The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. Verses 4-5
Psalm 110 is a "Messianic" Psalm. It is written as though God, the Father, is speaking to Jesus Christ, the Son.
Romans 6:15-21
Before reading this passage, I'm asked to search for an area where I don't walk in freedom, but continue to struggle. It asks when I easily give in to temptation. It seems that I give in most easily when I'm tired and alone. This happens most often when I've just gotten home from work in the mornings. The rest of the day, I don't succumb nearly as much (if at all). In fact, there are certain parts of the day that find me extremely immune to temptation. I'm not sure I can identify why. I'm sure a psychologist could tell me.
But, as with most sin, there is a short-lived pleasure while in the midst of it, followed by an extreme feeling of guilt as a result of giving in. There is really nothing to lose by giving it up.
As I read this passage, sometimes I wonder if I'm guilty of what Paul calls living "any old way we want." But I really don't believe that I look at sin that way. Yes, I give in to temptation sometimes, but it's not with an attitude of "I can do this and confess it later." In fact, it's more like walking by a puddle of water and just suddenly deciding to jump in it. We worry about the consequences later.
I must work harder to offer myself "to the ways of God." This is true freedom. "Freedom" is not doing whatever you want. There are several aspects of freedom. One of the, of which Paul speaks in Galatians, is freedom from religious ritual. Generally, freedom, as mentioned in Romans and other places in Paul's writing, is freedom from rather than freedom to.
Honestly, life is harder as a believer. Steve Taylor had a song called "Harder To Believe Than Not To." It is. Because once we take that step of faith in Christ, we suddenly have a lot more to think about. So our "freedom" can appear to be a lot more restrictive than it is.
It's really complicated and hard to put into words. I need more time to think about how to express this.
Paul even says, in this passage, that there are "some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom." Go figure. So the more free we think we are, the more we are slaves to something else.
Kind of reminds me of all the people who get tattoos to "express their individuality."
Right.
We are all slaves to something. I would rather be a slave (Paul calls it "bondservant" in the King James) to Christ than a slave to sin. Sin kills. Jesus even says that the devil seeks to "steal, kill, and destroy." There are so many people who are so far down that path that they don't know the difference. And they seek to drag us with them.
I won't go. The path that I seek to travel is "straight and narrow." Unfortunately, my path weaves back and forth across it, most of the time.
Rest in his freedom.
Grace and peace, friends.