“For 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

«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.”

«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.»

First hour

The Resurrection of Christ

a) Reflection on God’s Word

Turn your eyes towards the sky of stars. Millions of stars. They all move according to laws established by God. And how big they are! The Sun is 1.300.000 times as large as our Earth. Sirius is 8 times larger than the Sun and there are even bigger celestial bodies! The Milky Way is 20.000 light years away. Many other constellations are millions of light years away. One can observe wonderful laws on our little Earth too: conditions for life, the mystery of life and its transmission, the wonders of animal instincts. The mystery of human life: immune system, activity of the brain or heart or lungs, nervous system, sight. Moreover, the mystery of mental and spiritual life, desire for happiness, conscience… A series of wonders! Belief in Darwin’s atheistic ideology is contrary to critical science and reason. By our reason we come to a knowledge of the invisible Creator, the Author of the creation. There are miracles all around us. Let us open our eyes! God works miracles in our lives as well.

Another miracle is the Resurrection of Christ! Divine mysteries are not contrary to reason but rather beyond the range of reason.

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.”

«If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.»

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.

“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,

that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”

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!

“For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law

were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been

delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve

in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

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.»

“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.»

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 is bound

by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies,

she is released from the law of her husband.”