August
19
Romans
8: 7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8:
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9: But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10: And if Christ be
in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. 11: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12: Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13: For if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. 15: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.
Throughout the book of
Romans, when Paul refers to those who walk after the flesh and those who walk
after the Spirit he is speaking of religious folks, not immoral folks.
The commandments of men teach that
believers are yet under the law which was given at Mt. Sinai. Most say that the believer is not under the
ceremonial law but that the believer is to be ruled by the ten commandments. That is a precept of man. God never divides the law. Those who are constrained by law mind the
flesh. It is impossible to be
constrained by law without having your mind set on the letter of the law and
your own flesh. This passage declares
that everything that is done in religion, when constrained by law, is all “enmity
against God.” The reason is because the
carnal mind “is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
Here is the good news for those
born of the Spirit of God. The believer
does not have to worry about the carnal mind being enmity against God because “ye
are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell
in you.” And the believer does not have
to worry about subjection to the law because the body of the law is dead to us because
Christ has taken care of our sin, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin.” Since Christ has taken
care of our sin when he laid down his life for us, the believer is dead to the law
and the whole body of the law is dead to the believer so that we are married to
Christ and worship him in newness of Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. (Rom
7: 4, 6) That is exactly what is
declared in this passage, if Christ be in you, the body of the law is dead,
because Christ has dealt with our sin before the law. And the Spirit of God dwelling in us shall also
do the same for our mortal bodies.
“Therefore brethren, we are debtors,
not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.” If we mind the law, mind
our flesh and try to live constrained by the law, we will not have our hearts
set on Christ alone, and we shall die.
But as we continually hear of the faithfulness of Christ through the
preaching of the gospel, the Spirit sets our affection on Christ above, strengthens
our inner man to rest in Christ and makes us treat our body, and the body of
the law, as God says they really are, dead.
(Col 3: 1-4)
So if you are in religion, which are
you? Are you constrained by men, constrained
by their precepts, constrained by the law?
If so you have your affection continually set on your flesh rather than
on Christ. You glory in appearance, not in heart. (2 Cor 5: 12) It is to have a
carnal mind. All such religion is enmity
against God. You are not, and cannot be,
subject to the law given at Mt. Sinai nor subject to the gospel by which God
commands us to cease from our works and believe on Christ. (Jn 6: 28-29) God
says that those who have not the Spirit of Christ are none of us. All who worship
this way are worshipping by works.
If you are constrained by the love
of Christ for you, then you live unto Christ rather than unto yourself. You
have been given the Spirit, not of bondage, but of adoption. You have
discernment to judge that when Christ died, right then, all things that needed
to die, died before God: your old man of sin died, you died to the law and the
law died to you. (2 Cor 5: 14-15; Rom 6:
6-7; 7: 4, 6) You worship and live unto
Christ in newness of spirit because you are a new creation, old things are
passed away. All things are become new. The Spirit has revealed in you that you
are now a son of God. So now, you glory
only in God and his Son, who has worked this great work for us by his Son,
Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Cor 5: 17, 18) This is the true religion, the
religion of grace.