Salvation
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10 ESV)
Not only to be reconciled.
Here the phrase “be saved” may apply to the fact we will get off all the evil nature and put on the glory image of Jesus Christ, because this is stressed after the fact that we are reconciled to God.
This is the key of explaining the mystery of Romans.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (Romans 6:12 ESV)
To live holy.
When we know what I means, it’ll be easy to understand this. This means that now that we’ll be made into the image which is similar to our Lord’s, so our life have a definite goal. To achieve the goal, what is recommended here is therefore important.
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6 ESV)
How to live holy.
This scripture often arouses questions. What does it mean to be in the way of law or of Spirit? If we read the scripture thoroughly, we can assume that living in the way of law means to live in the way of putting all the minds into holding strictly to the law, and living in the way of Spirit means to live according to Spirit’s commands.
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Romans 7:7-12 ESV)
How the law makes me dead.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Romans 7:15 ESV)
Why to use simple present here.
This scripture often confuses people that why Paul uses simple present here. As J.I.Packer said, Paul just wants us to know that the salvation itself can not get us rid of the sin when we are alive. However, Packer missed one thing that when Paul wrote this he was aiming at that the law is spiritual and it is sin which produces death in me. So what Packer indicated is used by apostle Paul as a common sense, which just to prove that the law is not sin. So, verse 7 to verse 12 only describe the situation before the salvation, while to discuss the problem after the salvation will make the problem more clear and describe the situation of our flesh more naturally.
The way to serve the law of God
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:25 ESV)
This also confuses many people. However, what Paul wants to say is that because of the law in my members my flesh is forced to serve the law of sin. So, Paul wants to suggests that just don’t work with flesh but with mind. So, to clearly indicate, when I work with my mind, I myself do serve the law of God, however, if I turns to work with my flesh, which has the evil law, I will certain to fail.
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:4-5 ESV)
I myself do set my mind on the thing of the Spirit. Or to say it more specifically, in my inner nature, I’ll be obliged to set my mind on the thing of the Spirit. However, because of our flesh, there are always wars in me.
However, back to Romans 7:25, why Paul says “Thanks be to God through our Christ Jesus”? Because Christians with Spirit set their minds on the Spirit, who enjoy life and peace, and live according to the Spirit, who is life because of righteousness and gives life to our mortal bodies. However, this means two things: we are alive sometimes because of our Lord’s great power, but we are also dead sometimes. (I prefer to explain Romans 8:11 in the meaning of giving power to us rather than resurrection.) But it’s also important to notice that Paul pays more attention to living according to the Spirit.
So it often seems that the boundary of the basic life mode between the law and the Spirit is vague. But it’s also true that the latter has life and peace, and spirit will give power to us to overcome the awful defects in our flesh for a while. I suppose Paul pay more attention to “life and peace”.
In summary, not to work with flesh, but to work with mind, and always put your mind on the Spirit. This is the way to the holiness in the New Testament.
he condemned sin in the flesh, (Romans 8:3 ESV)
A serious mistake?
While this clearly suggests that sin is in the flesh, but this does not means that sin is the component essence of our flesh, which the familiar term “the nature of the sin” indicates.