The Zombie
Apocalypse
An
Exegesis of Romans 7:14-8:4
Ever watched a zombie movie? Zombies
are critters who used to be people, but they died from some sort of
disease, usually contracted by getting bit by a zombie.
The old zombie movies had slow moving
zombies that walked like Frankenstein's monster or something, with
arms stretched in front of them and slow, stiff walking motions. But
the newer ones have them running at high speed. Regardless, they also
end up traveling in packs or crowds—or they take over everything,
and it becomes the zombie apocalypse.
Here's the problem with zombies: you
can't kill them, because they're already dead. You can hack limbs
off, you can shoot them multiple times, you can cut them in two, and
they keep coming after you. The only way to permanently stop a zombie
is a head shot—shoot them between the eyes.
Did you know that you have a zombie
inside of you? We all do.
Remember that in Romans 6:3-4, you are
baptized, and that baptism buries the old person who you were. You
then arise out of the water in newness of life, a new creature in
Christ. You killed that sinful self. But that sinful self you put to
death in baptism keeps coming back, and at the most inopportune
times! You keep killing it, but it doesn't ever fully die. Even a
head shot doesn't work. The only thing that works is a heart shot.
Romans 7:14-8:4
14 For we know that the Law is
spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
Genesis 37:
Joseph was sold into bondage, forced to labor against his will. Many
people in that time volunteered to go into slavery to pay off
debts—it was for a limited time as an indentured servant. Joseph
went against his will. There is true anguish here.
God made us to be spiritual beings,
with His Law written in our hearts. He also gave us free will and the
weakness for temptation. This weakness is so strong that our desires
can overrule our hearts and minds when we quit fighting them due to
being tired or worn out—or we just don't want to fight it anymore.
15 For
what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I
would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
When I was a new Christian, I realized
my struggle with sin. I'd see something I liked, did the same thing I
did before I was a Christian, then I woke up the next morning hating
myself. It was not an issue before I was a Christian—I didn't care
about it. But once I became a Christian, I had a conscience.
16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do,
I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is
good.
The Law IS right. It IS good. I don't
want to break it. This isn't me having a bad attitude and not caring
what the Law says, this is me breaking the Law regardless of how I
feel about the matter.
That old sinful self WON'T DIE. It keeps coming back. In some cases,
we try to will it out of existence. That never ends well. Luke
11:24-26 “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes
through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says,
‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when
it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes
and takes along seven other spirits more evil
than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of
that man becomes worse than the first.” You can't just remove
it. You have to replace it with something else. But even then, you
still have problems.
18 For
I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the
willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
The sinful self crowds out and kills of
your ability to do good—while yet you still WANT to do good.
This is explaining the last verse's
concept, and that the doing of evil is against my will.
Paul was a rabbinical student. The
rabbis taught that there are two impulses within a man, both from
God. When a young man comes of age, they contend for mastery within
him. The remedy taught by rabbis was devoted study and application of
the Law. But Paul says no, the law cannot counteract it.
20 But
if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one
doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
There is a parasite: an evil overlord
in my body's temple.
God is right, and that's Who I want
residing in my heart!
23 but
I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against
the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which
is in my members.
But my mind is surrounded by these evil
zombies in the rest of my body.
Absolutely wretched is the one who is
enslaved against their will. Recognize the fact that you need outside
help. There isn't a single solitary mortal person who can go it alone
successfully.
25 Thanks
be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I
myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with
my flesh the law of sin.
Here comes the Cavalry! It happens in
most of the zombie apocalypse movies—the rescuers show up at the
very last minute to save the day.
No, here comes Calvary. Jesus
could not have conquered sin or death if He had not appeared in the
FLESH to do so. It is the FLESH that has the sinful nature, and Jesus
had to conquer it where it resides.
*One side note here: A lot of scholars
think that Paul is referring to the Law of Moses here. If that's
true, what does that mean for us, we who do not come from the Jewish
tradition? Paul looks at Israel's problems with the Mosaic Law as
similar to what any people will have with any kind of law. It's
already proven that we can't live up to any kind of law, code, or
personal resolution well enough to deliver ourselves.
This is because any law can only tell
us what to do—but not how to do it.
As long as we're slaves to our sinful
nature, law will only reveal our problem and frustrate our efforts to
live up to its standards.
Deliverance comes only through Christ.
