DAY 217

YOUR SELF IMAGE – THAT IS PERSONAL

Psalm 66 & 67 and Romans 7

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

This is getting personal. If Paul, who has been laying out the beauty of this relationship with God, that all flows from God’s Grace, writes the above statement about himself, then does it get you in your mind to ask, “Am I a wretch?” In our day and age we don’t like this language. We want our kids to have a positive self-image. Much of this emphasis is reportedly in reaction to the Church which was always telling people they were sinners and that they needed to be holy. The Church produced dour people full of self-doubt…at least that is the view.

The reaction has been to stop talking about sin. There are some places which are re-writing certain lines of Old Hymns, for example in John Newton’s famous hymn Amazing Grace, the line which he wrote as, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that save a wretch like me” was re-written to that saved and set me free.

No doubt we in the Church have earned this label, at least to some degree. The solution is not to pretend sin does not exist. The solution is what Paul is driving at…realize we are covered and live thankfully and joyfully for God – that is in fact how chapter seven ends! Let’s circle back just a bit and look at this passage.

First of all you might recall that in chapter 6 Paul was responding to his critics with regard to their accusation that he is preaching that people should sin more so that grace will increase. He has dealt with this charge, but in some way, so typical of Paul, he won’t let go of this charge. In verses 1-6 he again points out that the Law has no binding authority. Then in verses 7-25 he does two things: he esteems the Law and he emphasizes how serious he is with regard to living a holy life, and it is the Law that guides him – not for salvation, but for right-living.

Paul in this section again deals with the “three people” mentioned a day or so ago: The legalist – who demands that it is the Law that must be completely kept in order to be right with God. Then there is the person who says we are completely free to do whatever we want – the technical name is antinomianism. (Nomos is the Greek word for the law and they are “anti-law”.) Finally there is the third person – the law-fulfilling free people. These are people who love the Law, not because it saves, but because it leads to a life that both pleases God and leads to peace for those who live it. 

Paul knows this, but in dramatic language he shares with us that he knows the internal struggle: 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

This is dramatic. Paul has answered those who think his view of grace gives license to do whatever they want, and he shows that while the Law is not helpful for salvation, it does instruct us in our lives as we seek to live for God.

I am not sure how you view this chapter with regards to your self-image. If you are struggling with the idea of wretched, let me offer a few thoughts. First, remember that Paul is responding to two very specific issues that flow from his view of salvation by grace, that being “what then of the Law,” and “how much freedom does this grace really yield.” In responding to these issues he is a bit like a “dog with a bone” - he just won’t let go. But Paul would also point out that you and I are made in the image of God, and in fact by Jesus’ redemptive work on the Cross, we are by God’s grace free to live into the image…how is that for self esteem.