Romans 7
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Virgil was a great poet in the century preceding the birth of Christ. He wrote of the Roman form of capital punishment. The corpse was chained face to face with the murderer until it putrified against the person. The living literally carried the dead and became infected with the pus and fluids that came from the corpse after a few days. This “body of death” in Romans 7v24 would come to mind when Paul wrote of this.
If you are living in your sin you carry death with you like the murderer carrying the corpse. What a wretched person you are. Paul would have remembered how he persecuted the Christians before his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. At his conversion the Lord asked him, “Why are you persecuting me?” When a Christian is persecuted it is Christ who is really being persecuted. We can rejoice because the reward in heaven will be great.
You are like a chained dog if you are in your sin. Until called by the Master you won’t even realize you are on a chain. People say they are free but don’t realize their chains.
To be set free from guilt and sin other religious groups say pray more, fast, give money, etc. But only Jesus will cleanse you and set you free.
When Gen William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, addressed a crowd in a huge hall in Boston, he noticed the big picture on which was written UNITY and FREEDOM. He ended the service with a loud voice saying “if you have unity with Jesus you will have freedom”. Indeed, unity with Jesus is true liberation.