Read the Bible

¹ Listen close, cowboys. I know you've heard about the Code. It only applies to people who are alive. ² Another way to say this is if a woman is married, she is married as long as her husband lives. If he dies, she is no longer married. ³ If she shacks up with another man while her husband is alive, then she is a cheater. Now, if her husband were to die, she is free to marry another without being an adulterer. ⁴ So, let's see how you're following along. You have died with Christ and so you are no longer under the Code. ⁵ When we lived however, we wanted according to our sinful desires, the Code showed us how wrong we were and deserving of punishment. ⁶ But we have died with Christ and are no longer bound by the Code that shows our sinfulness. Now we can ride for God, not in sin, but in the new life with Jesus.

The Code and Sin

⁷ So, does all of this mean the Code is sinful? Of course not! It was the Code that showed me my sins. If the Code had not said, "Don't jack with another man's Jenny," I wouldn't have known this was a sin. ⁸ But when I read the commandment, I realized just how much I lusted after other men's possessions. ⁹ The Code didn't make me sin, it just made me realize how much sin lived within me. ¹⁰ This, and other sins, only lead to death. The Code that should have brought me life only showed me how much I deserved death. ¹¹ Sin found a weakness in me and used something great from God against me.

¹² There is nothing wrong with the Code. It is good and holy. ¹³ Am I saying something good and holy caused death to come upon me? Absolutely not! That was sin working in me, not God's goodness. The Code merely revealed what was really ruling my life.

The Fight Within

¹⁴ The problem ain't with the Code. It is good. ¹⁵ The problem is that I don't know why I do the things I do. I don't do what I know I should and I tie hard and fast to things I know aren't good for me. ¹⁶ If I know what I'm doing is wrong, then that shows the Code is good. ¹⁷ It's not really me doing these things wrong, it is the sin that still lives within me.

¹⁸ I finally realize there is nothing good that lives within me. At least as far as my natural desires go. No matter how much I want to do the right thing, I rarely get it done. ¹⁹ I don't do the right thing. I usually do the wrong thing. ²⁰ If I do something I don't want to do, this means I am not the one who does it. It's the sin that lives within me.

²¹ Unfortunately, I have found this true of my life—when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. ²² I love God's code with all my heart. ²³ But there's another power within me that is at war with my heart. This power makes me a slave to sin. ²⁴ Oh, what a sorry cowboy I am. Who can set me free from this power that dominates my life and leads to eternal death? ²⁵ Thanks to God that the answer is Jesus Christ.

In summary, I want to follow God's code, but because of my human nature I am a slave to sin.