Who Will Rescue Me?

Written By Josh Hernandez

Romans 7:24-25
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Have you ever felt stuck in a cycle you can’t break—where the harder you try, the more you realize you’ve failed?

That’s exactly where Paul ends Romans 7. And honestly, it feels... hopeless. But it’s not the end of the story. Paul is calculating Israel’s spiritual condition—and it’s a tragic one. A deep desire to do what’s right… but the law, though good, only reminds them how far they’ve fallen.

So Paul asks the question we’re all quietly asking:

“Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”

It’s not just Israel’s cry. It’s ours too. And the answer Paul gives changes everything. If we only read up to this point, it would all feel like despair. But Paul is doing something brilliant. He’s retelling the Exodus story:

  • Romans 6 is like Crossing the Red Sea – breaking free from slavery to sin.

  • Romans 7 is like Mount Sinai – receiving the law but realizing the law alone can’t save us.

  • Romans 8 is where we’re heading: the Spirit of God leading us like fire and cloud into the promised land.

Paul doesn’t leave the question unanswered. He responds with a burst of joy:

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus is the faithful Israelite. He didn’t bypass the law—He fulfilled it. He didn’t ignore the struggle—He entered into it. He took on the worst of sin and death and came out the other side—alive.

And now, through Him, we are free. Not free to live aimlessly—but free to become the kind of people God always imagined when He first breathed life into dust.

🌍 A New Humanity for a New Creation

God isn’t just trying to get us into heaven. He’s renewing everything. And to do that, He needs renewed humans.

“The reason why God rescues humans from sin and death is so that they can take their proper place in the renewal of creation…”
— N.T. Wright, Into the Heart of Romans

Jesus is inviting us into a better story—one where He gets to shape us into His image. We’re not left to fend for ourselves. On the contrary, He’s leading us into the greatest journey of our lives:
A life where sin no longer gets to define us…
Jesus does.

And with that, we turn the page to one of the most powerful chapters in the New Testament: Romans 8—where the Spirit takes center stage and the promised land finally comes into view.

Can’t wait to begin Chapter 8 this Sunday at 10 AM.

Blessings!

Josh Hernandez