Miserable Christian

THE MISERABLE CHRISTIAN.

Romans 7:1–25 ESV

1 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Rick Blount

, and 8 all go together. If you just read one of those chapters and don’t read the other two then you really are going to miss it and get all messed up. So, you need , and 8.

A number of years ago when I was at Sterling Wood, a man came to our church, made a profession of faith, was baptized and became a member of our fellowship. I was very interested in him and concerned about his Christian growth. So, I was visiting him on a day and I asked him how he was getting along in his new Christian life. He said to me, “Preacher, everything is great. Being a Christian is a piece of cake.” When I listened to that I became immediately concerned. Sure enough, not too many months after that, in spite of all of our efforts to avert it, this man fell along the wayside and no longer actively pursued a Christian life. He made the mistake that many people make and it is the mistake that when you receive Jesus as your Savior the battle with sin is over and from there on out it is a piece of cake.

You get into and you have laid before us the ideal Christian life-- the Christian life as it is intended to be. There is a phrase which occurs there several times — freed from sin. In this chapter we learned that as born-again believers we are freed from sin. Not that we cannot sin, but that now as believers the dominion of sin has been broken over us and we can choose not to sin and to obey God. Then there are some key words that occur in : Know, Reckon and Yield. We are to know that we are identified with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection. We are to reckon on that. That is we are to live our life on the basis of that truth. And then on a daily basis we are to yield ourselves unto God day by day, being what God wants us to be.

So, Romans chapter 6 everything looks like a piece of cake. But sooner or later most of us wind up in . There we make the shocking discovery that sin is still very much a reality in our life. Though we are saved we are going to heaven when we die and though that the penalty of our sin was paid for in full at the cross of Calvary we still do battle on a daily basis with this matter of sin.

Someone said and I think that it is true. If Paul had not written you and I would have to write it. This chapter is so true to life. It is so real in terms of what you and I experience on a daily basis. What you have in is the picture of a miserable Christian. He knows he’s saved; he knows he ought to live right; he wants to live right and yet he finds himself everyday losing the battle of the victorious Christian life. So, is Paul’s experience. It can also be your experience and mine of trying to live the Christian life in our own strength and not succeeding. I have divided up the chapter around several themes and I want to just kind of lay them in front of you as we look at the contents here.

In the first 6 verses of Paul lays before us —

I. The MARRIAGE.

“Know ye not brethren for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law has dominion over a man as long as he is alive. For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives. But if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband. So, then, if while her husband is alive she be married to another man she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, thought she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

I. The MARRIAGE.

Picture of SPIRITUAL Person. Paul begins in verse 1 by stating a principle. He states something here that is a fact. It is the principle that law only has force on a person as long as that person is alive.

On a Friday night, here in the city of Houston, the police get on the trail of a man who is driving erratically and rather fast. They become convinced very soon in the chase that this man is drunk. They also become aware by the accelerating speed that he’s breaking the law and that he is a danger not only to himself, but to many others. So they are pursuing him and he gets faster and faster. After awhile he runs of f the road, crashes into a barrier and when the police get there he ‘s on the outside of the car. They check and he is dead. At that point it is case closed. He broke the law about driving under the influence. He broke the law about going too fast. He broke the law about being a wreckless driver. But the moment the man dies the laws that are in effect there have no more force — the case is closed.

I recently read this book Case Closed. This examines all the different conspiracies about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. We are pretty well convinced now that Lee Harvey Oswald did indeed kill President Kennedy and that probably he acted alone. So, all of the evidence, all of the facts, pointed in the direction that Lee Harvey Oswald had murdered John F. Kennedy. But on that fateful Sunday morning as they were moving him from place to place Jack Ruby came, shot Lee Harvey Oswald, he instantly died and at that point the case was closed. A law is enforced only as long as a person is alive. But once they die then the law has no dominion over them. This is the principle that Paul states. Then in verses 2 and 3 he gives an illustration. He illustrates it with the laws of marriage. As you read about this marriage you will find that it is indeed an unhappy marriage. Here is a woman who is married to a very demanding husband. He has a series of expectations —— all good within themselves, but she is powerless to obey them. So, she finds herself in an unhappy marriage. But the law of marriage says that as long as her husband is alive she is not free to marry anybody else. In fact, Paul says if she does marry someone else

she is an adulteress, she has broken the law of marriage.Oh, that that old husband could die. Oh, that he could somehow die and she could be loosed from the law of marriage and free to marry another.

Paul is using an illustration that I want to fill in some details for you. In his illustration the husband is Mr. Law. The Ten Commandments of God. God’s moral absolutes. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. These kinds of things. The law is the husband. You and I are the wife. We find ourselves here in an unhappy marriage and o that Mr. Law could die. 0 that somehow we could be unbound by this relationship which is impossible to fulfill. The law is very healthy. In fact, Jesus said one time about the law — heaven and earth will pass away before one jot or title will pass away from the law. So, it seems we are bound in an unhappy marriage. Notice what Paul does. He just surprises us. We weren’t prepared for this at all. He says “wherefore my brethren ye (the wife) are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ.” The husband couldn’t die -- old law couldn’t die. So, Paul says you died. When did we die? we died 2,000 years ago when the body of Jesus Christ died on a cross of Calvary. We died. That means then that the law has no more dominion over us. That means that that old marriage to the law that dominated us no longer has force over us.

He says that we should be married to another, even Jesus who is raised from the dead. You see, we died with Jesus 2,000 years ago and when Jesus rose again from the dead the Bible says that you and I were raised together with Jesus Christ. So, I have a brand new life. The old marriage has been dissolved. Now I am married to another even to the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s a beautiful picture of what it means to be saved. Being saved is just kind of like getting married. The heavenly father takes the hand of his son and takes your hand and my hand and he brings us together. The Lord Jesus says I, Jesus, take thee Bill. I, Jesus, take thee Sue. I, Jesus, take thee (put your name there) to be my lawful and wedded wife. Then we say to the Lord Jesus. I take thee to be my lawful wedded husband. When you come to the Lord Jesus Christ you receive Him as your personal Savior and the bible says that now you are married to another and that now you have a brand new life. Now you can serve God, not on the basis of attempting to keep up with all of these laws and not on the basis of trying to obey all of these laws in an outward fashion, but now in verse 6 he says we serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. So, this is marriage. We are married to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a brand new relationship here.

I was going to talk about the miserable Christian life. So far, so good. I’m dead to the old law. I am married to the Lord Jesus Christ and in that relationship is the energy and strength to live the way I ought to live. What’s the big problem?

II. The MONSTER.

The NATURAL Person. Did you see the monster in these verses the last time you read ? In verses 7—13 there is a monster which emerges. He tells us in these verses 7-13 that this old monster is exposed by the law. What Paul is doing here in verses 7-13 is talking about his life before he was saved. He is talking about his unsaved life. Notice what he says in verse 7 - “What

shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law.” In other words, God’s commandments, God’s absolutes. He says, “1 would not have known lust, except the law had said thou shalt not covet, but sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”

What in the world is he talking about here? He’s talking about his unsaved days and the fact that when he heard God’s moral absolutes, when he heard God’s thou shalt nots, that the very hearing of that law and the very revealing of that law to him made him conscious of the fact that there was an old monster in his life. It was the monster of sin.

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:20

Look at

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:20

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. He is saying that when God’s law says thou shalt not, we become aware of the fact that inside of us is the desire to do the very thing God tells us not to do. So, it shows us that we have a monster. It shows us the inwardness of sin. He says in verse 8 — sin taking occasion by the commandment. Let’s just imagine that Paul is looking at the Ten Commandments and looking at them from an outward point of view he is feeling pretty good about himself. If that’s all you do is ever look at God’s laws in just merely the outward violation you may feel pretty good.

Paul read, thou shalt murder. Paul said I’ve never killed anybody, I’m doing good. Then it says thou shalt not steal. Paul says I’ve never robbed a bank. I’m doing good. Then it said thou shalt honor your father and mother. He said o, I’ve been good to my mother and my daddy. I’m doing pretty good. Then one said thou shalt commit adultery. 0, no, I’m not even married, I’ve never committed adultery. He’s going right on down through these and then he hits the tenth commandment. Verse 7 — thou shalt not covet. The word, covet, there means inward desires, unlawful desires, illicit desires. That tenth commandment is different from the others in that the others on appearance are primarily outward - thou shalt not kill. But when the law says in the tenth commandment thou shalt not covet he’s talking about something that goes on in the inside. When the law said to Paul thou shalt not have illicit desires, it moved on the inside of Paul’s heart and Paul came to the awareness that his problem was primarily on the inside. Have you found that out? Have you found out that the battle is on the inside? Your watch quits working and you go to the watch repair shop and you say to the repairman, something’s wrong with these hands on my watch they aren’t moving. So, the repairman takes your watch, barely glances at the hands, but turns it over and goes on the inside. He understands the real problem is not the hands on the outside, the real problem is the works on the inside. Something is wrong on the inside. When the law of god said to Paul, thou shalt not covet he came to see the inwardness of sin. Verse 8 — but sin taking occasion... That word was a military word that meant to use it as a base of operations. he is saying the moment God’s law said thou shalt not covet, sin on the inside began to expose itself. And began to use that very commandment of God as a base from which to attack Paul and to show him that he was a sinner. He says in verse 9 — when the commandment came, sin revived. . - It’s just like sin was a monster coiled up in his heart. The moment the law said to Paul don’t do something he was aware of the fact that there were desires on the inside. The

problem is on the inside. That’s why it’s real hard to get Pharisees saved. These people who are self righteous are real hard to get them saved. It’s a lot easier to get the old alcoholic who is down in the gutter saved. It’s much easier to get the person who is in open, outward, raw sin to see their need of Jesus Christ. But that good moral person on the outside is looking good to everybody is very difficult for them to wake up to an awareness that down on the inside there is something wrong and they desperately need a Savior.

Sin revived. There’s something about being told not to do something. Ever been by a sign that said don’t pick the flowers? Or you go by a sign that says wet paint, don’t touch. There’s just something inside of you that wants to pick the flowers. There’s something inside of you that wants to check and see if it’s dry yet. The very command creates the desire on the inside. So, Paul talks about the inwardness of sin. He says, by sin revived and in verse 9 he says I died. That doesn’t mean he died physically. He is saying I died to the good man I thought I was. I wasn’t near as good a fellow as I thought I was when I came to see the inwardness of sin.

But that’s not all. He talks about the deceitfulness of sin. This old monster sin revealed it’s deceitfulness. He says in verse 11 —

Romans 7:11 ESV

11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

Romans 7:11

“for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” He is saying that sin is a deceiver. Sin always deceives. Sin never gives you the true picture. Sin never tells you like it is. Or like it’s going to be. Sin will deceive you about it’s pleasure. I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that there’s no pleasure in sin. I’d be lying. If you are going to go out here and try to lead people to Christ by telling them how miserable they are you aren’t going to win many people to Christ because the fact of the matter is there are many people who are living in sin and they are having a ding dong big time. They are enjoying themselves. I’m not going to tell you you won’t have pleasure in sin. The Bible talks about the pleasures of sin and we like pleasure. All of us do.

says “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” Which do people get more excited about football or Jesus? So, there are pleasures in sin, but sin wants to deceive you about its pleasures because the Bible also talks about the pleasures of sin for a season. Sins pleasures have a way of running out, but sin doesn’t want you to know that. Then sin wants to deceive you about its power. Sin doesn’t want you to know that it has tremendous power. When you take a sin, then sin has a way of taking you. All sin is addictive. Someone sitting here this morning and you are involved in an affair. It started of f as an innocent flirtation. Then it became meetings. Then it became going to share a motel together. Then it was an apartment. Now you find yourselves involved in an affair. You would like to get out of it but you find yourself totally powerless to do anything about the circumstance in which you find yourself. The power of sin.

What starts off as a cobweb sooner or later becomes a chain. Look at what happened in the garden of Eden. The Bible says that he SAW, he REACHED and he TOOK. Adam’s sin became a chain and it will do the same thing for you. Don’t ever be deceived about the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin doesn’t want you to know there is a penalty to pay and yet ;23 says the wages of sin is death. The devil said to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, “thou shalt not surely die.” Yet they did and we do. Sin has a way of trying to hide its deceitfulness. But Paul is saying that old monster is being exposed in my heart. The inwardness of sin. The deceitfulness of sin. The wickedness of sin.

Verse 13 — “was then that which is good made death unto me?” He’s talking about verse 12 where he said that the law is holy and just and good. The problem is not with God’s moral absolutes. He says, God forbid. “but sin that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” He is saying that sin reveals just how wicked it really is in that it takes something holy and just and good and turns it into an instrument that brings evil. Here’s a boy caught taking drugs. They take him to jail. They sit there in jail and he says, “that’s an awful law, that’s a rotten sorry law that says you can’t take drugs.” There’s no problem, nothing wrong with the law, the problem is he broke the law. The law is fine; he just wasn’t living up to the standards of the law. Here’s a beautiful cultivated field. It’s so nice and the sun comes out on successive days. In a few days the sun coming out all of a sudden weeds begin to come up in that beautiful field. Somebody says, “what an awful sun to bring out the weeds.” No, the sun is good. Nothing wrong with the sun. The problem was the soil, the weeds were already in the soil.

That’s what sin is like. Sin is wickedness. Sin is a monster. He says that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. You will never come to Christ until you see really how terrible and awful sin is. Never will. The monster.

I read sometime ago about an Arab leader many years ago who claimed to be a god. He claimed that he was so beautiful that human eyes would not be able to look upon him so he wore a veil all the time. One day he was in battle and in the course of the battle a soldier reached and ripped of f his veil. When the veil came of f it revealed a hideous, grotesque face that he had been trying to hide all along. That’s what the law of God does for sin in our hearts. It tears off the veil and shows us sin is exceeding, abundantly sinful. Paul says that’s what happened when I got saved. I came to see what a sinner I really was. Praise God for Jesus! Praise God for Cavalry! Praise God for the blood that forgives us and cleanses us of our sins.

So far, so good, where’s the misery? I’ve given you the marriage, I’ve given you the monster. What about the misery? That brings me to verse 14.

III. The MISERY. The CARNAL person.

What happens now in verse 14 is this. In the previous verses 7-13 he’s talking about Paul, the lost man. Now, in verse 14 he’s talking about Paul, the saved man, who is leading a defeated, miserable Christian life. verse 14 - “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.” That’s not me saying that. That’s the great Apostle Paul. I believe you and I together, if we

pooled our understanding, could probably build a case that Paul was the greatest Christian who ever lived. Don’t you think we could? This is Paul, the Apostle. This is the man who wrote half, maybe more than half according to what you believe about the book of Hebrews, of the New Testament. If Paul didn’t write Hebrews, Luke did. If Luke didn’t do it, somebody did. Here’s a man who wrote half the New Testament. What would you expect him to say? Wouldn’t you expect him to say, “I’m spiritual.” Maybe I misread this. I may have the wrong version here. Paul says, “we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” He’s not talking about when he was lost. What is carnal? Carnal means to be dominated by the flesh. Carnal means to be a saved person and yet living a defeated Christian life, Spiritual means that you are governed by the Spirit of God. Carnal means that you are governed by your own flesh. The truth of the matter is that you never, ever get to the point where you are altogether one and not the other. You may be just as spiritual as you can be as you walked in this building but before the service got going good you saw something you didn’t like and you got critical and you became carnal just like that.

You and I would call Paul spiritual, probably. Yet, Paul, the closer he got to Jesus Christ, and the more he understood what the Christian life was all about, the more he realized how far he was from what god intended him to be. He said, “I’m carnal.” I don’t know about you but I feel that way too when I really see where I am and where I ought to be and what God expects of me. I just have to say, “I’m carnal.”

He starts tell you now about the battle going on. The Civil War going on in his heart. verse 15 - “for that which I do, I allow not: for what I would that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” He’s talking about the old nature and the new nature. Let me read it this way - for that which I would do the old, I the new allow not. For what I the new would do, that I the old nature do not. For what I the new nature hate, that do I the old nature. For if then I the old nature do that which I would not, I the new nature consent unto the law that is good. Now then it is no more I the new nature that do it but sin that dwell in me.

Verse 19 . For the good that I the new nature would, I do not. But the evil which I the new nature would not, that I the old nature do. Do you see what’s happening? There’s a battle going on. Phillips paraphrases it this way. My own behavior baffles me. Is this where you are? Am I making connection? We say I’m saved, I’m going to live for Jesus. I know I’m saved. I’m going to reckon it that way that I have victory in Jesus Christ. I’m going to yield myself to God and boy I have a new nature; I’m going to wake up in the morning and I’m going to live for Jesus today. I’m going to do what I ought to do. I’m going to read my Bible. I’m going to pray. I’m going to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Before you get out of the door too good you’ve lost your temper, said something unkind to your wife, yielded to a temptation. You find yourself a walking civil war on the inside. He says in verse 17 — it’s not me but the sin that dwells in me. He’s not taking away any personal responsibility to sin. That’s not his point. But he is saying I have discovered that sin is still inside of me. There’s an unwelcome tenant inside of me and he’s running the show. I have been forgiven of my sin; I don’t have to sin anymore but my habit patterns are such that if find that sin is still my tendency. Sin is still dwelling in me. That’s why you have to be patient with a lot of young Christians. People get saved

and they have one vocabulary and when they get saved almost none of that vocabulary is acceptable. They have to learn a whole bunch of new words.

I had a mechanic got saved one time in my church. I’m not making fun of mechanics; others have the same problem. This old boy said, most of my work, I cuss all through my work. I know I’m saved and not supposed to talk that way, what should I do? I said, I would suggest to you that the next time you hit your finger with one of those tools and you want to say something bad, sing a hymn. I went by a few days later and asked, “how you getting along?” He said, “I’m doing pretty good, preacher, I’ve sung 12 hymns already this morning.” Sin dwells in me. I have news for you. If you don’t think sin dwells in you, your wife does. It’s a conflict. He comes to verse 17 and says, “For I know that in me (in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not that I do. Now If the old man do that which I the new would not, it is no more I that do it but sin that dwells in me. I find a law, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”

Example. You decide to give a large donation to your church. As you are getting ready to write out the check the devil says to you, why don’t you just come down one Sunday morning in front of everybody and give that large donation. God is present with me, but evil is right there.

I’m going to go out witnessing. That’s good! That’s what you ought to do. Then on the way out you say, “I’m going to let everybody in the Sunday School class know just how many visits I made tonight. Evil is present all the time.

Verse 22 - “I delight in the law of God after the inward man:” My new nature on the inside, I really want to do what’s right. But I see another law in my members. There is something else going on inside of me. Warring against the law of my mind. Every time I make up to do good there is something else inside me that goes to battle and attacks and brings me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. He is saying that the law of God, the law of God wants to do right. But the law of sin is still working in my heart. Every time I decide I want to do good, here comes that old law of sin and there’s a battle.

Verse 24 — “0 wretched man that I am!” The word, wretched, there means to the point of exhaustion. He’s on the battlefield. He’s been fighting this battle, trying to do right and can’t do right. Trying to keep from sinning and can’t keep from sinning. He’s like a soldier slain on the battlefield. “0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?” The word there meant to rescue a buddy on a battlefield. Who’s going to come and rescue me from the body of this death.

In those days they had a rather gruesome approach in some parts of the Roman Empire. When a man committed murder they would take the dead body of the victim and tie it to the murder’s body, wrist to wrist. They would take the murderer, tie to that old dead body and throw it out in the sun so the decay and the gangreen o the dead body could eat into

the body of the murderer. That’s the background. Paul is saying o, wretched that I am who shall deliver me.?” “I’m tied to sin and it’s eating me alive. Who’s going to let me go? Who’s going to get me free?

Verse 25 - “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” He is saying I have found out that only Jesus can save me. Now I’ve found out only Jesus can sanctify me. - if you will lay hold of this you are on your way to victory in the Christian life. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us. In other words, Jesus is our wisdom; Jesus is our righteousness; Jesus is our redemption. The same Jesus who can save you is the Jesus who can give you the power to live the way your ought to live.

I think all of America got caught up in the saga of Dan Jensen and his wife Robin and baby Jane. Week before last I think we would be correct in saying that Dan Jensen would have qualified as the wretched skater — the miserable skater. Here was a man who knew that God had put in him the ability to be the fastest skater in the world. Yet, in the 500 meters he slipped a few times, touched the ice and instead of a gold or silver or bronze came in out of the running — eighth. So, for about a week you could say that Dan Jensen was a skater. Miserable skater. Then we all watched Friday night as he lined up for the 1000 meter and began to skate. He made a few slips, yet he just kept on skating. When he crossed the finish line he finished the 1000 meters on the ice in 1 minute 12.43 seconds. A world record and a gold medal. In a week’s time he went from skater to a skater. In a week’s time he went from 7:24 - O wretched man that I am - to - I thank God. Did you see his wife when he won lift up her face and say, thank You, God”? That’s what the Christian life is all about. Learning that we can’t do it ourselves. Learning that the secret to victory in the Christian life is letting Jesus have control as we skate the race of life.

Do you know Jesus as your Savior?