1. The
Seemingly Schizo Human Status Quo
Christians have always looked to the Bible for comfort and
guidance. But more than a few passages taken in isolation might not seem
particularly user-friendly for such purposes. Some examples:[i]
… all, both Jews and Greeks, are under
sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one
understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have
become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:9-12; the litany
continues for seven more verses).
I was once alive apart from the law,
but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment
that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity
through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me (Rom 7:9-11).
For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate ….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. For I do not do the good I
want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing …. So I find it to be a law that when I
want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in
my inner being, 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.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7:14,
15, 18-19, 21-24)
… you are still of the flesh. For while
there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving
only in a human way? (1 Cor 3:3)
