Romans 7:1-6

"So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God."  Romans 7:4


"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."  1 Peter 2:9


"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'we have Abraham as our father.'  I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."  Matthew 3:8-10


In my last post, I talked about how I struggled with the concept of dying to sin.  In this one, I find myself encouraged by the concept of dying to the law.  I was reminded by Faith shortly after my last post that the greatest power of sin is its power to sever our relationship with God, and it was this power that was nullified by Christ's atoning death.  Here Paul talks precisely about that:  the law, which amplified sin, proved to be a stumbling block to the Israelites, and in the same way was a stumbling block to us.  God himself removed this stumbling block, not that we could do whatever we want, but that we would belong to him.  The relationship is restored.

This is both the greatest challenge and the greatest hope at the same time.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul notes that "The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband.  In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife." (7:4) It is the greatest challenge (I say "the" challenge as opposed to "our" or "my" challenge, because I believe this is universal) to give up ourselves so that we do not belong to ourselves but to God.  At the same time, it is the greatest hope, because Christ did the exact same thing on the cross.  He did not keep his body for himself, but freely gave it up for us.  Also, it is our greatest hope because we truly live when this happens -- whatever truly living means.  I can't say from first-hand experience.

And so we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation that belongs to God.  Now what?  Paul continues:  "...that we might bear fruit to God."  John the Baptist says the same thing:  "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." And Tim challenges us to be "real Christians".  Since the last pre-study, I've thought briefly on the concept of "fruit".  I'm sure someone has written a dissertation on the use of "fruit" in the Bible, but one thing that strikes me is that fruit is a) good, and b) reproductive.  What if the forbidden tree in Eden grew vegetables?  Or the different qualities of the Spirit in Galatians are rocks?  I think the Bible would be less appealing.  The "fruit of your labour" also refers to something that you enjoy after having worked for it.  In the same way, we too would enjoy bearing fruit to God, and we would enjoy seeing the fruit. Being reproductive (through the seeds), fruit is passed around and more fruit produced. 

And so as Paul says, let us serve not in the old way of the written code, but let us serve in the new way of the Spirit, for the Father delights in those who worship in spirit and in truth.

Matthew