Our Scriptural Daily Devotions

THURSDAY, 27 APRIL 2023

TEXT: Romans 7:7-13

7. But I can hear you say, “If the law code was as bad as all that, it’s no better than sin itself.” That’s certainly not true. The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not cover,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it.

8. Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless,

9. and I was along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it.

10. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong.

11. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead.

12. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.

13. I can already hear your next question: “Does that mean I can’t even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?” No again! Sin simply did what is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God’s good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own.

(The Message Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW

Paul declared that the Law is not evil or sinful. The Law is holy while the commandment is also holy, righteous and good.

But Paul states that the same Law made humanity know what is sin and brought death even though it was meant to bring life. Isn’t this a paradox of sorts? Paul responded, “did that which is good then become death to me? By no means” (verse 13).

With or without the Law or commandment, sin had been there. However, it is the Law that brought sin to man’s knowledge. That is why Paul said that through the commandment sin became utterly sinful!

He means that now that the Law has clearly defined what sin is and has set the boundaries, man is now guilty because he doesn’t possess the power in himself to overcome sin.

So, he found himself enslaved by sin. The Law also exposed the weakness of humanity because we cannot deliver ourselves from the power and effects of sin by ourselves.

But that is not the end of the story because Jesus Christ paid the price that redeemed us from both the power of the Law, sin and death. Hallelujah to our Redeemer!

QUESTION: DO you know that in Jesus Christ you have been set free from the power of the Law and sin?

PRAYER: Thank You, Jesus Christ, for delivering me from the power of sin, death and the Law into life in You. Amen.