Are you a child of God united with Jesus by the power of God through faith?

Romans 7:20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. In this verse, we see how the apostle Paul wrestled with his identity. All believers in Jesus will go through the same experience. What we learn about identity from Paul is very important to living to love with Jesus. We’ve been learning from Paul’s teaching about the Law, what it can and can’t do. Paul was intent on teaching them how important it was for them to realize that through Jesus’ death on the cross, they were set free from the Law. In these verses he was explaining that the Law can’t produce fruit for God because its purpose is to reveal the powerlessness, hostility, sinfulness, and fruitlessness of the flesh. He had said there was nothing good in him, in the flesh, so in the flesh he ended up practicing the very thing he didn’t want to do, namely, breaking the law. In this verse he gave the root of his problem: indwelling sin in his body, the flesh. He stated that if he (the believer united with Jesus) did the very thing he didn’t want to do, then, he wasn’t the one doing it. It was sin which was aggravated and enlivened by the Law that did it. Paul’s point was that the doing of the good isn’t possible if we are trying to do the right thing without a conscious union with Jesus Christ. Paul lived his life by this gospel reality—he was united with Jesus in His death and resurrection (which he explained in chapter 6). In Gal. 2:20, Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” This is why I call it living to love with Jesus. The only way we can do the good of loving for the glory of God is if we are living with an intentional, conscious union with Jesus, our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and lover of our souls. So the scripture encouragement for today from this verse is to encourage you to be intentional about living out of your union with Jesus Christ. Who are you? You are a child of God united with Jesus by the power of God through faith. He is your life. He loves the people He puts in your path. Abide in Him and receive His love for others. This is the way we do what we want to do, which is glorify God by loving Him and loving with Him. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com