sin – Page 5 – Be Still…

Romans 7:7-25 – The Law Exposes Sin

God’s law was given to us so we could live a thriving life in God’s will. His precepts were intended to give us the blueprint for a life that would be rich and desirable. God wants only the best for us, and his law was designed to show us what that is.

Likewise, the law exposes our sinfulness. We didn’t know it was wrong to covet (a yearning for something that doesn’t belong to us), for example, until we learned the law. It’s almost as if by knowing what we aren’t supposed to do, we fall into the trap of doing it. Despite our best efforts to be “good” we fail. We know we’ve failed because we know the law.

Romans 7:1-6 – The Law is Powerless to Save

Read Romans 7:1-6

Being under God’s grace and not under the law does NOT give us the go-ahead to sin. We have seen this in the last two days as Paul warns his readers. But this grace does give us freedom from the bondage of sin and the propensity to sin. We are given a new beginning, a fresh slate, and we can now be mindful of our sinfulness.

Romans 6:1-14 – Set Free

Read Romans 6:1-14

There is so much to digest in today’s passage. I don’t even know where to begin. How many times have you heard people say, “well if God forgives me for my sins, then I guess I can keep sinning.” (And, if you haven’t audibly heard anyone say this, then you can certainly watch their behaviors and figure that’s what they must be thinking.)

It’s not a new thought, and Paul calls it out! “Of course not!” He says. Such an attitude is taking advantage of God and his gift to us. He’s not saying we won’t sin, because we will, but we shouldn’t sin on purpose. That would surely show we don’t understand the seriousness of sin in our lives and how precious God’s forgiveness is – Jesus had to die!

Hebrews 13:10-14 – Outside the Gate

Read Hebrews 13:10-14

There is a lot of symbolism in today’s reading I probably missed the first couple times I read through this text. For some of us, understanding Jewish tradition is not something we have spent a lot of time doing. I wonder when Christians stopped observing Jewish traditions? Granted, not all early Christians were Jewish, but a lot of them were. The book of Hebrews has been written to them to help them in coming to grips with their new belief. How can you juggle two different traditions? I’m sure this book/letter was very helpful to them.

Many more Jews thought these “Christians” were crazy to believe Jesus was the Messiah. I am sure the new believers took quite a beating (maybe even literally) for this. Even today, there are traditional Jews who are upset with those who call themselves Jews yet believe Jesus is the Messiah. Yet many others don’t even know what a Messianic Jew is (one who believes Jesus is God’s son). And of ones I’ve seen randomly asked, they don’t really care what other people think. The Jewish religion historically has not been a missionary movement. By contrast, as Christians, we are called to tell the world about Jesus and his love. Continue reading “Hebrews 13:10-14 – Outside the Gate”

Hebrews 10:26-31 – Heart Check

Read Hebrews 10:26-31

So many times we go through the motions of life. There are so many things we do on autopilot, like brushing our teeth or combing our hair. Sometimes things like this are done without giving much thought to them. You don’t even necessarily put them on your To-Do List because you just know to do them.

How often do we sin and not know it? Every day. Those sins are not “deliberate” as the author describes. I was a little frightened by these words, “if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.” That seems pretty clear and final. No sacrifice will cover those sins. After some reflection, I realized these would be the sins we do on purpose or do even though we know they are sinful. That’s a whole different story. Continue reading “Hebrews 10:26-31 – Heart Check”