Fidelity

Going on forty years -- I still choose this guy,
and this guy alone! 



Scripture:


Rom. 7:1   Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.


Rom. 7:4   In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.


Observation:


The old life is one which holds us captive. Paul speaks of the freedom which comes from being released from trying to please the law and having been given new life in the Spirit. He uses the analogy of marriage and a woman being bound to her husband, as long as he is alive. If that husband dies, she is given freedom to choose another husband. However, if her husband is still alive and she has a relationship with another man, she commits adultery. In the same way, if we try to serve two masters — we are committing adultery. 


The death of which Paul speaks is the intentional disconnect from the law which we try to please. We are to die to that law that holds us back from having new life. The law is constantly fighting with our sinful passions. We are human beings and our flesh desires to rule us, but this will lead us to destruction. This is self-centered living. The freedom about which Paul speaks is given to us through the power of the Spirit and can set us free from the power of the flesh. The old code is broken, but it does not mean license to live any way we want. “Those who live out of the Spirit’s resources do God’s will spontaneously in love, not because of Law’s demands” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). 

 

Application:


Currently we find ourselves in a battle between culture and Christ. Who or what will be the object of our affections? The world is telling us a new set of rules have been placed before us. A new “law” so to speak. We find ourselves interpreting scripture through the lens of the current cultural norms. If we rolled back the clock just 50 years, the things that we suddenly believe are acceptable would have never been affirmed by the people of God. 


This leads us to the question “Are we married to the things of this world and trying to find favor from our neighbors while at the same time trying to be committed to Christ?” I think that Paul would say that we are committing adultery. It’s time to be married to one or the other, but we cannot have both. As long as we try to have both we will be frustrated and a battle will wage within our flesh. Interestingly Paul talks about that battle and bearing fruit for death. As followers of Christ we are to be bearing fruit, and yet, so many are not bearing fruit for God’s kingdom these days. Might it be that we simply cannot bear fruit when we are trying to be married to two camps? The world and Christ. 


While the world is clamoring for our affection, the Spirit is offering us something entirely new. When we let go of the things that we think are most important — money, success, sex, relationships — and release them to God, there is freedom. We  discover the overwhelming love of God when we are faithful to our relationship with Christ alone! 


Prayer:


Lord, when the things of this world are wanting my love and attention, draw me near to you. Please, help me to live in the freedom of the Spirit every single day — to your glory. Amen. 

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