Living in the Spirit

In the eighth chapter of Paul's epistle to the disciples of Christ who were living at Rome, the apostle said that Christ's obedience to Torah and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit enabled them to overcome their natural hostility to God's Law. How was this accomplished? Paul wrote: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." (Verses 1-4, NLT)

For Paul, this is what liberated the Christian from that sinful nature. He continued: "Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God." (Verses 5-8) The fault - the problem - was with US - it was our sinful nature which made us hostile to God and unable to be obedient to him. Nevertheless, Paul clearly delineated that Christ had destroyed the control which our own sinful nature exerted over us and had given us access to God's own Spirit to lead us in a different direction.

Paul then went on to elucidate the essential role that the Holy Spirit played in the liberated Christian's life going forward. He wrote: "But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." (Verses 9-14)

So, according to Paul, Christ's obedience to Torah made them right with God and destroyed the hold that their sinful nature exerted over them. And, just as Christ had freed them from that nature, Paul went on to say that the Holy Spirit would enable them to live their lives going forward in that freedom! In other words, Christ made it possible for them to abandon their hostility to what God expected from them. Going forward, under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, they would be able to love God with their whole hearts and each other as they loved themselves. Moreover, Paul made it very clear to them that this would not be accomplished through their individual efforts to obey the commandments of Torah - that it was accomplished exclusively through Jesus Christ and the indwelling of God's Spirit within each of them as individuals. Thus, as Paul went on to say, Christ had made God's love known to them and NOTHING (including that sinful nature) would ever again be able to separate them (Christians) from him! (Verses 31-39)