Are We Really 'Wretched'?

I would assume that the apostle Paul would be banging his head now for using the term 'wretched' (in Rom 7). He used that term only once, while he was venting, like we all do at times. Never would he have thought that a good portion of Christians would be married to that term and see that as their core identity; when in fact, Paul himself said that we are a MASTERPIECE created in Christ Jesus (see Ephe 2:10 NLT).

"Unworthy worms" is merely a product of the religious mindset. It might sound so pious and humble to believe and say so, but it does not take much revelation or reasoning to come to the conclusion that the children of God are not worms. Do we call our children 'trash'? If not, why would we assume that Love would treat His children any different?

False humility is simply masked pride. Notice that in false humility, the focus is always 'me'. Our spirit has been fused with His Spirit (1 Cori 6:17). We are not "mere" human beings. In our core, we are divine. As He is (present tense: the glorified Jesus), so are we in this world (1 John 4:17) - regardless of what we feel.

Old VS New

Thanks to the internet, we now have access to a ton of Christian messages than our earlier generations. We no longer have to be limited by tunnel visions!

While I'm thrilled with this convenience, I'm not attracted to a message, book or an article, simply because it is tagged "Christian". 

What I look for is, if the content is rooted in Jesus' perfect work on the cross.

Narrating the parables of Jesus or quoting 10 scriptures from the Gospels simply for the sake of it won't cut it, because Jesus was still living under the old covenant. 

Contrary to the popular assumption, the new covenant starts only after the resurrection and not with Matthew Chapter 1. 

Selah  ; )

So how do we know that the messages that we listen to or the material that we read stems from the old or the new covenant?

Under the old covenant, I get to bear a nice-looking, but a heavy yoke of trying to earn the blessings. My ego gets to be the star. The blessings or curses are hinged on my performance.

Under the new covenant, Jesus did all the heavy lifting; we are freed from the yoke and are liberated, once and for all. Jesus is the star here and through His obedience, we are made righteous (not self-righteous). Grace or Unconditional Love is the oxygen that we live in. Under this covenant, we are God's masterpieces, not unworthy worms.