For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (Rom 8:2)
The opening third of Romans 8, the first thirteen verses, ties the Law and the flesh together. Flesh is mentioned thirteen times in those thirteen verses, while the Law is mentioned five times. Given to suppress and control the flesh, the Law is nonetheless weakened by it.
It turns out the Law is of the wrong tree. Remember, the forbidden tree in the garden offered the knowledge of good and evil, not just evil. But that tree stood in opposition to the Tree of Life. It was a rival tree. The two were mutually exclusive sources. They remain mutually exclusive.
The Law is as much of the wrong tree as the sins it wags its finger at. And eating of that tree results in death. Paul even told the Corinthians the Law was a “ministry of death” (2 Cor 3:7). Weakened by the flesh, the Law’s list of “do not taste, touch or handle!” are “of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Col 2:21-23). So, the outward appearance of righteousness provided by the Law is a fraud, leaving even its most fervent acolytes “like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matt 23:27). And that is a real problem for us, because God told Samuel He doesn’t look on the outward appearance, but on the heart (1 Sam 16:7).
The only part of the Law worth keeping is its righteous requirements, its reflection of the holiness of God. But it provides no means of achieving them. Worse, it stirs up rebellion against them. Paul wrote prior to Romans 8 we wouldn’t have known to covet if the Law hadn’t forbidden it (Rom 7:7).
Well, if the Law is of no use, then what are we to do? We who didn’t die moments after crying out to Christ like the thief on the cross must go on. But how? The answer, Paul says, is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will enable us to walk before the Lord and be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect. And as He performs this inside job, He will moot the rebellion within us, rather than stir it up. He is our Tree of Life. Let’s leave that other tree behind and draw our nourishment from Him.
We who are called to be the Bride of Christ must be like Esther. She fully entrusted herself to the eunuch who prepared her and adorned her. Submitting to his wise counsel, she fully satisfied the king of kings and found grace in His eyes. The king loved her, chose her, and placed a crown upon her head (Est 2:8-9, 15, 17). Now it is our turn. We have One better than that eunuch willing to lavish His attention on us and make us ready. And we have a better King waiting to embrace us.
“For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:14). We are the ones creation eagerly waits for! While we are looking for the appearing of Jesus Christ, all of creation watches with anxious longing for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom 8:19).
The sons of God are the harvest the great Farmer has been patiently waiting for all these millennia. The soil has been tilled and the seeds have been planted. But the only way that harvest will fully ripen is by basking in the Spirit. He will be to us both water and light. Amen!
-Matt Schilling
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