Quote:8 So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you[a] free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.Many ask why? Because Again The Law demands that one die for sin. Jesus died instead of you/in your place (potentially) so you do not have to. Like Paul's marriage analogy in chapter 6 now that the Law has been fulfilled, we are no longer bound to the law like a woman is no longer bound to her husband once he dies. In this analogy the 'husband' is the law and because Christ died in our place it would be like one of the married coupled died, therefore we are no longer bound to the law to be defined as righteous before God. This means the 'rules' of salvation according to any church/traditional doctrine are wrong.
Their are no rules their is no one doctrine any longer. Theology ceases to be about check lists and strict behavior! we now are free to Follow the Holy Spirit, which will direct us according to our strengths.
But at the same time Paul reminds us of this:
Quote:5 People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do. 6 If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. 7 Why is this true? Because anyone whose thinking is controlled by their sinful self is against God. They refuse to obey God’s law. And really they are not able to obey it. 8 Those who are ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.Paul is building on what he told us in Romans 1 and 2 (Ro 1 being the identification of evil people, verse romans 2 sinful people.)
the people of verse 5 &6here are the people of romans 1. (evil people)
the rest of this paragraph speaks to our dual nature Paul points out in Romans 7 (which is the whole key to this study, go back and read it if you are confused or did not read it.)
In order to be worthy of salvation Paul explains in Ro 7 that we must hate the sin that we are in. Paul goes on to say that God knows we will never be able to put sin down completely, and does not expect us to. that is why He sent Jesus.
But, here in chapter 8 Paul is also telling us God is no fool, and will not get caught in some loop hole theology you may have created for yourself. That God is all about forgiving sin, but can indeed see if their is a battle going on between your spiritual side and your sinful/physical side. which is what Paul is saying in the following verses:
Quote:9 But you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are ruled by the Spirit, if that Spirit of God really lives in you. But whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. 10 Your body will always be dead because of sin. But if Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life, because Christ made you right with God. 11 God raised Jesus from death. And if God’s Spirit lives in you, he will also give life to your bodies that die. Yes, God is the one who raised Christ from death, and he will raise you to life through his Spirit living in you.12 So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves. We must not live the way our sinful selves want. 13 If you use your lives to do what your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have true life.14 The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen children. And with that Spirit we cry out, “ Abba,[b] Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself speaks to our spirits and makes us sure that we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, we will get the blessings God has for his people. He will give us all that he has given Christ. But we must suffer like Christ suffered. Then we will be able to share his glory.Again the key here is not succumbing to our sinful wants. the side that makes excuses for sin that trys and justifies our sins and some how makes them 'moral'. this is the spiritual death Paul was speaking about. We must never 'explain away or try and trivialize our sin. We must always identify our sin and know we are sinning. Otherwise we will never come to a place of repentance for our sin.
to be continued..
