Romans 8:1-2
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
There is a popular story that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree, an apple fell on his head, and he suddenly thought of the Universal Law of Gravitation. As in all such legends, this is almost certainly not true in its details, but the story contains elements of what actually happened. Probably the more correct version of the story is that Newton, upon observing an apple fall from a tree, began to think along the following lines:
• The apple is accelerated, since its velocity changes from zero as it releases from the tree and moves toward the ground.
• Thus, by Newton's 2nd Law there must be a force that acts on the apple to cause this acceleration.
• This force was called gravity, and the associated acceleration the "acceleration due to gravity".
Gravity is a law that you and I cannot defy. But, there is another law that comes into play. As an airplane takes off and builds up momentum, it lifts off the ground to begin to soar and even while the plane is building momentum the law of gravity is present all around trying to keep the plane on the ground. Another law is applied that lifts that aircraft off the ground and pulls it upward defying the law of gravity. That law is called Aerodynamics. Turns out you can actually break the law of gravity with enough lift and thrust.
In Romans 7 Paul introduces us to another law:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
There is the law of sin present with every human being that pulls us down to this temporal earth because we are living in this sinful flesh. But, God has provided a law that can render the law of sin ineffective in our lives.
Romans 8:1-4
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
We can break the law of sin, but only with the law of the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ.
And listen to Galatians 5:
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
We shouldn't be surprised when our flesh wants to do wrong, because those feelings, desires, and inclinations are real and there is no amount of spiritual experiences that will ever take them completely away. Bro. Thomson said in one of his messages "It’s the devil’s plan through the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life to keep our focus on the Earth and Earthly things." This is why Jesus came. Because keeping of the law was just another activity of this Earthly flesh. It was self-induced righteousness and it fell short of God’s requirements. The law could set the speed limit and even convict you if you broke it, but the law could never help you to obey.
The way that we can break the law of sin and death was found in the midst of Romans 8:5-6, when Paul wrote "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
So the key to walking in the Spirit and breaking the law of sin and spiritual death is what we set our minds on.
Colossians 3:1-2
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
If we continue to tie our thoughts to the things of this earth, then we miss out on what God thinks about us.
God says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
God sees us as a new creature.
God says old things are passed away.
God makes all things become new.
I don't need to walk in this flesh anymore.
I don't need to fulfill the lusts of this flesh anymore.
It turns out you can break the law of sin and death, but only through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Go ahead and break the law...of sin,
Pastor Hoffman
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
There is a popular story that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree, an apple fell on his head, and he suddenly thought of the Universal Law of Gravitation. As in all such legends, this is almost certainly not true in its details, but the story contains elements of what actually happened. Probably the more correct version of the story is that Newton, upon observing an apple fall from a tree, began to think along the following lines:
• The apple is accelerated, since its velocity changes from zero as it releases from the tree and moves toward the ground.
• Thus, by Newton's 2nd Law there must be a force that acts on the apple to cause this acceleration.
• This force was called gravity, and the associated acceleration the "acceleration due to gravity".
Gravity is a law that you and I cannot defy. But, there is another law that comes into play. As an airplane takes off and builds up momentum, it lifts off the ground to begin to soar and even while the plane is building momentum the law of gravity is present all around trying to keep the plane on the ground. Another law is applied that lifts that aircraft off the ground and pulls it upward defying the law of gravity. That law is called Aerodynamics. Turns out you can actually break the law of gravity with enough lift and thrust.
In Romans 7 Paul introduces us to another law:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
There is the law of sin present with every human being that pulls us down to this temporal earth because we are living in this sinful flesh. But, God has provided a law that can render the law of sin ineffective in our lives.
Romans 8:1-4
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
We can break the law of sin, but only with the law of the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ.
And listen to Galatians 5:
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
We shouldn't be surprised when our flesh wants to do wrong, because those feelings, desires, and inclinations are real and there is no amount of spiritual experiences that will ever take them completely away. Bro. Thomson said in one of his messages "It’s the devil’s plan through the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life to keep our focus on the Earth and Earthly things." This is why Jesus came. Because keeping of the law was just another activity of this Earthly flesh. It was self-induced righteousness and it fell short of God’s requirements. The law could set the speed limit and even convict you if you broke it, but the law could never help you to obey.
The way that we can break the law of sin and death was found in the midst of Romans 8:5-6, when Paul wrote "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
So the key to walking in the Spirit and breaking the law of sin and spiritual death is what we set our minds on.
Colossians 3:1-2
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
If we continue to tie our thoughts to the things of this earth, then we miss out on what God thinks about us.
God says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
God sees us as a new creature.
God says old things are passed away.
God makes all things become new.
I don't need to walk in this flesh anymore.
I don't need to fulfill the lusts of this flesh anymore.
It turns out you can break the law of sin and death, but only through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Go ahead and break the law...of sin,
Pastor Hoffman
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