For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets a person free from the power, control, guilt, and deadly consequence of sin and death. That Spirit of life is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart as inward grace that joins the soul to Christ and gives light and worth to outward religion, without which even the highest profession is only a lifeless form. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit, because God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, and fulfilled the righteousness of the law in them. The law itself only exposes sin and its guilt and cannot pardon or free the transgressor, for it remains holy, just, and good while pardon comes through repentance and faith in Christ's blood and advocacy, received as a gift and not earned by works, prayers, fasting, or self-denial. Those made free do not continue after the flesh but after the Spirit, receiving ample grace and moral power to obey God's law, to die to sin in the new life pledged at baptism, and to overcome mastering passions through complete surrender in loving obedience to God.
Meaning of the Promise
The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the Holy Spirit abiding in the heart as inward grace and inward piety, the oil that feeds the lamp so that it sends forth clear rays and heavenly light, links the soul with Jesus Christ, and alone makes outward preparation of value. Without that indwelling, the highest profession, ordination for the ministry, or appointment as superintendent or teacher is only an outward semblance of religion, lamps without oil and worthless, just enough religion to deaden the conscience, deceive the senses, and ruin the soul, having the name to live while dead. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, because God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them. It is life in Christ through the Spirit that frees from the power of sin and the death it brings.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes free from the power, control, guilt, sin itself, and the deadly consequence of death. This freedom is lived out in the new life pledged at baptism, dying to sin, living through Jesus, walking after the Spirit rather than working for self-promotion. Christ breaks the soul's bondage to sin when the person desires release, cries to God for power, and surrenders to Christ, and the Holy Spirit then gives divine strength to choose and obey God without compulsion, in oneness with Christ who is the truth and in subjection to God that restores true dignity. Sins are taken away through trust in Christ alone, with salvation received as a gift and not earned by works, prayers, fasting, or self-denial. The law reveals sin and its guilt but does not itself free the transgressor, and it cannot save wrongdoers from the penalty of disobedience, while remaining holy and just and good, with freedom, pardon, and freedom from condemnation coming through Christ and walking after the Spirit. Repentance and faith in Christ's blood bring pardon, and Christ stands before the Father as advocate, and through His grace those freed from condemnation can obey God's law.
To those who obey its precepts God's law is a law of life and not of death, so that no one who believes in Jesus Christ is under bondage to God's law. All who comprehend the spirituality of the law and realize its power as a detector of sin are in just as helpless a condition as Satan himself unless they accept the atonement provided in the remedial sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who is at-one-ment with God. The life-giving power of the Spirit in Christ is resurrection power, giving life to souls dead in sin, breaking the dominion of evil, and through faith keeping from sin. Those who receive Christ's Spirit share the power that will raise their bodies from the grave.
Receiving Freedom in Christ
Freedom from condemnation comes through Christ and not through the law, which cannot save wrongdoers from the penalty of disobedience. Repentance and faith in His shed blood bring pardon, with assurance that sins have been taken away and the believer set free from the law of sin and death. Christ stands before the Father as advocate for those so pardoned, and by His grace they are enabled to obey God's law. That salvation is received as a gift through trust in Christ alone, never earned by works, prayers, fasting, or self-denial.
Bondage to sin is broken by Christ when the soul desires release, cries to God for power, and surrenders to Christ. The deliverance is both from sin's control and from its consequence, death. The Holy Spirit then imparts divine strength to choose and obey God, without compulsion.
This freedom is the testimony of everyone who accepts salvation, revealing the depths of a matchless love. It is redemption through His blood, being made free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, being more than conquerors through Him who loved and gave Himself, and rejoicing with unspeakable and glorious joy through believing. Such testimony, showing communion with God, should be the expression of every soul whose name is on the church books, proving fitness to give life to the church and to be a living channel of grace and unsearchable riches. The light of Romans 8, to which this freedom belongs, is urged upon those who are only half converted that they may come fully to Jesus. It is received as truth about Jesus applied by the Holy Spirit to the mind, bringing cleansing and peace through His sufficient atoning sacrifice.
Living the Freed Life
Freedom from the condemnation of sin comes through Christ, not through the law, which cannot save wrongdoers from the penalty of disobedience. Repentance and faith in His blood bring pardon, with Christ standing as advocate before the Father, and through His grace those thus freed can obey God's law. Life in Christ through the Spirit frees from sin and its deadly power, supplying grace and moral power so that believers walk after the Spirit rather than after the flesh and need not remain in sin. Every provision has been made so that whoever believes in Him as a personal Saviour is saved from sin and left with no excuse for envy, fault-finding, jealousy, sin and iniquity, for He was manifested to take away sins and gives grace in ample abundance so that His followers may not sin. To be made free from the law of sin and death is therefore not to walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.
This freedom is lived out in the new life pledged at baptism, in which the Spirit gives life in Christ and frees from sin and death by dying to sin and living through Jesus rather than working for self-promotion. Freedom in Christ is being bound to obedience by God's requirements and kept in the love of God through complete surrender of soul, body, and spirit. Ceasing from sin, the unruly elements and mastering passions are overcome, the will is brought into harmony with the will of Christ, and the soul is brought into fellowship with God. This requires enlisting under Christ's authority, submitting to Him and consulting His will in all things, with implicit obedience as its condition and God's will obeyed in every particular, making His law the rule, His life the pattern, and His glory the chief end, which is salvation.
Becoming one with Christ, who is the truth, and living in subjection to God restores true dignity, breaking the soul's bondage to sin and freeing from its control and its consequence, death. This testimony of redemption through His blood, of being more than conquerors through Him who loved and gave Himself, and of rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory through believing, reveals the depths of a Saviour's matchless love and should mark every soul whose name is on the church books. Such communion with God makes believers fit to give life to the church as living channels of the treasures of His grace and the unsearchable riches of Christ. Practicing the truth gives enjoyment and proves the truth is not a yoke of bondage but emancipation papers that leave believers free in Christ. Joined with humble walking with God and working in the spirit of Jesus, this lived freedom lays heavy burdens on the great Burden-bearer and turns gatherings into love feasts with assurance of God's presence, triumphs in communion with His love, and a signal manifestation of His glory that impresses others with the tabernacle of God among men as a foretaste of mercy, abundant love and compassion.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets a person free from the power, control, guilt, and deadly consequence of sin and death. That Spirit of life is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart as inward grace that joins the soul to Christ and gives light and worth to outward religion, without which even the highest profession is only a lifeless form. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit, because God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, and fulfilled the righteousness of the law in them. The law itself only exposes sin and its guilt and cannot pardon or free the transgressor, for it remains holy, just, and good while pardon comes through repentance and faith in Christ's blood and advocacy, received as a gift and not earned by works, prayers, fasting, or self-denial. Those made free do not continue after the flesh but after the Spirit, receiving ample grace and moral power to obey God's law, to die to sin in the new life pledged at baptism, and to overcome mastering passions through complete surrender in loving obedience to God.
Meaning of the Promise
The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the Holy Spirit abiding in the heart as inward grace and inward piety, the oil that feeds the lamp so that it sends forth clear rays and heavenly light, links the soul with Jesus Christ, and alone makes outward preparation of value. Without that indwelling, the highest profession, ordination for the ministry, or appointment as superintendent or teacher is only an outward semblance of religion, lamps without oil and worthless, just enough religion to deaden the conscience, deceive the senses, and ruin the soul, having the name to live while dead. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, because God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them. It is life in Christ through the Spirit that frees from the power of sin and the death it brings.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes free from the power, control, guilt, sin itself, and the deadly consequence of death. This freedom is lived out in the new life pledged at baptism, dying to sin, living through Jesus, walking after the Spirit rather than working for self-promotion. Christ breaks the soul's bondage to sin when the person desires release, cries to God for power, and surrenders to Christ, and the Holy Spirit then gives divine strength to choose and obey God without compulsion, in oneness with Christ who is the truth and in subjection to God that restores true dignity. Sins are taken away through trust in Christ alone, with salvation received as a gift and not earned by works, prayers, fasting, or self-denial. The law reveals sin and its guilt but does not itself free the transgressor, and it cannot save wrongdoers from the penalty of disobedience, while remaining holy and just and good, with freedom, pardon, and freedom from condemnation coming through Christ and walking after the Spirit. Repentance and faith in Christ's blood bring pardon, and Christ stands before the Father as advocate, and through His grace those freed from condemnation can obey God's law.
To those who obey its precepts God's law is a law of life and not of death, so that no one who believes in Jesus Christ is under bondage to God's law. All who comprehend the spirituality of the law and realize its power as a detector of sin are in just as helpless a condition as Satan himself unless they accept the atonement provided in the remedial sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who is at-one-ment with God. The life-giving power of the Spirit in Christ is resurrection power, giving life to souls dead in sin, breaking the dominion of evil, and through faith keeping from sin. Those who receive Christ's Spirit share the power that will raise their bodies from the grave.
Receiving Freedom in Christ
Freedom from condemnation comes through Christ and not through the law, which cannot save wrongdoers from the penalty of disobedience. Repentance and faith in His shed blood bring pardon, with assurance that sins have been taken away and the believer set free from the law of sin and death. Christ stands before the Father as advocate for those so pardoned, and by His grace they are enabled to obey God's law. That salvation is received as a gift through trust in Christ alone, never earned by works, prayers, fasting, or self-denial.
Bondage to sin is broken by Christ when the soul desires release, cries to God for power, and surrenders to Christ. The deliverance is both from sin's control and from its consequence, death. The Holy Spirit then imparts divine strength to choose and obey God, without compulsion.
This freedom is the testimony of everyone who accepts salvation, revealing the depths of a matchless love. It is redemption through His blood, being made free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, being more than conquerors through Him who loved and gave Himself, and rejoicing with unspeakable and glorious joy through believing. Such testimony, showing communion with God, should be the expression of every soul whose name is on the church books, proving fitness to give life to the church and to be a living channel of grace and unsearchable riches. The light of Romans 8, to which this freedom belongs, is urged upon those who are only half converted that they may come fully to Jesus. It is received as truth about Jesus applied by the Holy Spirit to the mind, bringing cleansing and peace through His sufficient atoning sacrifice.
Living the Freed Life
Freedom from the condemnation of sin comes through Christ, not through the law, which cannot save wrongdoers from the penalty of disobedience. Repentance and faith in His blood bring pardon, with Christ standing as advocate before the Father, and through His grace those thus freed can obey God's law. Life in Christ through the Spirit frees from sin and its deadly power, supplying grace and moral power so that believers walk after the Spirit rather than after the flesh and need not remain in sin. Every provision has been made so that whoever believes in Him as a personal Saviour is saved from sin and left with no excuse for envy, fault-finding, jealousy, sin and iniquity, for He was manifested to take away sins and gives grace in ample abundance so that His followers may not sin. To be made free from the law of sin and death is therefore not to walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.
This freedom is lived out in the new life pledged at baptism, in which the Spirit gives life in Christ and frees from sin and death by dying to sin and living through Jesus rather than working for self-promotion. Freedom in Christ is being bound to obedience by God's requirements and kept in the love of God through complete surrender of soul, body, and spirit. Ceasing from sin, the unruly elements and mastering passions are overcome, the will is brought into harmony with the will of Christ, and the soul is brought into fellowship with God. This requires enlisting under Christ's authority, submitting to Him and consulting His will in all things, with implicit obedience as its condition and God's will obeyed in every particular, making His law the rule, His life the pattern, and His glory the chief end, which is salvation.
Becoming one with Christ, who is the truth, and living in subjection to God restores true dignity, breaking the soul's bondage to sin and freeing from its control and its consequence, death. This testimony of redemption through His blood, of being more than conquerors through Him who loved and gave Himself, and of rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory through believing, reveals the depths of a Saviour's matchless love and should mark every soul whose name is on the church books. Such communion with God makes believers fit to give life to the church as living channels of the treasures of His grace and the unsearchable riches of Christ. Practicing the truth gives enjoyment and proves the truth is not a yoke of bondage but emancipation papers that leave believers free in Christ. Joined with humble walking with God and working in the spirit of Jesus, this lived freedom lays heavy burdens on the great Burden-bearer and turns gatherings into love feasts with assurance of God's presence, triumphs in communion with His love, and a signal manifestation of His glory that impresses others with the tabernacle of God among men as a foretaste of mercy, abundant love and compassion.