Follow-up to December 4th teaching

Sunday-follow up
Romans 7 – “The problem is with me”

Human nature is such that we want to blame others for our sinful choices. We see this in many ways in society. We want to blame our choices on the environment we were raised in. If I was raised in a different environment, I would have made different choices. What we fail to see is how corrupt and sinful our old nature is. In the Millennial kingdom, the world will have the perfect ruler (Jesus), and a world free of the influences of Satan (locked away), and yet mankind will still sin. At the end of the 1,000-year reign of Jesus, Satan will be released and lead one last attempt to overthrow Jesus. People will do this because of their sinful nature.

Creation tells us there is a Creator, but mankind wants to worship creation. The moral law (10 commandments) tells us we are to worship God alone, but mankind wants to worship things of their own making. We are told not to murder, but mankind has deemed it okay to take the life of an unborn child. We are told not to commit adultery, but mankind has deemed it okay if I love that person. We are told not to steal, but mankind has deemed it okay if is not worth the effort to prosecute. We don’t need a law to tell us that abortion is wrong, yet people become outraged when laws are passed to protect the lives of the innocent.

Why are things this way? Because sin has so thoroughly corrupted the nature we are born with that, as Paul says in chapter 7 – “For I know that nothing good dwells in me.” The natural man (who we are before we are born-again) rebels against God and His law. And when we are told that the wages of sin is death, we cry “unfair”.

Thankfully there is hope through faith in Jesus Christ. Upon our spiritual birth, we are set free from our slavery to sin and we no longer live under the penalty of the Law because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for us. Now instead of receiving the wages of our sins, we live under the grace of God each day.

Sadly, though I am no longer a slave to sin, because sin still resides in me, I will continue to struggle with my sinful desires. But there is hope. The Bible tells us that those of us who follow Jesus will one day receive glorified bodies that will be forever free of sin. In Revelation 21:4 we are told this – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Why will there be no more death, sorrow, or pain? Because sin will be no more. You see death, sorrow, and pain exist because sin exists in us. When sin is removed from us, so too will those things be gone. So we need to stop blaming people and things for our sinful choices and realize the problem is with us. When we can do that, then we will seek the One who can help us.