A couple of weeks ago, I said how wonderful it would be if we all suddenly became perfect when we put our trust in Christ; there would never be any conflict or disagreement among us in church, and our witness to those outside would be startling and persuasive. However, we all know that is not the case; despite the grace in which we stand, despite our new identity in Christ, nevertheless we are still prone to self-centredness, pride, envy and quarrelling. Or to put it in religious language, we still sin. 'We have this treasure in jars of clay' as Paul says in 2 Corinthians. We have the treasure of God's love, his new life in Christ, within us, but our feet, and more than our feet, are made of clay. There is a tension in the Christian life.
Over the last few weeks we've been looking at Paul's letter to the Romans. Paul is eager for the Romans to understand all that God has done for them in Christ. They now have peace with God through Christ, and God's love is poured out into their hearts. God sees them now as they are 'in Christ' and not 'in Adam'; and they are to consider themselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. They are now to be slaves of God rather than be enslaved to their own compulsions, self-centred desires and attitudes; and to find in serving God their true freedom. God has done something decisive in the death and resurrection of Christ and we are given a new life in him.
And yet'.although we have a new status before God, although we have new hope, new peace and a new life which will find its fulfilment in the resurrected life in God's presence for ever, we are not immune to sin, struggle and self-centredness in the here and now. We are freed to serve God, our loving master, but we often prefer to sneak back to serve our own compulsions and desires and are drawn back into the slavery of sin. There is an illogicality about us, as David said last week. God sees us as we are in Christ, but we have not yet become who we are. We are not yet perfect and rather than living under a dangerous illusion, we need to recognise that: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.'
This tension is brought to the fore in our reading today from Romans chapter 7. There is probably no other passage of Scripture about which commentators have argued so much. Paul speaks here of an inner conflict: 'I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate...For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do...'He talks of delighting in the law of God in his 'inmost self' but then finding that the 'law of sin' is also at work within him, making him act differently.
Some commentators say that Paul is describing his life, his inner conflict, before he came to faith in Christ. If, as he has outlined in chapters 5 and 6, he now has peace with God and a new status as his beloved child, if he has been delivered from the slavery of sin to be a free slave of God, how can he still be in such inner conflict after his conversion? Others point out that there is never any suggestion elsewhere that he suffered from any such inner conflict before his conversion; on the contrary he portrays himself then as being confident in following God's laws. Furthermore here in Romans chapter 7 Paul uses the present tense and seems to be describing a present reality very vividly: 'I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do'. These commentators emphasise that Paul is talking here about his continuing conflict as a Christian, rather than his pre-conversion life.
I believe that the passage we've heard today, from Romans 7, brings to the fore the tension in the Christian life. We live in the in between times: God's new creation has begun in the death and resurrection of Christ, we are given a new status, a new life 'in Christ'; yet in our natural selves we are still 'in Adam'. The reality of our new life in Christ is true, but we do not yet fully live that reality.
This tension between the 'now' and the 'not yet' is clear in Scripture; it is also true in our own experience. Well, certainly at least in mine! Don't we recognise this inner struggle Paul speaks of? I am very aware of times when I think, say and do those very things which in my inmost self I don't want to think, or say, or do. And in some ways this conflict may become sharper the more we desire to live in God's life and love. If we are not bothered about living for God and seeking to become like Christ, then we won't have any struggle and we can happily follow our own selfish attitudes and desires without being too troubled about it; but the more we yearn to be as Christ, the more aware we will be of our own failures.
As one writer puts it: Romans 7 'depicts vividly the inner conflict characteristic of the true Christian, a conflict such as is possible only in the person in whom the Holy Spirit is active, and whose mind is being renewed under the discipline of the gospel.'
As Paul describes his inner conflict, he concludes with a cry for help:'Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?' Who will rescue us from our struggle with sin, who will rescue us from ourselves? Paul's answer is 'Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!' In fact, Paul know that this rescue has already happened through the death and resurrection of Christ: our new self, our new life is assured, and we stand in grace. But in another sense, we need that help, that rescue, that grace on an ongoing daily basis. Left to ourselves, we continue to live in that inner tension, that conflict. There is further verse in Romans 7, just after the passage we heard this morning, and it is translated in the Good News Bible as 'I, on my own, can serve God's law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin.' and the New English Bible says 'I, left to myself''. Both these translations pick up an important phrase in the Greek.
'I, left to myself', 'I, on my own,' will continue to struggle with sin, continue with this inner conflict. But we are not left alone. Just as we already stand in grace and have a new status in Christ, we can also seek that empowering grace day by day.
Jesus says in our gospel reading this morning:'Come to me, all your that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me...and you will find rest for your souls.' We need to come to Jesus continually, not just once but continually, to find rest, peace and strength in him. And to find the resources of the Holy Spirit that he gives us.
This is of course how Paul opens chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans. Romans 8 is all about the resources of the Spirit given to sustain us as we struggle with sin and seek to live a life of holiness. The Spirit gives us strength in our struggle with the old Adam; the Spirit prompts us to see and acknowledge our sins and failures; the Spirit reminds us of who we are in Christ, and of the love God pours into our hearts.
But we do need humility to turn to Christ and seek the Spirit in our struggles with sin, in that contlict within ourselves. This is the 'low door' David spoke of last Sunday. Sometimes, we would rather keep our pride and struggle on, 'I, on my own', or 'I, left to myself'. We then end up in a worst state.
One of my favourite spiritual writers is Francois de Sales, Bishop of Geneva in the 17th century. He was an experienced spiritual director, well known for his wise counsel. I especially value this piece of advice he once gave:
'Finally...don't be agitated over the fact that you've been agitated; don't be disturbed at having been disturbed; don't be upset at the fact that these annoying emotions have upset you. But very gently put your heart back into the hands of our Lord, begging Him to heal it.'
I certainly recognise that I often get angry about being angry, agitated about being agitated, depressed about being depressed, and the struggle gets greater and the pit gets deeper! Instead, we need the humility to take up Jesus' invitation to 'come to me', simply to put our heart back in the hands of our Lord, and to seek the help of the Spirit. And we'll be thinking more about the help of the Spirit in the coming weeks.
Let us remember today, that although we will continue to struggle with our sins and failures in this present life, nevertheless we stand in grace, we have have peace with God in Christ, and God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit he has given us. His grace in Christ, his love through the Holy Spirit, is always available to us even in the midst of our struggles.
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Revd Helen Marshall