In writing to the Romans, Paul laments over his unsuccessful attempts to overcome the flesh in his own strength and to put on the mind of Christ. He realized the wretchedness of his humanity. He struggled with our need to be holy, and his inability to reach this level of consecration (Romans 7:19-24). Then, God surprised Paul with a revelation (Romans 7:25). He was thrilled to realize that we do not have to suffer under the weight of condemnation any longer, because Christ already set us all free from the law of sin and death on Calvary’s Cross (Romans 8:1-2).
As
authentic Christians we now live by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus (Romans 8:2). Our transformation rests firmly on the rock of the gospel of Christ (Romans
12:2; Psalm 18:2).
We live by His faith in love, filled with the fruit of, and following the
leading of God’s Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis (Galatians
5:1; 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:18). We no longer strive
to earn God’s love or to live a holy life. We simply walk in obedience. We live
on earth to glorify our Father, not by our own efforts, but only by the power
of Christ within us.
Jesus loves us so much, that
for our benefit he gave Himself up to the horrific death on Calvary’s cross.
Through His
sacrifice, we are now acceptable to God in Christ (1 Peter
2:5; Romans 15:7). We have been crucified with Christ. Therefore, it is no longer we who
live our life, but Christ, the Messiah, who lives in us. The life that we now
live in our body on this earth, we live by faith in, devotion to, dependence on
and complete confidence in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20, Amplified Bible).
Jesus
is our only hope of experiencing God’s glory (Colossians 1:27). We could never be good
enough in our human effort to earn a place in Heaven (Ephesians
2:8-10). Jesus
gave up His glory in Heaven to take the form of a man, and He humbled Himself
and willingly died in our place (Philippians 2:8). Now, we can
put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). We renew our mind by reading God’s Word, and we walk
in the Spirit. Therefore, we will no longer succumb to the negative suggestions
of our carnal nature (Romans 12:2; Galatians 5:16).
We completely surrender our
will to God’s will for our life and we live in perfect union with Christ. Our old sinful nature is
crucified with Christ, and sin has no more power over our choices. Just as the Son could do
nothing of Himself, we too are nothing without Christ in us. The only effort we
need to make in order to walk in the reality of this victory is to totally
surrendering control of our life to God. In doing this, we successfully enter
His rest (Hebrews 4:3).
Prayer:
Lord
Jesus, our Father exalted You with a name above all other names. One day every
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that You, Jesus Christ, are Lord (Philippians
2:9-10). We
were buried with You through baptism into Your death. In the same way in which You were raised from the dead through
the glory of our Father, we too are raised to live a new life through You. We
are no longer slaves to sin, because You set us free from sin’s power when we
died with You on Calvary’s cross (Romans 6:4-7).
Thought
for the Day:
Just
as God the Father, Son and Spirit are united as one, Jesus died so we can share
in this same unity of oneness with our triune God. - 1 Corinthians 6:17