I. The Spirit and Life are as Inseparable as Sin and Death
A. There can be no more compromise between the Spirit and sin than there is between life and death - each is diametrically opposed to each other
1. Please don't confuse the Law of Moses with the Law of the Spirit of Life
2. Contained in the Law of Moses was the Ten commandments
3. Since this is the law of righteousness what is it that this law cannot do? Heb. 7:19 - It made nothing perfectB. The reason it cannot make us perfect is the
harsh reality that the flesh is hostile to God
(Rom. 8:7)1. It does not and cannot submit itself to God's law
2. It is a great source of relief to discover that God has never expected anything of us other than failure
3. Nothing that ever shocks you about yourself shocks Him
4. You can never be shocked by what you expect
5. If you are still shocked at your capacity to sin, it is because you are still believing the lie that you can be a Christian in your own strength
II. You May be in Christ but you are Behaving as though You are in Adam
A. You are still perpetuating the Adamic creed of self -sufficiency
1. We adopt the attitude of the defeated tennis player who says there must be something wrong with my racquet
2. Don't get me worn, I am not excusing sin or that He expects you to just keep on sinning
3. I simply mean He has no delusions about you
B. Repentance does not go on apologizing to God for the thing you have done wrong as though you were surprised at yourself
1. We sometimes think God is going to say, "I know you didn't mean it and it's not normally what I would expect of you."
2. The truth is apart from His living in and through us, that is exactly what God expects of us
3. Why not call your own bluff and admit that what you have done is the result of what you are, unless what you are is replaced by what He is
III. It is the Holy Spirit in us that produces the liberating Law of Life
A. Stop being deceived into thinking that the flesh can change its nature
1. Capt. Reginald Wallace once said, "Far too many people have shares in the old Adam Improvement society. It has been a bankrupt concern since the company was floated and when the Lord comes, it will go into liquidation."
2. There is good news however, for God has done what the law could not do (Rom. 8:3)
B. Every demand of the law found its complete fulfillment in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ
1. That being so, what can the life He lived then 1900 years ago do for you now?
2. His life, like the law, condemns and proves us guilty
3. Whether you try to keep the law or imitate His life, both will condemn you morally
4. Why is that so? Rom. 3:23 - we all have come short of the Glory of God
IV. The Life that He lived Qualified Him for the Death He died
A. The Lord Jesus could not have died the death He did had He not lived the life that He lived
1. He could have died a martyrs death, a prophets death, even a hero's death, but He could not have died a Savior's death
2. I Peter 3:18, "Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, the just for the unjust to bring us to God."Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
And God, the Just, is satisfied,
To look on Him, and pardon me!
B. To know our sins are gone is great, but is that all I need?
1. Does the knowledge that your sins are forgiven impart any new capacity to live a different kind of life?
2. The answer is NO. There may have been created in you a desire to serve God
3. But if all that HS happened is that your sins have been forgiven you are left with the same resources that you had before your conversion
4. If that is the case, your only alternative is to Christianize the flesh which is what most of us do
5. The flesh tries to behave godly and is frustrated because it is a sheer impossibility
C. You need something more than forgiveness - you need Life
1. That is exactly what we did receive (Eph. 2:5) He made us alive together in fellowship with Christ
2. The life that Jesus lived 1900 years ago that condemned you is the very life that He now lives within you
3. The life that He lives within you saves you (Rom. 5:10)
4. The Christian life is simply the life which He lived then, lived by Him now in you
D. This is the new law of Rom. 8:2 in action - the law of the Spirit of Life
1. This life allows us to declare the Son as once the son declared the Father
2. We see certain principles evolving, they can be summarized in four simple sentences
a. He had to come has He did (miraculous birth) to be what He was (perfect).
b. He had to be what He was (perfect) to do what He did (redeem).
c. He had to do what He did (redeem) that you might have what He is (life).
d. You must have what He is (life) to be what He was (perfect).
Just as you have made the choice to receive Him as Savior - you must also choose to allow Him to be the source of your life.
Remember, it take Christ to be a Christian - for Christ in a Christian puts God back into the man.