There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:1-2)
The word ‘law’ in this verse does not mean an external set of rules or authoritative expressions of the will of a ruler proposed for the obedience of man. ‘Law’ here implies an inward principle that involves a certain constancy of action, uniformity or fixedness. For example, under normal atmospheric pressure, water changes from liquid to its solid form at 0 degree Celsius while it changes into the gaseous state at 100 degrees. This is a law in the water molecule. It is not an external instruction; it is an internal principle of action that determines the behaviour of the water molecule under different circumstances.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is an inward principle of action that the Spirit of Christ has activated within us. It is the law of the new being, the law of the New Creation! The law of sin and death is also an inward principle of action. It was activated within the human race at the fall of Adam.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
When Adam ate the forbidden fruit in disobedience to God, he died immediately according to the word of God but he still continued to exist for over nine hundred years. The law of sin and death was opened up within him and he began to exhibit the signs and symptoms of death until he finally died physically.
Physical death is one of the symptoms of death. It is one of the various expressions of the law of death. Others expressions include fear, confusion, depression, sickness, frustration and so on. These things are produced by the law of sin and death at work in the natural man. Only the activation of a higher law (the law of the Spirit of life in Christ), can put an end to the dominion of the law of sin and death. When the higher law comes in, the lower law has no choice but to bow.
A bird flies because the law of flight is in it. It does not need external instructions to make it fly; the codes that control its flight are all within it. The commandments that make it fly are on its inside. If those internal codes are not there, no amount of pressure from the outside will make it fly. In the same way, the law of the spirit of life is an internal written code that makes the new creation to function as Christ. It is the DNA of God at work in the believer.
The law of flight is in the bird but the bird must spread its wings if it wants to fly. Flying is not automatic, it must be initiated by the bird that is willing to fly. The bird spreads its wing with confident assurance that it will not be a failed attempt. It does not attempt to fly, it just flies. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is within you but you must be deliberate about engaging it. This begins with recognizing this law and functioning in ways that are consistent with it.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is a law of faith, hope and love. It enables us to walk in love towards everyone, remain hopeful in difficult times and grow in the faith. Outside of faith, hope and love, one is not functioning in a way that is consistent with the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
You are a partaker of the divine nature and a carrier of the Spirit of life. You can overflow with faith, hope and love like our Lord Jesus Christ. This means you have the ability to reason like Christ and act like Him; having the same attitude as Him towards all issues in life. Jesus said, 'he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father' (John 14:12).
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has put you in a position of advantage over anything that this world throws at you.
‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust’. (2 Peter 1:2-4)
