Examining the overall composition of Romans(7)

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 The Lord does not say to take up 'his cross' and follow him, but to deny yourself and take up 'your cross' and follow him.' (Matthew 16:24).

People who wonder if it is possible to live like Jesus and Paul... will probably not be able to do that even if they live 3,000 years.

But it will be a bright look.

Even monks say that chanting to become a Buddha is like putting sand in a pot and hoping for rice to be cooked. But can you become a disciple of Jesus without a spiritual transaction of actually selling yourself through the cross and buying the Lord, regardless of anything to do with the Lord?

We gentiles are not those who believe in Jesus and take up his cross and follow him.

Hearing the gospel, we know and praise the works that Jesus has already accomplished on earth through the faith that Christ is within us, that is, the faith that has given us born again and eternal life.

Therefore, I do not say that I take up the cross of the Lord, but I taked the cross that have already died with the Lord and have risen with the Lord, so I confess that I died and rose again.

As a result, I am giving up my old self, dying and then living again, denying myself and following toward the throne of grace that the Lord said let's go .

Therefore, the cross is not forcibly taken, nor is it voluntarily, but since we have already died and resurrected together with the Lord, the moment we become a recreated new creature, we are destined to bind one yoke with the Lord and move toward eternity.

When I did not know Romans, the cross was placed outside.

From the time I know the book of Romans, in order to be counted as a person who died with the Lord and came back to life, I have no choice but to stick to that cross like a sticker.

That is why Paul confessed that because he always carried the death of Jesus, the life of Jesus appeared in his body (2 Cor. 4:10), and he was so proud that he died every day (1 Cor. 15:31).

God's salvation is retroactively applied to us.

The story of the bible is already past perfect from God's point of view.

This is because God, who is the beginning and the end, is the alpha and the omega.

The grace of redemption of the cross of Christ is applied retroactively and permeates into us by faith in which we hear, believe, and accept the fact that has already been accomplished through the bible.

It means that only after coming into Christ and being found,  you will come to know the grace of Christ's redemption and God's love that has already been accomplished.

So today, I am following the path of calling according to the promise, following the road map that made me justified in Christ and glorified me who justified me.

Romans 6 clearly suggests that the only way to become one with Jesus Christ is through baptism.

The mark of Christianity is the Word and the Sacraments.

So baptism and communion are very important.

Romans 7 represents human conflict, that is, human psychology.

Conflict arises when I try to solve my problems myself.

A spiritual life of faith is a fight to realize that one has no possibility of oneself, to confess that one cannot save oneself, and to desperately hold on to the Lord.

The true meaning of baptism lies here.

In Psalm 42:5, “My soul, why are you troubled within me?” A conflict arises.

The solution is to look to the Lord. It says put your hope in God.

And the confession of those who are alive again in Christ must be neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but "only those who have been new creation through Christ" (Galatians 6:15).

Romans is a letter that clearly shows theocratic and humanistic.

Hegel say ' Trick of Reason'.

It means that any human being will  have undesirable results.

How can they, who do not accept the bible, know that there is death in man who died in Adam?

So, modern philosophy says that it is reasonable for humans to  do what they want , and that it is irrational if it doesn't work, so christians also say that we should leave that unreasonable thing to God, right?

Even if we believe that we died with Christ, our bodies will reappear, but when our bodies appear, we will know whether we are spiritual or fleshly depending on how we deal with them.

The way to deal with that is the message of the cross.

The message of the cross is our refuge.

Even if we commit a sin worthy of death, if we run away to Jesus Christ, no one can take us away.

It is the only way to live, and it is the way to salvation.

After 25 years of living a Christian life, I knew through the book of Romans that I knew the boundary between Adam and Christ, and that I, who was in Adam, had been transferred into Christ, who had nothing to do with sin and death, through Christ's redemptive death on the cross and his resurrection.

From then until today, 26 years later, I listen to the nagging of the Holy Spirit and repeat the training of godliness in which the cross of Christ becomes my cross every day.

Even so, I always feel insufficiency and lack of spirit in front of the Lord.

When a person of the law hears the law, he says, “Ah, I should do that,” but when he turns around, he says, “Oh,  I  can not do that.”  yes and no.

If you motivates a non-dead nature person , they will rush at it.

But it's never consistent. This is where conflict arises.

You get caught up in guilt or self-absurdity and a sense of defeat.

A man in sin kills himself, so he becomes a man who kills others.

God allows such people trials and tribulations to completely change Adam's values and moral point of view in Christ.

The truth is alive in them, and then their entire lives gradually change.

Christians must beware of the trap of thinking as like everything is done good while  they are in conflict with their own beliefs.

We must surrender like the last part of Romans 7.

“Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I will give thanks to God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 7:24-25).

This is biblical psychology.

What we must know is that we in Jesus Christ are always raised up by the Holy Spirit, the zeal of God.

We do not raise up us by ourselves.

Those are the enemies of the cross.

The first half of Romans 8 is about the flesh and the spirit.

Christians may mistakenly believe that they walk according to the Spirit while thinking of the flesh.

The important thing is to first gain freedom through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

We must be free from sin and death (Rom 8:1-2)

You must enjoy freedom from your ego through the message of the cross in any circumstances and circumstances.

When a person is bound by something, he can do nothing but think about it.

He can't get out.

When he is bound by sin, he cannot but think of sin.

Therefore, you can have spiritual thoughts only when you enjoy freedom from all fleshly thoughts.

This is a spiritual principle. So the thoughts of the spirit become life and peace (Rom 8:6)

On the other hand, the mind of the flesh is stressed. 

Because if you follow the thoughts of the flesh, death will overtake you. 

It is because the place where they are standing is under the wrath of God.

The second half of Romans 8 is the blessing that salvation gives us.

It is waiting until the redemption of the body. (Romans 8:23) 

In fact, those who pretend to be righteous because of the pride of their perishable flesh are very unhappy people.

Romans 8:1-11 is about spiritual liberation, and Romans 8:23-25 is about hope leading to complete liberation (redemption of the body).

The blessing of life given by God allows us to be completely liberated from toil and heavy burdens, that is, to gain true freedom and satisfaction, and this is also connected to the blessings of life.

If the spirit is truly satisfied and enjoys freedom, you will feel happiness in your life and you will feel joy even in trivial things.

This is the blessing the bible gives us.

On the other hand, if the spirit is not satisfied and there is no freedom, no matter how leisurely and prosperous your life may be, you will not be truly satisfied.

It's stuffy this way and stuffy that way.

Listen to the words of this doctrine over and over again and make it your own by patiently following Romans 1-8.

Romans contains the way of true happiness that we seek in the entire process.

Therefore, do not forget the promise that the glorious freedom of the sons of God (Rom. 8:21) is not a blessing obtained after death, but a reality like David and Paul while living in the flesh.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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