Sin In The Camp.

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.– 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 ESV

Paul has threatened to come to Corinth, wielding a rod of discipline like a father to his disobedient children. And there is more going on within the congregation there than simply their prideful bickering over who is following which leader. While they were busy arguing over whether Paul was better than Apollos or Cephas was a better leader than Paul, a other sins had crept into the congregation. They had been so busy boasting over their spiritual superiority, that they had failed to recognize what happening right under their noses. In fact, according to Paul, it didn’t even bother them.

Paul had received word that there was a man in the church who was having sexual relations with his father’s wife. It seems that this involved the man’s stepmother, not his biological birth mother. And their is some indication that the man’s father was no longer alive. But Paul still referred to what was going on as “sexual immorality.” The Greek word he used is πορνεία (porneia). The Greeks primarily used the word to refer to prostitution or the act of going to a prostitute and paying for sexual pleasure. But the Jews had adapted the word and given it a much more robust meaning. For them, it covered “adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.” (“G4202 - porneia - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). Paul seems to be using the word with its Hebrew meaning in mind. He describes what is going on as a form of porneia “that is not tolerated even among pagans” (1 Corinthians 5:1 ESV). The unbelieving Corinthians would never have condoned a man sleeping with his father’s wife, even if she was a widow. And yet the church was not only tolerating it, they were evidently proud about it.

“It is this lack of a sense of sin, and therefore of any ethical consequences to their life in the Spirit, that marks the Corinthian brand of spirituality as radically different from that which flows out of the gospel of Christ crucified. And it is precisely this failure to recognize the depth of their corporate sinfulness due to their arrogance that causes Paul to take such strong action as is described in the next sentence.” – Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 203

They displayed no remorse, regret or repentance as a fellowship. Their understanding of Christianity was missing any ethical or moral dimension. It seems that they had allowed their faith in Christ to become nothing more than a pursuit of knowledge, but without any ramifications on their behavior. Paul calls them proud and arrogant. It is as if they believed that their moral tolerance was somehow a badge of honor. They were distorting the concept of grace by turning a blind eye to sin in their midst. They had become accepting and tolerant of anything and everyone. They had somehow rationalized the man’s behavior, deeming it not only acceptable, but normal. But Paul had a radically different view. He demanded that they “throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed” (1 Corinthians 5:5 NLT). Paul practiced a zero-tolerance policy when it came to sexual sin. It seems clear that this man showed no repentance or even remorse. He had not divulged his sin to the congregation asking for forgiveness and pledging a change in his behavior. He was arrogantly practicing his immorality right in front of them and they were readily accepting of it.

Paul’s recommendation that they turn this man over to Satan simply means that they were to cast him out of their fellowship and allow him to suffer the consequences of his immoral decision. Paul firmly believed in the truth that you reap what you sow. He told the Galatian believers: “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit” (Galatians 6:8 NLT). He also told the believers in Rome: “But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death” (Romans 6:21 ESV). Just two verses later, he wrote, “the wages of sin is death.” While sin ultimately leads to physical death, it can also bring about a death to our life here on earth, even while we still draw breath. Paul was suggesting that they remove this man from their midst and allow him to reap the full consequences of his immoral choices. The English Standard Version translates verse 5 as “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.” There are certain commentators who believe Paul is referring to the man’s physical death. The Greek word Paul uses is σάρξ (sarx) and while it can refer to the physical body, it was also commonly used to refer to “the sensuous nature of man, ‘the animal nature’” or “the animal nature with cravings which incite to sin” (“G4561 - sarx - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). It would seem that Paul was interested in seeing this man suffer the consequences of his immoral lifestyle. In a sense, it recalls the words of Paul in his letter to the Romans, when he spoke about the sinfulness of mankind: “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:24 ESV).

For Paul, the issue was the moral state of the church. This man’s sin was like yeast that, if tolerated, was going to spread through the entire congregation. Undisciplined sin in the body of Christ is like a cancer that will eventually permeate its way, leaving a path of destruction. The prideful permissiveness of sin in the body of Christ is dangerous. Our willingness to tolerate unacceptable behavior among fellow believers usually has little to do with the practice of grace. But it has everything to do with complacency and a lack of understanding about the corporate culpability of sin. The church is an organism and, like the human body, every part has an influence on every other part. There really is no such thing as individual sin. And Christ’s call for us to love one another includes the kind of love that cares about the spiritual well-being of one another. To think that the sin of a brother or sister in Christ will not eventually impact the body is naive at best. The overall health of the body of Christ is completely dependent upon the health of its members. When we tolerate sin, we allow the enemy to have a foothold in our midst. Which is why Paul so boldly demanded, “Get rid of the old ‘yeast’ by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are” (1 Corinthians 5:7 NLT).

Free To NOT Sin.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.– Galatians 5:13-21 ESV Freedom from the law results in license. That was one of the accusations the party of the circumcision leveled against Paul and his message of grace and freedom from the law. They most likely used Paul’s own teaching as evidence against him. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20 ESV). And yet, Paul went on to say, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 ESV). Grace was not a license to sin. The freedom it provided from the Mosaic law was not a ticket to live as one pleased. It freed people from having to keep the law in order to earn favor with God. The law held men captive to their sin, in bondage to their own weakness and incapable of doing anything about it. But the salvation offered in Christ set men free. It was William Barclay who wrote, “the Christian is not the man who has become free to sin, but the man, who, by the grace of God, has become free not to sin.”

That is why Paul warned his readers to not use their new-found freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. They were free from having to keep the law, but not free from having to live in keeping with God’s expectation of holiness. At one point in His ministry, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of God was. He responded:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. – Matthew 22:37-40 ESV

Paul used these very words of Jesus to admonish his readers. Loving God meant living according to His holy will. Loving others required loving them selflessly and sacrificially, which is why Paul said, “through love serve one another.”

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul provided an entire chapter on the subject of love. In it he wrote:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, ‘Jump,’ and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 MSG

But this kind of love is only possible through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Without His help and our complete reliance upon His power, we will tend to live in the weakness of our own sinful flesh. We will become selfish and self-centered. We will tend to gratify the desires of our old nature, which Paul describes with painful accuracy. These fleshly desires are the exact opposite of what the Spirit wants to produce in us. They are counter to the will of God and reflect a love for self more than a love for Him. They most certainly don’t model a love for others. Look at Paul’s list: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties. Each of these “works of the flesh” reveal a disdain for God and a disdain for those around us.

The moral, ceremonial and civil sections of the Mosaic law were designed to regulate the lives of the people of Israel regarding their relationships with God and with one another. But as Jesus said, all of the commandments could be summed up by two simple commands: Love God and love others. Loving God meant not loving other gods. Loving others meant not becoming jealous of them, getting angry with them, lusting after them, or taking advantage of them. Notice that his list has more to do with our relationships with one another than our relationship with God. There is a reason for this. The apostle John wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20 ESV). The greatest expression of our love for God is to be found in our love for those whom He has made. When we love one another, we are loving God. When we live selflessly and sacrificially, we are exemplifying the very character of God. When our lives are marked by self-control and a focus on the needs of others, we reflect the nature of God. But all of these things are only possible when we live according to the power of God’s indwelling Spirit.

A life continually characterized by the works of the flesh is a life devoid of the Spirit of God. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have received the Spirit of God. They are no longer slaves to sin, incapable of living righteous lives. They have been given the Holy Spirit and have the power to love God and love others. That’s why Paul told the Romans, “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all)” (Romans 8:9 NLT). The presence of the Spirit within us does not guarantee that we will live sin-free lives, but it does mean that we don’t have to live sin-dominated lives. Living according to our own sinful flesh will always produce bad fruit. But living according to the Spirit of God produces good fruit that pleases God and blesses others. We have been freed from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. Because of Christ’s death on the cross and His Spirit’s presence within us, we are free to not sin.

Losing Our Grip On Grace.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. – Galatians 5:1-6 ESV

In these verses, Paul makes it clear that the rite of circumcision was one of the big issues facing the Gentile believers to whom he wrote. They were being pressured by the Judaizers into believing that their salvation was incomplete unless they agreed to be circumcised. In essence, they were being told that they needed to become Jews before they could become believers. But Paul warns them that there is not end to this slippery slope down which they are about to slide. If they give in to the demand of circumcision, then they will be required to keep the whole law. By accepting the idea that obedience to the law is necessary for their salvation, they are placing themselves back under the full weight of the law. As we saw in an earlier blog post, the apostle James made this point painfully clear: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10 ESV).

The issue for Paul is that of freedom in Christ. He says that it is “for freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 ESV). Most of us, when we think of our freedom in Christ, focus on our freedom from sin and death. And yet, Paul speaks of another freedom we enjoy because of our relationship with Christ. “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code” (Romans 7:5-6 ESV). Does our release from the law mean that the law was somehow evil? Paul answers that question rather emphatically. “By no means! …the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:7, 12 ESV). What Paul is telling his readers is that the law is no longer to be viewed as a mandatory code of conduct or as a set of rules that must be obeyed to gain a right standing with God. We have been freed from that pointless pursuit. Paul spent his lifetime preaching the believer’s newfound freedom in Christ. That freedom includes our release from having to pursue justification through adherence to the law.

Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. – Galatians 2:16 NLT

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 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 3:19-20 NLT

So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” – Galatians 3:11-12 NLT

Paul did not want the Galatians to fall back into slavery. At one time they were slaves to sin and under the control of Satan himself. They had no other choice. But when they had accepted Christ as their Savior, they had been released from their captivity. But now they were risking falling back into slavery – slavery to the law. If they turned their backs on the grace offered through Christ and the justification that He alone could provide, they would be willingly allowing themselves to live according to their own self-reliance and their ability to keep God happy through rule-keeping. To do so would be to fall away from grace, and Paul was not willing to sit back and watch them do that. It is not that Paul believed they would run the risk of losing their salvation. That is not what falling away from grace means. He is simply saying that they will be walking away from God’s sole method of salvation and justification: His undeserved and unearned grace as offered through His Son by means of faith. In Paul’s theology, faith in God’s grace gift of His Son would result in good works and a willing adherence to His commands. In the minds of the legalists, it was the exact opposite. Man’s adherence to God’s law would earn him a right standing before God and was, if anything, as important as faith in Christ.

Paul gives us the key difference between a life that is grace-focused and one that is law-based. “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness” (Galatians 5:5 ESV. It is by the Spirit’s power that we are to live, not our own. And it is He who provides us with the faith necessary to eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. We don’t manufacture faith. It is a gift provided to us by God. It is with the Spirit’s help that we have “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). That was the author of Hebrews description of faith. God’s indwelling Spirit provides us with the supernatural ability to believe in things that have not yet happened and to trust in those things we can’t even see. It is by faith that we believe we will be sanctified by God. We can’t see the end result. We can’t even see our sanctification taking place in real time. But we believe that God is doing what He has promised to do. Paul wanted believers to have a certainty and an abiding assurance that God had not only saved them by faith, but He was busy perfecting them by faith. And one day He was going to finish what He began by glorifying them by faith. “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT).

God doesn’t need our help to make us holy. He simply asks for our complete reliance upon Him and our willing obedience to what He calls us to do, even when it doesn’t make sense.

Born to Love.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers,and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. – 1 Peter 1:22-25 ESV

Peter wanted his readers to understand that they had already been purified by the blood of Christ because of their “obedience to the truth.” The author of Hebrews told his Jewish audience something very similar. “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:13-14 ESV). It is the purifying nature of the blood of Christ that enables us to live obediently. Because of Christ's sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross, we have received new natures. We have been set apart by God for His use and equipped to live in willing submission to His will. And as the author of Hebrews says, “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10 ESV).

As a result of our new standing with God, we are to love one another from a pure heart. That is the key. Those who have placed their faith in Christ have had their hearts purified. We have a capacity to love like we never did before. We have been born again. We have experienced what Jesus described as a second birth. He told Nicodemus, the Pharisee, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 ESV). When Nicodemus revealed his confusion and consternation over this statement, Jesus replied, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6 ESV). It is our new birth, our second birth, that makes new life possible. The work of God in our lives, through His Spirit and His Word, is imperishable. It is eternal, not temporal. It is spiritual, not fleshly. It is of heaven, not of this earth. The Word of the Lord, which reveals the good news concerning Jesus Christ, is powerful and eternal. It's transformative influence on our lives is not dependent upon our flesh. Which is great news, because Peter reminds us that our human flesh is transitory and temporal. It will fade away. It is destined to decay and die with time. But the Word of God lasts forever. It is eternal and its impact on our lives is everlasting.

We have been born again. And Paul reminds us, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11 ESV). In the very next chapter of his letter, Peter writes, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). Our new standing before God as His sons and daughters should prompt us to live our lives in such a way that they bring glory and honor to Him. And we are not left to depend upon our own human strength to pull it off. We have been given the Spirit of God and the Word of God to make our obedience possible. We can and should live differently because we are different.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. – Romans 6:4 ESV

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. – Galatians 5:24-25 ESV

Living for Christ is possible only because we died with Christ. We are now dead to sin and alive to Christ. So our lives should reflect our new identity and expose our new capacity to live and love like Jesus did. We now are able to “love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

The Spirit of Adoption.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. – Romans 8:12-17 ESV If you are a child of God, you owe Him. Not that you could ever pay Him back for what He has done for you, but you should live with a deep and lasting awareness of your indebtedness to Him. He sacrificed His Son on the cross so that you might have life. “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT). Those of us who are in Christ, owe God our lives, literally. Our debt to sin has been paid. God's righteous judgment has been satisfied by the death of His own sinless Son. So we are free to reject the demands of our sinful flesh. We don't have to give in to our sin natures anymore. We can say no to the passions and sinful desires of our flesh – but only with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul makes it clear that it is “by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13 ESV). He is the one who gives us the strength to live right lives even though our sin natures are alive and well within us. We are now sons and daughters of God who have the Spirit of God living inside of us. Hard to comprehend? You bet. But essential for us to believe by faith, because it is the key to our victory over sin in this life. Jesus died to pay for our sins. The Spirit lives within us to give us power over sin. Sin can no longer condemn me, but it can distract and defeat me. Which is why Paul goes out of his way to drive home the point that we are no longer on our own when it comes to dealing with sin.

We are sons and daughters of God, and we are led by the Spirit of God. And the very fact that we have the Spirit within us, convicting, encouraging and guiding us, is proof of our new relationship with God. Paul puts it this way: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16 ESV). When we feel conviction over sin, that is the Spirit at work within us. When we read the Word of God and hear Him speak to us, that is the result of the indwelling Spirit of God. Any time we find ourselves exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, that is the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. And that fruit reveals that we belong to God. We are His children, adopted into His family and rightful heirs to all that belongs to Him. And as hard as that may be for us to grasp, it is vitally important if we are ever going to experience the kind of abundant life that Jesus promised us. What Paul is attempting to do is to get us to think about our future inheritance, rather than dwell on the temporary pleasures that our sinful flesh tends to obsess over. We are heirs of God and He has something incredible in store for us that is not of this world. The apostle Peter found the very thought of it worthy of praise to God. “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT).

But there is another aspect to our inheritance. Because we are fellow heirs with Christ, we share in the reality of our future glorification. Just as He received a new glorified body and a reunion with His Father in heaven, so will we. But during this life, we also share in His suffering. As the Son of God, He suffered on this earth. He was ridiculed and rejected by men. He was misunderstood and falsely accused. His message of salvation was dismissed and His claims of deity were denied. And, ultimately, He suffered a humiliating and excruciating death on the cross. So as children of God, we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17 ESV). In this life, we suffer, because we are not of this world. We no longer belong here. And our new identity and status as sons and daughters of God puts us at odds with this world and the prince of this world. Jesus warned us that the world would hate us because it hated Him. And it does. This world is not our friend. And the more we live as who we are, children of God, the more animosity we will experience from this world. Just prior to His death, Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NLT). And Paul will close out this chapter with the encouraging words, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39 ESV).

The Law of the Spirit of Life.

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. – Romans 8:1-7 ESV Back in chapter three, Paul told us 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 makes us aware of God's holy requirements, then our sin natures cause us to break those very requirements. In chapter seven, Paul even shared his personal experience with attempting to keep the law. “I would not have known what is 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). And while it is impossible for anyone to be justified in God's eyes through their efforts to keep His law, Paul gave us the good news: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22 ESV). From chapter three all the way to chapter seven, Paul gives his defense of justification by faith, not by works. And then in chapter eight he starts off by saying, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Those who have placed their faith in Christ are justified because of their faith in Christ. They are made right with God and seen as righteous by God because of what Jesus has done on their behalf. By placing their faith in what Jesus has done for them, they are no longer placing their faith in what they can do for themselves. Faith has replaced works. 

There is a new law at work in their lives. Paul describes it as “the law of the Spirit of life.” 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 and it has a much broader and more pleasant meaning behind it. 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 gave directions for life and provided God's prescribed way for 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 was weakened by man's flesh or sin nature. Man couldn't follow 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. “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” (Romans 8:3-4 ESV). The key is the last phrase in these verses. We are to walk according to the Spirit, not the flesh. We are to live our lives in obedience to and dependence upon the Spirit of God. He is the nómos or prescribed way God has provided for us so that we might live in fellowship with and obedience to Him. And Paul provides us with a vivid contrast of the choice that lies before us each and every day as God's children. “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 slaves to it. We have been set free from its control. We now have the Spirit of God also living within us, providing us with direction for living a God-honoring life and the power to accomplish it. But we must choose to live under His control and not our own. We must submit to His leadership. We must 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 of living a godly life, we will experience life, peace, joy, contentment, and the transformation of our lives into the likeness of Christ.

The Law of the Land.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. – Romans 7:21-25 ESV Up to this point in his letter, Paul has mentioned six different laws at work in the lives of those to whom he was writing. There was the law of Moses, which God had given to the people of Israel, and which could only expose and condemn sin. There was also law as a principle, apart from the law of Moses, which caused all men to have an awareness of right and wrong. Paul included the law of faith, which is apart from any acts of self-righteousness. There was also the law of the mind, which agrees with the law of Moses, but is incapable of obeying it because of the law of sin. The law of sin, yet another law, is always victorious over the law of the mind. Then finally, there is the law of the Spirit, which provides the believer with victory over the law of sin which resides in his body and allows him to live obediently to the law of Moses.

In verse 21, Paul mentions when he wants to do what is right, in his mind, the temptation to do evil is always right there. He calls this a law. He is most likely referring to the law of the mind, which is aware of God's holy expectations, but always susceptible to the desires of the flesh or the law of sin. He says, “I delight in the law of God (the Mosaic law) in my inner being (in his mind), but he sadly confesses, “I see in my members (his body) another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23 ESV). The dilemma that Paul presents is one that all believers face every day of their lives. We know in our minds what God expects of us and we want to do what is right. But the law of sin exists in our bodies. We have our sin natures that remain alive and active in our earthly bodies. And as Paul says in Galatians, our sin natures do battle daily with the Spirit who lives within us. It is a battle for control.

It is interesting to note that the Greek word Paul uses over and over again for “law” is nomos and, according to Strong's Concordance, it is derived from another Greek word, némō, which means “to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals.” Nomos came to mean, “anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command.” So the law of the Spirit requires usage. God has given the Spirit to us to be used, like a shepherd providing food to grazing animals. Unless they eat what is provided, they miss out on the intended benefits. Paul paints a picture of what daily life is like for the believer. We have active sin natures that are opposed to the Spirit's role in our lives. The law of our minds tells us what we need to do but, in our own strength, we lack the moral fortitude to obey. In that sad condition, we are forced to cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 ESV). The law of the mind is no match for the law of sin. The mind's desire to do what is right cannot stand against the body's desire to sin. Any victories we enjoy will be short-lived. That is why self-righteousness does not work. It's also why we need the law of the Spirit. He is the key to our deliverance from this body of death. And He was provided to us through Jesus Christ. But we must make use of His presence and power. The principle or law of the indwelling Spirit of God is only effective when we submit to His authority in our lives. Which is why Paul reminds us, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 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, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses” (Galatians 6:16-18 NLT).

There are many laws at work. But only one can equip us to live Christ-like lives in the midst of a sinful world and in spite of our indwelling sin natures. It is the law of the Spirit. We must learn to live in obedience to Him. In the very next chapter, Paul tells us we are to “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4 ESV). We are not to live according to the law of Moses, attempting to earn favor with God through our keeping of His holy commands. We are not to live according to the law of the mind, determining to do good, but constantly failing. We are also not to live according to the law of sin, giving in to our fleshly desires. We are to live according to the law of faith, apart from any acts of self-righteousness and we are to live according to the law of the Spirit, relying on His presence and power within us to produce His fruit through us.

Indwelling Sin.

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. – Romans 7:13-20 ESV In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote to the fellow believers there, “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.  I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT). This passage is essential to understanding what Paul writes in this section of Romans 7. There are those who would claim that Paul is speaking of his pre-conversion experience. But it would seem that Paul is describing the condition that every believer faces every day of their lives. Even though we are set free from captivity to sin and death by Christ's death on the cross, we still have our indwelling sin natures to deal with. When Paul writes, “I am of the flesh,” he is saying that he still has his sarkikos or carnal nature. At salvation, we are not removed from these earthly bodies. And these earthly bodies are driven by earthly appetites. The Greek word sarkikos that Paul uses refers to anyone who is “governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God” (Outline of Biblical Usage). It it to allow oneself to be controlled by our earthly appetites. It is the same Greek word that Paul used in his letter to the Corinthian believers. He wrote, “You are still sarkikos.” In other words, they were saved, but were still living as if they weren't. Then he gave them examples of what being sarkikos looked like. “You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” (1 Corinthians 3:3 NLT).

There is within each and every one of us the capacity to live under the control of our sin nature or flesh. Yes, we have the Spirit of God living within us, but we must choose to live under His control or the control of our flesh. Paul makes this choice very clear in his letter to the believers in Galatia. “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 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, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions” (Galatians 5:16-17 NLT). It is a matter of control. In his letter to the churches in Ephesus, Paul used an interesting comparison to illustrate what it means to be controlled by the Spirit. “Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 NLT). To be drunk with wine is to allow yourself to be under the influence of the alcohol in the wine. It alters your behavior, speech, and thought processes. You act in ways contrary to your normal behavior. And that is exactly what happens when you allow the Holy Spirit to fill or control you. It is not a matter of getting more of the Spirit. We receive all the Spirit we need at salvation. But it is a matter of allowing the Holy Spirit to have more of you.

The dilemma each of us faces as believers is exactly what Paul described. “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18 ESV). Our flesh is sarkikos or unspiritual. But we are now spiritual creatures or new creations, because of Christ's saving work and the Spirit's presence within us. Our fleshly or sinful nature does daily battle with our new spiritual nature. The flesh is of this earth. It's appetites and desires are driven by the things of this earth. But we are no longer of this earth. We are aliens and strangers here. We are residents of God's kingdom, which is not of this world. Even Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36 NLT). As believers, we must realize that our flesh is that part of us that stands opposed to all that is of God. It is natural and of this world. It does not desire anything that is of God. It is driven by selfish, sinful desires. That is why Paul says, “I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:27 NET). And he encourages us to “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5 NET).

We must live with a constant awareness of our sin nature. We can never allow ourselves to be lulled into a sense of complacency or comfortableness, thinking that we have gained complete mastery over our sin natures. They are always there, ready to take back control of our lives as soon as we let down our guard. So we must live in constant awareness of our need for the Spirit's control, because while we may have the desire to do what is right, we lack the ability to carry it out on our own.