Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

The cross is a wooden crosspiece that was fastened to Christ as a foundation for His work of carrying away the sins of the world. The yoke that Christ endured was the cross, but the yoke that Christ give us is His Spirit.

The Pharisees lay law upon law on the people: “And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”  Matthew 23:4.

In contrast, Christ tied up the heavy loads of the law and laid them on His own shoulders and gave us His Spirit as a yoke: “in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”. Romans 8:4.

²¹  I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

²²  For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,

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.

²⁴  Wretched man that I am!  Who will set me free from the body of this death?

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.”  Romans 7:14-25.

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Today’s Scripture focuses on our sinful flesh and the resulting misery.  “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.  For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”  “Wretched man that I am!”

Yesterday’s Scripture focused on the Law and how our sinful passions are aroused by the Law.

Putting them together is deadly.  “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.”  Romans 7:5.  “But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind;  for apart from the Law sin is dead.  I was once alive apart from the Law;  but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;  and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;  for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”  Romans 7:8-11.

But, there is hope!

“… Who will set me free from the body of this death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  …”  Romans 7:24-25.

“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:  sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  Romans 8:3-4.  “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:6.

¹³  Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be!  Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”  Romans 7:7-13. 

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Today’s Scripture explains how our sinful passions are aroused by the Law to bear fruit for death.  And, this Law is not just obscure Jewish customs or rituals, but this Law, that arouses our sinful passions to bear fruit for death, includes the Ten Commandments such as the tenth commandment:  “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 

So, don’t run back to the tutorship of the Law and cling to it, as if you are only released from obscure Jewish customs or rituals but are still under moral law including the Ten Commandments.  You can’t even handle just The Ten Commandments.  And, if you try to perfect yourself by The Ten Commandments, you are under a curse.  Galatians 3:1-12.    

Now, this Scripture for today repeated defends the goodness of the Law;  the problem is the sin within us.  “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.  Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be!  Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”  Romans 7:12-13.  

We read the solution to this problem in yesterday’s Scripture.  We were made to die to the Law, so that we might be joined to Christ.  We were released from the Law, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.  Romans 7:5-6.

Here is what The Heidelberg Catechism states:

Question 115.  Why will God then have the ten commandments so strictly preached, since no man in this life can keep them?

Answer.  First, that all our lifetime we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and thus become the more earnest in seeking the remission of sin, and righteousness in Christ; likewise, that we constantly endeavor and pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we may become more and more conformable to the image of God, till we arrive at the perfection proposed to us, in a life to come. 

Even though it may be easier to “seek the remission of sin, and righteousness in Christ” and to pray for grace, than it is to obey the Ten Commandments, ultimately we don’t even depend on our own ability to so seek and pray, we trust God and the doctrine of salvation (“TULIP”) summarized by Romans 8:28-29:  “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called;  and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

In summary, we “walk by the Spirit” and trust the Spirit to produce the fruit of the Spirit according to Galatians Chapter 5.  We “learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and thus become the more earnest in seeking the remission of sin, and righteousness in Christ;  likewise, that we constantly endeavor and pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit” according to The Heidelberg Catechism.  But, above all, we trust God through our faith in Christ to provide everything that we need for our salvation and to cause everything to work together for our good for our salvation.

⁴  Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

⁵  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

⁶  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:1-6.

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“…  For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.  But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.   …  Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”  Galatians 3:21-25.

It is hard for us to leave the Law.  We tend to cling to it to obtain righteousness.  In our deepest thoughts, we tend to trust the Law more than we trust Christ.

So, Paul, recognizes this tendency and compares the Law with Christ.  Paul first emphatically lists his accomplishments according to the Law summing it up:  “… as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”  Paul then concludes:  “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,  and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,”  Philippians 3:6-9. 

The next Scripture, which is subject to tomorrow devotion, God willing, explains how the Law arouses our sinful passions to bear fruit for death.  And, this Law is not just obscure Jewish customs or rituals, but this Law, that arouses our sinful passions to bear fruit for death, includes the Ten Commandments.  If you want to jump ahead, read Romans 7:7-11.   

But, even though we read this Scripture, it is as if our minds gloss over and do not allow let this truth (of how the Law arouses our sinful passions to bear fruit for death) to sink into our beliefs.  We still want to grab that yardstick of the Law and measure ourselves to prove our own righteousness according to the Law, rather than trust God for that “righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith”.  

We are like the Galatians who Paul admonishes.  “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?  This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?  So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”  Galatians 3:1-5.  

But, there is hope!

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:4-6.

²⁰  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

²¹  Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the outcome of those things is death.

²²  But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

²³  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:15-23. 

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It is easy to slip back into being under the law.  When we read:  “you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness”, it is easy to only trust our knowledge of the law and our willpower to obey the law as the only way to produce that “obedience resulting in righteousness”.

But, we worked too hard to learn, remember, and trust that we “are not under law but under grace.”  Romans 6:14.  We will not fall back.  Rather, through God’s grace, we became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which we were committed.

What was “that form of teaching”?

That form of teaching was the doctrines of grace a/k/a the Five Points of Calvinism a/k/a The Canons of Dordt a/k/a “TULIP”.  “TULIP” emphasizes and embraces the sovereignty of God in salvation. 

For example, when we truly believe “Irresistible Grace”, the “I” of “TULIP”, we believe and eagerly embrace that we are “slaves of righteousness”.  We believe and eagerly embrace that “we are enslaved to God”.  Through God’s grace, we present our members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.    

When we truly believe the doctrines of grace a/k/a the Five Points of Calvinism a/k/a The Canons of Dordt a/k/a “TULIP”, we believe and eagerly embrace that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

On the other hand, if we still cling to Arminianism, we only trust our alleged “free will” to produce that “obedience resulting in righteousness”.  We don’t really believe that we are a “slave of righteousness”;  after all, we have “free will”.  We don’t really believe that we are “enslaved to God””;  after all, we have “free will”.  We believe that we can resist grace.  We believe that we can fall from grace.  In summary, we don’t really believe that eternal life is a free gift of God;  after all, we earned some credit through either our “free will” obedience or at least our “free will” faith, until the very end.  

But thanks be to God, you became obedient from the heart to the doctrines of grace a/k/a the Five Points of Calvinism a/k/a The Canons of Dordt a/k/a “TULIP”.

¹²  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

¹³  and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness;  but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

¹⁴  For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”  Romans 6:8-14. 

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Life in Christ is the emphasis of the Scripture for today.  We live with Christ.  We are alive to God in Christ.  We are under grace. 

The Scripture does continue the important theme of the previous Scripture that we are “dead to sin” and we “are not under law”.  But, life in Christ is the emphasis for the Scripture for today, and life in Christ enables us to present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God.  Life in Christ enables us to serve God as our master, not sin as our master.   

Romans 7:4-6 ties it together so well.  We are joined to Christ. 

^“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:4-6.