“Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 NLT)
I read it today and my heart can’t unsee it. Paul may have been referring to an ancient Roman form of capital punishment: where a decaying corpse was handcuffed to a prisoner.
“Back to back, chained to the wrist and ankles, the condemned prisoner had to carry a decomposing body wherever he went. The rotting flesh of the defiled body eventually killed him.” (Live Dead Joy, Dick Brogden)
My overactive imagination can picture it, maybe even feel the weight of death upon my own shoulders. What a cruel fate! What an accurate portrayal of sin’s contaminating and pervasive presence in our lives! We drag the dead weight of sin around with us each and every day. If left unconfessed, unattended to, it will seep into our bloodstream and incur a slow and thorough death. Apart from Christ, we are as helpless as the shackled prisoner, hopelessly tethered to the very thing that will most certainly be our demise.
“Thank God! the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:25 NLT)
Confession of sin and belief in Christ is the only means of turning the key and releasing the chains. Apostle Paul: post-conversion and well into his public ministry reminds us that repentance is not just a one time affair. No, quite the contrary; repentance is our continued posture because temptation never lets up. This man of God spent two full chapters in his own ceaseless wrestle with sin. As long as we are breathing, our flesh will be an issue. That is why we continually confess our dependency on Christ; daily, even hourly if need be. He alone frees us from the body of death.
Lord, today we see our sin predicament in the garish light of day. It is, indeed, a body of death. Only You can free us from it’s shackles. We confess our complete reliance on Your redemption. Thank You for providing for the liberation of of our souls. Amen.