There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8: 1-4 NKJV)
The apostle
here is dealing with the conditions of a holy life; and the condemnation to
which he refers is that caused by the constant failure so graphically described
in the previous chapter. From my own experience, I think that the introspection
which is often induced by ill-health and weakness makes us very sensitive to
the failure and shortcoming of the inner life. We know that we are accepted in Christ
and that our sins are forgiven us for His sake; but we are deeply conscious
that in us (i.e. in our flesh) dwells no good thing. For I
know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is
present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (Romans
We perceive
what physical life is when a child comes bounding into our room in a very
ecstasy of health and joy. We know what intellectual life is as we see the mind
developing under the process of education. We know what the moral life of a
stoic is, repelling by force of will the appeal of the senses. But above all
these, there is life which is resident in Jesus Christ, stored in Him,
abounding in Him, which He longs to communicate to every soul that trusts in
Him. This was the witness of those who knew Jesus most intimately in His brief
human life, And this is the testimony:
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not
have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John
This life is
communicated and sustained by the Holy Spirit. We must be one with Christ; we
must be in Him, as the sponge is in the ocean. We must be in Him, not only in
our standing, but also in our daily walk. We must be in Him as the branch is in
the vine, and the vine-sap in the branch. And this must not only be a theory,
but an hourly experience. We must abide in Him and He in us.
But how can
this become our daily experience? There is but one way, through the
co-operation of the Holy Spirit, as we walk in Him. I say
then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galatians
PRAYER
Almighty God,
I beseech You to raise me from the death of sin to the life of righteousness by
that same power that brought the Lord Jesus from the dead, that I may walk in
newness of life through the aid of the Holy Spirit. In Christ’s Name I ask it, AMEN.
God's Daily Promise
Promise #17:
I will discipline you in love as a father who loves his
children.
Proverbs 3:11-12 (WEB)
11
My son, don’t despise Yahweh’s discipline, neither be weary of his reproof: 12
for whom Yahweh loves, he reproves; even as a father reproves the son in whom
he delights.
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