Life Through the Spirit
Romans 8:1-15:
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
As Paul writes so eloquently in the beginning of Roman’s 8, “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” On the surface, freedom from condemnation sounds nice! But what does that mean? From personal experience as I attempt to walk the narrow path, lead my family down the same path, lead my life as Jesus led His, and sharing His gospel with others, I find condemnation around every corner. Taking various shapes and forms, condemnation from others usually shows up in the form of judgement in the guise of righteousness. I don’t see an end to this external condemnation, and through discernment provided by His Spirit in us we can boldly hold up the shield of faith not allowing internalization of external words. But that isn’t what Paul is talking about, he is talking about our own internal condemnation, our own self-righteousness that we impose on ourselves, that can only be excised with the sword of the spirit. Wielding the sword of the spirit shines His light on our own darkness, illuminating our past sins, allowing us to live in peace through Christ Jesus.
His death on the cross for our sins was also our death on the cross. Leaving past transgressions in the past is the freedom from condemnation Paul is talking about. He isn’t talking about the forgiveness of sin. Paul is talking about life through Christ and how we move from keeping the law of the past and failing miserably over and over in justification into the light of our conscience where sanctification takes place, a renewal of childlikeness and purity of His light; becoming holy in all things. Freedom in this way is the essence of congruence, not hiding in the dark from our transgressions against others, ourselves or Him. Paul toward the end is equating life to freedom, “…Spirit who gives life has set you free…” It is so easy to just read over this piece, yet it encompasses the foundation of Christ Jesus. Life through Jesus only happens in the present moment, not yesterday and not tomorrow. We easily chain ourselves to the bondage of time (could have, should have, would have). Through the conscience of Christ given to us through His Spirit in us we have the freedom to live, chain free, not bound to time but rather bound to the eternal through the present moment. The present moment (The Life) can be made Holy through sanctification, laying waste to justification the ultimate freedom from sin and death.
3For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Original sin devastated our ability to follow the law. Once we had a taste of good and evil we became drawn to either doing good or doing evil. Very simply put we are driven by good works to be justified as good in the eyes of others and ultimately our Creator. Likewise, we are also tempted by evil whether in thoughts, words or actions. Whether this be lustful thoughts or eyes, quite hatred or contempt or willful ignorance, we can never seem to ‘get it right’. For some this leads to resentment, depression and others discontentment or even suicidal ideation. For some, who present themselves as ardent believers and followers of Christ, yet have not formed a loving relationship with Jesus, will turn away and ‘deconstruct’ their faith, making a direct path to the wide road, sin and death. But as Paul says above, and John says in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God knew we could never maintain the laws as sinners, so in our place He sent His son as a sin offering, flesh for flesh. Our challenge is to die with Jesus on the cross and to believe in His resurrection, which is our rebirth. Earlier in John 3:3, Jesus exclaims, “Jesus replied, very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Condemnation of sin through the flesh of Jesus Christ freed us from the law. All 600+ requirements set forth by the law have been met and satisfied. Notice Paul says, “righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us.” Through His faithfulness and overabundance of love in us we are given an example of what to become. Like a newborn child completely and totally dependent on its parents for life giving sustenance we can rely on the same from God the Father. The giver of life, the Holy Spirit, our great Advocate allows us to become children of God. There is such peace relaying our alliance on God and not ourselves. To become a child once again sheds the burdens we often cling to as adults. Why do we cling to these burdens? I posit we hold tightly to this notion because our earthly parents led us to believe that if we don’t, we will fail. Fail who though? The question is rhetorical. Failure in God the Father’s eyes can only happen through blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
The sum of being led by His love and reverence to the gravity of His sacrifice is obedience. Through obedience we find ourselves happily following the narrow path (The Way) and leading others to it as we are called to do. This isn’t about forgiveness of sin or sin management, this is about living in the Spirit, a new quality of life through Christ Jesus. We will find ourselves in a new position in life, one without burden or fear. A life with such purpose and meaning that our old ways will simply fade away. None of this will magically happen as some charismatics will lead you to believe. The essence of being a Christian is to become like Him, and the word become defined is ‘to begin to be’ which is a verb and Christianity is an action, not a person, place or thing.
5Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Die to self. Life through Christ is to die 1,000 deaths. On the surface this sounds horrible but after each death He will resurrect us and that is worth every death. Living in the Spirit will deny the flesh, first by prayer, perseverance and practice, but eventually through living each moment as a Holy moment by staying in the present. Reliance on the Spirit comes from a deep love of the Father and the Son, trusting them with your life. Just like a shower cleanses the external body, washing away the bacteria that causes us to smell and protects us from infection, we must also wash our internal body by renewing our faith each day. Each morning after we wake, after our coffee and after our shower we must cloth ourselves in the garments of God thus wrapping ourselves in His character and nature. His character is that of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We can define His nature as faithfulness and love. To embody these as we live (Holy moments) we will join the Trinity in unity or oneness thus completing His will for us.
In this union the desires of the flesh cannot and will not exist. We will naturally find ourselves in the service of others, dying to self in each moment. Submission to God’s law won’t feel like submission at all, rather it will present itself as compassion. Surrender will become mercy and grace not rolling over or giving up. The compass of self we’ve been guided by each day will be replaced with His compass of light (The Truth). We will please God in everything we do without the burden of worry because we are in the harmony of love with Him.
9You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Acceptance. To follow Jesus is to have sin forgiven, however, that is not what Paul is speaking about. It may feel that way. The entire chapter of Roman’s 8 can be easily misconstrued as a gospel of life, death and resurrection but on the contrary, it is about a new life to be born again in a life through Christ. His burden easy and His yoke is light (Matthew 11:30). The acceptance of this realization allows us to deeply root our faith next to His river of life and release any ties to the desire of self. We are alive in Christ because of righteousness, Holy in character and nature, living with moral integrity, justice with compassion; a form of living in alignment with His will.
In so doing we become the body of Christ, His church where Jesus is the head. Each one of us a different part of the body, called to bring our gifts to bear. This won’t come without condemnation, judgement and persecution. The original twelve were beaten, imprisoned, hated and died horrible deaths, but all were at peace and ready to meet their Father in heaven. How does that happen? The mere thought of this produces fear and posits a reason for why many Christians view their faith as a noun. A noun defined is a person like a pastor, or a place like a church building or a thing like a bible. Many people have noun-like faith and don’t live in Christ whereas Christ is not alive in them. The paradigm shift will come when faith is put into action through loving our Father. Fear and self-seeking will slowly slip away and be replaced with assuredness and a life full of boldness. We can embrace the realm of the Spirit in everyday life simply by living and loving like Jesus did. Like Jesus’ brother said in James 1:22 and I paraphrase here, don’t just read the bible, go and do what it says. Don’t rely on others to read the bible to you in church, read it for yourselves and use it to sharpen the gifts of the Spirit to sharpen your discernment and to build your relationship with the Father and the Son. How many successful relationships have you had when you rely on another person to communicate on your behalf? Preachers, pastors and church buildings are a great accompaniment to strengthen your spiritual community but should never serve as your primary connection to the Father or Son.
12Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The entirety of these verses in Romans can be summed up in verse 15. We can only be slaves to ourselves and our selfish desires, we have freedom from this in the sonship that we share with fellow followers of Christ. We are adopted into the Kingdom, His Kingdom where he reigns forever and ever. Through this adoption, if we believe, we can live in His garden, here on earth all in participation with Him and in preparation for eternal life. We have an obligation to live, not by the flesh, but by His Spirit where grace and mercy overflow. The power of which brings tears to the eyes of the strongest man, breaks every chain binding us to sin and empowers us to repent and rebuke, all in His name. Otherwise, life is meaningless, completely meaningless without form, shape, substance or purpose. Each day, the same as the last, we will watch the sun rise and the sun set. We will seek earthly wisdom, knowing full well that there is nothing new to learn or gain. We will spend our days laboring away, storing away our riches for what? Retirement? Death? All of it is meaningless and without purpose unless we surrender and renounce the ways of this world and accept Christ Jesus. Living in obedience and dying on the cross over and over is taking our place as the adopted Son through His Spirit, dwelling in us since birth. Remove the knot quenching His Spirit in you and start living now, He is the Truth, the Life and the only Way to the Father. God Bless.
