where brokenness reigned. Jesus came and died the death we deserved and rose for the dead in victory over sin and death. We now can unite with Jesus in His death and in His resurrection so that our old selves die with Christ and we live as new people.

We struggle with sin. As Paul says; "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (Romans 7:15, NIV) We wrestle within ourselves. Who is going to reign in my heart? Am I going to die to myself and live for Christ or am I going to remain the king of my own life. Paul expressed this dilemma and reached a point of realizing there is only one solution. "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks 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." (Romans 7:24-25, NIV) Paul realized that he did not have the answer to his problem, but God did.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2, NIV) Through our relationship with Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin. Jesus rescues us from our body of death and gives us new life in Jesus. There is no hope apart from Jesus, we cannot overcome sin, but Jesus did and He invites us to join Him in His victory.