7:7-12 What then shall we say? That
the Torah-Law is sin? By no means! Yet,
if it had not been for the Torah, I
should not have known sin. I should not have known what it is to covet if the Torah had not said, "You shall not
covet." 8But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment,
wrought in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the Torah sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the Torah, but when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died; 10the very commandment which promised life
proved to be death to me. 11For sin, finding opportunity in the
commandment, deceived me (as it did Eve) and by it killed me. 12So
the Torah is holy, and the commandment
is holy and just and good.
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| Te miele e lavenda |
You shall have no other Gods but YHVH [a]
Do not make idols [a]
Do not misuse the name of YHVH [a]
Keep the Sabbath holy [a]
Give honor to your father and mother [a]
Do not murder [a]
Do not commit adultery [a]
Do not steal [a]
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor [a]
Do not covet [wait…..
what?]
I don’t want to go to hell when I die.
That is a strong motivation to live a righteous life; at
least for a few days. Dusting off a copy of the Scriptures, I find the list
of do’s and don’ts. There are only 10 on the basic list. Surly that will keep
me from being hell bound.
I’m pretty sure I can limit myself to one God, I promise
that I will not make idols, whatever those are.
I will stop using fowl language and go to church before the big game. I
will be nice to mom and pop, no matter how mad I get I won’t kill anybody and
will not cheat on my husband. I don’t need to steal, or lie about my neighbors
who are such rats that they don’t need my help to sink themselves, I won’t ………
wait, what is that last one? Just wanting something someone else has is wrong?
How unreasonable is that. Did God really say that? (Genesis 3:1)
The question of the day is, do I really need to follow Jesus
by faith? God went to the trouble of writing the ten commandments, so couldn't I just include those in my life?
Maybe the question should be, can a zombie (the walking
dead) become alive, change who they are organically by following rules? One of
the first things we discover when we become religious is that the slave master,
sin, springs into action when we try to be pious. We are determined to live
life in a way that pleases God. That is sport for sin. Every person who has
ever tried to find life without Christ has stumbled because sin sprang to life.
It is almost as if there was no problem with our life until we became
religious. Perhaps it is the Bible, the Torah, that is the problem. Paul
testifies that it is not the Bible that causes our problem, the Bible is holy,
the commandments are instructions for an abundant life. Before there can be change for the zombie they must die. Death through faith in Y’shua-Jesus. That is our only power for righteous
living. Sin will deceive any of us, just as the serpent deceived Eve in the
garden. The Ruach-Spirit of God gives us counsel, convicts and teaches us about
the power of God for right living. Without the life of Jesus by faith and his
Spirit for power, we are toys for sin.
Personal study of ROMANS 7: 7-12
