Imagine discovering you’re not an independent being after all, but two beings at war with each other. It was a shocking discovery for Paul, too. Wherever he went, Romans 7:21, ”I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”
There was never a day when Paul could sneak out on a good errand without evil suddenly appearing beside him, popping up its ugly head, ready to mess up his day. It was awful. There was no escape from it, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work….waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin (verses 22-23).”
A law at work? That worked every time like gravity? Yes. It was guaranteed, every time, that when Paul had a good thought, up would pop these opposing thoughts. He could never think just one way. There would always be these other thoughts trying to muscle their way in. He’d set out in the morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, determined to put in a good day full of good thoughts and good actions, and what would happen? By the end of the day, if he was able to play back on screen his every thought and action, it would be embarrassing. Up would come scene after scene of this other law at work, or this other creature inside him, constantly taking him prisoner to its thoughts, instead.
And it never lets up, does it? Driving to work, for instance, we can’t just enjoy the ride. No, evil’s right there with us, moaning about the traffic, criticizing other people for their lousy driving habits, tut-tutting about lights turning red, hurling out judgments about the world in general, determined to make us as miserable as possible. Can we escape its incessant babble in our heads? Not for a second. It just keeps on babbling away, never stopping for breath.
Get to work, and what happens? Evil’s right with us there, too. It’s got all kinds of new things to moan about now, the boss, the lighting, the chair you sit on, the people you have to work with…it never, never stops. It’s like being stuck in a car with a passenger who never stops talking, never stops pointing out other people’s faults, never stops thinking the world revolves around him, and never for a moment wants to know what you’re thinking. You look grimly ahead, desperately hoping for the journey to end, but on and on it goes. Is there no escape from this horror?…
Filed under: The new way of the Spirit
