Epistle 0716 Reflection

The Epistle

Romans 8:1-11

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 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, 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. 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. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 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, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

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. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

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There are two main focal points in this Epistle: [1] The Mediation of Jesus Christ and [2] The Transformation of the Christian.

The theme of mediation builds upon previous readings from Romans, showing how Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners.  Jesus did not do the right thing but rather the graceful thing.  He takes upon himself what we deserve because of sin.  He who is immortal takes on death and defeats sin and death, not for himself, but for us, his beloved.

The theme of transformation flows from that mediation.  The Christian ought to look, sound, and act differently.  This does not mean that the Christian should boast in being different.  We should never forget that the gifts we have received are not what we truly deserved.  If we deserved the gifts of God, these things would no longer be grace.  Remembering grace, we cling to humility, and seek to grow into the image of whom God would wish us to be and has called us to be through Jesus, our Great High Priest and Sacrifice to God on our behalf.

Father Tim+