Week 2 August 2026 - REFLECTION ON SWITCHING ROOMS AT HOME

“For the good that I wish I do not do…There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 7:19; 8:1

If there is room for puzzlement in our mind, we can safely assume that not even the  Apostle famous for his keen mind, could discern a connection between title and text.  No tent he ever made had a complicated inside.  However, the complexity of his discourse known as THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS vastly differs.  Dictated by him to Tertius in AD 58, its doctrines and directives have been vigorously discussed and written about by theologians and Bible commentators of every age. Oceans of ink, as it were, still flow into the coffers of  Amazon, where I get my fill of desired information as fast as overnight.

Interestingly, I got clarity in an hour when I accidentally clicked on a sermon by Alistair Begg on YouTube. The Scott with the twang I like, delivered the twist I love because it is so relatable.  A pastor of 40 years, he nonchalantly stated, “Chapter 7 of Romans is the cold room in your house.  If you tire of the chill, feel free to go switch to the warm room of Romans 8.  My home has a north-facing “sunken” living room with a focal fireplace custom-built from gorgeous ceramic tiles. Unable to roll the TV set across the hallway out of the also sunken family room facing the swimming pool, my “Romans rooms” are recategorized as “Run the Furnace” and “Run the Air conditioner.”  This results in much money running into the coffers of the LA DWP.  John Newton used to run slave ships.  The cramped quarters down below made for heat, while the ocean breezes were cooling the rowers above. Reasonably enough, the House of God worldwide knows his first room as “Wretched Man” and the second one as “Amazing Grace.”

In the original Greek, Paul’s epistle to the Romans contains 7114 words.  Depending on the specific English translation, modern Bible versions typically range between 7,000 and 9,000.  Copying the uncomplicated Alistair Begg, I pick the two words that strike me as the most pivotal.  SIN goes in the cold room, and GROAN into the warm one.  If Paul  as the “wretched man that I am” in Romans 7:24 isn’t chilling enough, how about “Who will set me free from the body of this death?”  Logically, the triumphal statement of Romans 8:1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation…” – has grown in leaps and bounds on “those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Time to turn on something fun on TV, unless the glutton for punishment proceeds to read Romans 8:22-26.  Shockingly, creation groans, the believer groans, and the Holy Spirit groans “too deep for words.”   Verse 27 should take our breath away  because " He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  It is the same for you and me, Alistair and amazingly gifted missionaries such as John Newton and Saul of Tarsus, namely to become conformed to the image of Jesus. Nothing and nobody ever outgrows the effects of original sin, so Jesus surrendered His will to secure our eternal salvation on Calvary.