Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Only One Can Live

Over the last couple of months, I've been working on memorizing Romans 6-7 (using this method, which I totally swear by--it's more effective than anything I've tried). It's heavy stuff to work through, and even though I've got a good chunk of it committed to memory, I'm still far from deeply understanding it and having it penetrate my heart.

One thing I can clearly see, at least, is that sin and death are unmistakable themes in this passage. This morning's verse was Romans 7:9, and the last phrase especially caught my attention: "...sin sprang to life and I died."

When sin lives, I'm dead. I can only live when sin is dead, when I have died to sin. Paradox--life only comes after death--and profound reality. Sin and I cannot peacefully coexist. Either it lives, or I do. As John Owen once wisely said: "Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you."

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