St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - weekly talks

Paul speaks of the self, the person, in relation to sin and Christ (Rom. 7; Gal. 2:20).

Romans 7:17 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.

Let’s call this the conflicted self – desiring the good, yet in the grip of sin’s colonizing power (Susan Eastman).

To whom is Paul addressing?

Is it autobiographical? And if so, is Paul describing his inner condition under the law before his baptism into Christ or is this Paul’s inner life as a Christian? Or, is Paul using a rhetorical device, as Origin thought, to speak in the person of a weaker Christian? Is Paul addressing all of humanity in Adam or perhaps Israel, under the law, apart from Christ? The quest goes on.

Although the early Augustine maintained that Paul was speaking in the person of unredeemed humanity, he later retracted this view and argued that Paul was speaking in the person of the redeemed, himself included.

Throughout the centuries, Augustine’s position has influenced some of the more prominent commentators on Romans—Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Barth (John Piper). Moreover, this view persuades everyday readers of Romans since we easily identify with this inward struggle.

But … if the “I” of Romans 7 is the normal Christian life, what Paul declares in Romans 6 and 8 has to be negated. For example:

“For we know that our old self was co-crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” Rom 6:6,7.

Here’s my take. It’s a personal modification of Frank Matera’s view in his commentary on Romans. Frank interprets the “I” of this chapter not as the present experience of the Christian, but as the experience of those who are not in Christ as seen from the perspective of one who is in Christ (i.e., Paul himself). The unredeemed may not think of themselves in this way, and Paul certainly did not view himself in this way (Pharisee of Pharisees, advancing above his fellow, and as for righteousness, blameless); but in light of Christ, he sees that this is the real situation of all who are not in Christ, even if they are not aware of it (p. 167). “In Thy light, we see light.”

I believe Paul in Romans 7 is describing the inner conflict of those who live apart from Christ, yet, at the same time, he wants us to hear and be near to the closing cry for liberation. This sounds very much like a lament, someone who is deeply immersed in the Psalms …

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!

The cry for liberation is answered in 8:2 … the self enslaved by the law of sin and death (7:24) is liberated and given assurance through participation in Jesus Christ. The body of sin has been destroyed by the body of Christ, his physical death on the cross.

This lament must become our voice under trial, under temptation, in times of weakness and disordered desires. We have been given a new status and a new source of strength in Christ … there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

The cruciform self is ever near to Christ in prayer, in communion and community, aware of one's bend towards autonomy. We now battle not for victory but from victory, His victory over sin and death, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Laying aside every weight and the besetting sin, we fix our eyes on his transfiguation, our hope of glory.

Paul speaks of the self, the person, in relation to sin and Christ (Rom. 7; Gal. 2:20).

Romans 7:17 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.

Let’s call this the conflicted self – desiring the good, yet in the grip of sin’s colonizing power (Susan Eastman).

To whom is Paul addressing?

Is it autobiographical? And if so, is Paul describing his inner condition under the law before his baptism into Christ or is this Paul’s inner life as a Christian? Or, is Paul using a rhetorical device, as Origin thought, to speak in the person of a weaker Christian? Is Paul addressing all of humanity in Adam or perhaps Israel, under the law, apart from Christ? The quest goes on.

Although the early Augustine maintained that Paul was speaking in the person of unredeemed humanity, he later retracted this view and argued that Paul was speaking in the person of the redeemed, himself included.

Throughout the centuries, Augustine’s position has influenced some of the more prominent commentators on Romans—Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Barth (John Piper). Moreover, this view persuades everyday readers of Romans since we easily identify with this inward struggle.

But … if the “I” of Romans 7 is the normal Christian life, what Paul declares in Romans 6 and 8 has to be negated. For example:

“For we know that our old self was co-crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” Rom 6:6,7.

Here’s my take. It’s a personal modification of Frank Matera’s view in his commentary on Romans. Frank interprets the “I” of this chapter not as the present experience of the Christian, but as the experience of those who are not in Christ as seen from the perspective of one who is in Christ (i.e., Paul himself). The unredeemed may not think of themselves in this way, and Paul certainly did not view himself in this way (Pharisee of Pharisees, advancing above his fellow, and as for righteousness, blameless); but in light of Christ, he sees that this is the real situation of all who are not in Christ, even if they are not aware of it (p. 167). “In Thy light, we see light.”

I believe Paul in Romans 7 is describing the inner conflict of those who live apart from Christ, yet, at the same time, he wants us to hear and be near to the closing cry for liberation. This sounds very much like a lament, someone who is deeply immersed in the Psalms …

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!

The cry for liberation is answered in 8:2 … the self enslaved by the law of sin and death (7:24) is liberated and given assurance through participation in Jesus Christ. The body of sin has been destroyed by the body of Christ, his physical death on the cross.

This lament must become our voice under trial, under temptation, in times of weakness and disordered desires. We have been given a new status and a new source of strength in Christ … there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

The cruciform self is ever near to Christ in prayer, in communion and community, aware of one's own weakness and pull towards autonomy. We now live, battle and struggle not for victory but from victory, His victory over sin and death by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We fix our eyes on his transfiguation, our hope of glory.

Ephesians 4 provides a wide range of practices sourced in the old and new self. The language of putting on and putting off is Paul's baptismal language, describing the exchange Christ graciously gives to each of his followers. We are leaving the ways of Egypt behind, being renewed in the true image, Christ restoring us to his likeness.

Fr. Les describes ways to nurture our new life in Jesus. The way in is the way on, putting off the old reign of sin and death and putting on the new life of the Spirit in Christ Jesus. This is the way of transformation, transfiguration. Amen!

Ephesians 4 provides a wide range of practices sourced in the old and new self. The language of putting on and putting off is Paul's baptismal language, describing the exchange Christ graciously gives to each of his followers. We are leaving the ways of Egypt behind, being renewed in the true image, Christ restoring us to his likeness.

Fr. Les describes ways to nurture our new life in Jesus. The way in is the way on, putting off the old reign of sin and death and putting on the new life of the Spirit in Christ Jesus. This is the way of transformation, transfiguration. Amen!

Romans 6:6f. The old self (anthropos) is our archetypal Adamic self, rooted in Eden’s curse. Old implies a New Self. The humanity that defined you before coming to faith in Christ is dead, that old Adamic self was destroyed in Christ on the cross only to birth a New Humanity, no longer defined by Adam but by Christ.

The old Adamic self is the self you once were, the self that belongs to the old aeon (this present, evil age), the self dominated by sin and exposed to wrath (Fitzmyer, p 436). Like the children of Israel in the wilderness, far too many Christians still suffer with an Identity born in under Pharaoh than Christ. The struggle of the old seeks to define their new identity and life in Christ. As such, we have not understood nor appropriated our New Exodus in Christ.

The “old anthropos” is not a part of the “new” self, but the old self ruled by sin, and dead in trespasses and sin (Eph. 2). That self was co-crucified with Christ … the only explicit reference to the cross in Romans. As we consider ourselves as “Co-crucified” our inner being is drawn into the mystery of mysteries … the sacrificial death of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So there’s an identity that died along with Christ. Why? That the body of sin might be destroyed (v. 6). For the purpose of liberating us from the enslavement of sin.

What on earth is the “body of sin”? Some translations say, sinful body, as if the physical body as such were sinful. It is Paul’s shorthand for the whole person defined by sin, controlled by it, the old self … enslaved under the domain of sin and death (“the body of death” in Rom 7:24). By being co-crucified with Christ this sinful self is “destroyed” so as to liberate from enslavement.

What is Sin? There’s lots of misunderstanding about the nature of sin.

Sin is a diabolical power, trampling down and bringing death to every living species. Its power is demonstrated in all attempts to demythologize it, sterilize it, ignore or dismiss it. And those who acknowledge it often misdiagnose it as a wrong that one DOES (known as sins) rather than a reality that WRONGS the doer and the deed alike (Leander Keck, Rom, 185).

So how are we to respond. What has taken place in Christ must be actualized, appropriated.

11. Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (11)

12. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions (lusts, cravings).

Mortal body (12) the physical body, still mortal and yet to be glorified; it remains corruptible and prone to desires, some of which are harmful, from the domain of sin. The Christian life, says the writer to the Hebrews 12:4, is a struggle against sin. Union with Christ is the means of overcoming it. This is not sin management.

Yet we are living in-between this present, evil age and the age to come. Until one participates in Christ’s resurrection (future), the body is still subject to the inevitability of death and vulnerable to the power of its passions / desires. What matters for Paul is whether passions, the lusts of the flesh, control the self.

He’s calling us to communion. He’s calling us to re-member Him, to participate in his death, resurrection and ascension. Paul in addressing the sordid past of the Christians at Corinth, in I Cor. 6, mentions a list of sins ranging from sexual to gluttony and affirms their transformation in the lines … 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

There’s no sin management here, but a complete emphasis on the sacramental grace received in baptism – washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. They no longer identify with their former lives defined by addictions, orientations, and the like.

Romans 6:6f. The old self (anthropos) is our archetypal Adamic self, rooted in Eden’s curse. Old implies a New … a New Self. Paul is saying that the humanity that defined you before coming to faith in Christ is dead, that old Adamic self was destroyed in Christ on the cross only to birth a new humanity, no longer defined by Adam but by Christ.

The old Adamic self is the self you once were, the self that belongs to the old aeon (this present, evil age), the self dominated by sin and exposed to wrath (Fitzmyer, p. 436).

The “old anthropos” is not a part of the “new” self, but the old self ruled by sin, and dead in trespasses and sin (Eph. 2). That self was co-crucified with Christ … the only explicit reference to the cross in Romans.

As we consider ourselves as “Co-crucified” our inner being is drawn into the mystery of mysteries … the sacrificial death of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So there’s an identity that died along with Christ. Why? That the body of sin might be destroyed (v. 6). For the purpose of liberating us from the enslavement of sin.

What on earth is the “body of sin”? Some translations say, sinful body, as if the physical body as such were sinful. It is Paul’s shorthand for the whole person defined by sin, controlled by it, the old self … enslaved under the domain of sin and death (“the body of death” in Rom 7:24). By being co-crucified with Christ this sinful self is “destroyed” so as to liberate from enslavement.

What is Sin? There’s lots of misunderstanding about the nature of sin.

Sin is a diabolical power, trampling down and bringing death to every living species. Its power is demonstrated in all attempts to demythologize it, sterilize it, ignore or dismiss it. And those who acknowledge it often misdiagnose it as a wrong that one DOES (known as sins) rather than a reality that WRONGS the doer and the deed alike (Leander Keck, Romans, p. 185).

So how are we to respond. What has taken place in Christ must be actualized, appropriated.

11Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (11)

12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions (lusts, cravings).

Mortal body – v. 12 – the physical body, still mortal and yet to be glorified … it remains corruptible and prone to desires, some of which are harmful, from the domain of sin. The Christian life, says the writer to the Hebrews 12:4 … is a struggle against sin … remaining in union with Christ is the means of overcoming it.

Paul is not suggesting some form of sin management; sin refuses to be managed, that’s why Christ put it to death.

Yet we are living in-between this present, evil age and the age to come. Until one participates in Christ’s resurrection (future), the body is still subject to the inevitability of death and vulnerable to the power of its passions / desires. What matters for Paul is whether passions, the lusts of the flesh, control the self.

Like one being trained to recognize counterfeit currency, only studying authentic bills, Paul, likewise calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, the icon of the Father.

He’s calling us to communion. He’s calling us to re-member Him, to participate in his death, resurrection and ascension.

Paul in addressing the sordid past of the Christians at Corinth, in I Cor. 6, mentions a list of sins ranging from sexual to gluttony and affirms their transformation in the lines … 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

There’s no sin management here, but a complete emphasis on the sacramental grace received in baptism – washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. They no longer identify with their former lives defined by addictions, orientations, and the like.

Deacon Aaron Williams, PhD candidate, John Paul II's Institute for Marriage and Family, Washington, D.C., continues in his second talk on the typological images of Mary. As the one who says a pure yes to God, she is an icon of the Church in her ontological posture of receptivity.

While navigating through the tumult of our culture's elevation of misogyny, we are drawn back to Mary's grace-filled "yes", open and free of striving for autonomy, the distorted masculine. God's power is received though an embraced exchange; from independence to humble weakness, it is ever and only "yes" to God.

Dean Greer is the National Coordinator for Living Waters, USA. He and his wife, Chrystal, are long-term friends of Fr. Michael and Liz Flowers. Over the summer, Dean will be speaking once a month at St. Aidan's, along with Fr. Michael, laying foundations about our common, divinely crafted humanity, made in the image of God.

Having been involved in healing ministry for over 25 years, Dean has trained leaders around the world to incorporate the healing programs of Desert Stream Ministries within the local church community. Dean has experienced first-hand how God is able to restore life and bring wholeness to a generation without hope. A native of San Francisco, Dean now lives in Kansas City, MO with his wife Chrystal and their son Jeremiah.

Today's Sermon utilized Isaiah 53:1-12, Psalm 51:1-12; James 5:13-16 and John 20:19-23

Deacon Aaron Williams is an Anglican Deacon and a PhD Candidate at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. - John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family.

Deacon Aaron speaks on the importance of biblical typology in understanding the significance of the Virgin Mary, Theotokos, Mother of God. As we contemplate our new identity in Christ, we include our spiritual mother, the Virgin Mary, as the archetypal Feminine, open, receptive, trusting, consenting to supernatural conception, reflecting the cosmic feminine reality. This is the nature of the Church, the Bride of Christ, reflecting a sacramental potency of God's image and likeness, male and female, now made one in Christ, the new humanity.

Exodus 40:17-38 | Revelation 11:19- 12:6 | Luke 1:26-38

Mary illustrates the beauty of the feminine, the receptivity unto God's will ... "be it unto me according to thy will." Mary, a type of the Church, is identified as woman, mother, ark and temple. Mary's obedience made it possible for the obedient One, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be conceived in her womb. Like the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple, she became a temple of the Holy Spirit, a place wherein God was birthed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. All generations shall call her blessed!

May we all come close to Mary's humble, servant-obedience in all our labors, loving, conceiving, and giving birth to many sons and daughters of Jesus Christ.

Deacon Aaron Williams is a PhD Candidate at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. - John Paul II Institute. Deacon Aaron speaks on the importance of biblical typology in understanding the significance of the Virgin Mary, Theotokos, Mother of God.

Exodus 40:17-38 | Revelation 11:19- 12:6 | Luke 1:26-38

Mary illustrates the beauty of the feminine, the receptivity unto God's will ... "be it unto me according to thy will." The Churches identity is woman, mother, ark and temple. Mary's obedience made it possible for the obedient One, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be conceived in her womb. Like the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple, she became a temple of the Holy Spirit, a place wherein God was birthed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. All generations shall call her blessed!

May we all come close to Mary's humble, servant-obedience in all our labors, loving, conceiving, and giving birth to many sons and daughters.