Romans 7:15-25a (NRSV)
Read Romans 7:15-25a on biblegateway.com
Verse 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Verse 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. Verse 17But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. Verse 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. Verse 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Verse 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. Verse 21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. Verse 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, Verse 23but 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. Verse 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Verse 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
Devotion
Recently, I was picking up my two youngest from day care. As I gathered their things, I watched my two-year-old — in a matter of seconds — go from giving her brother a huge hug, to kicking him. My son saw me and limped over. "Mom," he said. "Sometimes Mia is a really good girl. And sometimes she is a really bad girl. I just don't know what to expect with her."
In terms of our life with God, there is no 'sometimes' about it. As Lutherans, we claim to be simul justis et peccator — saints and sinners. That's an important, bold claim to make because we know deep down that we constantly fall short. Yet we also know that because of Jesus, God sees us as though we never sin. Luther said the only thing that brings our good and bad parts together is the cross. Jesus makes it possible for us to fully experience God's love and gracious forgiveness. There is no 'sometimes' about that, either.
Prayer
God of wonder, heaven only knows why you love us. We fall so short of your plans for us. Yet we trust that even when we let you down, you will still lift us up and hold us close and call us your children. Thank you for calling us saints, even in the midst of our sin. Amen.