The Prescription for What Ails Us

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 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, 4 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. 5 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. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 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. – Romans 8:1-7 ESV

Back in Chapter 3, Paul shared the sobering news that “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 ESV). No one can be made right with God through adherence to the law. Why? Because the law is only equipped to reveal God's holy requirements, it has no power to help us keep them. Knowledge of His righteous demands does not produce righteousness; obedience does. So, the law delineates God’s expectations, but our sinful natures cause us to break those very requirements.

In Chapter 7, Paul shared his personal experience with attempting to keep the law.

I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. – Romans 7:7-8 ESV

It is impossible for anyone to be justified in God's eyes by adherence to His law because He demands perfect obedience. James clarified God’s expectation of perfection when he wrote, “the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10 NLT). And while it may appear to be unjust for God to place such an impossible and unachievable standard on His people, Paul reveals that God always had a solution in mind.

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. – Romans 3:21-22 NLT

From Chapter 3 through Chapter 7, Paul defends justification by faith. His goal is to eliminate the burden of condemnation that law-keeping produces. Trying to live up to God’s laws through sheer willpower will never produce righteousness; it can only condemn us for having fallen short of the mark. As Paul stated in Chapter 3, “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). The law was designed to reveal man’s sinfulness and his need for a Savior.

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. – Romans 3:20 NLT

In Chapter 8, Paul starts off by saying, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV). God has provided a way for men to be restored to a right relationship with Him that does not require law-keeping. Those who place their faith in Christ are justified by His righteousness, not their own. They are made right with God because of what Jesus has done on their behalf. He died on their behalf as a payment for the sin debt they owed. He gave His sinless life in their place so that they might receive eternal life rather than the condemnation of death they deserved. By placing their faith in what Jesus has done for them, they cease placing their faith in what they can do for themselves. Faith replaces works. 

At the point of salvation, a new law is at work in their lives. Paul describes it as “the law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2 ESV). When we hear the word “law,” we tend to think in terms of restrictions and binding requirements that keep us from doing what we want to do. But the Greek word Paul uses is nómos, which carries a much broader, less oppressive meaning. According to Strong's Concordance, it is derived from the Greek word “νέμω némō (to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage).”

In other words, it is more prescriptive than restrictive. The Mosaic law had benefits; it provided God’s directions for life and His prescribed way of living in unbroken fellowship with Him. In the 23rd Psalm, David describes this prescriptive nature of God's law.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
   He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
   He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake. – Psalm 23:1-3 ESV

Through the law, God guided, directed, and protected His people. But the law’s power was weakened by man's flesh or sin nature. Man was unable to keep God’s law willingly and obediently.

So when Paul speaks of “the law of the Spirit of life,” he is telling us that God has provided us with a new way to live in fellowship with Him.

…the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:2-4 NLT

The key is found in verse 5. We must “live according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:5 ESV).  As believers, we are to live our lives in obedience to and dependence upon the Spirit of God, not the flesh. The Spirit is the nómos or prescribed way God has provided for us so that we might live in fellowship with and obedience to Him. God placed His Spirit within us because our spirit (flesh) is weak and incapable of keeping His law.

Paul vividly contrasts the choice that lies before God’s children every day.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. – Romans 8:5-8 NLT

Our sinful nature is alive and active, but we are no longer enslaved to it. We have been set free from its control by the indwelling Spirit of God, who provides us with direction for living a God-honoring life and the power to accomplish it. But we must choose to live under His control instead of our own. We must submit to His leadership, and desire what He desires and long for those things that He has determined as best for us.

But in his letter to the Galatian believers, Paul reminds us of the constant battle going on within us.

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other… – Galatians 5:17 NLT

If we try to please God through our flesh, we will fail. But if we live our lives in dependence upon the Spirit of God, His prescribed means for living a godly life, we will experience life, peace, joy, contentment, and the ongoing transformation of our lives into the likeness of Christ.

Father, thank You for providing Your Son to serve as the sinless sacrifice for me. And thank You for providing Your Spirit to take up residence in me, so that I might have the power to live in keeping with Your will. You knew my flesh was weak, so You provided a workaround. You sent Your Son to pay my sin debt and Your Spirit to fill the power vacuum in my life. As Peter put it, You have “given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3 NLT). My sin no longer condemns me because I stand as righteous in Your eyes, covered by the righteousness of Christ and filled with Your Holy Spirit. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Free But Not Without Cost

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. ­– Romans 5:15-17 ESV

Adam’s sin brought death into the world, and his sin was the result of disbelief. He and Eve both doubted God and paid the consequences. When the serpent spoke to Eve in the garden, he got her to question the veracity of God’s word. He planted seeds of doubt in her mind, and she coerced Adam to join her in eating the forbidden fruit. Disobedience is the natural byproduct of doubt, and their disobedience led to the death of all.

But Paul holds Adam responsible for the fall because Adam was the one who received the prohibition against eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — directly from God Himself. Yet, when God confronted Adam about his actions in the garden, he passed the buck, blaming Eve and, ultimately, God for his sins.

“It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” -Genesis 3:12 NLT

In his letter to Timothy, Paul points out that “it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result” (1 Timothy 2:14 NLT). Adam was not duped by the disingenuous lies of Satan; he knowingly and deliberately disobeyed the revealed will of God. His decision to disregard God’s command and ignore the divine warning of death was costly. But in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul presents Jesus as the antithesis of Adam.

The free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin.” Adam’s sin brought death. God’s free gift brought righteousness. Adam’s sin brought condemnation. God’s free gift brought justification. And the free gift that Paul is talking about is the grace of God made possible by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. He speaks of this same amazing gift of God’s grace in his letter to the Ephesian church. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ­– by grace you have been saved. –Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV

For some reason, Adam chose to doubt God’s warning of judgment for disobeying His command. He ate the fruit, somehow believing that he had impunity. But he was wrong, and his doubt caused him to disbelieve God, and that disbelief led to disobedience and death. But Jesus’ faithfulness to His Father’s will resulted in a life of obedience, even to the point of willingly facing death.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul described Jesus’ unfailing determination to do the will of His Heavenly Father, even when it demanded that He face an excruciating death by crucifixion.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:8 ESV

Jesus’ obedience to the Father resulted in justification for all men, not just Himself. His death paid the penalty for the sins of all men for all time.

Adam’s sin brought the reign of death to mankind; Christ’s sacrifice ended the reign of sin and death. The apostle John wrote, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). Jesus Himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24 ESV).

Paul describes the gift of God’s grace as being free, but it must be accepted. It requires no payment on our part, but it does demand belief in the message of God’s grace as offered through the death of His Son. Any hope we have for being seen as righteous and acceptable in God’s eyes is found only in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Adam’s sin brought death and condemnation to all mankind, but Jesus brings the offer of eternal life and freedom from future condemnation to anyone who places their faith in Him as their sin substitute and Savior. In Chapter 8 of this letter, Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV).

Many struggle with the idea of imputed sin. They find it unfair that one man’s sin could have infected and impacted an entire race of people. That God should hold humanity responsible for the sin of one man committed all those years ago seems to portray God as a tyrant. But it is not as if we stand guiltless and innocent before God. The sin of Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, and it didn’t take long to take root. Adam’s own sons inherited his sin nature. Cain murdered Abel out of jealousy and anger.

And Paul clearly pointed out that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). It is not as if anyone can stand before God with their hands clean and their hearts free from sin and rebellion against Him. Adam’s sin brought about God’s condemnation of all sin, and everyone has sinned. Death became the penalty for man’s disbelief and disobedience.

But God also brought the cure for man’s inescapable and inevitable death sentence. He sent His Son as the payment for the sins of men. He satisfied His own wrath against sin with the life of His own Son.

The first Adam could not remain faithful to God; he doubted and disobeyed God. But Jesus Christ, the last Adam, lived a life of obedience and faithfulness to God, fully meeting His righteous requirements and fulfilling His law. Which is why Paul writes, “‘The first man, Adam, became a living person.’ But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45 NLT).

All Adam could pass on to us was his human nature and, along with it, his sinful disposition. But Paul delineates the further distinctions between the “two Adams.”

Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. – 1 Corinthians 15:47-48 NLT

With our belief in God’s gracious and merciful gift of His Son, we become new creations. We receive new natures and become children of God. He transforms us from being his enemies, alienated and under His wrath, to members of His family. As His children, we find ourselves standing in His presence, covered in the righteousness of Christ and freed from the condemnation of sin and death. And none of this is based on our merit or hard work, but it is solely a free gift of grace made possible through “the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17 ESV).

Father, Adam sinned, but so do I. He disbelieved Your word, and there are times when I do as well. Yet, because of Your grace and mercy, I stand before You as your child and not Your enemy. I am still a sinner, yet You see me not as condemned and unclean, but as righteous and sanctified. And I did nothing to deserve it. You paid my sin debt with the life of Your own Son. He willingly sacrificed Himself for me — out of love. He owed me nothing. I was unloving and unloveable. I was unworthy and unable to do anything about my sin problem, but You did it for me. Purely out of grace, mercy, and love. And as the old hymn states, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean” (Charles Hutchison Gabriel, “I Stand Amazed In the Presence,” 1905). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Born From Above.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this its the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. – 1 John 5: 4 ESV 1 John 5:1-5

As he has done so many times before in his letter, John uses a comparison or contrast to make a point. He has used light and darkness, truth and falsehood, sin and righteousness, as well as love and hate. Now he brings up a slightly more subtle comparison. And yet, it is the key to understanding who we are, what it is we are up against, and how we are to come out victorious in the end. It is not exactly a new topic, because he covered it before. But this time he ties it to something highly significant: our victory. On one side of the comparison or contrast is John's term: “born of God.” This term is a differentiator for John. He is not referring to creation. All men and all things were made by God. But not all are “born of God.” That distinction is made possible only by belief in Jesus as the Christ. So for John, all mankind falls into one of two categories. They are either born of God or of this world. Or as he put it in even starker terms earlier in his letter: “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil” ( 1 John 3:10 ESV). There is a clear line of demarcation that separates one group from the other. It is the new birth. We often refer to it as being “born again.” It is interesting to note that when Jesus was secretly pursued by Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, that Jesus said to him, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above,  he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 NET). The Greek word Jesus used was anōthen and it has a double meaning. The one we traditionally see rendered in this verse is “anew or again.” But the other meaning is “from above, from a higher place; of things which come from heaven or God.” It seems likely the Jesus was referring to being born of God or from above, and that Nicodemus, based on his response, heard Jesus to say he had to be born again. It would seems that Jesus is teaching us that our new birth is a work of heaven. It is not of this world. It is a supernatural, divine undertaking that is based solely on faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Belief in Jesus as Savior and as the only means by which men can be made right with God results in a divine act of procreation. When one places his faith in Jesus, he is born from above. This is an incredible transaction that takes place at the very throne of God in heaven. Which is why Jesus said to a very confused Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12 ESV). Jesus had tried to explain to Nicodemus what this heavenly birth meant. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6 ESV). Faith in Jesus as our sin substitute and Savior results in a new birth and a new identity. We become children of God who have been born from above by God. And then John gives us the encouraging news, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4 ESV). But what does that mean? We have been born from above, but we have been left below. We remain in this world, suffering with the same temptations, the same results of the fall, including sickness, disease and eventually death. So how have we overcome? What has our faith in Jesus given us victory over? The apostle Paul gives us the answer in words that are far to eloquent to attempt to paraphrase them.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?  Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:31-39 NLT

Our faith in Jesus results in our new birth. Our new birth makes us children of God. Our new status as His children makes us victorious. We win in the end. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Our own sins can't condemn us or remove us from our rightful place as His sons and daughters, because Christ has paid for our sins once and for all time. We are overcomers. We are victors. We are more than conquerors. We have been born from above.

New & Improved.

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Shouldn't we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?. – 2 Corinthians 3:8 NLT

In this section of his letter, Paul addresses the differences between the old covenant, represented by the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets, and the new covenant, written on the hearts of men through the power of the Holy Spirit. He compares one to the other, using the word glory 19 times in an attempt to prove the new covenant superior to the old. The old covenant was given by God and, therefore, was good. But it has been replaced by the new covenant. Both were marked by God's glory, but the glory of the new covenant was greater. The old covenant, or way, was dependent on man keeping the laws of God, given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The problem was that man, because of his sin nature, was incapable of keeping his part of the covenant. He continually sinned, breaking God's commands and failing to keep God's holy standards for righteousness. The old covenant ended up condemning man, exposing his sin and revealing his failure to meet God's requirements for holiness and acceptance.

Paul understood the purpose of the law in the lives of men. He wrote about it extensively in his letter to the believers in Rome. In fact, Paul was constantly having to fight against those who wanted to demand that the keeping of the law was still a requirement, even on Christians. There were those who followed Paul on his missionary journeys, teaching new converts that their salvation was incomplete unless they also kept all the Jewish laws and religious rituals like circumcision. These individuals were a constant thorn in Paul's side and he had to deal with their false teachings everywhere he went. He told the Roman believers, "it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, 'You must not covet.' But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power…sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me" (Romans 7:7-8, 11 NLT).

But what made the new covenant of Christ's death so much more glorious was that it nullified the need for men to keep the law as a requirement for being made right with God. Paul wrote, "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are" (Romans 3:21-22 NLT). Paul told the Corinthians, "how much more glorious the new way, which makes us right with God!" (2 Corinthians 3:9b NLT). The objectives of both the old and new covenants were to make men right with God. Sin had separated man from God. Sin is nothing more or nothing less than rebellion against God's authority. It is rejection of his rule over our lives and refusal to acknowledge Him as our Lord and Master. God's law revealed His holy standards for righteous living. It put down in writing what God required for men to have a right relationship with Him. But all it did was reveal man's inability to live up to that standard. For generations, man attempted to restore his relationship with God through self-effort and better behavior, only to fail miserably. That's why God sent His Son. That's why the new covenant is more glorious than the old. Because the new covenant provided a fail-proof way for man to be restored to God. Jesus Christ provided a means by which sinful man can be cleansed, forgiven and given new life. We have a Spirit-empowered capacity to obey God that we didn't have before. We have been given new hearts that desire to live according to God's standard. And God is slowly, but surely transforming us into the likeness of His Son. "And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image" (2 Corinthians 3:18b NLT). And it just doesn't get any better than that!

Father, I can't thank You enough for the new way You provided so that I might be made right with You. I never could have kept the law and lived up to Your holy standard. I was doomed to defeat, a product and a victim of my own sinfulness. But while I was stuck in my sin, You sent Your Son to die for me. He took my place on the cross and suffered the penalty and the punishment that was meant for me. He took my sins on Himself and, in exchange, He gave me His righteousness. So I stand before You as holy and righteous, uncondemned and totally forgiven. I am right with You because of what Your Son did for me. Thank You! Amen.