Rom 7: 1-6: "Brothers, I say to those who understand the law: Don't you know that the law keeps people alive? Just as a woman with a husband is still alive, she is bound by the law; If the husband dies, he is out of the husband's law. Therefore, her husband is alive, but she belongs to others, so she is called an adulteress; If her husband dies, she is free from her husband's law. Although she belongs to someone else, she is not an adulteress. So then, brothers, you were also dead to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to others and to him who rose from the dead, so that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the lusts born of the law were aroused in our members, which led to the fruit of death. But since we died in the law that bound us, we are now out of the law, so that we can serve the Lord in new ways instead of in the old ways. 」
Paul uses the relationship between husband and wife as a metaphor to illustrate our relationship with the law. If the husband and wife die, the wife is divorced from her husband and is no longer bound by him. Similarly, if we die in the law, we are free from the law and bound. What it means here is that we don't want to be saved by obeying God's law according to our own actions. We must die in such thoughts, behaviors and relationships.
If we obey God's law according to our own actions, such people will violate God's law even more. What does this mean? If all our minds are focused on keeping God's commandments, the more careful we are, the more likely we are to violate God's laws. When we are not sanctified, although we want to obey God's law, in fact, we always violate God's law more. The evil desire is aroused in our limbs and bears the fruit of death, but we can't control it ourselves.
Therefore, only when we break away from the relationship of doing the law according to our deeds can we be guided by the Holy Spirit and bear sanctified fruit. Not with the law, but with Jesus Christ. Is it because the law is bad that you don't combine it? Absolutely not, not because the law is not good, but because we cannot be justified according to the law. We should be separated from the law, because we are not justified by the law, but by the grace of Jesus.
Sea fish of Sparidae 7: 7- 13, "What can we say then? Is the law a crime? Absolutely not! But I don't know what sin is except the law. I don't know what greed is unless the law says' Don't be greedy'. However, sin took the opportunity to arouse all kinds of greed in me through the commandment, because without the law, sin is dead. Before there was no law, I was alive; But when the commandment came and sin was raised, I died. The commandment that should have kept people alive killed me, because sin took the opportunity to seduce me through the commandment and killed me. In this way, the law is holy, and the commandments are holy, just and good. In that case, is it good for me to die? Absolutely not! It was sin that killed me. But sin made me die through that good, so sin became worse through the commandment. 」
When we are doing something, if we concentrate on it, it will often have the opposite effect. For example, when I walk, I see a stone on the road ahead, so I concentrate: Oh, don't step on this stone when I walk! When all my spirit is focused on not stepping on this stone, I have no freedom. If I walk like this, without looking at whether there is a stone in front of me and distracting myself elsewhere, I may not be able to step on this stone. But I put all my energy on this stone, and I can only see this stone in my eyes, so I can only step on this stone more.
For example, I can't be greedy, I can't be greedy! I have been telling myself in my heart not to be greedy. At that time, I would feel that I was insatiable. It turns out that I am greedy for many things. For example, in order to observe the precept of not committing adultery, I have been saying in my heart: Oh, I don't want to see a woman's face, I don't want to see it! If I keep thinking like this in my mind, there may be more female faces in my mind at this time. For example, I can't perjure myself. If I have been absorbed in this commandment, everything I have done in my life seems to be giving false testimony to others. Therefore, if we live with the idea that I should obey the commandments, we will be more likely to violate God's law. Do you understand what I mean?
But if we have a unified mind about the commandments, it will be easier for us to keep God's commandments. We should know that the law is to make us understand sin; When we discover our sins through God's law, we will come to Jesus.
Rom 7: 14, "We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal and have been sold to sin."
This commandment is holy, just and good, and it shows the sin in our hearts very accurately. But when we are willing to keep God's commandments, we will find one thing: the law is spiritual, and I am carnal, that is, I always want to keep the law but always violate it. So I sigh here: I am carnal, but I have been sold to sin.
The law is holy, just and good, but we can't keep God's law according to our own actions. We want to do good deeds and obey God's laws, and as a result, we even violate God's laws. Why? Because we are slaves of sin.
Sea fish of Sparidae 7: 15-24, "I don't know myself because of what I did. I don't do what I want; I will do what I hate. If I do something I don't want to do, I will accept that the law is good. In that case, I didn't do it, but the sin that lives in me. I also know that there is no goodness in me, that is, in my body. Because I am determined to do good, but I can't. So, I won't do what I want to do; I will do bad things that I don't want to do. If I do something I don't want to do, it's not me who lives in me, but sin. I think there is a law that when I am willing to do good, evil is with me. Because according to my heart, I like God's law. But I feel that another law in my members is at war with the law of my heart and has taken me away and made me attached to the law of sin in that member. I'm really bitter! Who can save me from this dead body? "
This is the explanation of those who want to be righteous in the law, not in Jesus. Are we talking about Christians who have not truly repented of holiness or Christians who have repented of holiness? What kind of spiritual level is such a person mentioned by Paul here? Does he want to obey God's law? Yes, he is a man who works very hard to keep God's law. Is he a man who knows the truth of God or a man who doesn't know the truth of God? Yes, he is the one who knows. But can he keep God's commandments now? Can't keep it. Although he wanted to keep God's commandments, what he did was evil. Why did he do it? Because "I am carnal, but I have been betrayed to sin."
We learned in chapter 6 that the righteous should be set free from sin. The Christian described in Chapter 7 is a person who knows the truth and tries to keep God's commandments. Although he wanted to keep God's commandments, what he did was evil, so he shouted here, "How bitter I am! Who can save me from this dead body? " Therefore, this is a Christian with the spirit of law. He knows the truth and works very hard to keep God's commandments, but he can't keep God's commandments, and he can't overcome sin at all. He didn't really repent thoroughly and become a holy Christian, because although the man wanted to do it, he couldn't.
Such people are actually very conscientious people. Such people are people who can face up to their own shortcomings and deficiencies. He shouted here. He said: how bitter I am! That's who I am. Who can save me from this dead body? He is also a man who longs for God's truth.
The apostle Paul was such a person before he met Jesus Christ, and Nicodemus was such a person before he met Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul was in this state before he sincerely repented. Paul denied Jesus at first, and he kept arresting and killing people who believed in Jesus. It was such a Paul who was very enthusiastic about keeping God's commandments at that time, and he liked the truth of the Bible very much. Although he worked hard, he realized that what he did was not good but evil.
Nicodemus quietly came to Jesus at night, and his situation was the same as that of the people mentioned here. He came to Jesus in the dead of night to talk to him. At that time, he was a lawyer, a member of the guild, a Jew who loved the law very much, and an enthusiastic Jew who wanted to be a righteous man very much. He is also a man who tries to keep God's commandments and know God's truth, but he can't do this all the time, and his heart is very painful and lonely for this. Although he seems to be enthusiastic about keeping God's commandments on the surface, he has no real joy of being redeemed, and he also knows that according to his ideological motivation, he can't keep God's commandments at all.
How did Jesus answer Nicodemus? Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3: 3) "Truly, truly, I say to you, a man cannot enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Holy Spirit." (John 3: 5) That is to say, if we don't have the experience of rebirth and holiness, we can't fully understand and see spiritual problems, and finally we can't enter the kingdom of God. Jesus said to Nicodemus, Be born again and be holy.
Now many believers are experiencing the pain described in Romans 7, and many believers are living in this state described in Romans 7. Although they know the truth and want to keep God's commandments, they can't keep God's commandments and they can't overcome their sinfulness. They were all sold and enslaved by sin. Believers like this will have a cry in the depths of their conscience. They don't know which way to go and how to go. They all cried to God. Let's think about where we are now.
Section 265438 +0, when I am very willing to do good, there is evil with me, and I am in evil. What is the "evil" here? This is the essence of evil. I am evil, not holy. I can't keep God's commandments on the premise that my inner sin rules me.
Only when the Holy Spirit is in charge of me and I am a slave of the Holy Spirit can I keep God's commandments.
Rom 7: 25, "thank god! Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we can get rid of it. In this way, I obey the law of God with my heart, but I obey the law of sin with my body. "
There are two kinds of laws in our bodies, one is the law of God, that is, the laws and commandments of God, and the other is the law of sin, that is, the nature of sin. Our minds want to obey the law of God, and we want to obey the law, but our bodies obey the law of sin, and our bodies yield to the nature of sin. That is to say, there are two kinds of laws at war in our bodies, and our hearts are trying to obey God's laws, but the laws of our bodies have been pulling us to obey the nature of sin.
It is necessary for us to know how ideas come from our hearts. Let me draw a simple picture for you to see. This is the function in our hearts. In our minds, there are higher functions, that is, higher abilities, and some of them belong to lower functions or abilities. Why are people advanced animals? It is precisely because of this higher function that our higher function is conscience, reason and will. Functions like this are on our foreheads, so we accept the imprint on our foreheads. As animals, we also have lower functions, that is, our appetite, lust, feelings and wishes. These are all low-level functions, and the low-level functions are in the back of our heads. In real life, our will makes judgments and choices among conscience, reason, feelings and desires.
If we want to overcome evil, we need to know the ability of this will, and we need to learn how to use our willpower. Our willpower is weak. Although we sometimes make big decisions, we still fall down, and we easily feel disappointed and weak: I have failed so many times, and I will never do it again; In this way, our willpower is getting weaker and weaker.
Therefore, on the issue of redemption, we must use willpower. We should completely entrust the will of choice to the Lord, so that the holy spirit of the Lord can be integrated with our will and our willpower can be strengthened. We should always exercise ourselves like this. Our own willpower is like a rotten rope, so our will and the power of the Holy Spirit should be integrated. At this time, no matter how tempting, we can choose the will of the Lord with such willpower.
Before we are holy, these inferior abilities are in charge of us, that is to say, the appetite of the body is in charge of us, the lust of the body is in charge of us, and all kinds of emotional wishes are in charge of us. So in life, I just eat whatever I want; I can do whatever I want.
But after we are holy, because the Holy Spirit is in us, our willpower will be strengthened, and our higher ability will be stronger than our lower ability. Higher abilities will dominate us, that is, our reason and our conscience, and this branch of our forehead will dominate us.
For example, I want to drink. When this desire and ability are low, reason tells us: no, drinking is harmful to health; Conscience also tells us that the Bible teaches us not to drink such wine. Although our minds tell us this, whether we are willing to do so depends on our willpower.
People are born with a depraved nature. From the time we were born, our bad habits were very strong. Appetite said: I want to eat meat, give me those pork to eat, I really want to eat meat; At that time, lust said: yes, you should eat some meat; At this time, desire will tell us: Yes, we should eat some meat so that our bodies can be happy! This inferior ability remains in our bodies, as if protesting against us. At this time, the higher functions on our foreheads will judge whether this is right or wrong like judges, and they will say: No, because pork is bad and can't be eaten, which goes against God's will. Despite this judgment, it is our willpower that makes the decision.
What is the way to enter our function from the outside? It is our senses: sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. The devil has always wanted to enter our bodies through these five senses. Similarly, God wants to enter us through these five senses and dominate us. After God enters us, he runs in our higher functions, and the Holy Spirit enters us and rules us on our foreheads. The devil has entered our bodies. He's running our low-level functions.
The devil also enters our low-level functions through our five senses. Let's see how he works. Think about it. Nowadays, young women's clothes are getting shorter and shorter, skirts are very short, and the collars on them are also very low. Even in some foreign countries, half of women's breasts are exposed, so there is no room for our eyes on such occasions. Let's take a look at all kinds of clothes that are popular now, and they are also the works of the devil. Why does the devil make such popular clothes? He wants to enter us through our vision to master our lower functions and control our lust, so that we can't keep God's commandments.
Moreover, the devil invented many delicious but harmful foods, which came to us through our sense of taste and strengthened our low appetite. Some people who are willing to drink, they can't stand the smell of good wine, so they must drink it as long as they smell it.
Ears can still hear things. If you listen to the current pop songs and those rocks, these concerts will weaken your willpower.
And tactile things. Everyone knows Coca-Cola. What does its bottle look like? Why did you make the bottle like this? It is like a woman's body. When people drink, they will hold the middle of the bottle, so subconsciously they have an idea, which seems to be holding the woman's body to drink like this. The people who originally designed Coca-Cola bottles made a lot of money. Let's see what those wine glasses look like again. This is also something that causes lust in people's subconscious. These are all related to our sense of touch, and the devil uses our sense of touch to strengthen our inferior abilities.
In Noah's time, what people saw, heard and touched was evil. Now this era is the same. If we walk outside, all we can see and hear is evil, so we can know that the day of Jesus' return is not far away.
God also wants to enter us through our five senses, but he has entered a higher function, allowing us to hear very beautiful hymns, let us see very beautiful nature, and let us see the words of the Bible, so God strengthens our higher function through these.
But no matter which way we are strong, we must have strong willpower if we want to win in the end. There is no one who truly repents to be holy, and his inferior ability is strong; But truly repentant and holy people have stronger and higher abilities. Therefore, people who don't really repent live according to their own appetites and passions; But those who truly repent of holiness live according to their own conscience and reason.
Let me draw another picture. This is our head. The brain inside is like this. The human brain can be divided into three parts: forebrain (the combination of two hemispheres and diencephalon), midbrain (including tetrad and cerebral peduncle) and hindbrain (composed of pons, medulla oblongata and cerebellum).
Forebrain is our higher function, that is, our conscience, reason and will, and our character and character are also ahead. When we accept the mark, we accept the mark on our forehead, that is, our character will be fixed here. Those who have higher power over lower power, those who are like Jesus, and those who keep God's commandments will have the seal of God on their foreheads.
In the back of our head are our low-level functions, such as appetite, lust and greedy desire. The low-level functions of this impulse are all in the back of our heads.
There are some memory cells in our midbrain. From birth to today, everything we see, hear, smell and touch is remembered in our midbrain. The midbrain has a very small tissue, which is very wonderful. It's called hippocampus. Hippocampus. ), this organization has its special role in our hearts, from birth to now all the habitual things are in it. All our memories are in the midbrain. This organization is related to all our habits on the basis of our memories, such as what I am used to eating, what is my habit of speaking, whether my habit of moving is fast or slow, lazy or diligent, right-handed or left-handed. All our habitual things are in this organization.
If we like ice cream, our habit of liking ice cream is also in our mind. For example, when we went to the market to buy something, we saw an ice cream seller next to us. The first reaction of our brain is: you give me ice cream, I want to eat ice cream now. The habit memory organization in the midbrain says: Yes, this is what you used to eat, and this is your habit. But at this time, our advanced forebrain function will tell us: no, no, that's not good for your health, it will make you fat and it's not good for your stomach. At this time, the back of our heads reminds us again: give me ice cream or let me die! So this forebrain and hindbrain fight in our minds. What should we do at this time?
When passing the ice cream stand, if our foreheads are strong, we will go straight there.
If our low-level ability is stronger than our high-level ability, low-level ability will control us. When we are passing by, the back of our head will give us an order: stop, turn right, go forward, take out your wallet, take out your money, give him ten dollars and ask for two ice creams before you get to the ice cream stand. When the back of the head did this, our mouths became disobedient, our mouths began to drool, and the memory of the midbrain came out to help: the last time we ate ice cream, it was delicious, and it was so refreshing at first sight! Just tell our forebrain: eat quickly! Then we took this ice cream and began to eat. It's very delicious and cool. As we walked forward, we ate this ice cream and felt very happy.
However, when we all finished eating and the back of our head rested, the previous reasons began to tell us: Ah, I fell down again, and my stomach began to feel uncomfortable and my stomach began to hurt. At that time, my conscience remembered: Ah, I made a mistake again. But it's too late. Why? Because at this time, our low ability has exceeded our high ability, and it has controlled us.
Such a thing will appear in our minds many times every day. Although our foreheads and our minds obey God's laws, our brains and our bodies have been committing crimes. A war between good and evil like this is going on in our minds every day.
If you meet someone you don't like very much, there will be such a war in your heart, and you may say in your heart: How can I see such a disgusting person again? I simply don't look at him and turn to other places; This is the low function of the back of our brain, that is, the desire of the body tells us. But the advanced function of our forehead will tell us this: we should be kind to him, we should love him and forgive him.
Who will win such a battle? If people who have no real repentance experience, although they really want to hear advanced functions from their foreheads, although their foreheads are willing to do so, their low-level abilities are stronger and their willpower is weak, so their bodies can't do this, so they shout in their hearts: Although I want to do it, I can't! This is what Romans 7 says.
So what can we do to win? So what can we do to keep God's commandments? What is a holy person like? Chapter 8 of Romans explains this. Chapter 8 of Romans is the most important part of the whole book of Romans.
Answer to the question:
1，Rom。 7: 10 "The commandment that should have kept people alive actually killed me." How to understand?
God's command is to give us life. If we keep God's commandments, we will have eternal life. But if we violate God's commandments, death will befall us. This commandment, which was supposed to give us life, actually hurts us because we can't keep it. This is just to illustrate this point.
2, about the diagram of brain function, for further explanation:
Our will is actually on our forehead, and our willpower is enlarged to the middle in the picture, so that we can better understand the importance of consciousness.
Our fundamental problem is weak willpower. All failures in the past tend to weaken willpower for most people. Because of the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to strengthen our willpower. After we taste the taste of victory, our willpower will gradually become stronger. For example, if the army keeps losing battles in the war, the soldiers will lose confidence and never take part in the war again. But if they start winning battles, their confidence will increase, and they will be more and more willing to fight and win more and more battles. So is our willpower. If our human will is combined with God's will, it will become a great power.
3. Psalm 1: 2, "Blessed is he who loves the law of the Lord and thinks day and night." It seems different from the above?
This is the thought of a completely repentant and holy person; Thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit, our mind has changed and we accept the same heart as the commandment. Only in this way can we learn the law every day.
What I just said is that people who have no real repentance experience want to obey the law, but there is nothing they can do.
If you know this knowledge in detail, we will know how to pray, that is, we will know exactly what our problems are.
● Many people ask, "How can I give myself to God?" You are willing to give your body and mind to God, but your moral strength is weak, and you are often bound by doubts and controlled by the bad habits of daily crimes. Your promises and wishes are like ropes made of sand. You can't control your thoughts and feelings, and because you know that you have broken your promises and promises, you are more suspicious of your piety and feel that God can't accept you. But you don't have to be depressed about it. What you need to understand is real volunteer service. This is the sovereignty of human nature, that is, the ability to choose and make decisions. What people do depends entirely on the correct use of will. God has given people the right to choose, and people can use it for themselves. You can't change your heart and give your love to God. But you can choose to serve God in your heart. You can dedicate your will to God, and then he will work in your heart, so that you can make up your mind to do things and achieve his good pleasure. Then your whole temperament will be controlled by the spirit of Christ; Your love will focus on him and be integrated with him. ……
If you use your will properly, you can make fundamental changes in your life. Obedience to Christ's will is associated with the greatest power, which is far superior to all rulers and powers in heaven and earth; You will get strength from the sky to make you stand still. In this way, you can live a new life, that is, a life of confidence, because you always obey God. -"Take the lead"
Human beings are endowed with the image of God in appearance and character. Only Christ is the "true image" of the father (Hebrews1:3); But human beings are also made in the image of God. His temperament conforms to God's will. His mind is clever and understands things in the sky. His love is pure; His appetite and emotions are receptive to domination. He is endowed with the image of God, completely obeying God's will, so he is holy and happy. -Ancestors and prophets
In order to attract people to return to Jesus, we must know human nature and study people's hearts. -"Testimony"
● The Lord puts people in a certain situation according to his will, so that he can test people's moral ability, expose people's motives for action, and make people practice good and eliminate evil. God wants his servants to be familiar with their inner moral functions. To this end, he often let the fire of suffering attack them and make them clean. -"Testimony"
● The function given by God to the human heart should be regarded as the higher power to manage the physical country. The appetite and physical desire of human nature must be under the control of conscience and spiritual power. -"Testimony"
● The body is the only medium to develop the brain and spirituality and to shape the character. Therefore, the spiritual enemy began to seduce him from now on, making the function of the body gradually weak and degenerate. If he can win in this respect, everything will be under his evil forces. Our flesh and blood has a downward trend, and if there is no higher ability to govern, it will definitely lead to destruction and death.
The human body must be handed over. The noble wisdom of human beings should be the master. Emotion must be controlled by will, and will itself must be controlled by God. Supernatural rational ability sanctified by God's grace should be in charge of our lives.
A person's conscience must understand God's needs. Men and women must realize their responsibility to control themselves, keep clean and get rid of all despicable hobbies and dirty habits. They must profoundly realize that all their physical and mental functions are gifts given to them by God, and they should try their best to be kind and conservative in order to serve God. -"The True Interpretation of Service"
Physical inactivity will not only reduce mental ability, but also weaken moral ability. The cranial nerve, which is connected with all parts of the body, is the medium connecting heaven and man and affects people's inner life. Anything that hinders the current circulation of the nervous system, thus weakening the ability to live and reducing the sensitivity of the mind is enough to make people more numb. -"On Education"
Everyone should defend the senses, lest Satan surpass them; Because these senses are general knowledge of the mind. -"Testimony"