«Now he who keeps His commandments

This Word of life also emphasizes the keeping of God’s commandments. He who keeps them abides in God, and God in him. Jesus emphasized this truth when He said: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” On the evening before His death, Jesus said: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (Jn 14:20-21)

It is said that whatever we ask we receive. And the reason: because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

In the previous verses, starting from verse 18, the Apostle John points out the importance of a sincere heart before God. He writes: “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”

This word of life emphasizes that we receive whatever we ask. The condition for our prayers to be heard is to keep His commandments and to do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

The Apostle Paul speaks about freedom. However, liberal theologians and various spiritual know-alls or religious frauds abuse freedom for iniquity. The Apostle warns us not to use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, for our egoism, but to serve one another through love.

Then the Apostle says that the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. Let us bear it in mind and put it into practice. To love my neighbour means to sacrifice myself for him, to desire his salvation, to try to communicate to him the divine truth of salvation, and to lead him to conversion and to the receiving of the Holy Spirit, so that he may live and walk in the Holy Spirit just as I try to do so – this is true love.

The previous Word of life, which we repeated for two weeks and let it work on us, was quite clear to us: The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. We can see it in our everyday life, and therefore we understand this word of God. The last sentence, however, is a little unclear: But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Everyone can understand it differently. To be led by the Spirit means to walk in the obedience of faith like the Blessed Virgin or like Abraham our father who is set as an example to us. Those who are led by the Spirit of God will not act against the law; on the contrary, they will keep the law.

In the Epistle to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul explains one more question concerning the law which is a bit unfamiliar to us. It is the question of circumcision and observance of the laws of Moses on various forms of purification with emphasis on ritualism, which eventually de facto quenched the Spirit. That was why the Apostle Paul had a perfectly free attitude towards this sphere of the law.

In chapter seven of the Epistle to the Romans, which we reflected on in the previous weeks, it is emphasized several times that we want to do good but we automatically do evil. It is said here that it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. The Epistle to the Galatians develops this truth in depth. It clearly points out that sin works especially through the lusts of the flesh to enslave man. It is impurity, alcoholism, drug addiction, gluttony…

The lusts of the flesh are aroused, literally whipped up, by the system of the world through mass media, decadent music, impure images, advertisements and the culture of consumerism. Resistance to it is an act of extraordinary heroism and requires extraordinary strength. That is why we pray, receive the sacraments, humble ourselves, repent and admit our sins daily. We thus obtain not only the strength but also the grace to overcome our weakness as well as the system of the world and the spirit of evil which influence us.

«If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.»

During our previous prayer stops we let God’s word from the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 7, work on us which speaks about the law of God and also about another law, the law of sin. The law of God is holy; we do respect it and yet we break it. What is the solution? There is only one solution – repentance. What does repentance consist in? In admitting my sin. The First Epistle to the Corinthians says that if we judge ourselves, we will not be judged. However, with this judgment, this true self-criticism, we cannot stop halfway. Judas judged himself but ended up committing suicide in despair. True judgment of myself must be connected with the faith that Jesus Christ paid for my sins. So I give my sins to Him and have them covered under His blood. Then it is true: “If we walk in the light, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.”

The Apostle Paul points out that if I will not to do evil which I do, I agree with the law that it is good. Then he speaks about the root of evil in me which affects my feelings, mind and will, and he says that this root of evil is original sin in me. The Apostle next develops this truth about sin in us: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practise. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.”

The Apostle Paul shows here a contradiction, a kind of spiritual schizophrenia, which is caused by original sin in us. The law of God is holy but every one of us is subject to carnality and mentality, and both the body and soul are influenced by the law of sin. Our spirit thirsts for God but is bound and imprisoned by our corrupt nature. Everyone can see by experience that the law of sin is at work in us. This is proved by the fact that we want to do good and we love good but we do evil which we hate and do not want to do. There is a law of sin here. Law is a principle which repeats itself; it is not something that happens just once. The law of sin is at work while we live this life in time. This is what we must reckon with and what the Word of God tells us about. Therefore we need to walk by faith. For there is not only the law of sin but also the law of the Spirit – which will be mentioned in the next verses – and the latter is at work if in concrete situations we unite ourselves to our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The Word of God says that when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions were at work in our members. The law did not give the strength to overcome them; on the contrary, by bringing them to light it made our conscience see every detail of sin, and the conscience was bound. Let us emphasize: the law did not give us the strength to overcome the sinful passions in proportion to our understanding. The law only convicted us of what is deep within us, namely the source of lies and evil connected with pride and sinful passions and bearing fruit to death.

Concerning verse six, someone may misunderstand it and draw the wrong conclusion, for it is written there: “…we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by…” But it does not mean that freedom is deliverance from the law. The true meaning is expressed in the next words: “…so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” True freedom is only in Christ!

If we reject Jesus as our Saviour and as the One who delivers us from the power of sin, sinful passions are at work in our members which are aroused rather than overcome by the law. Thus, the law is ineffective in the struggle against passions. It truly calls evil evil and a lie a lie, it also warns of punishment, but it gives no strength. The passions, which are produced by sin in us, bear fruit to death.

Next, the Scripture says that if we have died to what we were held by, we have been delivered through this death from the law. It does not mean physical death but our inner union with Christ’s death on the cross by being crucified with Him and by putting into practice the essence of baptism, which is our immersion in Christ’s death. In this inner death, i.e. in this union with Christ crucified who dying conquered death, is the fulfilment of the demands of the law. We are unable to fulfil them by ourselves. Union with Christ’s death makes us able to serve God, i.e. commit ourselves wholly to God, in the newness of life. The Spirit of God, who participated in the resurrection of Christ, then works in us, so that this new life in us may grow.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”

In the previous verses 1-3, we find a picture of a wife and two husbands. The first husband represents the law of God, which is just and perfect. The other husband represents Christ. So long as the woman is joined to the first husband, there are always demands made on her, but the perfect husband, the law, never lifts a little finger to help her carry them out. She desires to marry the other husband, but she cannot be freed from the first one. And because he refuses to die, the only way out for her is to die herself. This death is the mystery of baptism through which we were immersed into the death of Christ and share in the new life of Christ. This picture shows the deep reality that Jesus not only died on the cross for us, but if we have spiritually entered into His death through baptism and faith, it means that we have been made free from the law of sin, and thus from the just law as well.

So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

Interpretation for Rom 7:1-2 and Rom 7:3

Christ the End of the Law

In Romans 6 we saw how God delivered us from sin; in Romans 7 we see how He delivers us from the Law. In chapter 6 we were shown the way of deliverance from sin in the picture of a master and his slave; in chapter 7 we are shown the way of deliverance from the Law in the picture of two husbands and a wife. The relation between sin and the sinner is that of master to slave; the relation between the Law and the sinner is that of husband to wife.

Or do you not know, brethren, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband

Interpretation for Rom 7:1-2 and Rom 7:3

Christ the End of the Law

In Romans 6 we saw how God delivered us from sin; in Romans 7 we see how He delivers us from the Law. In chapter 6 we were shown the way of deliverance from sin in the picture of a master and his slave; in chapter 7 we are shown the way of deliverance from the Law in the picture of two husbands and a wife. The relation between sin and the sinner is that of master to slave; the relation between the Law and the sinner is that of husband to wife.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let us imagine God’s judgment, demons stand on the left, angels on the right and all mankind behind us. In front of us there is a big screen, and we who are judged stand under the screen. All our life is shown on the screen. At the end, a large inscription appears on the screen: “The wages of sin is death – eternal death – eternal hell.” This is righteous judgment of sin which is rebellion against God and obedience to the devil. The seed of the devil in us, which is original sin, forces us to obey evil, the devil, and to revolt against God. The root of sin in us bears poisoned fruits which are harmful both to us and others and set us against God. The verdict is final – death. We need to be aware of it. That’s the reality. There is only one way out – only in time; on the day of God’s judgment there will be no more chance of salvation, for the time of test and trial, which is our life, will have ended. Therefore we have to know and bear in mind that the solution – salvation from eternal death – is only in Jesus who is the Son of God and became man just for our sake, to deliver us from sin.

“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

The condition for being set free from sin is to become slaves of God. Chapter six of the Epistle to the Romans very often uses the term “slave”. On the one hand, there is a reality of slavery to sin. Even if we want to get out of this slavery by our own efforts, we cannot. We can be set free from this kind of slavery neither by our own efforts nor by any other means but only by the power of God, and we receive this power under one condition – that we give ourselves wholly to God. It means that we accept His commandments and are guided by the Spirit of God, and no longer by the spirit of the world, the spirit of lies. This freedom, however, has one basic condition – we must lose our soul for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s (Mk 8:35).

“I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”

This verse expresses again what this chapter has already said before, namely that we should not present our members as slaves of uncleanness, or of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. On the contrary, we should now put our members fully at the disposal, i.e. present them as slaves, of righteousness for holiness. The Apostle indicates here that sin particularly exploits uncleanness and lawlessness. Therefore we have to stand firmly on the side of righteousness. There are as it were two banners here – the banner of slavery to evil against the banner of true freedom. In this battle, we have to learn the art of fighting. Above all, we should avoid the near occasion of sin, which is a sign of true humility and wisdom. If it is not possible, and we have done the best in our power, God will show us a way out.