For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! I hope you enjoyed our last post on ‘No Condemnation‘ – today we follow on with the law of Spirit and Life.
In this very short passage, Paul mentions two laws – the ‘law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’ and the ‘law of sin and death’. We have done a bunch of study on the ‘law of sin and death’ – much of the last two chapters of Romans covers this! In short – sin, which we all do, leads to death. But there is another law at work here – the ‘law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’.
So the first thing we know about this law is that it makes us free – free from the law of sin and death! No longer are we to be caught forever in our sins leading to death, because there is something else at work here. And that something else is this.
That Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, that He took the punishment of our sins upon Himself, and that when He ascended to heaven he sent the ‘helper’, the Holy Spirit, to guide us until His return.
We could truly dig a lot deeper into this scripture than we will today – there are hours worth of sermons I could write, and days of them I am sure we could all find preached already! But I think there is a small list of keys that not only help us understand this scripture, but to appreciate it and make it part of our lives.
The law of Sin and Death – that is, sin leads to death. All are under it – unless your are free from it through Jesus Christ
Free - if you are in Christ Jesus, you are free from the law of sin and death. Yes, free. As mentioned plenty of times before, that is not a free ticket to sin as we please – but instead a wonderful thing that has been done, and deserves a return of lifetime devotion. It basically means that when we face God in the final judgement of everyone, those under this law will not have to give an accounting to God of our sins – because Jesus has already covered that for us. Despite saying that hundreds of times, it’s still both amazing and hard to comprehend that amount of love!
Spirit - The Holy Spirit, who lives in the lives of those who are saved. Certainly a topic for another study, it is the Holy Spirit who first prompts us in the right direction for salvation, convicts us, drives us to God – and then indwells in us and guides us in the right path.
Life in Christ Jesus – yes, life. It’s that simple – instead of death, which is no more than we deserve, we have traded it for life in Christ Jesus, as He took our sins upon Himself, that His righteousness would be imparted to us.
Jesus Christ is greater than death – He is the first to truly conquer death and to never die again. Many people were raised from the dead, both in and before Jesus time – but they all died again. Jesus died when we was crucified one Friday, over 2000 years ago. But a mere 3 days later he rose from the dead to become the first of those never to taste death again – and in the process freed all who accept Him from their sins, and the law of sin and death.
Pretty amazing.
Lord God, thank you again for the work of Jesus on the cross. Thank you that you provided a way out of the law of sin and death, that we had no power to escape from on our own. Teach us to understand and comprehend Your love for us, that You would go to those extremes to see us free. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Romans 8:2 – Spirit and Life