“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:2
LIGHT FOR NOW: The divine nature is not merely a new status before God; it is a new power at work within the believer. The life of God does not only forgive us; it empowers us.
One of the greatest misconceptions about the Christian life is that believers are left to overcome sin by their own strength. Many sincerely love God, yet they struggle because they rely on human determination instead of divine life. Paul unveils a glorious truth in Romans 8: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. Notice the expression: “The Spirit of life”.
The Christian life is fundamentally a life. Not merely a set of commandments. Not merely a religious discipline. It is the very life of God operating in the believer through the Holy Spirit. The word “life” is the Greek word zōē. It refers to the eternal, uncreated life of God. This is the same life that Jesus declared when He said: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. When you were born again, this divine life entered your spirit. You did not merely receive forgiveness. You received God’s own life.
Paul then speaks of “the law of the Spirit of life”. Here, the word “law” does not primarily refer to the Law of Moses. It speaks of a governing principle or an operating power. Just as the law of gravity consistently operates in the natural world, there is a higher spiritual law operating within every believer; the law of the Spirit of life. Paul contrasts it with another law: “The law of sin and death”. This was the principle that governed humanity in Adam. It produced spiritual death, bondage, condemnation, and separation from God.
Every descendant of Adam lived under its influence. But something remarkable happened at salvation. Paul says: “Hath made me free…” Notice again the tense. Not “will make me free”; not “might make me free”; but “hath made me free”. This freedom is an accomplished reality in Christ. It does not mean believers will never face temptation. Nor does it mean the flesh immediately disappears. Rather, it means sin is no longer the ruling power over the believer’s life. Before the new birth, the sinner could do nothing but express the fallen nature. But after the new birth, the believer now possesses the capacity to live according to the Spirit because the life of God dwells within him. This is why victory is possible, not because the believer is naturally strong; but because the divine nature is stronger than the old way of life.
A bird flies, not because it struggles against gravity every moment, but because it possesses a higher law; the law of aerodynamics. Likewise, believers overcome the old life because a higher law now operates within them: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The Christian life, therefore, is not about trying harder. It is about yielding more fully to the life of Christ within. The more believers walk in the Spirit, renew their minds with the Word, and depend upon God’s grace, the more the divine nature is expressed through them. Remember this always, you are not fighting for victory. You are living from the victory that Christ has already secured and the life He has already imparted. That is the glorious privilege of being a partaker of the divine nature. Hallelujah!
INSTRUCTION: Whenever temptation or discouragement comes today, remind yourself that the life of God is already at work within you. Depend on His strength instead of your own.
CONFESSION: Father, thank You for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that has made me free from the law of sin and death. Thank You that Your divine life is at work within me. I choose to yield to the Holy Spirit and to walk in the victory You have already provided, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Glory!
For More Light; get the message, “Now we are in Christ” by Dr. John Linus
QUOTE: The believer does not overcome by human effort but by the superior life of God working within him.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: ROMANS CHAPTER 8; EVENING: GALATIANS CHAPTER 5:16-26
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 