But what law are we under?
But what law are we under?
The Law of the Spirit who gives life.
The Law of the Spirit guides and enables us to confess and turn aside from our sins and self-will. By so doing we become qualified and competent to receive eternal, incorruptible life in our body when Jesus returns.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)
Dear friend, rid yourself of the unscriptural teaching of the "rapture." The church people are not going to be caught up to Heaven any moment now.
When Jesus appears He will bring with Him the victorious saints of all ages so they may call up their bodies from the place of burial and give them eternal life.
The "Gideon's army" who are left on the earth after the Great Tribulation will also receive eternal life in their bodies. Then both groups, those who came with Jesus and those living on the earth at that time who are qualified and competent to receive life in their bodies, will be caught up to the staging area in the air.
There they will be mounted on white war stallions, and together with the army of angels, led by the Commander in Chief, will descend through the air and install the Kingdom of God on the earth.
Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
What is the law of sin and death? It is the Law of Moses interacting with our sinful flesh. Our flesh cannot obey the Law of Moses, so we, being disobedient, die spiritually.
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:11)
Exactly how does the Spirit who gives life set us free from the law of sin and death?
First of all, the Spirit requires that we count ourselves as dead, so the Law of Moses no longer has jurisdiction over us.
So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4)
Until we understand that God is willing to view us as crucified with Christ, we still are bound by the Law of Moses. We cannot escape Moses until we are "dead" with Christ.
Once we accept the fact that in water baptism we entered the crucifixion of Christ, we can enter the resurrection Life of the Lord Jesus. When we are living in His Life, we are not to go back to the Mosaic statutes that govern the living. We who are "dead" are to look only to Jesus.
As we keep looking to the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God shows us aspects of our personality that are not in the image of God. Then we, under the guidance of the Spirit, are to confess and turn away from these by the power of Christ.
This is how the new covenant operates. This is how the Spirit of Life sets us free from the law of sin and death.
The blood of Christ continually is making an atonement for those parts of our personality that have not been renewed in Christ as yet. So we remain without condemnation.
By one sacrifice Christ has set us free from sin forever, provided we continue to walk according to the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
The righteous requirement of the Law of Moses is fulfilled completely in us as long as are living in and obeying the Spirit of God.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (Romans 8:5)
It helps us to cooperate with the Spirit If we keep in our mind what our goal is. It is customary for Christian people to view eternal residence in Heaven after they die, as being their goal; their reason for receiving the Lord Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
But this is not the goal of salvation presented in either the Old or New Testament.
The true goal of our salvation is presented in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. It is to be in the image and likeness of God, which is the same as the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unless we are becoming in Christ a new creation of righteous behavior, we cannot have fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Therefore, "Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." (II Corinthians 6:17)
In the image of God we think along with Christ; we speak along with Christ; we act along with Christ. Just as Christ live by the Father, so we learn to live by Christ.
We understand readily that observing the commands of Moses cannot possibly bring us into the kind of relationship that our Lord Jesus has with the Father. Only the Law of the Spirit of Life can do that.
On one or two occasions I was in the presence of some Christian people who sought to convince me that I should obey the Sabbath commandment. I found their spirit to be not that of the Lord. It was harsh and doctrinaire, not at all like the kind, joyful, peaceful attitude of Jesus.
I can understand how the Apostle Paul became so upset.
We cannot keep our mind on the Presence of Christ and on the numerous statutes of Moses at the same time. We have to be looking constantly toward one or the other throughout the day and night.
I have found the following practice to be helpful in keeping my mind on the Lord Jesus. Several times throughout the day I ask the Lord Jesus two questions: "Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing"; "Am I where I am supposed to be?"
If the answer to either or both of these two questions is "No," I turn to Christ immediately and ask Him to "fix it."
Until the answer to both questions is "Yes," I am not living in the rest of God and am not prepared for the coming of the Lord.
Try this exercise and see if it brings the Presence of Christ into your life in a greater way.
What law do you choose to live under, the Law of Moses, or the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus?
I have made my choice. It has brought to me righteousness, love, joy, and peace.
What has your choice brought to you?