1/15/2017
The New Way of The Spirit Pt. 2
…by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit… Romans 7:6
Our Sin Nature Is Utterly Sinful
Romans 7:14-18 …the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Genesis 8:21 …the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth…
Genesis 6:5 …the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Romans 3:9-18 …all are under sin; it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Mark 7:20-23 That which proceeds out of man, that is what defiles man. For from within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile man.
Grace is an Eternal Game Changer
Romans 8 teaches us that the Christian life is something very different from one long endeavor to be good. It will show that the Gospel of salvation by grace means that grace gives before it requires, whereas salvation by law would mean that salvation only comes when we have done all that law requires. Barnes Commentary
The Way of The Spirit Frees Us From The Condemnation That Law Had Over Us
Romans 8:1-2 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.
Jesus Became Human Because There Was No Other Way
Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the our sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering…
The Law’s Demand Is ONLY Met In Jesus’ Death
Romans 8:3b-4 …and so He (God) condemned sin in sinful man, (through Jesus’ Death) in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, (vicariously; for any who place faith in the death of His Son) who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
The guilt and punishment of sin by God are eminently seen in the death of Christ. Nowhere else is sin so completely judged and condemned. Not even in hell could its guilt and failings be so fully shown in comparison to the cross. How evil sin is then, since it could only be atoned for by nothing but the death of the Son of God! What can afford clearer evidence of God’s determination to punish sin to the utmost extent of what it deserves, than that He thus punished it when He laid its blame on the head of His only-begotten Son. (Robert Haldane-Exposition on the Book of Romans)
In all this we see the Father assuming the place of judge against His Son, in order to become the Father of those who are His enemies. The Father condemns the Son of His love, so that He may absolve the children of wrath. If we inquire into the cause that moved God to save us by such means, what can we say, but that it proceeded from His incomprehensible wisdom, His ineffable goodness, and the unfathomable depth of His mercies? What was there in mankind that could induce the Creator to act in this manner, since He saw nothing in us, but rebellion & sin? What was it but His love that passes knowledge which induced the only-begotten Son of God Jesus, to take the form of a servant & to humble Himself even to the death of the cross, and to submit to be despised and rejected of men & forsaken of God? These are the things into which the angels desire to look. Jesus Christ was made a curse for us as the Apostle says, Galatians 3:13, proving it by the Scriptural declaration, ‘Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.’ Leviticus… This punishment of the cross is the figure and symbol of the spiritual curse against sin by God & His Holiness. In His body, Jesus suffered the supreme curse in punishment, likewise in His soul He suffered agonies that are the most inconceivable such as are suffered by those finally condemned to hell. But that was only for a short time since the infinity of His person rendered that suffering equivalent to that of an infinity of time…
No Condemnation Rests Upon This Truth
Romans 8:1-2 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.