Life’s Greatest Wonder
Why did God choose a zealous Jew, a man who persecuted Jesus’ followers, to write half the New Testament? The Apostle Paul must have wondered and asked himself dozens of times, if not hundreds, why in the world God would invade his life in order to save it?
“So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.””
Maybe, if you are a Christian, you have wondered why God would choose you to live the life you have lived. Warts and all. Mistakes and all. Sins and all.
Before he met Jesus, Paul believed he lived an exemplary life. He considered himself better than most people and certainly a model of religious devotion.
Just like Saul of Tarsus, whose name Jesus changed to Paul, God continues to invade lives and change names, redirect their story, and grow people’s character so that they fulfill His purposes for their life.
Paul Explains the Problem of Sin
The Apostle Paul wrote from Corinth to Christians in Rome more than 2,000 years ago what some have called the “most influential letter ever written in history.” The fact that this book among the 27 books of the New Testament have survived centuries of attempts to destroy and diminish both the words and the message of the entire Bible attests to the power of God to preserve His timeless truths.
Perfectly suited to the role God gave him, steeped in Old Testament teaching, as a Jew, Paul had religious heritage and credentials, all the way back to Abraham––Father of the faithful. In God’s order, Paul was uniquely qualified to contrast the legalism of the Jewish religion, the emptiness of paganism, and the futility of trying in one’s own strength to do good works. Literally every attempt to justify oneself before God falls short.
In Romans, we see the clearest and most compelling argument for salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
Paul’s life-changing experiences bore witness to his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Paul declares that the Law can’t save. Religion can’t save. Works can’t save.
Explaining that sin deceives and makes prisoners of everyone who serves sin, Paul understood that the “I” in SIN says “No” to God. (See Psalm 53).
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
The Key to Freedom
Before you became a Christian, you didn’t care about sin. In fact, you didn’t want to acknowledge sin, much less call sin by that name. Wrongdoing. Mistakes. Poor choices. Weaknesses. Misjudgment. Guilt and blame enter the picture.
I am a sinner not because I sin.
I sin because I am a sinner.
Paul says that while keeping the Law cannot save anyone since no one keeps the law perfectly, God gave the Law to lead people to understand what sin is and admit its damaging effects.
“What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
While reading and studying the Bible will make you and me uncomfortable about sin, you and I instinctively know we miss the mark. We do not obey perfectly, at all times and in every circumstance what the law makes plain. God’s Law marks the boundaries for behavior, both for my benefit and to protect others.
People prefer to categorize and alphabetize sin: Abortion, abuse, addiction, adultery, alcoholism, anger …and you and I tend to think in terms of BIG sins vs. little sins, like “white lies” instead of always telling the truth.
You and I like to adjust ourselves according to our surroundings, our culture, and other people’s impressions of us. But after he met Jesus, Paul understood that each individual who comes to God must admit the problem of sin and own their part in it.
Some people like to think that when you become a Christian, you stop worrying about sin.
The truth is, when you become a Christian, you start worrying about sin.
Right in the middle of the book of Romans, Paul deals with the problem of sin in a believer’s life. Being saved from the penalty for sin is part of why Jesus died. Being saved from the power of sin gives believers the freedom to choose not to sin.
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me but the doing of the good is not.”
Rather than feel uncomfortable about my own sin, I prefer to compare myself to others, where I can sort myself according to my own standards. My standards vary from the standards others establish for themselves.
The problem with sin is that every person’s standards fall short of God’s holiness.
After a person receives God’s forgiveness, a Christian can still sin, but changes take place in the heart. The desire not to sin takes hold.
My heart, Christ’s home, God seeks to make heart-houses clean according to His standards.
