Hard to Understand

When the writer to the Hebrews wrote about how Jesus became a high priest, he had much to say that was hard to explain because the ones he wrote to had become dull of hearing. Hebrews 5:11.

Concerning Paul’s letters Peter writes that they contain things that are “hard to understand,” which the untaught and unstable dis­tort to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:16. Deep truths and spiritual values have never been readily received.

Let us consider the interpretation of Romans 7:14-15 by most re­ligious people. They skip over the positive parts, thus omitting salva­tion by Jesus’ life. Romans 5:10. They are thereby robbed of the op­portunity to be transformed into Jesus’ image.

According to 1 Corinthians 3:15, one can be saved from perdition “yet so as through fire.” The knowledge which was to have made them partakers of gold, silver, and precious stones through godly fear, had been interpreted falsely to them.

It is a serious matter to interpret the knowledge of God. Therefore the Scriptures give us this warning, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judg­ment.” James 3:1. The easiest thing is to keep believing in a Jesus who has forgiven us our sins and atoned for them in our stead so that we do not have to do anything. People are comforted by what they read in Romans 7:24 where Paul confessed that he was a wretched man. This leads them to believe that he was referring to conscious sin and that all we need is forgiveness.

When we receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17), we also receive enlightened eyes of the heart. We see that Paul, in Romans 7:22, had an inner man who delighted in the law of God; therefore when he spoke about his wretchedness he was not com­plaining about living a consciously bad life, rather he sorrowed over the fact that he was not more like Jesus.

The summation Paul gives us in Romans 7:24-25 is undoubtedly the finest, deepest, and most comprehensive knowledge—briefly ex­pressed—about the great mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16): He who was revealed in the flesh and justified in the spirit. 1 Peter 3:18.

“So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:25. This is the mystery of godliness revealed in reality in Paul’s life. The strongest expression for how much we can be surrendered to God is that the “mind” can be appre­hended. When we, at the same time, see that we are serving the law of sin, in spite of our mind being in God, then the doctrine of sanctifica­tion is complete.

The way to attain to such a grounded state is to come to see the other law in our members (Romans 7:23), be taken captive by it, and then be set free from it. Then we are being set free from our human nature—we are in the form of the doctrine (Romans 6:17) and are be­ing conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:29.

Being set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2) is redemption from the curse of the law by the forgiveness of sins, which is a single “act,” whereas being set free from the other law in our members is a process that continues throughout our lives. Romans 8:13.

The law of sin and death judges our works “outside the body” through our conscience. The other law in our members reveals our state “within the body.” Knowledge increases sorrow, and where there is much wisdom there is much grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18.

Most people are not inclined to dig for hidden treasures; they are not interested in things that are “hard to understand.” It is vital to wake up to our calling: to partake of God’s hidden wisdom which He has predestined before the ages, for our glory. 1 Corinthians 2:6-7.

We can ask this question: What does it take for me to see that other law in my members? First of all I need to acknowledge that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells nothing good; then I will receive an inner man who delights in the law of God. Romans 7:18-22. Then I can hear the voice of the Spirit and receive revelation in the mysteries of the gospel. Without the law, sin is dead (Romans 7:8); this also means that there is neither progress nor growth.

Most people skip over the laws of wisdom in Romans 7, thus failing to come to a life that can endure the fire. 1 Corinthians 3:13. Their mind to serve God is divided; they choose the easier way. May we awaken to the hidden treasures and the wondrous things in God’s law.