Briefing: When you are a peace officer working midnight patrol, one of your most important pieces of equipment is your flashlight. In order for us to do our job we need light.

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Romans 7:7-25.

On the Street: Back in Jesus’ day they did not have flashlights. If they did I think Paul would have called this section of Romans “the law of the flashlight”. Of course I am joking but it is a great illustration of the lesson Paul is teaching us. In verse seven he says, “I would not have known sin except through the law.” The law is like a flashlight. Light exposes things hidden in the darkness. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

We have to understand how our sin affects others as well as our living witness. Paul is laboring over this point, back in Chapter 3 he asks the question, should we say “Let us do evil that good may result?” NO. Now he asks, shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Paul wants to make sure they are getting the point.

If you are saved then God does not see your sins because they are covered by the blood of Christ, yes, but like Paul is trying to make us understand, that is not all! You cannot stop there. Yes, we still sin and when we do we still need to ask God to forgive us. Being close to God is being in His light and being in His light shows us our sin/darkness. We must continue to grow in righteousness and in the likeness of Christ.

When we get saved it is not the finish line, it is the beginning. When you graduated police academy, you got your badge pinned on you. This was not the end of your journey to become a law enforcement officer, it was only the beginning. For the rookie peace officer and the new Christian, there is still training that needs to be done, jobs that will need to be carried out, and a journey that lies ahead. We have a lot of work to do. We are called to be different, look different, and act different. This is the righteousness we need to strive for. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it best, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Investigational Resources: John 3:19.

Officer Safety Principle: This righteousness is absolutely necessary in our lives. It is not perfection, it is direction. Walking in the ways of God and living a life that points to Him.

from The Book of Romans Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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