March 5, 2023

I enjoy driving my car. One of my requirements in a vehicle is that it must have a V-8 engine. I like having pickup on takeoff because I live in a congested area and don't want to get killed pulling out onto the roadway. However, there is another reason for wanting a V-8 engine, speed! I have no intention of breaking the law when I drive, but something within my flesh enjoys getting where I'm going at a high rate of speed. Don't get me wrong, I know the speed limit, but I choose to let my flesh overtake me when I'm behind the wheel of my car.

Would I be speeding if the law hadn't set boundaries on how fast I could drive? No. I wouldn't even know I was speeding. Because the law sets the rules, I know I'm a lawbreaker; I can't help it; my flesh overtakes me. Think of the Ten Commandments; we wouldn't know we were sinning if God hadn't given the law, but he did,  and now we know we are sinners. Death comes to those who sin, but because of Jesus, we do not have to pay the price for our sins. After getting a ticket, I will slow down for a while, but then my flesh will overtake me again, and off I go, speeding to my next destination. That analogy is Romans Chapter 7 in a nutshell. 

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 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. Romans 7:22-25