When our oldest son reached the age where we thought it was time for him to give up his pacifier we needed to do some negotiating. We reached an agreement that if he gave up his pacifier – a bad thing to cling to – he would get a football – a good thing to have. There are times where parents need to serve as a mediator, working to find a resolution for those who need to change from where they are to where they should be.
In a much greater and more important sense Jesus Christ acts as mediator between us and God. He is the one who works to bring that reconciliation between sinful man and holy God. He is the agent who takes us from the bad place where we are to the good place where we should be.
In this rather complex passage Paul is trying to explain that transformation that we make when we accept the mediating work of Jesus. The first verse (verse 4) may be hard to understand. What did we die to (or give up)? How did we give this up, or die to this? Why do we die to the law?
What was happening to us when we obeyed human laws and human desires (verse 5)? What new approach do we have after accepting Christ (“dying to what once bound us”)?
One complicating issue in much of the New Testament is the term “the law.” There are many passages that point to abandoning “the law,” or talk of ceasing to be slaves to “the law,” or mention being controlled by “the law.” This often leads to the misunderstanding that our faith under Christ means we can ignore all rules and regulations.
But that is not true. What is meant by “the law” in many of these passages is the restrictive and legalistic way of trying to be holy through ritual and actions. Other passages refer to “the law” as the law of nature – or human nature, those things which cause us to do selfish things.
Here Paul points out what Jesus as mediator has done for those in the early church in Rome. He took them from that place where their lives were controlled by strict adherence to difficult religious regulations. These rituals and restrictions did nothing to foster good. Neither did living by following the whims of human nature and human desires that arose.
Instead, the believers died to, or gave up, the restrictive life of religious ritual, and also gave up (died to) human nature. In place of these, the believers began living lives that served God and lived out the teachings of Jesus Christ. With this new attitude and new approach, the faithful were finding freedom and enjoying the good fruit of their work.
We also can be freed from those rituals and rules that seem to inhibit and control us. We can also be freed from the control that human nature and its desires might have on us. We need to accept the mediation of Jesus Christ, who allows us to give up the laws that control us and accept the freedom of his salvation and love.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What in your life should you die to?
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