Heart and mind on Jesus brings freedom, although a different kind of freedom than Americans think about these days.
In Romans 7 Paul teaches about Law and Gospel with an illustration from marriage, which I’ll amplify. Imagine that a good, moral woman is married to a difficult and demanding husband. Try as she does, she can’t satisfy him and is unhappy. Leave him, cheat? No, she honors the marriage vows. In time the demanding husband dies. Now she meets and marries another man, but this marriage is the opposite of the first. He’s patient, forgiving, and always full of hope and love.
One part of the Bible is God’s Law, demanding what you do and not do. What it asks is fine, but like the wife, we can’t meet all the demands. The Law is good; sin is our problem. The best part of the Bible is freeing, the Gospel of unconditional love in Jesus Christ. We can’t meet the demands of the Law because of sin, but baptismal life weds us to a new bridegroom, Jesus Christ, who daily offers forgiveness, hope and love. Romans 7 is thoughtful reading… and deeply, personally freeing.
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