“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” -Romans 7:15 What Paul means exactly in this passage has been, in some theological circles, an ongoing debate; and, how one chooses to understand it carries notable implications. That said, the […]
Crumbs From Our Master's Table
[CRUMBS IS ON A TEMPORARY HIATUS UNTIL EST. JUNE 2022]
CRUMBS is a free, daily morsel of truth you can consume in a minute but chew on all day long. It is nourishment for the soul delivered straight from the King's table to your email inbox. Of course, these morsels are not a substitute for the nourishment of the Word and Sacraments served on the Lord's Day, but they are good with coffee or tea in the morning.
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Sold Under Sin
“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” -Romans 7:14 The point of this verse is to highlight the contrast between spirit and flesh. The modern church has had two thousand years of experience with God’s spirit being poured out on and in his people, so […]
Sinful Beyond Measure
“Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.” -Romans 7:13 Something difficult for all humanity is the ability to see […]
Proved to be Death
“The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” -Romans 7:10–12 It is a most unfortunate surprise to those who desire righteousness as […]
When Sin Came Alive
“I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” -Romans 7:9 Continuing in his argument that the Law give life to sin, Paul illustrates using a reversal of conditions. He was alive before the Law but when it came on the scene, sin was brought […]
Sin Lies Dead
“But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.” -Romans 7:8 Paul personifies sin as if it were some sort of military operative waging war war against every human being. The commandment, though good and just in itself, is weaponized to […]
If It Had Not Been For The Law
“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”” -Romans 7:7 Again Paul anticipates the […]
The New Way of the Spirit
Romans 7:1–6 (ESV): Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the […]
Death Nullifies the Law
“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?” Romans 7:1 This pericope, for which verse 7 is the introduction, references back to chapter 6:14; we should then see 6:15-23 as a kind of digressio—a rhetorical […]
Wage vs. Gift
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Paul has been arguing for a new and better life in Christ using death vs. life and slave vs. free analogies. Here he boils down his argument to this succinct summary of […]