ROMANS 7-8: DAY 22, JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
January 22, 2023
ROMANS 7-8
DAY 22: JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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Focus Verse for Today: Romans 7: 1-6
Today, our journey continues through the book of Romans. The Apostle Paul understood the struggle Jewish Christians had with transitioning to a faith-based trust in Jesus Christ, and viewing the law, the basis of their former faith, through the eyes of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Imagine if you were a middle-aged Jew when Jesus began his ministry; imagine the struggle you would encounter in adjusting, not forsaking, your past beliefs. The Apostle Paul was a good arbiter between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. It was a conflict between customs and traditions against those who were never bound by customs and traditions. It is unlikely that Gentile Christians truly understood Jewish customs and traditions. This makes it easy to understand that a Jew may find worship difficult without their former customs and traditions.
Before reading, stop and pray, asking that the Lord provide understanding of Romans 7-8. Read Romans 7-8. Let’s journey!
Romans 7-8: Today’s reading explains the proper application of law to the Jewish people after Christ’s resurrection. Early Jewish Christians struggled with seeing the fulfillment of God’s plan through mercy, as they were raised believing in obedience to the law was what made you righteous in God’s sight. The problem with this form of faith is that the law cannot save you. As Paul points out the law’s authority over you ceases at your death. The law may condemn you: it can never save you. Christ fulfilled all the requirements of the law when He shed His blood, as our sacrificial lamb, at Calvary, washing away our sin that His Father, God Himself, sees us as the righteousness of Christ. (Romans 7:1-8:38)
Our focus verse for today:
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans:7:1-6, NIV)
Where is the law, in a Christian’s life, in today’s world? As we journey through our faith life, which encompasses every part of life, the temptations and struggles that were all about the Apostle Paul are with us today. The law reveals what sin is. Man’s struggle with sin began when Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation. Shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, God sent the Holy Spirit to each of us to help us battle off temptations that led to sin when acted upon. Christ fulfilled the requirement of shed blood to cover our sins protecting us from the consequence of living a sinful life: Death! Does Christ’s blood protect those who choose a lifestyle of sin? What type of lifestyle do you lead? Are there changes that need to be made?
Godspeace!
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