June 30th - Reflection

Romans 7:1-6 (NRSV)
Dying to the law through Christ
Do you not know, brothers and sisters -- for I am speaking to those who know the law -- that the law is binding on a person only during that person's lifetime? Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.

In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.

Reflection
Being dead to the law, we are now free to be united to Jesus. You are free and we are free. You, since you die to the law individually through Jesus, and we, since when we are free, we are in the body of Jesus with Jesus as the head and Lord of all.

We can live our lives bound up in the rules and laws created. Some laws are good that show us our sin and our need for a Savior. Other laws are just laws that trap us into behavior desired by others and ourselves.

We can repent of our sin. But it's a little more than just confessing our sin. When we confess our sin we acknowledge the sin. We smell the stench of our sin. We know that the sin is there and present. But when we repent, we humbly turn to God and acknowledge that through Jesus is our only way to salvation. Jesus death and resurrection is our only course. We can't ever be good enough to confess and free ourselves from sin. Only through Jesus are we free from sin. And in this repentance we join other believers as one in the body of Christ. What a joy! What a freedom! Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, as I acknowledge the stench of my sin, I come to you a broken man. I know that it's not all about me. It's all about you. Only you can save me from my sinful self. Lord, I ask this day that you would forgive me, renew me, and restore me to your grace. For you alone are my Savior and Lord...today...tomorrow...and forever. --- Amen