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Posts Tagged ‘Law’

The Right Way To Fulfill The Law – Romans 8:4

02 Feb

(Romans 8:4Romans 8:4
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

We get the idea from the flesh that holiness is all about the external things.  Our church attendance, our giving, our prayers, our study, our witnessing, and all the other things that we know to be good must not be confused with the holy.  Those things we see, if they are truly motivated and empowered by the Holy Spirit, are the result of a holy life not the cause of a holy life.

The “righteousness of the law” is not fulfilled or performed by me.  The phrase “might be fulfilled” is in the Passive voice.  This means I am the recipient of the fulfillment, not the one actively doing it.  As I walk in my identity in Christ, which is “after the Spirit”, I find the holiness required by the law is actually performed in me by God Himself.  Just as my standing in righteousness is by Christ (Romans 5:1Romans 5:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
5 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  

WP-Bible plugin), my daily life of sanctification and separation is by Christ.  It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2Romans 8:2
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  

WP-Bible plugin) I am now free to enjoy and allow reign in me.  The pressure is gone and I can allow the wave of God’s grace to wash over me in total relaxation in Him.

What does God get out of this?  Sure, I have the assurance of eternal life and the power of the resurrection life here and now.  But to what end does this all serve God to fulfill the righteousness of the law in me?

(Ephesians 1:4Ephesians 1:4
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  

WP-Bible plugin)  “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”

God receives me as part of His creation that can now walk holy and without blame before Him in love.  I can cry with the saints surrounding His throne, “Holy, Holy, Holy!”  But now it is more than lip service.  “Holy, Holy, Holy” is a reality as I walk after the Spirit in a life that relies on His total fulfillment of all that I could never be.

Renewed Thought – True holiness is not about doing (or not doing), it is about being.

 
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Sin Has No Right – Romans 8:3

01 Feb

(Romans 8:3Romans 8:3
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: for sin: or, by a sacrifice for sin  

WP-Bible plugin)  “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”

The Law could forbid me.  The Law could scold my conscience.  The Law could correct me.  But what could the Law not do?  It could not free me from the law of sin and death! In my Christian walk, every time I try to live according to the letter of the law, I face condemnation.  I am not able to escape failure under the law.  I see my own inadequacies.  But when I come back to the source, the center of my identity, I realize once again that in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation.  My sinful flesh is weak and powerless to fulfill the law.  My sinful flesh is unable to meet the righteous requirements of God.

God’s plan is not for me to receive constant condemnation.  God’s plan is not for me to bear a continual burden in my soul as a reminder of my past.  God’s plan was to turn the tables on sin and the flesh.  Instead of condemning my spirit, “sin in the flesh” received the condemnation.

When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, sin in my flesh was condemned.  When I placed my faith in Him, God rewrote my history so that Christ became my Adam.  My past link to the first Adam was removed and my life is now eternally linked to the second Adam, Who is Christ.

(1 Corinthians 15:451 Corinthians 15:45
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

Because sin stands condemned, it has no right to operate in me.  Sin is a convict without a home.  When I choose to sin, I am choosing to allow something without spiritual rights and privileges to have power over me.  Therefore, sin operates illegally when it has free reign to work through me.

Renewed Thought – Thank you Lord that my history is defined by Christ alone.  Sin has no legal right over me today.  I choose to be a servant of You and I choose to be defined by You in all that I am.

 
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Free From Condemnation – Romans 8:1

25 Jan

(Romans 8:1Romans 8:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
8 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin)  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The burden of condemnation is a heavy weight.  Condemnation results in imprisonment.  Condemnation results in guilt.  Condemnation results in doubt.  God declares our righteousness and forgiveness for past offenses through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 4:24-25Romans 4:24-25
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.  

WP-Bible plugin).  Yet many of us still suffer under the unbearable load of condemnation every day.

We look at our daily lives and it just doesn’t seem to be what we think it should.  This is especially true as we are now a few weeks past a new year when resolutions were made and plans were laid down to become a better person.  Your plans to lose weight, stop smoking, or eat better have fallen through.  Maybe you had a plan to be a more consistent Christian.  You promised yourself that you would go to church more, pray more, read more, witness more.  But all the things you promised yourself or God haven’t worked out…and you feel condemned for failing to be who you ought to be and who you wanted to be.

Christian, take heart!  This passage was written to encourage us and lift us up!  I travel occasionally on business and have to go through Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C.  Every time I travel there, I miss the road signs guiding me out of the airport.  I get lost and have to backtrack to where I started.  It’s discouraging.  Just like my frustrating travel adventures, many of us miss the road signs guiding us out of one subject in the book of Romans into another.  We have to backtrack to get an idea of where we are.  The context in this section is about our practical walk in the Christian life.  The condemnation in this passage describes our relationship to the Law.  Our relationship to the penalty of sin was dealt with in Romans chapters 1-5.  In this passage, we see our position and the practical side of our identity in Christ.  We are not under a system of performance.  We are not condemned by our failures to live up to the plans, programs and performance-based systems set down in our own minds or by those around us!  We are given principles and promises as those “in Christ Jesus.”  But just like salvation, the answer to deal with the condemnation is not in our righteousness or our own ability to measure up.  We are delivered today again and again and again by the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25Romans 7:24-25
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? the body...: or, this body of death 25 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.  

WP-Bible plugin).

Renewed Thought – We condemn ourselves because we don’t believe God.  We feel condemned by the Law because we don’t believe God.  The cross is God’s answer to self-condemnation.  Grace is God’s answer to the bondage of the law.

 
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Motives And Money Made In The ATM? – Romans 14:7

09 Nov

(Romans 14:7Romans 14:7
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.”

We see in this verse that God assumes a pure motive on the part of both the weaker and stronger brother.  The person whose conscience compels him to be bound to some aspects of the Law does it with sincerity and thankfulness to the Lord.  The person who lives in the understood liberty of grace also lives with sincerity and thankfulness to the Lord.   The weaker brother doesn’t live for his own glory.  The stronger doesn’t lay down his life to bring praise on himself.  Both are living and dying for the glory of the Lord.

Most of us believed some of the strangest and funniest things as children.  For example, some believed white milk comes from white cows and chocolate milk comes from black cows.  Some believed what they see on the movie screen is actually real life.  Some believed the stork is the bird that delivers babies to the doorstep.  Even now, some of our children believe money is manufactured by the ATM!  But as we mature and move towards adulthood, we had to come to understand the realities and truths of life in this world.  But would you now ever question the motive of a child who believes in those things we set aside as childish? Would you degrade them or treat them as less than people because they place their faith in things they just haven’t figured out yet?  Of course not.  Love allows them to be children and help them learn as the opportunity presents itself.    Love allows them to live with the knowledge and understanding they have, knowing the day will soon come when they will need to mature and learn about these things.  It’s selfish to hurry them to grow up faster than they are able to absorb knowledge.  Love allows them to live with pure motives in the understanding they have right now.  Why would the children of God do any less in spiritual things?

Renewed Thought – (2 Corinthians 5:152 Corinthians 5:15
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.  

WP-Bible plugin)  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

 
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Struggle Within, Victory From Above – Galatians 5:17

30 Jun

(Galatians 5:17Galatians 5:17
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

There was an intense struggle between law and grace in Galatia.  We tend to look on the outside and see the division and arguing between believers.  The spiritual reality is the struggle that occurred within the Galatian believers.  Ultimately, it is a struggle between the flesh and the Spirit.  The flesh leads toward legalism.  The Spirit leads towards liberty.  Unless grace reigns, a spiritual stalemate occurs.  Maturity stops and time is consumed with the battle rather than ministry.

“…the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh…” - this describes the life of every Christian at some point in their spiritual growth.  Even the Apostle Paul came to the crossroads of law and grace.  When it came to his personal struggle with the law, notice the intensity:

(Romans 7:15Romans 7:15
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. allow: Gr. know  

WP-Bible plugin)  “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”

Sometimes we tend to doubt our salvation when the battle rages within us.  In these times, realize the battle between flesh and Spirit is evidence that you are saved!  The renewed mind is constantly inundated with opposing thoughts.  As the “word of Christ” dwells in us, the influence of the world and the flesh bears down to lead us away from grace.  But we have liberty under grace.  We have the choice to live a life ruled by the flesh or live a life submitted to the influencing power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Walking in the Spirit is not a fantasy.  It is not just for “super-spiritual” people.  Walking in the Spirit is God’s design and possibility for every Christian.  I need to hear this again and again every day.  I spend time asking God to open my eyes to the roadblocks causing me to stumble.  What areas of my life am I holding back from Him?  What areas of my life are ruled by my own performance system?  In what areas am I self-reliant instead of God-dependent?  We all need to ask these questions and examine ourselves.  The battle may be raging within you.  You may feel torn apart.  You may hurt.  But God hasn’t left you alone to fight.  Victory is possible.  You can walk in the Spirit.  It isn’t a remote possibility – it is the way you were spiritually designed in Christ.  In our weakness, He is our strength.  In this world of distractions, He is our focus.  In our struggle, He is our Champion.  His mind is our mind – this is our moment by moment victory.

Renewed Thought – “We should therefore learn that the only good we have is what the Lord has given us gratuitously; that the only good we do is what He does in us; that it is not that we do nothing ourselves, but that we act only when we have been acted upon, in other words under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit.” – John Calvin

 
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