Romans 7 and the Normal Christian Life

The idea starter, some time ago, for Fanning the Flames was the growing realization of the incredible depth of our new covenant relationship with God.  Our motive in continuing this blog is an effort to flesh out what the new covenant looks like in practice.  How do the tremendous riches we have in our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection play out in the warp and woof of life?  During this period of study and writing on this topic, I have become very aware of old covenant thinking that still finds its way into our spiritual formation literature.

It seems everywhere I turn these days, I encounter Romans 7:14-25 ¹  as a proof text for the believer’s relationship with sin.  From books on relationships to articles in Christian periodicals, Romans 7 seems to be the go-to passage for describing our grueling struggle with sin.  In this famous passage, the apostle Paul laments the internal struggle prior to his salvation; the struggle between knowing the law and having no power to carry it out.  The internal war between knowing the right thing to do yet feeling powerless under the influence of his sin nature.  Paul concludes – in Romans 7:25 to Romans 8:4 – that only Christ and the new nature He imparts can rescue us from this life of contradiction.  In short, after Christ, after our rescue, Romans 7:14-25 no longer applies to the life we live.

So if Romans 7:14-25 does not apply to those who have placed their faith in Christ, why do Christian authors keep coming back to it as typical of the Christian life?  I believe there are at least three reasons.  The first is the challenge of interpreting the passage itself.  Paul’s use of run on sentences and present tense verbs is especially confusing.  Second, does Romans 7:14-25 describe our own struggle with sin?  Is our own Christian life or those we love typified more by the Romans 7 description than the myriad of New Testament promises of the believer’s victory over sin?  And finally, do we prefer a “ministry of condemnation” (II Cor 3:9) toward ourselves and others?  Are we more comfortable in an old covenant law keeping system?  After all, I can measure how well myself – and more importantly those around me – are doing in a law keeping system.  Measuring the fruit of the Spirit is much more difficult.  How do you measure love, joy, peace?

We will take up the thought process behind these three reasons in order starting next time.

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¹ 1     14For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.  15For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.  16But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good.  17So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me.  18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.  19For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.  20But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.  21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.  22For I joyfully concur with the Law of God in the inner man, 23But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.  24Wretched man that I am!  Who will set me free from this body of death?  25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.  (Romans 7:14-25).

Following the New Testament Money Trail

What started as a post about “Wealth with Wings” and putting our financial eggs in God’s basket has morphed into a series of posts following just a small section of the New Testament money trail (hopefully not a rabbit trail).  I think the length was necessary to really get us thinking about the seriousness of what Jesus said about investing our money.  I hope you have picked up some food for thought along the way.

In practical terms, what might this “send it on ahead” approach to financial planning look like in today’s world.  Keeping in mind the admonition to use our wealth to make friends that will welcome us into the eternal dwellings, it might look like this:

It might be sponsoring a child in an impoverished country, providing money for his physical needs and prayers and letters for his spiritual needs.  I can’t think of too many situations that are as close to making friends that will greet us in eternity as this.  Or how about buying groceries for a family where both parents are out of work?  Will they be the ones to greet you in your eternal dwelling?  Have you considered giving your car to a family that needs transportation instead of trading it in?  But I can’t get the car I want if I don’t have my trade-in to contribute to the cost.  Maybe the car you want is not the car you need.  Giving away a car can be a huge blessing to someone in need.  Or maybe it is giving money to a family member to improve their living situation.  Remember, our contributions do not have to be to a tax-deductible ministry to count in God’s eternal ledger.

What about hosting a Bible study or worship time for students at your house?  They might kill the grass or put a hole in a wall or leave your basketball out in the rain.  Does that make you think, “Let’s leave that for Mr. Whitaker?”  Or maybe you could host a pot-luck to welcome new folks into your neighborhood or into the community of your church.

Another investment option is financially supporting missionaries and the world-wide mission effort.  Are you willing to say “no” to something to support your friends who have said “no” to the comforts of home to follow the path God has outlined for them?  This is not a guilt trip.  This is looking at your giving decisions with the intentionality of making it an investment.  This is following the path God has for us and helping our brothers and sisters in the ministry God has given to them.  The list is as long as our imagination.

This type of investing is not just giving your money away willy-nilly.  It is not about giving money out of obligation.  It is prayerfully recognizing the people and needs God has placed in your path and responding with generosity.  It is making a conscious choice to invest in people rather than build up our own bank account.  And it imitates our Lord Himself whose generosity to us is beyond measure.

Money and the Early Church

The most quoted passage in the New Testament describing the early church is Acts 2:42-47.  “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.  And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.  Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

If you are like me, you have heard this passage preached many times.  And an interesting subplot to these messages is how we always leap over verses 44 and 45 (in italics above) in regard to application to today’s church.  I am always curious why this is so.  Everyone wants to be a New Testament church.  Everyone wants to emulate the early church.  But for some reason we want to leave out the selling and sharing.

I used to think that the verses smacked too much of socialism or communism and since that used to describe our sworn enemy, no proper American – Christian or otherwise – should have any part in property redistribution.  But I think the reason we ignore these verses is more personal than country allegiance.

These verses, quite frankly, step on our space.  I am good with listening to the apostles’ teaching.  I am good with sharing meals together.  I am good with fellowship (even though the Greek word used here for fellowship [koinonia] implies the sharing of goods).  I am good with prayer.  I am good with praising God.  But selling things, or choosing not to buy things, and giving to my brother or sister in need; that is stepping on my space.

Maybe I am looking at this too simply.  But I can’t find a context reason to not read this just as it is written.  It would seem to me that if we want to follow the example of the early church – and it appears here that they are living out the “send it on ahead” investment strategy of Jesus – we should be a community who looks after the material needs of our family of faith.

One more thought.  Could this be one reason the American church does not stand out in the wonder and awe department like the Acts 2 community (vs 43)?  We look just like the rest of America in our investment decisions focused on which investment strategy increases our nest egg the fastest.  Sharing our possessions not only blesses our brothers and sisters in Christ, but announces to the watching world our dependence on the God we serve and our radical love for one another.

Laying up Treasure in Heaven

We closed last time with the idea that adopting a “send it on ahead” investment strategy for our finances is a matter of faith.  But is it safe to say it may be a matter of faith, but it is not necessarily a matter of obedience?  After all, isn’t this revolutionary approach to financial planning just one of the choices among many that we are free to consider?

Recall Jesus’ summary statement regarding His Sermon on the Mount teaching about money, “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys” (Lk 12:33).  Later in the same gospel, Luke records this observation from our Master, “And [Jesus] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins.  And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.’ ” (Lk 21:1-4).

Jesus blunt description and commendation of giving in a way that satisfies His high standard of “laying up treasure in heaven” tends to make us more than a little uncomfortable.  But isn’t this the tenor of Jesus’ teaching throughout the gospels regarding the high cost of discipleship?  I think this is why Jesus balances the high cost with the admonition to not enter this discipleship path lightly.  He gives us the option and obligation to consider the cost (Lk 14:26-35).  So I will leave it to you to consider the “matter of obedience” question and we will move on to consider, next post, the “investment” practice of the early church.

“Send it on Ahead” Investing

I am always a little nervous about books that identify Jesus’ management style or put Jesus in the CEO chair.  While we should always run our companies by godly principles, Jesus did not come to earth to start a business.  He came to launch a kingdom.  But He did promote a financial investment strategy for His kingdom citizens.  I call “send it on ahead” investing.  And I asked last post why we don’t see this strategy advertised, particularly in the Christian community, as much as traditional financial instruments.

First, we are uncomfortable with the “send it on ahead” approach because the results are intangible.  We can’t measure the rate of return on using money to “make friends that will welcome us into the eternal dwellings.” (Lk 16:9).  At least, not in this life.  We want a rate of return that we can measure in percentage points.  The rate of return on Jesus’ strategy is too nebulous for our liking so we put His words in some kind of spiritual sentiment category and not applicable to the real world of investing.

Second, and related to the first, I want to see the return on my financial investment in this lifetime.  Even if I were comfortable with not measuring my rate of return, I would like to know that I will receive a financial blessing in this lifetime based on my giving to the needs of others.  Remember our Francis Bacon quote, circa 1512?  “Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity is the blessing of the New.”  Despite what the prosperity preachers advertise, I don’t believe we have an iron clad promise in the New Testament that our generosity obligates God to bless us in material ways of abundance.

Third, “send it on ahead” investing is so contrary to the world’s system and our natural inclination that it requires an exercise of faith.  A pastor once shared the idea with me that the Christian life can be a dangerous proposition in a world that hates us, but with the full force of God’s character backing the full range of God’s promises it basically carries no risk.  I had to think about that a minute and concluded he was correct under one condition; if our faith were perfect.  On a practical level, however, the weakness of our faith makes investing along the lines of what Jesus suggests risky as can be.  Due to our lack of faith, investing our money in the lives of others, in terms of rate of return, appears very risky indeed.

And this risk is mitigated by faith.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spends a considerable portion summarizing the promise of God to take care of the material needs of His people (Mt 6:25-34).  In the middle of this passage, Jesus identifies our worry about these things and calls us out, “O you of little faith.” (Mt 6:30).  Adopting a “send it on ahead” investment strategy is a matter of faith.  If God is moving your heart in the direction of this type of investing, join me in calling out to the Lord the prayer of the apostles in Luke 17:5, “Increase our faith!”