“Freedom for the Living!”

Scripture: Romans 8:1-11

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom yet [condemn] agitation are [people] who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder or lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
--19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, address on West India Emancipation, August 4, 1857

This quote by Frederick Douglass shows us that he knew very well that freedom is never “free”, that it never just falls into our lap! We have just celebrated the anniversary of our nation’s declaration of independence from England. But freedom wouldn’t just happen. It would require 7 bloody years of conflict – families would be broken apart, property would be seized or destroyed, lives would be lost and a very great cost would be exacted by both our fledgling nation and the British Empire.
And the freedom that comes from our Christian salvation isn’t much different. When we come to Christ in faith, there is a terrible conflict between the life we had been living and the one we have been called to live. Even though we may have been living a very “good” life, it can never be good enough to please the Lord. And as we approach that new life in Christ, there is always at least some fear and guilt over the things we did in the old one. What is God going to do about our sinful life? Will we be punished? How bad will it get before it can get better?
But we soon discover that all our fears were groundless, and even though this entire chapter is about the struggle between life and death, we need to know that the character and nature of God will prevail every time.

Read Romans 8:1-4

The first 2 verses hold two vital truths – first, that in Christ, there is no disapproval, and second, there are two laws in battle over our lives – that of the Spirit and that of sin; that of life and that of death.

Let’s consider the second truth first – the conflict between the two laws. Paul tells us that it is the law of sin and death that convicts us, and that we are all under this law. We can do nothing to clear our name, there is no sense trying to plea bargain, and without Christ’s redemption, the verdict is a foregone and incontestable conclusion. GUILTY!
But when we give it all over to Jesus, the Law of the Spirit of Life comes to bear. And where there is Life, death cannot exist; where there is forgiveness, there are no charges; and where there are no charges, there can be no trial. And the result is Freedom for our souls!

Understanding the previous truth is critical in accepting the other. When we give ourselves over to Christ, not only is our guilt wiped away, but so is our condemnation. Acknowledgement of the existence of our sin is still there, but there is no verdict against us. In Zechariah 3:1-5, we find Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Judgment Seat, and Satan is there to accuse him. But we see no evidence what-so-ever of a defiance attorney! The Judge, Jesus himself, sends Satan packing, and then proceeds to have the attending angels remove the priest’s filthy clothes – representing our sin - and dress him from head to foot with the finest attire, which signifies righteousness. No charges are brought, no trial is held – there isn’t even an offer of a “not guilty” verdict! Just the exchange of our sin for God’s holiness. And Joshua doesn’t say a word through the entire exchange.
When we let Jesus destroy our sin, it is both the first and the final act of his redemptive power in our lives.

And the next two verses explain the necessity of the first two – that following the law is insufficient to overcome the condemnation of our sin. It offers hope for deliverance, but it falls far short of its promise. After all, how could sinful people possibly exchange their sinfulness for holiness? We don’t even understand holiness, let alone how to achieve it! Sin can only be overcome by holiness itself, and never by sin.
And so, Jesus came to earth, not in the image of the Divine God but in the image of sinful humanity. And when he gave up his life on Calvary, he took our sin with him. Remember the story of the man with the unclean spirit called “Legion”? Jesus ordered them to leave the man, and they entered the pigs, who then stampeded over a cliff, drowning themselves in the lake. (Mark 5:1-13) That’s what Jesus did to our sin. He took the entirety of human sin into death, and left them there when he returned to life.
The law could not destroy our sin – it could only make us aware of it. Jesus is the only one who can destroy the burden of our failures.

Read Romans 8:5-8

Paul now addresses the reason that a “life in the flesh” and a “life in the Spirit” cannot simultaneously exist in us. Paul tells us that it all comes back to that “you can’t serve two masters” issue. (Matthew 6:24) He says that it all hinges on our ability to focus on only one thing at a time. If our lives are focused on the things of the world, we can only live as the world lives. But when our vision is shifted to the things of heaven, we begin to live in the Spirit. When we live in the decay that is earth, our life will be limited and finite. But when we are in the infinite God, we, too, will know eternity.

These two ways are incompatible and mutually exclusive – either we live in the world or in the Spirit; either we live in decay and death or in eternity; either we live in sin or in salvation – we can’t have it both ways. Paul even goes so far as to say that “the sinful mind is hostile to God.” Sin is antagonistic to God, it’s unreceptive of God, it is adversarial and oppositional and irreconcilable to God. The law puts our focus on sin, but the Spirit places our vision squarely on Jesus and the life that can only come through him. We can only live in one – it’s either the world or the Spirit - we can’t have it both ways. We need to become “Spirit-thinkers”, not “world-thinkers”!

Read Romans 8:9-11

And Paul takes this issue up one more step, which also takes us back to Joshua the high priest in Zechariah – when our life is in Christ, Satan’s plan no longer has any control over us. The phrase “the Spirit of God lives in you” implies more of a conditional change in our lives that it does that God has entered our lives. It’s about a whole new way of living, not just a new hope. Are we trying to satisfy our flesh – our physical needs – or are we looking to strengthen and grow our spirit? It’s about our vision of life.
But remember that living in the Spirit does not mean that we no longer need to be concerned with our physical needs. We still need to eat, we still need water, we still need companionship, we still need air to breath, we still need employment – we still have the need to sustain our human life. But the difference is in the reasons that we nourish our human existence. Do we live to gain the admiration of the world and to improve our position in the sight of others? Or do we live to serve God and to bring praises and glory to him? Again, we can’t do both at the same time.

And we also need to know that sin will never quit knocking at our door! Satan never quit tempting Jesus, and he will never give up on us either. But the life-changing Spirit will help us get through this time. The Spirit of God is power and courage and vision, and he gives us the wherewithal to say “yes” to the things of the Lord, and “no” to the things of earth. He helps us to stay focused on our life in Christ, while recognizing the death that comes from Satan.

And Paul reminds us that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that brings new live to our mortal lives. And this life in Christ is not a singular issue – it is all encompassing. It is a new life that fills us even in our humanity; it is a newness that changes our priority from our physical needs to our righteous gifts; it is a regenerative change that reforms us and recreates us and rebirths us as new beings; it is the power that frees us from our finite humanness; and it is the love of God that comes to us by the Passion of Jesus Christ.

And it doesn’t end here! It never ends!