We’ve come to the part of Paul’s letter to the Romans where he tells us how ‘new life in the Spirit’[i] actually happens. In other words, this is how to live as a Christian. We belong to Christ because we have received his Spirit.[ii] That’s our new life. And now, we are to continue as we began.[iii]
We need to know what God has done (vv. 1-4), what has happened to us (vv. 5-11), and what we should do (vv. 12-17).
What God has done begins with him not condemning us. There’s no other starting point for us sinners. Those who try to stir us to action by making us feel guilty (what the world is doing all the time) are doing devil’s work, not God’s! And those who punish themselves to generate more effort will probably give up eventually. God has no other way to have people doing his will than by beginning with no condemnation.
What God has done is to send us his Son. He gives him a body like ours—not sinful as our flesh is, but like ours so that he can feel the effects of what sin does. He bears our sin. God condemns our sin, in his flesh. That’s why there’s no more condemnation of us. To ignore this, or work around it, is not only ungrateful and unbelieving. It’s useless.
And then God sends his Spirit—as life itself. He is nothing less than the outpouring of God’s love.[iv] And he hasn’t come as a mood changer. He’s come to be our Helper—as Jesus was to the disciples when he was physically present[v]. He enables us to know God and his salvation. And he also teaches us to love God and his will, and enables us to live in tune with that. We’re under a totally different regime[vi].
In this way, and no other, God has done what his law couldn’t do. Now, we will truly fulfil the righteous requirement of his law.
Our obedience in this life is never complete. But it’s real. And the blood of Christ cleanses all our sins—as they happen[vii]. Condemnation never gets a look in.
God doesn’t rescue us just to toss us back into the mess we made of our lives. And freedom is not choosing our own life style! It’s being liberated from condemnation and doing what we are created to do.
This is a massive claim and we need to know how it works out.
So, we look at what has happened to us.
What God has done means that there are now two kinds of people. There’s Spirit people as described above, and flesh people, meaning everyone ese.
What’s important to flesh people is things that can be seen, controlled and indulged—and certainly not God or his commands. There’s no way they are going to spend their lives pleasing God. But to choose this is to choose death—walking.
What’s important to Spirit people is what the Holy Spirit reveals and does. This way is life and peace—as we have already seen[viii].
Paul is confident that people reading his letter belong to this latter group—people like ourselves. The work of the Spirit in our lives is evident. He is creating new life in us—and all because we are justified—righteous in God’s presence.
We belong to Christ. Christ has come to us and lives in us. And even though we are still sinners (remember chapter seven!), and going to die, the Holy Spirit who is given to every believer, guarantees we will be raised from the dead—like Jesus.
With a life like that, isn’t that what you would set your mind on?
So then, what should we do?
If we’ve understood the gospel as God’s power[ix], and God’s grace[x], and God’s presence and God’s future—not just an ideology, we’ll know that we owe our old life nothing!
Rather, we owe everything to this beloved Holy Spirit. This is short-hand for saying we owe everything to what he has brought to us—God and Jesus and righteousness.
If we now set our minds on this, and if we say ‘No!’ to our miserable former selves, we will have life from God.
Look at it! We’re God’s children! His Holy Spirit doesn’t just rely on the psychology of gratefulness to make us obedient. He forms in us the same cry he formed in Jesus—‘Father!’ And, like him, we want to do our Father’s will. We’re happy to be slaves of Christ but don’t feel or act like slaves. There’s no anxious fear here!
And being part of this family has a future. We’re going to share with Christ in the family inheritance. There’s some suffering to endure—and Paul is going to talk about that in a moment. But if we set our minds on what the Spirit is about, we’ll share in the coming glory with Christ.
Every day, we will need to ask ‘What is important in this moment of my life? Where is my life coming from?’ What will be important when this coming day arrives? And every day, we will need to answer, ‘I’m going to listen to the Holy Spirit’.
[i] Rom. 7:6
[ii] Rom. 8:9
[iii] Gal. 3:3
[iv] Rom. 5:5
[v] John 14:16-17
[vi] This is probably what Paul means by ‘a law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’.
[vii] 1 John 2:1
[viii] Rom. 5:1-11
[ix] Rom. 1:16
[x] Rom. 5:15
[i] Rom. 7:6
[ii] Rom. 8:9
[iii] Gal. 3:3
[iv] Rom. 5:5
[v] John 14:16-17
[vi] This is probably what Paul means by ‘a law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’.
[vii] Rom. 5:1-11
[viii] Rom. 1:16
[ix] Rom. 5:15
Simply True 