Dear Family at Christ Community,

     We will conclude Romans 7 on Sunday by celebrating the Lord’s Supper. The elements will help to remind us that we’re not saved by our own efforts to keep God’s law nor do we maintain our salvation through our good deeds. The broken bread will call us to rest in the death of Jesus alone as the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. The overflowing cup will invite us to walk in newness of life in the resurrection of Christ as ambassadors of reconciliation. All of this will serve to remind us that God’s means of grace helped bring us to the end of ourselves so that we would be drawn to redemption in Jesus. Adolf Schlatter describes this ultimate hope for one who has come to the end of themselves through God’s grace and surrenders to Christ in Romans: The Righteousness of God:

Every word here (Rom. 7:7-25) is a call upon Jesus, an invitation to faith: you want what is good, you are more than merely flesh; your selfish will is not all of your will;…you long for freedom; the deliverer is the one who is able to give you more than what the flesh can, namely, the resurrected one, for he is Spirit and life.

     Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you grow in living out your freedom in Christ through the power of His resurrection for God’s glory, your joy, and the benefit of those in your spheres of influence. In union with Christ, mortify through repentance the sins that seek to usurp His lordship in your life. Give thanks to God for redeeming you by His grace through your faith in Jesus and delivering you from the powers of sin and death!

In Christ,
Cameron