Reflection on Romans 8:1-11 (Sunday, July 12, 2026)

Romans 8:1-11 (NRSVue)

¹ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
  ⁹ But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Reflection

The Spirit of Christ dwells in you and you in Christ.  You have heard that before.  We hear this regularly in church just after the Lord’s Supper when we ask that we abide in Christ and he in us, so that we might be given the power of his endless life.  The idea is that the Spirit of Christ actually lives in us, rummaging around in our very selves somehow, directing our ways and our deeds for the good. 

For a long time, this idea was somewhat suppressed in the church.  It is making a comeback now, but the idea was suppressed for, seemingly, a good reason.  People were claiming to speak for God, having been “filled by the Spirit.”  They ordered others around as if they, themselves, were divine.  These church dictators had their say long enough, so the idea of people being filled with the Spirit was allowed to collect dust. 

But the fear of miniature church Hitlers…come on, you have wanted to call them that also…the fear of becoming like them should never have allowed us to forget that the Sprit of Christ does set up housing within us.  As Isaiah promises, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him” (Isaiah 11:2a).  The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of love and forgiveness, “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” does set up housekeeping within us, nailing a cross to the wall, putting words of truth on the fireplace mantle, and setting a large table with room for anyone to sit (NRSVue, Isaiah 11:2).

I distinctly remember that as very young Sunday School students we were told that Christ lived inside us.  The girl beside me at the table promptly lifted her dress, slapped her tummy, and said “Hello, Jesus, are you in there?” 

Sometimes I wonder the same thing.  “Jesus, are you in there?”  After-all, there are so many times in life that I have acted in ways that were not Christ-like.  A lot of decisions were made impulsively and they hurt other people.  A lot of decisions that I thought were loving decisions ended up causing more pain than healing.  Christ might be trying to steer this RV of mine in right the right direction, I hear he is a good driver, but there is a lot of flesh covering the windshield, making it hard for Jesus to steer.

Paul says that “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:5).  That is so true.  Fleshy lives make fleshy decisions.  Those who care about themselves set their minds on themselves.  Other people are simply forgotten, not even considered.  Fleshy lives make fleshy decisions.

Paul agrees: “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).

Years and years ago a young man desperately wanted to break through this flesh barrier though and eliminate it completely.  He wanted to scrape his life clean so that the Spirit of Christ might shine through. 

He heard the promise found in the good news of Jesus Christ.  He heard Paul proclaiming, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).  He wanted the Spirit of Christ and his own Spirit to dwell within each other so closely that those around him would not be able to tell the difference between he and Christ. 

This Christian pilgrim set out on a quest to become one with God.  On his journey, he encountered a faithful man who told him that he could get to his destination by praying without ceasing.  The faithful man told him that:

“The continuous interior Prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling upon the divine Name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart; while forming a mental picture of His constant presence, and imploring His grace, during every occupation, at all times, in all places, even during sleep. The appeal is couched in these terms, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’” (The Way of the Pilgrim). 

And so, with the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” constantly in his mind, like a mantra, he set out on his journey.  The idea was that, with those words on your mind constantly, you could not help but be like Christ in all your speech and actions.  Whether you were talking with a homeless man or simply doing the dishes with your children, you could not help but be Christ-like in that very moment if you prayed in a way that constantly asked that Christ be with you and in you.  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

The young man is said to have found peace once he mastered the technique. 

I tried it once.  My result was not quite as good.  I mastered a superb way to give myself an instant headache.  A fellow religion student in college said that he had pushed beyond the headache and had mastered it to the point that he always felt at one with God and God’s grace.  The truth was that the guy was a pompous pig.  He never had time for you, and he could not possibly listen to you because he had all the answers.  My interpretation was that the prayer made the guy a pompous pig. 

That might be a little harsh.  The technique might work just fine and he had simply failed in living with the prayer.  But my sneaking suspicion is that somehow the wrappings of our flesh will always get in the way.  Christ might be inside us, but the flesh always tries to find a way to lock Christ deep away. 

I emphasize the word “tries” here.  The trappings of the flesh can try to lock Christ away, but do not forget that a hard tomb of death and stone was not able to keep Christ locked away.  If rock is nothing to Christ, then certainly flesh is nothing to Christ. 

No.  The Spirit of Christ cannot be locked away.  It is alive and it is at work deep inside. 

The interior decorating that the Spirit provides might not always seem like progress.  It might seem more like demolishing.  The Spirit may strip beloved corners of your life because the corners were, in reality, empty and meaningless.  That hurts.  But the Spirit will also proclaim that new life is waiting to take over.  New decorations are on their way!  The Spirit can work so much goodness in your life.

The Spirit can awaken your soul from sleep, causing you to care for those around you and strive to live a life full of meaning and in step with Jesus Christ. 

The Spirit can tell you that you have deeply hurt someone and can push you to heal that person’s wound by asking for forgiveness. 

The Spirit can awaken a love that is able to overcome long held hatred and resentment. 

The Spirit can open your eyes to new insight and wisdom that might change the world overnight. 

The Spirit can stir up a fire in the fireplace of your soul even while the rest of the world appears to be growing colder by the minute. 

The Spirit can pray the words that you are unable to utter yourself. 

The Spirit can reunite you to Christ who dwells within, even when you cannot see him through all the flesh. 

Sometimes it is hard to see this work of the Spirit.  Sometimes we need someone like Paul who reminds us that “you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9).  Sometimes our lives get wrapped up in the flesh of our desires and self-serving ways and we need God to send another follower of Christ who hears the call to take off our fleshy wrappings. 

That is what Christ commanded the friends of Lazarus to do, after-all.  They took off his burial wrappings and Lazarus was released to live a second life.  He was given a new life by Christ.  He was given a life with lungs filled with the Spirit of Christ. 

And as the layers are removed from your life, and you stare down at your formerly hidden body, you see that Christ indeed is within you.  The Spirit has been there the whole time and Christ has restored you to true life! 

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Reflection on Romans 7:15-25a

 

Romans 7:15-25a (NRSVue)

¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
  ²¹ So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³ but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ^25a Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Reflection

“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).

Slamming down my golf club after slicing my ball far, far into the weeds my internship supervising pastor brought his club up against his shoulder, turned to walk away and simply said, “Another Romans 7:15 shot.”  I stared at him, wandering off into the weeds to help me find my ball, wondering what he was talking about. I caught up to him and asked.

“You know, Romans 7:15: ‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.’  You wanted to hit the ball far and straight, right?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You knew that you should take a nice and easy swing to hit the ball far and straight, right?”

“Yes.”

“But you decided at the very last moment to try to smash the ball as hard and far as you could, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“It didn’t work, did it?  That was a Romans 7:15 shot.  Don’t worry, you will do it again and again and again.”

Well, that was not exactly very comforting.  It was as if smashing golf balls into the weeds was going to be my life!  I can get better at this, can’t I? 

I did not get better.  He was right.  I did it again and again, even though I said to myself, “Don’t smash the ball…Don’t smash the ball.”  At the last second, nearly each and every time, I would decide, “I’m going to smash the ball anyway.”  Why did I do that?  The result was almost always me fishing around in the weeds. 

But here is the thing: the couple of times I connected with the golf ball perfectly, taking me all the way to the green, was enough to make me do it again and again.  Those couple of times, and the cheering from friends that came along with these couple of great shots, were enough to convince me that the correct way was not necessarily the best way.

Do you know people for whom that is their motto?  The correct way is not necessarily the best way.  Do you sometimes live that way?

My internship pastor knew better.  He calmly and carefully hit the ball each time.  It did not go as far as mine, but neither did he have to chop through the weeds.  He won every game.  Smashing the ball was not his Romans 7:15 issue.  “Don’t worry Jira, I have my own Romans 7:15 moments.  We all do.”

And that sort of sums up life.  We all know the rules to do things right, we just do not necessarily follow the rules. 

Biblical scholar Ralph Jacobson once told the story of his youngest boy during devotion time at supper.  The family was working through the ten commandments out of Luther’s Small Catechism and they had arrived at, “you shall not covet your neighbor’s property.”  His young boy asked what “covet” meant?  The older sister wisely explained that it means “wanting something that someone else has.  Like when you wanted your friend’s new bike even though you have a perfectly good one.  That is coveting.  Do you understand?” 

The boy replied, “Yes, I understand,” and then promptly turned to his mother and asked, “Can you put that bike on my Christmas list?” 

It is strange, but sometimes knowing the rules makes you want to do the very thing that you know you should not.  We know in our heads what is good and right (not coveting our neighbor’s stuff…being content with what God has given us), but we fail in our flesh to actually accomplish what we know to be right.  Paul puts it this way in Romans:

“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).

And further on Paul continues…

“For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:22-23). 

The little quirk in human nature that Paul is pointing out is sometimes described as the inability to say “no.”

Of course, we understand that saying, “no” can be a very healthy thing in many ways. 

Saying “no” to the urge to eat more than you need is a simple way to keep your weight under control.  I think that most of us understand that. 

Saying “no” to going out with friends when you need to study for the exam will undoubtedly help you succeed in school. 

Saying “no” to the urge to rush on the highway may save your life. 

Saying “no” to screaming at someone else will probably make sure that you continue to have a loving relationship with them.

I hope that I am not opening some hidden treasures of wisdom here.  All these things are obvious.  But there is one thing that all of these have in common: none are easy.  You just try not getting mad the next time that you get mad!

Just because the rules are not easy does not mean they are bad.  Rules that seek the best for me and those around me are good.  Most of us agree that the rules are good.  Paul agrees: “For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched person that I am!” (Romans 7:22-24).

I constantly find myself doing those things that harm rather than help!  Now, if we all followed the God’s good law, we would all live in peace and health.  Imagine what a wonderful world we could have if everyone just followed the rules.  It is Isaiah’s vision found in Isaiah 11:6. “The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together” (Isaiah 11:6).  Rednecks shall hold hands with Boston lawyers and skip together through the fields of daisies.

As much as I want that world, Paul says that even this vision is not enough to stop me from doing what may cause harm to myself or others.  “Wretched person that I am!” he screams (Romans 7:24).

Of course, people who do not struggle with your particular issue will undoubtedly ask, “Why don’t you just say ‘no’?”

As if it were that easy.

For some people, not stealing is just as hard as me not slicing the golf ball into the weeds.

For some people, not sabotaging the relationship is just as hard as me not saying “no” to the Resees Peanut Butter Cup.

For some people, not keeping their eye on God, “You shall have no other gods,” is simply impossible because they are so lost that they do not even know who God truly is.  They will follow anything or anyone who seems to make any sort of sense to them, no matter how ungodly that one may be.

Just say no.  No one needs to tell us that because we tell it to ourselves over and over again.  “Just say ‘no” this time!” the voice inside our head says.  “You can do it this time,” we say over and over again to ourselves.  And when we fail, yet again?  Well, a classmate of mine once summed it up perfectly.  When his test was returned to him with a bad score, he just sat there in his desk, hitting his forehead with his fist repeating “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

If I could go back in time, I would say to that kids, “Don’t worry. I have my own Romans 7:15 moments too.  We all do.” 

That makes me think of 1 John 1:8-9.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). 

Maybe, it is fine to come to the realization that we just can’t fix ourselves.  After-all how are we going to trust in the Lord if we can do it all ourselves?  Here is the truth: we cannot do it all.  The Holy Spirit knows that.  The Holy Spirit uses our inability to fix ourselves to draw us closer to the one who can fix us and make us whole.  It seems that only when we accept that we have Romans 7:15 moments, do we finally reach out and grasp onto Jesus Christ, who overcomes limitations, sin, and death.

The first step in 12 step recovery is admitting we are powerless over our addiction (over our inability to get it right, over our inability to fix ourselves).  We admit that our lives have become unmanageable and that we need someone other than ourselves to move forward.  It is true for all of us.  My Romans 7:15 moment may not be addiction, but I still cannot overcome my struggles alone.  We all need someone else.  We all need Christ. 

Maybe when we finally cling to Christ and maybe when we see that Christ carries us through our Romans 7:15 moments, we can finally have a Romans 7:25 moment and shout: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25).