The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
Here’s the catch:
We must be operating under the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus
in order for us to be free from the law of sin and death.
What does that mean?
Think of God’s protection as an umbrella.
If we step out from under God’s protection
and we are not obeying His commands,
we will have breaches in our armour or our protection and thereby,
we are not under the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
God does not go anywhere. God does not change. He is solid.
It is we who choose to stray or choose to sin by doing our fleshly works.
Let’s consider what Jesus said are the two greatest commandments:
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is,
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:
this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29-31
If we keep our eyes on these two commandments and obey them,
we are sure to be following all as Jesus Himself said,
There is none other commandment greater than these.
While we may not follow these commandments perfectly,
we can be sure that our target
for abiding in the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is on-point
for what Jesus told us to be focused on.
Check your intentions with the Lord and His word.
Are your intentions pure?
Listen to the Lord about your motives.
Is it about what you think or His perfect will?
Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
Unforgiveness and bitterness are two examples of choosing
not to walk in the Law of Life in Christ Jesus.
Any command that God gives that we disobey,
can lead us out from under His protection.
As long as we stay under His covering,
we are not under the Law of Sin and death,
but instead, protected by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
These are spiritual laws.
They are as sure as the law of gravity in the natural realm or more so.
Not walking in love is another area we can move out
from under His protection.
God’s word is full of admonitions about love.
We are to love our enemies, love the brethren.
Love God with our whole heart and soul,
love our neighbor as ourselves.
We are to love those who do not reciprocate.
On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?
do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:46-48
These are examples of God’s love,
which are covered by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
You don’t feel it? Still choose to love.
Choose to follow God’s leading and obeying His commandments
of love for Himself and love toward others.
He will honor those efforts if they are done in sincerity.
If you find yourself being attacked,
check with God to see if there is a breach.
We still will have tribulations and trials, even in God’s perfect will.
It’s part of living in this world.
By obeying God, we will have His blessing and His guidance
and His protection that He chooses to give
as we walk through our trials.
All we can do is the best we can to follow Him and to stay close to Him,
which means staying as far away as possible
from the Law of Sin and Death by not participating in it.