O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
The
seventh chapter of the book of Romans is a classic on the weakness of
the flesh in our battle against sin. We are enslaved to the law of sin
each time we attempt to live the Christian faith by the keeping of a set
of good rules, even the law of God. Against sin, the flesh is entirely
hopeless, and in the words of the apostle Paul, the good he desired to
do, he found no strength to do, but the things he desired not to do,
those he found himself doing. In his frustration, he cried out for help.
The deliverance that he got from the bondage to the law of sin was in
another law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. He was a
saved man under the law.
When
the law of the Spirit of life comes, it implant new energies,
dispositions, and directions, new motives, desires, tastes, and
tendencies. It brings into play mightier attractions to neutralise and
deaden existing desires elicited by the flesh. The strength of the law
of sin is the flesh, while the strength of the law of the Spirit of life
is the Spirit Himself. When we look away from us and look to the cross,
we engage the power of the Spirit against the power of the flesh. The
strength of the flesh is looking away from the cross. As long as we have
the cross in view, the flesh is put down (Galatians 5:16).
In
Christ, we were crucified, but through the Spirit, we mortify the deeds
of body. The former was an event that took place in a moment when we
repented and turned to Christ. But the latter is a life long journey of
growing in Christ-likeness done with the help of the Spirit called
sanctification.
Toni
