THE GLORY OF GOD ( PART 26 )
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3324
THE GLORY OF GOD ( PART 26 )
From Glory to Glory ( Study 5 )
Yesterday we studied Paul's teaching that:
“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Elsewhere, Paul teaches the same truth: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (Romans 7:6). This is what is being explained in today's devotional study.
In theological terms, there are two laws: the law of sin and death ( generally referred to as The Law ) and the law of liberty and life in the Holy Spirit ( also known as The Law of the Spirit ).
1. THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH
The law of sin and death is the Old Testament Law of God.
The Law is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12), but, because we cannot keep God’s Law on our own, the result is only sin and death for those under the Law.
This death refers to spiritual separation from God. Shackled by our depraved nature, we naturally opposed the Law, and we found that God’s life-giving Word served only to sentence us to death. It is because of this that Paul can refer to the Law as the “law of sin and death.”
2. THE LAW OF LIBERTY AND LIFE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The Law of the Spirit is the gospel or good news of Jesus, the message of new life through faith in the resurrected Christ.
Abba Father, The Law itself is not sinful (Romans 7:7). However, the Law defined sin and stirred up our natural rebellion against Your rules, resulting in sin and death.
Romans 7:5 explains Paul’s focus on the Law as leading to sin and death: “For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.” In contrast, the “way” or law of the Spirit is noted in Romans 7:6: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
The conclusion of Romans 7 shows the need of the gospel to deliver us from the consequences of sin under the Law: “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:22–25).
The Law cannot save us but Jesus can!🙏
N.B.
Tomorrow we shall delve into the grand and awesome chapter 8 of Paul's Epistle to the Romans.
