Romans
7 – 8
Verses 7:4 -6 discuss a subject I struggle with all the time
and that’s the law. Verse 6 puts in in a nutshell:
But now that we
have died to those chains that imprisoned us, we have been released from the
law to serve in a new Spirit-empowered life, not the old written code.
That Hebraic Law is something I have
struggled with for a long time. Reason being is we are always told to tithe,
yet never told not to eat pork. Neither are sins based on Paul’s assertions,
but are they not having us live a full life? Think about it, we have been
released from the Law, but still should live by it. Not in the legalistic way the
Israelites do, but rather for a better life in general.
God did not say don’t eat pork to be mean,
rather to ensure we did not eat a meat that was from an animal that was
designed for processing waste. What they eat goes right to their flesh and therefore
has toxic properties that are not good for the body. Ever wonder why shrimp are
used as indicator species? Because they retain all the toxins they consume in
their flesh. Now many took “don’t eat pork” as being a sin since God said it.
Verse 8:5 has us understand the difference
between living for God and not:
If you live your
life animated by the flesh—namely, your fallen, corrupt nature—then your
mind is focused on the matters of the flesh. But if you live your life animated
by the Spirit—namely, God’s indwelling presence—then your focus is on
the work of the Spirit.
That is the key, not to focus on the Law
but rather on God’s will. It’s simple when you think about it, love others like
you would love yourself and sin tends to stop. The idea eating pork or not
tithing is a sin is wrong, but doing them does have you live a healthy and
financially full life. Simple when you think about it.
I think verse 8:31 the key to life:
So what should we
say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should
we fear?
Honestly I live in fear often and really shouldn’t. When everything is going
wrong, I panic then it all comes together perfectly. That wasted energy was
just that wasted. We could have been living free and less focused on what may happen
and not enjoying what was happening in the moment.