Romans 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord![a] So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin. Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
In chapter Romans chapter 7 Paul is dealing with the war that is being waged in the human heart and body between good and evil, sin and obedience and ultimately the opportunity for grace and forgiveness. Today's verses start out with the Apostle Paul's saying "what a wretched man I am". Other translations use words like, unhappy and miserable. All of them combined give a good description of the heart and sole apart from Christ. Like Mick Jagger sing "I can't get no satisfaction". Left to ourselves we would hopeless and helpless. Even as Christians we can fall into sin and we can beat ourselves up over it, and try to "get back to God" on our own. But as Paul asks the question "who can rescue me" we have the answer "thanks be to God through Jesus Christ."
Many throughout the Bible and through history have felt the same way and come to the same realization. There is hope, there is help, there is forgiveness, and there is grace available to the sinner, the wretch like me. It was the emphasis of perhaps the most beloved hymn of all time.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.
David realized that instead of being wretched, unhappy and miserable he could be happy and fortunate he could be if he sought God's amazing grace.
Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is he who has forgiveness of his transgression continually exercised upon him, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Amplified Bible (AMP)
In Christ,
Mike
Mike
Follow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Romans 7:23-25
New Living Translation (NLT)
23 But there is another power[a] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
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