In the eighth chapter of Romans, we find Paul’s exposition of a
life lived through the Holy Spirit. The apostle opens hard and fast with
the following assertion: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of
the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1, 2). Paul
begins his statement with the adverb therefore, which signifies a
consequence. This was in light of his earlier statement where he
indicated: “I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the
sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25). In other words, (1) we are
dichotomous—we have two opposing natures, but (2) as a result of
being conjointly raised up with Christ Jesus, there is now no
condemnation. Our Lord not only provides for our salvation, but His
work on the cross ushered the office of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
All we need to do is open our hearts and receive Him. In this, we find
evidence of our unification with God through the joining together with
His Holy Spirit, wherein we are set free from the law of sin and death.
This does not mean that as believers in Christ we can no longer sin,
but it does signify that our sin debt has been paid in full and we are
now unified with God. Jameison, Faussett, and Brown put it this way:
As Christ, who “knew no sin,” was, to all legal effects, “made sin for us,” so are we, who believe in Him, to all legal effects, “made the righteousness of God in Him;” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and thus, one with Him in the divine reckoning....But this is no mere legal arrangement: it is a union in life; believers, through the indwelling of Christ’s Spirit in them, having one life with Him, as truly as the head and the members of the same body have one life.
As Christ, who “knew no sin,” was, to all legal effects, “made sin for us,” so are we, who believe in Him, to all legal effects, “made the righteousness of God in Him;” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and thus, one with Him in the divine reckoning....But this is no mere legal arrangement: it is a union in life; believers, through the indwelling of Christ’s Spirit in them, having one life with Him, as truly as the head and the members of the same body have one life.
Paul moves forward with his line of reasoning declaring:
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8:5–8).
To live in accord with God is to conform to Him; it is us living in agreement with our Creator. All of this sounds good and well, only we fall short of agreement when we practice self-deceptive modes of thought and behavior that do not align with God’s will. Because we tend not to challenge the validity of our premises, we need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Left to our own vices, we are hard pressed to arrive at the truth of matters (see Proverbs 14:12). We deny certain facts, avoid reality, and construct justifications as to why it is all right for us to remain in sin. But when the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us, He gives life and peace by pointing us toward the supreme reality, the ultimate meaning and value of our existence.
Go deeper by reading my book, The Conditioned Mind! Peace-out, brothers and sisters in Christ!
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