Homily on Romans 7:15-25a Delivered to St. Christopher's Church New Carrollton - July 5, 2026

 

Wretched man that I am! 
Who will save me from this body of death?

Father, what we know not, teach us; and what we have not, give us; and what we are not make us. For the sake of your Son, Jesus in whose Name we pray.  Amen.

A very devout woman who posted comedic skits on FB to convey a clear Bible doctrine, would in a sobering post declare that she was a saved and born again Christian, and since her baptism, she was no longer a sinner. Friends, she is not the only one who has been taught this untruth. Jesus’ blood cleanses us of our sin guilt – all of the sins we have committed -  so we’re no longer guilty before Holy God. At the very nanosecond following our cleansing, God’s Holy Spirit comes into us giving us new life in Christ; He regenerates us so that we are no longer spiritually dead before God, but rather raised to new life in Christ. *So we have all of this going for us, right? You got the blood that cleanses us. We have had our sin guilt removed. And the Holy Spirit God comes to live in us to begin the work of sanctification, which is a big word that means being transformed into the image of Christ, and the Father puts Christ’s righteousness into us so when He looks on us He sees Christ. So we got all this going for us. Why do we still sin? Why do we still mess up? Before we answer that question, let's identify God's definition of sin – anybody knows that? It's a very simple answer.  God's definition of sin is breaking the law: it's as simple as that.

Let’s look to the Bible for confirmation. In James 2:1-10 the Spirit speaks about loving one’s neighbor – a law, and the different ways that law could be broken. He says that if you claimed to keep the whole law, but chose to ignore one of them, you have broken all of the law. From a practical viewpoint: So if the community ordinances say to pick up after your dog when he relieves himself and you choose not to, you have broken the law, you have sinned. If God says do not lie, and you try to work around that by painting it white to make it a “little white lie” – “it’s just a little lie”-no one needs to know right? ha! God knows - you have broken His law, you have sinned. If the speed limit says 25 and you are doing 45 because you’re late, you have broken the law and potentially placed someone else in danger because of your poor choice; you have sinned.

So the question comes again. Why do we still sin? Because we choose to. But the overarching reason is that we still retain the falleness of humanity from Adam's act of sin. Paul, in his letter in Romans 7, transparently confesses that he is of the flesh – that is, the remaining fallen humanity is still in him – still in us. Never once does he say that the devil made him do it!…This is Paul, the super apostle, telling us he was still a sinner! Like him, we cannot free ourselves from our falleness. Although we have been converted, we have not been relieved of our fallen humanity. The converted side of our being wants to honor the Lord, to obey Him, express our devotion to Him, but sin dwells still in us. We are a new creation, a new life, have new longings and new aspirations, new impulses - that are incarcerated in redeemed humanity. Working toward all that is right, good, and holy is a challenge because it has to penetrate through our fallen humanity and our humanity must war against that. Paul is in anguish; he cries out for rescue from this body of death! 

What is the body of death Paul is referring to? Some suggest it is the fallen humanity; another view is based on a judgment practice in ancient times for one who has murdered another. The murderer is forced to have the dead body – the corpse of the person murdered -- strapped to his back to die a slow death because the decaying body would infest the healthy body and eat him to death. Paul saw the presence of his fallen humanity as a corpse strapped to him – that’s why he cries out – wretched man that I am! Who will free me from this body of death!!?? Paul concludes as we all should conclude: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen? So in God’s grace we must battle continuously with the sinful fallen humanity per Philippians 2:12-13 – working out with the Holy Spirit our salvation (this is not working for our salvation, this is once we are saved working in tandem with the Holy Spirit's guidance and counsel), removing the old self and putting on the new, following the Spirit’s lead in our transformation - walking that path that He has designed for us.

So, we come back to the whole “am I still a sinner after being saved” question. 1 John 1 clearly answers that question. After affirming God’s salvation plan in Christ, John speaks to the churchgoers at verses 5 to 10 where he clarifies that we still sin after we are saved. He says if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us; we make Christ a liar and God’s word is not in us. But - in good news there is always a "But God": If we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and His blood continues to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Does our sinful nature – our fallen humanity that we still carry in us and the battle we daily wage against our flesh, our fallen humanity -- does it make us weary and tired (it certainly makes me tired!), does it make us feel heavy laden? What does Jesus tell us in our Gospel lesson today? Yes, Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I willgive your rest. That rest is a place in our relationship with Jesus where we can experience His peace and His joy, His rest - even in the battle.

All of us can point to an act of sin or law breaking that we have done since our salvation – we all have whether we accept it or not. Jeremiah 17 says "The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse, so who can understand it?" (often in the Bible the reference to "heart" is not speaking about our physical hearts but, rather, the center of our desires and wills). We must repent and seek God’s forgiveness. One of the more devastating things we do in our fallen humanity is hold onto anger with a death-grip, which becomes bitterness over time to the point where it poisons our relationships with each other, and alienates us from God. It becomes an idol. We choose not to forgive others, Jesus says, then God will not forgive us. We can try to cite our reasons for being bitter – because so and so did this or that, and God just looks at us and asks us do you want me to put the shoe on the other foot? Do you want Me to remember all of your sins and choose not to forgive you?  

In His love and omniscience, God will choose the proper discipline for each of us; discipline - in this instance - being a disciple or one who is learning to live a certain way, a way that focuses on Jesus. God may allow us to feel the consequences of our wrongdoing, giving us a reckoning that we are not progressing in our thinking and doing - showing indications of a maturing faith. He trains us to confess and repent, teaches us the proper fear of the Lord so that we can be forgiven. Isn’t that good news? We are sinners who repent and God forgives us without any condemnation! That we will sin isn’t good news but God’s provision for addressing that is! One of God’s promises is to discipline us in the way He has designed for us; we mess up, commit a sin because our fallen wills and desires that stem from the mind and heart cause us to trip up. Friends:  God loves us too much to let us live in a lie. Hebrews 12:6 tells us He will discipline us; again, discipline doesn't mean beating us over the head with a 2 by 4, even though I make a joke about that sometimes. It is a training in righteousness and godliness. The Spirit uses the instrument of grace – God’s word – to train us. Disciplining may also mean that He sometimes will allow things to happen as a result of our choices influenced by our fallen hearts or wills. He will allow us to feel the consequences of that error so that we may realize we must continue to obey Him even when we don’t want to. Yes, you heard me right – even when we don’t want to. That’s called faith and trust that God’s way is the only way through this battle. And this is true for any Christian who’s born of God. And so when we choose to do it our way instead of God's way, we will suffer the consequences, but God does not condemn us because we who are saved are continually cleansed by the blood of Christ, and restored to the path of righteousness.

So I am going to cite some scriptures that urge us to seek God’s mercy, advises us how to protect ourselves from the world, the flesh, the devil – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride in riches. Part of the godliness training is our accepting & wearing our spiritual armor that God has provided us for defensive and offensive purposes. In Ephesians 6:10-18 the Spirit directs us in putting the armor on; we are fighting spiritual battles so spiritual armor is a necessity. Every day God wakes us up we must put on that armor. Every vulnerable part of our faith walk is to be protected, lest we get lured back into sin. The parts of this spiritual armor are: the breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, truth girded about our loins, feet ready to share the good news, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit, and praying in the Spirit – the last two items being critical to the effectiveness of the rest of the armor.  We cannot do this apart from the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. If you think that you can be transformed and protected in your walk without God’s Word and His Holy Spirit, then you have been deceived in a mortal way. Because we cannot. Peter tells us,in his first letter 5:8-9, that the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone. Who is he looking to devour? Not the people he already has in his control. He's looking to devour us. Those who have been chosen by God. Because he does not want to see us have that victory that Zechariah talks about in our first lesson where we are rejoicing in God. The devil does not want us to rejoice in God: he wants us to hate God as much as he does. As we commit to the effort of the Spirit’s work in us, we will see ourselves beginning to mature to the extent that our sin acts begin to dwindle. 

In addition to armor, we have an advocate in this struggle: 1 John 2 identifies our intercessor as none other than our high Priest Jesus Christ, who continually intercedes for us. Also see Romans 8:34. As we wrap up I want to refer you to a small handful of scriptures about what else God provides for us in our battle: His amazing love and mercy.  While we don’t have the time today to read them through I'll give you the cite and you can check your Bible or BibleGateway and search forgiveness of sins – long list of scriptures!     The scriptures I will share are just a glimpse of what God is doing. This instrument of grace that He gives us is powerful. But do not abuse God’s grace by sinning on purpose. You open yourself up to the devil. Jot these down: Psalm 32:1,3,5,11. Psalm 103:11-14; Isaiah 44:21-22. They all confirm to us God’s mercy and love in the act of forgiveness of our sins, blotting out our mess-ups, intentional or unintentional. Remember, though, not to take God’s grace in vain like Israel did; the Old Testament is filled with accounts of their sin which led to their utter destruction. An even closer to home example: last summer we began praying as a church for the church without a script seeking God’s face, direction, grace and mercy and His provisions. Each week I looked forward to the prayer group growing; however, each week the prayer group lost a member, until after a month of that we were down to 3, sometimes 4 people. And then, it ceased altogether. Shortly thereafter, a brick gets thrown at the upstairs kitchen window, and through the window in our sanctuary. Not too long after that, a brick is hurled at the front door and then thrown through a sanctuary window. Then the man goes around to the chapel window, kicks it in, and once inside he trashes the chapel. A coincidence – I think not. God’s ways and discipline are sometimes to allow the negative in order to produce the positive in us. Do not abuse God’s grace, but rather rejoice that He has loved you and I before we were a little twinkle in our daddy's eye - from before the beginning of time, that He has given us everything we need to fulfill our calling. That He extends us mercy and grace – things we do not deserve in the least bit. Friends - Is God good to us? Can we praise Him again for all He has done and is doing for us individually and what He desires to do for St. Christopher’s to keep our hearts open and our church doors open. Let’s end with the 1^st verse and Refrain we sang at the beginning of the service and Rejoice– Amen? Waving our scarves lifting our hands: let’s give Him praise and honor - maestro.  

ENDING – Brothers and Sisters – In all our battles, may we cling to the Rock who is Christ as we move thru battle against the world, the flesh, the devil, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of riches, so that when we are finished with this life and this body of death, our reward will be total bliss, no more tears, only complete joy to the glory of God. Amen?

Sinking Ship - A Parable

 

  Came across this story some time ago – guess it was a kind of parable…

      One Sunday, after leaving church as soon as the “Amen” dropped, three men went out sailing in Chesapeake Bay as they had done many times before. The fellow who owned the boat cherished it as a prize possession-it was lovely. He always bragged about it because it reflected his self-achievements and his self-importance. His boat had hosted many parties. This particular Sunday, as they were drinking and playing their music as loud as they could, a storm came up out of no where – one minute the sun was shining and a gentle breeze blew across the boat; the next minute the sound of thunder could be heard. In the distance was a warning horn blowing, but the guys felt they could navigate themselves out of the storm – after all, they’ve done so before. But the rain came down in buckets; visibility was increasingly poor. The boat had survived storms before – only last year the owner spent thousands of dollars to repair damage when the boat got side-swiped in another storm; had special fog lights added. The rain continued so heavily that the boat was beginning to fill up. They were sure that all they had to do was bail out water and head in the direction of the shore. But then the wind picked up and blew more water onto the boat and made navigation hard. The men were frantically bailing out the water when a motorboat comes alongside offering to carry the men safely back to shore. However, sure of themselves, they tell the person, no, we are trying to save our ship. “We’ll be fine! This is not our first rodeo!” the owner chuckled. “Plus, we have prayed.”

        Twenty minutes later, the water in the boat has risen several inches – it’s up to their shins. Another motorboat a little bit larger than the first comes alongside and its captain offers to rescue the three men. “No, we’re good” they replied. “We’re almost at the dock – should reach it in a few minutes.” The captain tells them again to come on board, saying he’s been sailing these waters for years and knows how unpredictable these storms can be. The three men insist that they know what they are doing , plus we have prayed, they said.

       Fifteen more minutes pass; the water has practically submerged the boat. The men could not dump the water out fast enough. They had chosen at the beginning of their journey to not put on their life jackets because they were too cumbersome, too hot, and now the jackets are floating in the bay. A coast guard vessel comes alongside and tells the men to abandon ship and come on board. One of the men clings onto the ladder and climbs up to safety, urging the others to follow, but the other two are expecting God to perform a miraculous rescue because they prayed.

       Several minutes later the boat capsizes and the two men eventually drown. They suddenly find themselves in the presence of Jesus. They are quick to ask and demand an answer: “Jesus! we prayed and prayed but you didn’t come!” Jesus is quiet. They angrily ask, “Jesus why didn’t you save us? We prayed over and over and cried out to you! You’re Jesus - you were supposed to save us! ” Jesus looks at them. Their faces are stern and their attitudes are filled with arrogant pride. Jesus finally says, “I heard your cries for help. I sent three boats to pull you to safety but you chose to stay on a sinking ship – chose to continue existing in the dangerous condition you were in, believing you were safe because you ‘prayed’. I read hearts – your hearts were never all mine because of your proudful stubborn will. You treated me like a wooden idol you could appease by offering me tainted worship, and your cries were yet another expression of self-preservation in your sinful ways. Your focus was on keeping your boat, which represented your status and position, demanding that I save you so that you can continue in your wicked way and brag about how you ‘prayed’ and swayed Me. Your prayers have not reached heaven because they were always earth-bound. For years I have reached out to you, but your hearts were hard; you did not listen to Me as My word was read to you in church; you rejected My Word and never truly desired it. You reasoned that because you were baptized and took communion regularly you secured your salvation. But, you chose not answer my call to serve Me, as it required sacrifice – your work and your personal time, yet expected others to serve you. You treated faith like a commodity rather than a relationship with Me. That’s why you never heard Me nor really knew me. I sent intervention after intervention, but you preferred all these years to stay in your ‘sinking ship’ rather than come to me without your personal agenda.” The two men complained, “then why didn’t you make us worship you right? Why didn’t you make us get onto the coast guard boat with our friend?” Jesus replies, “Your other friend cried tears of remorse, prayed to Me, repenting of his sins – including rejecting me - he surrendered his whole self to Me, letting go of the self-righteousness prison in which he had lived for years, the Father forgave him, and I responded to his prayer, opened his mind and heart to my presence, placed my Spirit in him. He immediately received My salvation and My provision for life with me. Even now, you believe that you could have salvation without close relationship with Me. But you - you stubbornly stayed stuck, you shut the door to relationship with Me, refusing me yet again, preferring your own version of salvation – deceiving yourself --putting trust in your own wit and logic, seeking to save the status quo and thus closing your minds and hearts to My provision of safety. And just like the many, many times I reached out to you, you rejected My call again for this - the last time, because My call meant to you that you had to let go of the love of material things and status you held so dear, that I would require you to work for My glory and not yours. Your friend began praising me in his heart and then with his lips while you two were distracted with your self-salvation. He grabbed hold of the ladder eager for new life with me; you chose to stay, never asking Me what I would have you do at that juncture because your hearts were stone. You have always wanted my blessings, my peace, my provisions, but you bore no fruit of faith, no heart for service, no interest in Me outside of what I could do for you; you rejected my words of eternal life. You sought instead the world’s and the flesh’s pleasures – false idols -- rather than obedience to and life with Me, and were comfortable not abiding in Me. You now have your reward.”

       And suddenly they found themselves groping about in the density of darkness that surrounded them.