40. Delivered from the body of death
Romans 7:24O Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
The answer to this question is in v. 25: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” God will deliver me from the body of this death through Jesus. The promise of deliverance is rampant in Scripture. Here it is the promise of deliverance from the body of this death. There is nothing wrong with the body, for God created it good in the first place; but Sin infested and infected the body so that the body is permeated with sinful flesh so that it is totally corrupted. The body is good and it is to be preserved and protected and it will be resurrected. When the body is resurrected it will be shed of sin and death, finally. It is not the body that we want to get rid of; it is the body of this death that we need to shed.
The image refers to the rare punishment for a murderer: when convicted of murder the dead body of the victim is tied to the body of the murderer so that he cannot get free until he himself dies from the stench and corruption. The sentence is: drag this dead body around until you die. This gruesome picture graphically reveals to us the human condition. We do not normally realize how awful the Sin and Death that clings to us really stinks and rots. No wonder we ask, “Who will deliver me?” The truth is that we are dragging this body of death around with us every day, and it is making us sick and killing us.
In real life I will not be physically delivered until I go through death and resurrection; then the body of death will no longer cling to me. But while I live on earth it clings to me, even though I do not always smell it. However, by faith I am now delivered from Sin and Death. This is the Gospel Promise. Thank God!