Fighting sin in our culture

WED Evening Prayer Reflection 07/01/2020

Romans 7: 13-25. Paul’s letter to the Romans offers us a good theological discussion here. First let me say that it is uncomfortable for us to talk about sin in our lives. We live in a culture that has privatized everything, a culture that wants no restrictions, no boundaries whatsoever, so we rebel at anything that seems to be limiting us to do what we think is a legitimate choice that brings us instant pleasure. What I like about Paul is that he is reflecting on his own life, and teaching us through it. Whereas, there is a huge difference to the man he had become after meeting Christ, Paul tells us that he strives to obtain what the promises of Christ even if his body still rebel and seem to be following a different path. V 13 Paul says: It was sin working death in me. Often enough, sin gets to show its devastation. For e.g. we can tell when a hurricane has passed in an area by watching the path of its destruction. Sin causes chaos.

I have always wondered why physical pain is a great motivation for us to get treatment but the pain caused by consequences of sin does not always push us to life reformation. Sin wounds us, we carry its pain. So, coming to Jesus gives us a foothold in his Kingdom where healing is available. V 15 Paul says: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” V 17 says: “In fact, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” This is not the classic line that says the devil made me do it, but it is a clear realization that there is a spiritual component to what is going on. It is as if, there is a supernatural force within, which pushes him in a certain direction; a force that tries to incapacitate us or to weaken us so we don’t fight it. V 21 says even if I do what is right, evil is close at hand.

This is a difficult conversation because, we tend to think we are masters of our own choices, which is true in many ways. But are we really? When we go out to the grocery store, aren’t you influenced by the ad you saw about something you don’t really need but you want it? It has happened to me many times. Our connection to the spiritual realm is very real. Remember the word: "Don't be tossed around by every wind..." We must withstand all these influences and stay strong in our faith. During the war, I was so shocked to find the church in my father’s village vandalized. The unconsecrated Eucharistic hosts were spread all over the ground. People were doing things as if they were in automatic mode without really thinking or reflecting. Could we say they were possessed? May be, it is possible.

Paul is making similar remarks here, that what he wants to do, he ends up doing something totally different as if he was in automation. To be honest, for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their King and Savior, they begin a journey of transformation under the grace of God, where the Spirit wins over the flesh. It is a struggle. Gal 5:17: What the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit. The absence of this struggle on the other end, shows a life totally given out to carnal desires. Paul often talked about the spiritually dead. It is like watching a fly in the spider web. You think it is alive but it is really a shell since everything inside the fly were already consumed by the spider.

This struggle to obey the Spirit and live under the grace of God pushed Paul to cry out: “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death!” We are destined to faith and righteousness. The grace of God is with us through the power of the Holy Spirit to strive against sins and corruption of the heart.

Come on, let us fight the good fight of faith!

Be blessed today and forever!