The Spirit of Life
The Spirit of
life is the life-giving Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the author
and giver of life, and the life He gives is free of
condemnation. There is now no condemnation for the
believer in Christ because of the saving work of
Christ which sets His people free from the law that
condemns.
The principle on which the Holy
Spirit works in the Christian’s life operates in
power. He can do what the law could never do.
It is interesting the word Holy
Spirit is found more often in chapter eight of
Romans than in any other chapter in the New
Testament.
The Holy Spirit is the
“distinguishing mark” of the believer. His very
presence in the Christian means defeat of the power
of sin in the believer’s life. The Holy Spirit rules
within the heart.
“When the Holy Spirit comes
into a person that person is liberated from bondage
to evil and finds a new power within, a power that
causes the defeat of sin and leads the liberated
person into ways of goodness and love,” writes Leon
Morris.
By the death of Jesus Christ
the believer was freed from the law of sin (Romans
7:23, 25), and death (7:10-11, 13). That does not
mean, however, that we are sinless even though we
have been liberated from its dominion (6:18, 22). We
have a new relationship to the law because of our
new relationship with Christ.
Someone said, “Moses law has
right but not might; sin’s law has might but not
right; the law of the Spirit has both right and
might.”
The Christian now has life in
the Spirit. “For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin
and death” (8:2). The law of the Spirit of life is
in Christ Jesus. It is the principle of the new
being, and this has freed us from the law of sin and
death. “There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus” (v. 1).
This is the new spiritual
principle of life. It is through our vital union
with Christ that we have received this life-giving
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who has claim on
our lives; the law no longer has any claim on the
Christian because we have been set free from the law
of sin and death. New principles now control the
Christian’s life, with new dynamics. We have found
deliverance in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The law no longer has any jurisdiction over the
Christian. It can no longer lay any claim over you.
We have been bought out of the slave market and set
free to live this new life in Christ. God sent His
Son to be our sin offering and die in our place to
turn the wrath of God aside.
The emphasis the apostle Paul
is making is there is not even one bit of
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He
freed you once for all from the law of sinful nature
and of death.
The law could not save you, and
it cannot sanctify you (v. 3). The law was weak
through the flesh without the Holy Spirit. Because
Christ suffered for you, the law could no longer
condemn you. Christ suffered the condemnation of the
law on our behalf. Christ came “in the likeness” of
sinful flesh and bore our sins in His body on the
cross. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, and
since we are now “in Christ,” God will not condemn
us again. God condemned sin in the sacrifice of
Christ so that we can now stand before God in His
perfect righteousness.
Because of the life in the
Spirit the law can no longer control the Christian
(v. 4). The difference between the life of the
Christian and the life of the legalist is the
believer lives a righteous life, not in the power of
the law, but in the power of the Spirit of God. The
law does not have the power to produce holiness in
us. The only power it has is the ability to condemn.
How then does the Christian
live in obedience to God’s will and bring glory to
Him? The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit
produces the new life in us. He enables us to walk
in obedience and fulfill the righteousness of the
law in us.
As the believer yields to the
control of the Holy Spirit he experiences the
sanctifying work of the Spirit in his daily life.
The righteous requirements of
the law are fulfilled as we yield the control of our
lives to the Spirit. The righteous and just
requirements of the law are fully met in us, who
live and move and have our being in Christ.
The difference is who is in
control of our lives. Our lives are no longer
controlled by the standards of the world, but are
now under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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