By: Curtis Baker
People often conceive of religion as simply a system of rules. If you are predisposed to like religion, then you might find the rules helpful and necessary to living a good life. If you are not, then you might see the rules as a hindrance to your fun and self-fulfillment. In either perspective, what matters is that there are rules, and the question is whether they are to be obeyed or defied. But while it is true that religion, and the Christian religion in particular, does have certain rules to govern behavior, it would be a mistake to think that keeping the rules is all that religion amounts to. Indeed, if we follow what the apostle Paul says here in Romans 7, we see that rules alone have rather strange consequences.
Once again, this section of Paul’s teaching is hard to follow, but here is basically what he says in these verses: “Rules actually provoke people to sin further!” Can you believe that? Maybe I need to state it again so that you don’t think it was a typo. “Rules provoke people to sin further!” That is what Paul says as he continues his discussion of the law in 7:7-13.
This seems counter intuitive at first. Aren’t rules given in order to govern human behavior and to keep people from doing wrong? Yes, in one sense, that is absolutely correct. Rules, for whatever failures they may have, are much better than anarchy. But Paul hits on something here that is a very observable fact of human nature: when we are told not to do something, it provokes in us the desire to do the very thing we have been told not to do.
Think about the presentation of the story of Adam and Eve and you will see how this is so. In the Garden of Eden, God only had one rule for Adam and Eve. They were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In retrospect, this seems like a very easy command. If we were given the option to do as we please and simply avoid the fruit of one particular tree, that sounds like a deal we would not easily give up. But curiosity got to the original couple. They began to face the thought that all people encounter when they are tempted to disobey God. They thought maybe God was hiding something from them; that maybe there was something good that might come of their eating from that tree, and possibly God is keeping them from it. This is the nature of all temptation. It is the belief that God cannot be trusted, and therefore we must take life into our own hands to obtain our own security and happiness.
This is how sin is conceived in our life, and from there it grows into a living thing that takes residence in the habits of our body and mind. Paul speaks in this passage as if sin is a living entity inside of us that uses the rules as an opportunity to provoke us to further sin. In one sense this makes life look hopeless, because if the rules are not going to help us, where then do we find any hope? Does this mean we should do away with all rules?
No, anarchy is no answer to our spiritual dilemma. However, it is also very important to learn that rules, in and of themselves, are not sufficient for growth in the spiritual life. Rules do two very important things. First, they show us what life should be like according to God’s design. Second, they show us how far short we fall of living according to God’s design. Those are two important things. But rules alone are not enough to alleviate us from our slavery to sin. A fresh work of God in our hearts and minds is the only way true inner goodness can be developed–a goodness that goes beyond the threat of punishment which rules impose. Paul will have much more to say about this as we come into chapter eight, but first, next week he will tell us more about the hopelessness of life under the law alone. Until then…God bless!
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message From the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
(curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
