In yesterday’s reading St. Paul writes that “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death and thus death came to all men, inasmuch (houtōs) as all sinned.” If you are interested in how the translation of the simple Greek word “houtōs” affects everything, please review yesterday’s post on FriarMusings. As noted yesterday, throughout Romans Chapter 5 and well into Chapter 8, Paul attributes to “sin” a very active role:
it “reigns” (5:20; cf. 6:13, 14), can be “obeyed” (6:16–17), pays wages (6:23), seizes opportunity (7:8, 11), “deceives,” and “kills” (7:11, 13). In a word, he personifies sin, picturing it as a power that holds sway in the world outside Christ, bringing disaster and death on all humanity. Through this personification, Paul shows that individual acts of sin constitute a principle, or “network,” of sin that is so pervasive and dominant that the person’s destiny is determined by those actions. In the present instance, then, the “sin” that enters the world is more than an individual sin; it is the bridgehead that paves the way for “sinning” as a condition of humanity. The fact that Paul attributes to Adam this sin is significant since he certainly knows from Genesis that the woman, Eve, sinned first (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). [Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, 1996; p.319]
St. Paul recognizes that active role when he writes in today’s first reading: “For sin is not to have any power over you.” While many days that may seem too true to us as we struggle with temptation, sin, habits and more, why would Paul write that? It is simple: he believes we are under the greater power of grace.
Consider the temptations that come into your lives. I believe that grace is power and pervasive. Every temptation that comes our way enters into our awareness surrounded by grace. It is the old image of a devil on one shoulder whispering in one ear and an angel in the other. It is a battle of powers as it has always been since the dawn of time, from the first whisper, “Go ahead eat the apple, what’s the worst that could happen?” What’s the worst that could happen? Yesterday’s reading was clear: sin and death entered the world, but entered into a world that was and is grace filled.
In each temptation we have the choice to choose sin or grace. I suspect that if we kept a scorecard of the times every moment of temptation, the scorecard would show a lot more times grace was chosen, and temptation sent on its way with something as small as a prayer: Lord Jesus, help me.
St. Paul reminds us to acknowledge the power of sin is real, but always be aware of the more powerful force in the world: Grace flowing from trust in Christ as Lord and Savior.
The question has never been “what’s the worst that could happen?” The real question is “What’s the best that could happen?”
Choose Grace.
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