Week 5 | Day 4 – A MIRROR AND NOT A LADDER – Romans 7:7-13

In Romans 7:7–13, Paul clarifies the purpose of the Law—that it was never given to save us but to expose us. It was never intended to be a ladder to climb to earn God’s favor, but a mirror to reveal our sinfulness and inability to do anything to earn God’s gracious favor.

The Law was offered as God’s standard of perfection and holiness—yet, when its light shines on our corrupt and fallen hearts, sin is unmasked—and we are exposed as missing the mark of God’s perfection. Far from being a ladder we can climb to reach God to attain His grace, the Law is the mirror that reveals that we cannot climb to the bottom rung. In this revelation, the Law performs a mercy and important service—while it can never save us, it does points us beyond ourselves to God’s One and only solution to the problem of sin—and it is the One who fulfilled the Law it perfectly and bore its curse for us—Jesus.
 
APPLICATION
 

1. Let the Law be a Mirror—not a Merit Badge

Understand that the Law is God’s commands to see your need—not a mechanism to score spiritual points.

2. Name Sin Specifically

Like Paul with coveting, let the Law identify concrete sins in your life to lead you to confession and repentance.

3. Rest in Grace instead of Grinding for Favor

If salvation is received by grace through faith—and never achieved by human effort or goodness, then your assurance rests in Christ’s finished work—not in your fluctuating performance.

4. Refuse to Abuse Grace

Grace frees us from sin’s penalty and power so that we have the ability to not indulge in out flesh, but to live in victory, we must walk in the Spirit in an abiding life. It is impossible to live the victorious Christian life independently of the Holy Spirit.

5. Point Others to Jesus—not to Self-Improvement

Seemingly innate in every soul is the notion that we have to do something to earn God’s favor. Yet when the Law is applied correctly, it doesn’t meet a holy standard but exposes our need for Divine intervention. Our calling is to direct people to the Savior who alone is capable of saving and transforming lives.

PRAYER

Lord, help me to stop trying to earn Your favor and instead rest in the favor You’ve already given me in Christ—not only for my salvation but for my daily walk. Guard me from abusing Your grace or assuming You will turn a blind eye to my sin. Instead, teach me to walk by the Spirit so I will not gratify the desires of the flesh, but honor You in word and deed today. Amen.