2022_07_25 Insight Post- Kim Feld

If you haven’t read Emma Keeton’s post from Friday, please do. She wrote about Romans 6:11-12 and what it might look like to live as if we are free, accepting the verses in Romans as truth. As I read Romans chapters 7 – 8, the thoughts she shared were in my mind. Let’s take a look at Romans 8:11 (NIV):

^{11 “}And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

Not only are we made alive through Jesus, but we also have the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living within us. If that Spirit had the power to bring Jesus back to life after a horrific death, what could He do for you and me?

Take a look at 2 Peter 1:3 (NLT):

 “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

Through this incredible power, we have been given EVERYTHING we need to live a godly life. We have been set free and empowered. Yet, I often don’t live as if those things are true, although I believe them with all my heart. Why?

When we develop patterns of behavior, over time, pathways in our brains are formed. When a particular stimulus occurs, a path is created if the same reaction to it happens over and over. Over time, our brains automatically go from stimulus to response using this pathway. It can make us feel “stuck,” repeating the same behavioral patterns repeatedly. But God says He’s given us everything we need to live a life of godliness which is simply a life that pleases Him by following His ways and commands.

In Romans 7, Paul talks of this exact dilemma. He says the good he wants to do he doesn’t do, and the things he wants to avoid are the things he does. Finally, however, there is an answer; Paul says the answer is in Jesus.

Although I don’t always choose to recognize it, I don’t have to be stuck in sinful patterns of behavior. Through the incredible resurrection power of God, I can be renewed and can form new ways of living and relating. That power lives within me.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach