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“Faith
in Search of Understanding”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Text: Romans 7: 15-25a
“I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do
what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
Dear Sisters and Brothers, one of the present debates among interpreters
of the Holy Bible, when it comes to this passage in Romans, is whether
Paul was referring to his life style before he became a Christian, or
after he became a Christian. I
believe he wrote these verses as a Christian, describing the ambushed
battle we all go through on the road of faith searching to understand
the meanings of who Jesus Christ is, what became of him, and what that
has to do with us.
And as we heard last Sunday, we are justified to God, but we continue to
have sins. We confess our
sins, but that is not to earn our forgiveness.
By opening our hearts to God, in these confessions, we are
standing right beside God, with his arm on our shoulders, as we look at
the sinful aspect of who we are, and we are also learning that the
sinful part of who we are was crucified on the cross with Jesus.
Because we break a law of God, and then by the Holy Spirit begin to
learn even a deeper meaning of sin, this sure does not make God’s laws
bad for us. They are
actually good for us because even in breaking them and sharing that with
God, then God helps us learn more about who we are in Christ.
Should we then break God’s laws so we can have this real confession
experience? Absolutely not, God will not be manipulated by us. And no matter where we are in our lives, God will find ways
to ambush us with grace.
Martin Luther said, “Use the Ten Commandments as your mirror.
Read them and listen to what they are telling you about
yourself.” Now, if we
were to actually do this sometime, let’s not be overcome by guilt.
We may have the faith that God will embrace us with love as we
confess the truth of our sins.
In trying to understand God in his life and what we call evil, the
devil, or Satan, Paul is writing that there actually is a law that evil
must obey. This is not a
law from God. It is a law
from Satan. When we, in our
hearts, are really wanting to do something good, evil through sin will
some how be very close to us too.
Paul is sharing with the Christians in Rome the information through
faith that he is learning about the presence of sin within himself. He has already taught us that we are dead to sin.
We have sin in us, but that is not our lives. I love what Paul wrote to
the Galatians:
“I have been crucified
with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians
2:20)
Yes, we at times have sin in us.
But that does not define our lives.
It is no longer even we who live, but Christ who lives in us.
Let us pray…
Amen.
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