Romans 7:22-23

I spent a decent amount of the morning today before church going through Romans, and chapter 7:22-23 really stood out to me. In Galatians, the law is talked about being associated with a curse:

"For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse" - Galatians 3:10 (NIV)

A curse is only incurred by us if we break any of the laws provided. That's the tension Paul is exposing, it's impossible for humanity to always abide by the laws given by God. A human will sin, the law exposes such sin as they have broken the law with that sin, and breaking the law (sinning) results in separation from God, and therefore, death (hence the curse).

I feel like Romans 7 gives a great amount of insight to this, kind of piecing it all together. Paul states:

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual" - Romans 7:14 (NIV)

Which to me perfectly captures why we will never be righteous under the law, which is also supported in this verse:

"Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because 'the righteous live by faith'" - Galatians 3:11 (NIV)

The truth is that we are humans, we are in a realm of fleshly, physical things. The law is spiritual in nature, it's correct, it's good, it reflects God's character perfectly. But it cannot save, because saving requires breaking sin's grip on our nature, and the law has no power to do that. It can only expose the problem.

This is exactly what Paul is wrestling with. He delights in the law because it reflects God's holy standard, but he can't live up to it, because of the "different law in my members," the flesh and its desires pulling against him.

This is why faith in Christ matters so much. He is literally the only way we can break that curse, in fact he takes the curse upon himself.

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" - Galatians 3:13 (NIV)

Jesus took that curse so we wouldn't have to, and it's only through faith in him that we're saved.