A Way Out

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do,

I do not do,

but what I hate I do.

Romans 7 : 15 (NIV)

Scripture reading: Romans 7 and 8

Post by: Matt G

How often do you have the feeling that you’re “not good enough”? I think most of us have this feeling more often than we realize. Whether it comes to sports, work, being a parent, being a spouse, or being a friend. We can fall short of reaching a goal or we can miss an opportunity that we should have been able to achieve. Often we see someone who we perceive as being “better” at something and we simply resign ourselves to the fact that we cannot achieve their level of abilities. In college and throughout my career I’ve had to watch countless motivational speakers who were successful in their field of work and I remember thinking to myself, “These people are the outlier. By wanting me to reach their level of success, they want me to reach an unachievable goal.” I think that this is often a feeling many people have when looking at Christianity.

In Romans 7, Paul discusses God’s law that was given to Moses and was expected to be followed by the Jewish people. This law was an extremely complex system which dictated moral, civil, and practical rules by which God’s people were expected to live. It also prescribed punishments and remedies for those who broke the law. The expectation was that if you follow this law, you will be deemed righteous in the eyes of God. Needless to say, this law was nearly impossible to follow, creating much anxiety in the minds of those trying to follow it. In essence the law provided an example of how God expected mankind to live. When people compared the law to how they were actually living, it simply magnified their imperfections and caused guilt. “Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death.” (Romans 7:13).

I often have this feeling when it comes to God’s law in my own life too. Each day I constantly strive to do the right thing but find myself simply doing what I think is easiest or feels the most comfortable. My wife will deserve a compliment that I don’t give. I don’t give the person I am meeting with the personal attention they deserve. I get angry very quickly and respond in a way that I know I should not.

So why would God set such unattainable goals? Why would he give us a set of laws that only make us feel guilty about our imperfections rather than help us fix them? The answer is found in Romans 7:24-25: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” In Jesus, God not only gives us a more perfect example of how to live, he gives us a perfect substitution to live the life that we cannot. Romans 8:1-4 says: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live by the flesh but according to the Spirit.” By “flesh” Paul means mankind’s natural desires and by “Spirit” Paul means God’s Word.

This is one of those instances in life when its OK to be “not good enough” because someone else was “good enough” for us. This however does not mean we should not strive to do our best to live the life of morality to which we are called. We can keep on living to the best of our abilities, but when we do fall short, we need not feel anxious or inadequate. We simply lean onto our savior a little more and understand how much we need him.

Photo by Nazar Hrabovyi on Unsplash