Romans 8:1-4.

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Romans 8:1-4 explains clearly the transition from the Law of Moses to salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it seems that through the centuries of the Christian Era the understanding of this passage has not always been clear.

Even in Paul’s day some were saying, “Let us do evil that good may come.” They thought Paul was declaring that Divine grace is an alternative to righteous behaviour, instead of his actual insistence that Divine grace is an alternative to the commandments of the Law of Moses, to the “works” of the Law of Moses.

To the present hour, sincere scholars are maintaining that we are “saved by grace and not by works,” meaning that righteous behaviour no longer is part of God’s plan for mankind; God has given up attempting to make man in His moral image. Without intending to, certainly, today’s scholars are misinterpreting the Apostle Paul. The new covenant is far, far stricter in terms of righteous behaviour than ever could be true of the Law of Moses, since the Law of Moses depends on the adamic nature of people to obey its statutes and precepts.

(2/2/2007) Let’s take a look at the passage in question:

“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. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4—NIV)

If we would understand this critical passage we first must be clear as to the meaning of “the law of the Spirit of life,” and “the law of sin and death.” and also what it means to be set free from the law of sin and death.

The law of sin and death is the interaction of our sinful nature with the Law of Moses. When the Law of Moses tells us not to take the Lord’s name in a useless manner, our sinful nature swears. Thus we are in confusion and guilt because we are being condemned by the Law.

The law of the Spirit of life is the Holy Spirit. When we are “in Christ,” that is, thinking, speaking, and acting in the Holy Spirit, presenting ourselves to Christ many times during the day, looking to Him for each decision we make, then we are without condemnation.

Just because we have “accepted Christ” does not continue to keep us free from condemnation. We must be living “in Christ.” Multitudes of Americans have “accepted Christ” but they are not living “in Christ Jesus.”

The Law of Moses is the law of the old covenant. The Holy Spirit Himself is the Law of the new covenant, the Law of the Spirit of Life. When we are filled with the Spirit we are able to resist the temptations of the sinful nature. I personally have been in the Pentecostal movement since 1948. It is my opinion that to a certain extent, we Pentecostals do not understand the purpose of speaking in tongues.

God gave us the ability to speak in tongues. He did it so we might learn to live in the Spirit, in Christ. Isaiah tells us speaking in tongues is our entrance into the rest of God. The rest of God is that state in which we are learning each day to live increasingly by the Holy Spirit.

When you go from a Pentecostal church to a church that does not teach speaking in tongues, you can feel the difference. Speaking in tongues is a gift from the wisdom of God. It is not to be driven from the assembly so we do not offend the worldly people of the community. Speaking in tongues is from God and is our path into the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Seeking to bring in the worldly people of the community is not of God. It proceeds from the ambition of our sinful nature.

It is interesting that when the Jews celebrate the feast of Pentecost they emphasize the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. It is believed by some that the Law was given on the day of the feast of Pentecost, that is, fifty days from the celebration of Passover.

We may not understand that the Holy Spirit is our law, but it is. When we do not obey the Holy Spirit in our daily walk we are breaking the law given to us under the new covenant.

This is the purpose of tongues—it is to bring us under the Law of the Spirit of Life, that is, into the rest of God where we live by the Presence of Jesus Christ just as He lives by the Presence of the Father.

How does the Law of the Spirit of Life set us free from the law of sin and death? In the manner I just have described. The Holy Spirit give us the wisdom and power through which we can resist the temptations of sin. The more of the Holy Spirit we have the more able we are to overcome sin. Give gives us more of the Holy Spirit when we ask Him to, and when we obey Him diligently.

There was no sinful nature in the Lord Jesus, because He was born of God. The shedding of His blood on the cross made an atonement for the sins of you and me, that is, it reconciled us to God. It balanced the scales of righteousness so God could accept us. The innocent died on behalf of the guilty.

The Jews of Paul’s day would be afraid of abandoning the Law of Moses because it was through their attempts to obey the Law that they sought to obtain righteousness—freedom from Divine condemnation. Paul is telling them that through the atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ they now are free to follow Christ and His new law and yet have the righteousness attributed to them that would be theirs if they were able to obey the Law of Moses perfectly.

Right at this point lies the dreadful, horrible, destructive misunderstanding of current Christian teaching. It currently is often believed that the Law of Moses has been done away so now we are without law. However, God never, never, never leaves any of His creatures without law.

It is not that we now are without law, it is that we have been freed from the Law of Moses that we may be married to Christ, that is, that we may live by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Obedience to this new law requires that we present our body a living sacrifice in order that we may prove the will of God at each moment of our life. Such unrelenting obedience is not gained immediately but must be developed each day as we pray, read our Bible, meet with fervent disciples, use our self-control to quit the sins we can control, use our gifts and ministries, give of our means to our church, and take up our cross of self-denial and patiently follow the Master.

From what little I have seen over the past sixty years, I do not believe most American Christians are living such a life of consecration to the Lord. But I will tell you this, in the name of the Lord Jesus: There is a time of moral and physical horrors coming upon our country. Only those who are living fully consecrated lives will be able to stand and help their loved ones to stand in the coming period of Divine judgement.

Our silly lawless-grace-rapture teaching has destroyed the moral fiber of God’s people. This is why the Muslims are attacking our country. They do not want their families to be corrupted with the Western way of life. Who could blame them? The answer is not to kill them, it is to live in such a manner that they can see Christ in us.

The Muslims are under the impression that all the people of the Western nations are Christians. Can you imagine what their opinion is of the Lord Jesus Christ after they see the sewage pumped out by Hollywood and adored by the Western “Christians”?

We of the West have been given much, and much is required of us. Consequently the handwriting is on the wall for the Western nations, and the leadership of the world will pass to the East, if those nations persist in their attempts to lead moral lives. God will reveal Christ to them, and they will have their own “Azusa Street” outpouring. May it happen soon, for there are many Muslim families who would put us to shame with their emphasis on morality and honour.

The Muslims, generally speaking, do not know Christ. Their ignorance is due to the moral corruption of the Western nations, which at one time were deriving their standards from the Bible.

If each one of us will choose right now to seek Christ at all times until we are living in the Spirit of God (and speaking in tongues helps with this), we will see our behaviour changed from that which is of Satan to that which is of God. Only as we pursue this path will we be without condemnation. Only as we pursue this path will we save ourselves and those who hear us, in the coming days.

Only then will the Muslim people honour Jesus Christ and find the redemption that is in Him.

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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