In Romans, Paul wants us to see how we got into our mess so that we will see how we can get out of our mess. The point that he makes in 5:12-19 is that the way out of this is analogous to the way in. The problem is that we are subject in many ways to forces greater than ourselves. We are the product of thousands of years of human sin and dysfunction starting with Adam. You can’t beat this. You can’t fight those dysfunctional inclinations that pull you this way and that, not on your own. The fact that you feel pulled in the wrong direction is not entirely your fault, although how you respond is entirely your responsibility. Something happened that got you here; something that was beyond your control and still is beyond your control. You can’t change by pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. So, in the same way as a force greater than yourself has pulled you down so it is necessary for a force greater than yourself to pull you up. Just as you were pulled down by Adam, and that was not your doing, so also you must be pulled up by Christ, and that also is not your doing. The key, as I said, is not how you can beat this (you can’t); the key is who you turn to. If you entrust yourself to Christ then you will be lifted up by a force greater than yourself. So stop thinking about how to beat this and focus on who you must turn to. The answer is not ‘how’ but ‘who’.
Ask Jesus to save you from the dysfunctional behaviours that have been undermining you.
Read Romans 5:12-21
