Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Satan can be so subtle and deceptive. He can make us think that the purpose of the gospel is merely to awaken us, to turn us into stronger, more spiritual versions of our sinful selves, so that we have some new power to keep the old law.
The union with Christ that comes through faith is no mere battery pack for the soul that simply gives you strength to be a better follower of Moses.
The “law of sin and death” is the Mosaic Law. Earlier in Romans (in chapter six and seven) Paul shows how from the law comes the knowledge of sin. When I tell my five-year-old not to play with the soap, he is instantly tempted to do just that. A simple command or law merely informs the hearer of what is required (and what is the opposite of that – sin) without providing any means or power with which to actually meet the requirement.
The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is that He is the perfect fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. Through faith, we can be united with Him, obtaining God’s pardon for all our sin, adoption into His family, and access to Jesus Himself through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. This means we are no longer obligated to keep the law, as if we still need to please God by keeping all the rules.
Instead, we are obligated to Christ by way of our relationship with Him, because of His love for us that stirs up our own hearts to love him in return. This obligation to Christ, whose life was the purest picture of what the law meant, is far greater and higher than any previous obligation to the law.
What does this actually look like in real life? If I were trying to keep the law, my day may look like this: I wake up to my alarm, and dutifully get up because it’s what I should do, even though I’d like to sleep a bit more. I make my bed and brush my teeth because I’ve been told those are good things to do. I may not tuck the sheets in perfectly because, let’s face it, I don’t really care about the bed. But this failure to be perfect, however small, may start to nag at me on a subconscious level. Next, the big one, it’s time for me to read my Bible. This is where I really prove how spiritual I am or not. I’ve had a good streak going for a month now. If I don’t read my Bible again today for at least twenty minutes, I’m going to regret it all day.
Need I go on?
Anyone can see that I am only doing all these things because I am trying to follow a list of rules, and not because I really want to.
And here is where Satan can get so tricky. He likes to sneak in like an angel of light and offer me the “gospel.” He first capitalizes on that nagging guilt that builds up inside as I fail to keep all the rules perfectly. He whispers that if I really wanted to keep the rules better, perhaps even perfectly, I need to use “gospel power!” I need to “trust God” and maybe even get into an accountability group. He tries to get us to see the gospel as just a means of keeping the law better.
We think we have to use the gospel to be better versions of ourselves, when in reality, we simply must believe it.
In reality, the gospel frees us from the law completely. “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” When I wake up in the morning, I can immediately approach God with full confidence, knowing that He loves me in Christ. I am now joyful and eager to grow closer to him each day. This relationship with Jesus Himself makes me want to know Him more and see more of Him through the study of His Word. That gives me even more joy and peace which then energizes me to obey God’s commands, not because I must obey in order to remain in God’s love, but because obedience is itself just another way of receiving God’s grace toward me. (God only commands what is by definition good for us in the first place)
“So many people are seeking sanctification from the “law of sin” and life from the “law of death”! But the gospel speaks of life. Its doctrines, its precepts, its promises, its exhortations, its rebukes, and its hopes are all infused with spiritual life, and come with quickening power to the soul. “The words that I speak unto you,” says Jesus, “they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). There is life in the gospel because it is the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2). It testifies of “Christ who is our life” (Col 3:4) and declares that there is no spiritual life outside of Him. Although “the letter killeth” (2 Cor 3:6) when it works by itself, yet in the hands of the Spirit it gives life. Thus clothed with the energy of the Holy Spirit, the gospel proves a “savour of life unto life” (2 Cor 2:16) to all who believe in it to the saving of the soul.”
Octavius Winslow, Evening Thoughts, November 22nd.