There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom 8:1-8).
The law of sin and death is easy for me to understand. However, Paul lays it out in Chapter seven just in case we might miss it. “…if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet (Rom 7:7).” And, as soon as the law tells us not to covet our minds race to covetousness. Try to think about sin with out thinking about a particular sin. Heck try to think about sin without thinking about your preferred flavor of sin, your favorite sin. We all have them. Paul says, when the law came, “sin came alive and I died (Rom 7:9).” It happens to us all. The righteous requirement of the Law is justice at the infraction of the Law. The wages of sin are death (Rom 6:23). The Law tells you not to covet, and as soon as we read it, we break the Law by thinking about coveting… or whatever sin you prefer. It is all the same. “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to [Paul and to] me (Rom 7:10)” and to you. Chapter seven is amazing in its clarity of our predicament! It builds to Paul’s cry, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death (Rom 7:24)?”
Keep that in mind the next time someone tries to sell you prosperity if you only do what God wants.
Recently I have been reading through Chronicles and Kings. They read like a game of thrones novel. I cannot put them down. I have been reading them so fast I have not had time to contemplate what I have found. I did find this interesting though. King Ahab wanted the vineyard next to his palace, but it belonged to another man. He offered to buy it from him, but the owner would not because to do so would have violated the rules against selling Jewish inheritance. The owner wanted to do the right thing by God. Keep that in mind the next time someone tries to sell you prosperity if you only do what God wants. Anyway, King Ahab pouts until his queen, Jezebel, offers to take care of the problem. She has the owner killed on false charges. I am telling you it reads like game of thrones. Elijah meets king Ahab on his way down to inspect his new vineyard. In confronting him Elijah says, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD (1Ki 21:20).” “…you have sold yourself…” The idea is that Ahab decided to do what was evil. He knew the character of Jezebel.
Paul uses similar wording when he says, “I am of the flesh, sold under sin (Rom 7:14).” We are not talking about universal inherited sin as the result of the fall. The law of sin and death is a result of your own flesh, sold under sin, deciding to do what it longs to do. Like King Ahab we have all decide to get what we wanted and what we wanted was our preferred flavor of sin. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death (Rom 7:24)?”
To live in the flesh is to live in disbelief!
Oh, but the Law has a righteous requirement and our Lord Jesus, the Christ, met that requirement on our behalf. “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us…(Rom 8:3-4).” That sacrifice has freed you from the law of sin and death because the death owed has been paid and you are now moved from the law of sin and death and placed under the law of the Spirit of life. The law has not been annulled but rather fulfilled. You, who accept it, are now in another legal category. To live as if you are now free in the flesh is to live as if you don’t believe that you were a sinner in need of repentance. To live in the flesh is to live in disbelief!
To live in life is to live in the Spirit. I read question after question in online Christian groups asking if the Bible says it is okay to remarry. Can I get a tattoo? Is it okay to listen to non-Christian music? The real question, the question that sets you free, is what would the Spirit have you do? Do that!!! Do you want to know how to please God set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Set your mind on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). “Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord (Eph 5:9-10).”
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