4Laws3Lives.Art.Licursi-1.19.04
Understanding The Four Biblical Laws
& The Three Biblical Lives
Operating In The Life Of Every Christian
- A Study -
By Arthur J Licursi
This paper is intended for serious study by seeking ones. It is not to be read casually. It includes an understanding that is most crucial to the life of every Christian. It is recommended that one sit quietly, seeking God’s divine revelation by His Holy Spirit as it is studied. Many Scripture verses have been included in their entirety so as to help the reader maintain context in reading. The writer, for emphasis, has added italic, bolding, and parentheses, to the Scriptures. All Bible references are of the KJV.
The Book of Romans is sometimes referred to as the Christian’s Magna Carta, the declaration of the Christian’s freedom from Sin’s tyrannical rule over mankind. In it the Apostle Paul includes a nuts and bolts explanation of these, facts, these truths. As one studies Romans 6, 7 & 8 in the context of the entirety of the Pauline epistles, and his “mystery gospel” (Romans 2:16; Romans 16:25; 2 Tim. 2:8, Col 1:25-27) of Christ indwelling the believer, we should recognize that there are four “laws” involved in the life of every believer. Of these, three laws are “inner laws”, operating within man’s being, and one law is an “outer law”, outside of man’s being, it is the Mosaic Law of God, written on stone. Correspondingly, there also are three lives in operation, in accord with each of the three inward laws located within the Christian’s 3-part being, his spirit, soul and body (1Thes 5:23).
“Law” Defined
Before proceeding, we should note the proper definition of the word “law”. “Law” here in Romans is not necessarily precepts, ordinances, or rules for right conduct, listed on paper, such as our government’s civil laws, or even God’s Mosaic Laws, written on stone. “Law” in the Greek is the word “nomos”, meaning, “regulation”, or we might say, “The way a thing works to regulate, or the way it naturally operates to regulate something”.
Example: “The Law of Gravity” is called a law by the way that it automatically, naturally, and spontaneously works or operates to act upon material things, to pull them down to the earth. Also it can be said that our physical bodies have within them a automatic law of operation according to the working of the “physical human life”, which regulates our heart to beat, balance the glucose in our blood, our breathing, etc., all without forethought, as it operates spontaneously, naturally.
Thus, laws are not only those that are dead, outside of us, such the Ten Commandments, but also laws may be living and operational within our physical being. Laws or modes of regulation exist on each of the three levels of our being, body, soul, and spirit.
The Relationship Between Law & Life
Almost every kind of physical life has a corresponding natural, spontaneous, law of self-regulation, by which its nature is expressed. Only man is somewhat different. The law or operation of the dog’s life has a nature such that it barks, birds fly, cats meow, oak trees have acorns, carnations have blossoms and smell a certain way, etc.
Each of the (3) three inward laws of operation in man’s life addressed herein are similar, in that they work naturally, without effort, according to the life and nature with which they are associated.
1) Sin’s death-life operating in the physical mortal body, pulling man down to sin, and ultimately death.
2) The self-life operating in the soul as a man’s individual self is able to express either the Sin life or the Christ life to which ever it may be yielded.
3) Christ Spirit of Life operating within and one with the human spirit of the Christian (1John 4:13, 2Tim 4:22, 1Cor 6:17), spontaneously works within the Christian’s human spirit, to automatically flow out according to Christ’s nature.
Four Laws Operating In Man’s Experience
In reading Roman’s 7 and 8 we will see that there are (4) four laws and (3) three lives mentioned. Lets now apply the above understanding and definition of “law” to the following list of the four kinds of “laws”, with some related verses that follow.
The “Law of Good & Evil” (Gen 2:17) operates from within every man’s conscious being, by his mind and conscience. (See the writer’s article “The Conscience, Gateway To A Man’s Being” at www.livingtemples.net).
This is God’s” inner law”, in all men, in their hearts mind, gained by the tree of which Adam ate.
Genesis 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Genesis 3:22 And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
Thus God acknowledged in Gen 3:22 that man has gained the knowledge of good and evil. Paul confirms the same information as follows.
Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles (unregenerate), which have not the law (Moses law), do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law (of Moses), are a law unto themselves: 15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Paul goes onto express the frustration of having this knowledge and not being able to live it.
Romans 7:23-24 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind (Knowledge of Good & Evil), and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (mortal body). 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Parenthesis added)
The “Law of Good & Evil” is in every man’s heart/mind (Rom 2:15), and it corresponds to the outer Mosaic Law of God. Held in a man’s mind, these laws are inadequate, powerless to bring about righteousness and righteous living (Rom 7:23). This leads to frustration and the wretchedness expressed in Romans 7:24. These laws only serve to express the standard of God, exposing man’s utter hopelessness and helplessness in achieving righteousness within himself, thus revealing man’s neediness of Christ’s life. Mankind was never expected to be able to live according to the knowledge of good and evil or the Jews, the Mosaic Law. Christ’s life is the only life that is righteous, by the nature of God Himself, which can spontaneously live accordingly. Man was expected to try, and fail, and then to turn to God, receive Christ’s righteous life.
2. The “Law of Sin and Death” operates from within man’s physical body members.
This is the “inner law” of Sin & Death, gained by Adam taking on the death-life into His body (Rom 7:17-23, 8:2b) It is in man since Adam ate, or took in, the words of the Serpent, then passing Sin, as a nature, onto all mankind.
The “Law of Sin and death” is a law by the way Sin, as a nature within man’s flesh body, naturally works in man to produce acts of that Sin nature, called “sins”; ultimately, and automatically, leading to death (1Cor 15:56a). This is all according to the law, or natural operation, of Sin at work in man’s body, and as it may affect the daily living of both the unregenerate man, and that also of the child of God, so long as we live upon the earth in mortal flesh bodies, with Sin in them.
Romans 7:17-23 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God (Moses Law) after the inward (soul/mind) man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3. The “Law of the Spirit of Life” operates from within the spirit of every regenerated, rebirthed, Christian.
This is the inner law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus in the human spirit. This law operates, irrevocably; within man from the moment he receives Jesus Christ’s Spirit, by simply believing on Him.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
1 John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
John 3:6 that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit (Christ’s Spirit) is spirit (human spirit).
1 Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
2 Tim. 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
The Law of Christ Spirit of Life (see Rom 8:2a, above) is a law by the way it naturally works to produce righteousness living of God and in every man that receives Christ’s Spirit of life, by regeneration.
4. “The Law”, as The Mosaic Law, is given to Israel, Not to the Gentiles.
This is the outer law of regulation, as by commandments and ordinances (Rom. 7:12, 9, 22), given by God, to Israel, via Moses, now done away in Christ body (Rom 7:4).
The outer laws of God, and manmade religious laws, are powerless to assist in the keeping thereof. It is notable that the Ten Commandments are written on lifeless, impotent, stone (Act 17:29).
Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Romans 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward (soul) man:
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; …
Three “Lives” Dwelling Within Man’s Being
Man has three lives within his human being. Please understand that only one of these lives is the real or genuine life; and that is the eternal Spirit life in Christ within, and one with, man’s spirit. The other two lives are shadow lives; they are to be, and ultimately will be, subject to the indwelling life of Christ in man’s human spirit.
1.) Man, as a living soul, has his own individual soul/self-life as a human being, with “emotion” as a basis for desire, a self-conscious “mind” to consider and understand, and “free will” by which he makes choices.
2.) The usurping Sin/Spirit of the Serpent is a death-life located within man’s flesh body members, prompting the sinfulness of self-love and self-serving (Rom 7:5, 18, 20, 23), ultimately unto death.
3.) Christ’s Spirit of life (2Cor 3:17, 1John 4:13) is dwelling in, and one with, man’s human spirit (1Cor 6:17), as his only genuine life, the eternal life (Gal 2:20, Col 3:3a).
Understanding the interplay of these four laws and three lives will help us in understanding all that we encounter in our attempts at righteous and victorious living as Christians. This understanding will give us a head start at properly interpreting all Scripture in the light of the Pauline Gospel, which is in effect for us today, in “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph 3:2).
Victory Starts By Knowing Who It Was That Died On The Cross In Christ
The key to understanding the believer’s true status or position is found in two verses that go perfectly together to explain a major truth for understanding our co-death with Christ, Rom 6:6, and 7:4. The “Ye” of Rom 7:4 is the “old man” of Rom 6:6, and confirmed in Gal. 2:20.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him…
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; …
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…
Who Died With Christ On The Cross?
In Rom 6:6a the Apostle Paul confirms that it is our old man, our Adamic man, who “is” crucified with Christ. It was not Satan, and nor sin either that was crucified. Note that our Old Man “is” crucified, not “was” or “will be”, but “is crucified”. We do not have to make our Old Man dead; it was done already in Christ’s dying as us, and that death as us continues to be in effect. We, as our old independent self, were baptized (whelmed or immersed) into the death of Christ (not in water), together with Him, Romans 6:3.
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed (Gk. kartargeo, meaning, “made of no effect”), that henceforth we should not serve sin.Romans 6:6
Let me make clear that a major mis-transliteration of Roman’s 6:6 appears in the KJV, which leads people to a critical misunderstanding. Read closely here; the word “destroyed”, in Roman’s 6:6, leads some to say, “See, our body of sin was destroyed”. We know from many, many scriptures that Satan is not yet destroyed and will not be until he is cast into the lake of fire of Revelation. We know our body is not destroyed if we are yet walking around. So, neither is it we who were destroyed physically. We are still here physically with Christ’s life in us. The key is seeing the correct transliteration of the Greek word “kartargeo”, which the KJV translated “destroyed”. Note the very first italicized definition for the Greek word for “destroyed” used in Rom 6:6, as seen below, taken from the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
“Destroyed” - The Greek word in Rom. 6:6 is “katargeo”, Greek 2673, Strong’s, kat-arg-eh'-o; from Greek 2596 (kata) and Greek 691 (argeo); to be (render) entirely idle (useless), literal or figurative :- abolish, cease, cumber, deliver, destroy, do away, become (make) of no (none, without) effect, fail, loose, bring (come) to nought, put away (down), vanish away, make void. (Bold added by writer)
Our “old man” of Roman’s 6:6 was “crucified with him. We see here that our death as the “old man” is “by the body of Christ”(Rom 7:4); we were in Christ on the cross. His death was our death. See below in Romans 6:6 that the “body of sin” is not destroyed but more correctly transliterated as ”made of no effect”. So putting these together it is plain to see that it is the dead body of Jesus Christ, effectually brings an end to the power of (not destruction of) our body of sin and its tyrannical rulership over us as the “Old Man”. Thus, our dead Old Man, has made the “body of sin” powerless over us, “unemployed”, which is the word used in some translations that transliterate the word used for “destroy” in the KJV. The critical issue is to see how our body of sin was affected by our co-death with our Lord - it was “made of no effect”.
Here we see that the correct definition is not “destroy”, as in abolish, but rather to “(render) entirely idle (useless)”. This is the same Greek word “kartargeo”, is correctly translated in Gal. 5:4, “made of none effect”. Several Bible translations offer side margin notes here saying, “annulled”, “unemployed”, “made of none effect” and such. Yes, it refers to Satan’s sin nature being “made of none effect” because, we, as our old man, are dead! Satan cannot raise a dead person to sin.
Notice in Rom 6:6, above, the word “that”, which follows the words “crucified with him”. “…our old man is crucified with him, that”’ that what? For what reason was our “old man crucified with Him”? The word “that” is the announcing of the purpose of our being crucified with him - “that the body of sin might be made of no effect”. The one and primary purpose of Christ’s death was not simply to pay of acts of the sin nature, called “sins”, but rather to make that sin nature “of no effect”, powerless over we who are dead. Please realize that it was your and my death that the Father had interest in when He sent His Son to the cross, not only to die for us, but also, principally, to “die as us”, as our “old man”.
The Result of Our Death With Christ
Note the expected outcome of our co-death with Christ described in Romans 6:6b - “that henceforth we should not serve sin”. Rom 6:7 says proclaims, “He that is dead is freed from sin”. This freedom from sin’s dominion now makes perfect sense, since a dead man cannot sin; dead men cannot serve anything - good or evil. The regenerated child of God died with Christ, and thus is free to live by Christ’s indwelling life, in a relationship, described by Paul, as being married to Christ. We do not serve God (Gal 4:7), rather we are to submit to Christ and trust Christ in us as the Christian us, for Him to live through us as He spontaneously wills by the natural operation of the Law of the Spirit of His life (Rom 8:2). It is Christ within the believer who knows to, and wills to perfectly submit to, and serve, the Father; just as He did when He walked this earth 2,000 years ago. Recall that Jesus only spoke, did and judged matters as He heard, saw, and obeyed the Father. Jesus knows how to be the perfect Son. God has provided Christ to be the Christian in us, to live His life out through us. As we simply cling to Christ in us, yielding to Him within, we will enjoy the benefit and power of His life. By being obedient to the prompting or restraining that we have by Christ in us, we enjoy the rest that is ours in Christ; all the while the Father’s will is being served through the outworking of Christ’s life flowing through us.
The Devil has been rendered entirely powerless over we who are dead in Christ. Satan is now in fact “unemployed” since we, who were once his subjects over whom he had dominion, are now dead. Satan now has no fallen, independent, self-person in us over which he may assert himself as Sin.
Yet the Satan/Sin nature, still indwelling our flesh, can “lie” to us, and we are still free to receive his lies, tempting us from our place of liberty and rest in Christ. The only remaining power of Satan is to try and deceive us - appealing to us through the “motions of sin” (Rom 7:5) in our flesh body, or by the fiery darts of the imaginations in our fleshly mind (2Cor 10:5), either to gross sin, or to simply live our life apart from dependence upon Christ, which is the root of all sin.
Sin, “IN” The Flesh Of Our Mortal Body
Romans 8:3 what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned (sentenced) sin in the flesh:
Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey (as a soul) it in the lusts (desires) thereof (of the body). (Parenthesis added)
Satan by his Sin nature is located in the flesh of man’s body. Sin is not destroyed; but we, as our “old man”, are now dead. How then does Satan as Sin in man’s body have any power over the Christian, who is dead to sin, in Christ? Here we need to first note where the Satan nature as “Sin” is located. In Romans 6:12 we see that sin is located in the flesh, the mortal body of man; where “sin reigns” by manifesting it’s “it’s lusts”, meaning, strong desires, and we see in 8:3 that in fact “sin is condemned in the flesh”. Do not confuse strong desire as always being sexual, no: Sin as Satan’s nature, is expressed at its core as the “desires of Self” for self. We each have a perception by sin’s impulses, pushing and prompting us to serve self according to the desires of the flesh. Nevertheless, Sin is based, or makes its home in the mortal body of man.
In the Old Testament the Scripture gives us a real experience of the children of Israel that also is allegorical. It confirms this spiritual reality in principal. Recall the situation of the children of Israel in the wilderness, when serpents were biting them and injecting their deadly venom into them - causing them to die. The children of Israel asked Moses to ask God to “take away the serpents”. We should note that God did not do as they requested. The serpents and their poison were not “destroyed”, but rather the serpents and their poison apparently remained, yet it was “made of none effect” when the poisoned victim looked to the brazen serpent lifted up on Moses staff.
No doubt, referring to this instance, in John 3:14 (below) Jesus Himself spoke of His own self as that “brazen serpent”, by his physical body on the cross. Brass is always symbolic of judgment in the scripture. Thus in Jesus on the cross Sin was judged. Sin in the flesh of mankind was thus judged and there condemn in mankind’s flesh (Rom 8:3). Jesus’ mortal body was offered to be our death and the death of every Adamic person. As the Israelites of old, we are to look away, to trust Christ makes Sin in our sinful flesh bodies “of not effect”.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Jesus Had A Body Like Us
We must come to acknowledge that Jesus had a body of sin as we do if we believe that Jesus was fully man and fully God. (See “Jesus’ Mortal Body” at anfgelfire.com/al4/artlicursi)) His body was incarnated, “made of (of, Gk, ek, out from) a woman made under the law” (Gal 4:4) for this purpose, to die not only “in place of us” bit also “as us”, breaking the power of Sin. His body had the fallen Adamic Sin nature in it, yet He Himself was “yet without sin” (without acts of sin).
His person was without sin because His very person, as Spirit, was not, and is not, carnal or of the flesh. Jesus was and is the man of the Spirit, just as our new person is now one with Christ’s Spirit in our spirit as our New Man (Ephes. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
The first Adam, created by God, and then fallen to independent self-godhood, is the federal head of all fallen humanity, but Jesus Christ is the federal head of a new race of people; He is the “last Adam”
1 Cor. 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Jesus of Nazareth, as a man with a fallen Adamic body from His mother Mary, truly was tempted in all ways like as we are (Heb 4:15). Jesus took on a body of sin, with Sin so near to Him, adjacent to His soul and spirit, and yet He did not sin. Jesus took that body of sin, with Sin’s nature in it, to the cross, as the representative body of fallen humanity. In this way His body, with sin in it, was as a mousetrap; “He condemned Sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3).
The death of Jesus’ body was the death of our old man, breaking the power of Sin for everyone who would believe and receive Christ’s work on their behalf. This is significant for we who would not only believe in, but also continuously trust Christ in His death as our death, and His life as our new and overcoming, righteous life. Thus, for all believers, Satan as Sin is already condemned, sentenced, judged, and damned to the very flesh in which we walk in our every day earthly life, … because we also were crucified with Jesus. Sin has no power over us; it can only tempt us with lieing words and impulses of the flesh. Where once we were dominated and ruled by Sin we have the power of choice. We now, as Spirit beings, have liberty (2Cor 3:17b), free to “walk in the spirit”(Gal 5:16, 25), owing nothing to the flesh.
Jesus’ being like us means,
1. He had the Father’s life in Him.
a. We have Christ’s (and the Father’s) Spirit in us,
2. He had a body of sin.
a. As we do.
So far we are identically equipped as Jesus was, but there is one significant and important difference.
3. Jesus also had a mindset upon the Father, and obeyed Him alone,
a. Our need is to have that same mindset (Philip 2:5, Rom 8:5-6).
Philip. 2:5 Let this mind (Gk phroneo, mindset) be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Thus, knowing our need, Paul tells us repeatedly to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
Now we may see why it is that Jesus on the cross could say, “it is finished”. All is finished; on our behalf and as us; all we need to do now is look to Him on the cross as us, to “believe” in His death as our death, and His life as our new life. Thus just as the Israelites dealt with the Serpent’s poison in their bodies by looking to the brazen Serpent on the pole, we now look to Jesus as the Serpent on the cross (John 3:14) on our behalf.
Satan Is Not All-Knowing
It is evident by Christ’s execution on the cross at the hands of Satan and his cohorts (The rulers of politics and religion that conspired to kill Jesus), that Satan is not omniscient, all knowing. This ignorance of Satan is evidenced Paul’s statement in 1Cor 2:7-8 saying, “ Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”.
1 Cor. 2:7-8 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Col. 1:26-27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
This “mystery” was something that Satan had not known. Satan never knew the mystery (Gk, musterion, meaning, “secret”), so in his ignorance, he cooperated with the eternal plan of God to have Christ shed His blood for our sins, and be put to death as our fallen, Sin-infected, Adamic, old man; then to rise, as the life-giving spirit, in order to bring new creation life (2Cor 5:17) to believing mankind. Had he known, Satan would prefer today to have a living Jesus Christ, uncrucified, rather than the crucified Christ living in every redeemed believer, now set at liberty from Satan’s power.
The Father of Lies
The Devil is the father of lies, the one who lies to the believer and unbeliever by the impulses in the body and by the accusations and thoughts shot into the mind. Satan’s ploy sometimes is to convince Christians that they are not okay, not really Christians, endeavoring to convince them to throw in the towel, give up striving to live righteously, and go his way. But we need not listen to those accusations; we are free from the “Law” concept of the “law for righteousness”; we walk by faith in Christ, by His indwelling spirit. By knowing the truth of our unshakable position in Christ we have the shield of faith,
Lying Impulses
Do not confuse “lusts”, meaning “strong desire” in Rom 6:12, as always being sexual, no: Sin is the Serpentine nature of Satan; which is expressed at its core as the “desires of Self-serving”. Satan’s nature is as a “getter”, while God’s is as a “giver”. We each may perceive Sin’s impulses to serve self according to the desires of the flesh. In serving self, we are not only tempted to satiate its desire for physical pleasure, but also its desire to acquire other things for self, that the self may look good, be of reputation, appear benevolent, and even religious, etc. We are prompted by sin in our flesh to use all means to gain these things, and also to acquire possessions by stealing, lying, deceiving, falsifying; these are all manifestations of the flesh in action. These impulses or temptations are all the lies of the Devil. These are the fiery darts shot into our minds, as the only weapon remaining in Satan’s arsenal. They have absolutely no power over us except if we receive or believe these lying impulses. He that is dead is freed from the power of Sin’s dominion (Rom 6:7).
The Facts
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
The fact is that our fleshly body, still with Sin dwelling in it, is no longer a dominating power over us since we as a fallen self are now dead and we are Christ persons. We are His incarnated body on earth today, with His overcoming life in us, as us. Our only genuine life is of the Spirit of Christ’s resurrected life now in our spirit.
Satan is nevertheless near at hand, within whispering distance, within our bodies, but he is in fact powerless over we who are dead. The only power Satan has over a believer is by the same mode he has always used, by his lying, and by our believing those lies. I once heard a story to convey the truth of this matter. There once was a ship with a cruel and evil captain. That evil captain was overthrown by a proper and righteous captain, and thrown into the brig on board. The crew (us) still could hear the old captain barking out orders while he was in confinement in the brig, but he no longer had authority over the crew.
It is Sin’s mind of the flesh that is at enmity against God and cannot please God. We need to recognize those false thoughts that come against us, by knowing who we really are. We need to know that we are dead and it is Christ who is now our life. Dead people cannot fall to temptation. It is in the Spirit of life and by the Spirit of Christ’s life in our spirit that the effectual working of our death is made effective. We do not need to live defensively if we are taking the offense by abiding in and trusting in Christ as our life. Living in union with and in accord with Christ’s Life in us makes us dead to sin. When we are tempted, we ought flee sin by drawing near to Christ in us - returning to our proper abode.
Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify (put to death) the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
It is plain to see from this rather exhaustive explanation that we need to know our anatomy (body, soul, spirit) in order to see who we really are. The real you, as an independent soul self, the Old Man, is dead. Our new life and life-source for living is Christ’s life in our spirit (Col. 3:3, 1Cor 6:17, Col 1:27).
The Connection Of Law & Sin
1 Cor. 15:56b … the strength of sin is the law.
Romans 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Romans 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Romans 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me,…
Romans 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Romans 7:4-5 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom 7:4 says we are delivered from the law, and also we, that is our old self, are now dead. Verse 5 also links the fact that we are “dead to” the law, to bring forth fruit of God, rather than the death-fruit of sin. Law, sin, and death are very connected. The outer commandment or law (Mosaic) and the law in the mind of all men (Rom 2:14), were given to stir up sin, according to Romans 5:20. The law is in fact the “strength (Gk., dunamis, power) of sin” (1 Cor. 15:56b). Sin actually works by the commandment, as seen above in Rom 7:8, 11, 13 and more.
Why Would God Give Us The Law - That We Might Sin?
From these references, we can see that God has allowed fallen man, and also the unlearned and untrusting Christian, to participate in a no win Catch 22, designed that man would fail at law keeping; this is so as to cause man to recognize his need of another Life - the overcoming life of Christ. The law was given that man would be provoked to try, but fail, and by this failure, a man would see his absolute impotence, his powerlessness to meet any standard of God, prompting him to turn to Christ. Keep in mind that this also applies to Christians who have not yet learned they cannot of themselves live the Christian life. Men, by their failure, see their need of a saving life, and to live by the life of Christ in them. Actually, Jesus Christ is the ONLY Christian life. Paul confirms this matter here in Gal 3:23-25.
Galatians 3:23-25 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster (law).
From the foregoing we see that the law was our schoolmaster that prompts failure; this is to bring us to, or rather push us to Christ, out of recognized need. The schoolmaster of the law is no longer useful to drive us or push us to Christ once we have come by faith to Christ (see v25) as our Christian life. If, out of recognized need, we’ve come to trust Christ as our new life to regulate us, then the law has served its purpose well.
Our Proper Position - As A Submissive Wife Believer of Christ
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Rom 7:1-6
(NOTE: The grace believer is not the bride of Christ, but is only “as” a bride in metaphorical sense.)
In fact, we each are always as female to the Lord, who is as the male, as our husband. In Romans 7:1-4 above, we are seen as the 1st husband, which is as our old self, as the “old Adamic man”, and yet also we are as the bride, which is our proper self in our proper position as a submissive non-self-asserting wife. In such a position we can have a proper relationship with our proper husband; Christ is the 2nd husband mentioned as being “Another”.
This indicates the following.
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Mankind, as female, is the intended to be the bearer our proper Husband’s life, to be fruitful.§
But we were first usurped and dominated by the masculine, the “Sin dominated Self”, of our fallen, Adamic man. We, in Adam, had taken the improper position, as an independent head of our own life, as a male.§
When the old man (the first husband) died (that is our old man who died with Christ Rom. 6:6) we, as a wife were made free (Rom 6:7), free to marry “Another” - Christ Himself as our proper husband.(See also other related papers titled. “Free To Marry Another” and also “The Male & Female Relationship as the Dialectical Principal”, located at www.livingtemples.net.
The issue of Romans 7:1-6 is that we who are now regenerated have become dead as an independent self-asserting “old man”, and thereby dead also to the law of the first husband (Rom 7:4), and thereby dead to Sin’s power over us, making us free as a “wife-believer”, free to be married to Christ as our new husband, as our head.
(NOTE: Wife here is metaphorical. We are “the Church, which is His body”, not the bride of Christ - that is Israel)
Once we see that we as the Old Man are dead, we know we are FREE to live by Christ’ life within our spirit, as our Lord, our governing life. The issue for man is not now, nor ever has it ever been, to keep the law or to not sin - the issue was to take on another life - the life of Christ as our new life. That life is the non-sinning life by nature (2Pet 1:4). So it was with Abraham who was righteous without the law, by his faith in God and trust in God alone. The law, and our coming to see our utter hopeless inability to keep the law for righteousness, or to express what God’s nature is, is designed by God to push us to see our need of Christ in us as our life and Lord.
An Illicit Adulterous Affair
We, in soul, become an adulterous bride of sorts, when we leave our status of dependency upon Christ, our husband and life, to have union or co-operation with our flesh-self, perhaps in an effort according to our desire to look righteous and spiritual. The result is an illicit affair with our crucified “Old Man”, depending upon our self-effort. Every time we forget who we are and choose to live on our own, fulfilling the desires (lust) of the flesh, we are having an illicit affair with our former husband who was and is impotent; it will never work. Our old man could never produce a fruit unto life - only death. Our new husband is the most fruitful and potent one - Christ is the source of all life. Our union with him produces life and peace for us, and for all those with whom we may interact.
The Mind Leads the Soul-You to Life & Peace
Romans 8:5-6 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.“
Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh”.
Rom 8:5-6 above indicates that the flesh is vs., or contrary to, the spirit. We see that the mind is the mediator for choosing by what life a man will live. Choosing is a function of volition or will, and the mind is our consciousness, leading the will. Paul recommends that we have and maintain a proper consciousness as Jesus held. Philip. 2:5 “Let this mind (Gk., phroneo, meaning, “mindset or attitude of mind”) be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” Then we might ask, “What was Jesus’ mindset?” It is seen in the verses that follow Philip 2:5. His mindset was that He was submitted to the Father, …to do, to speak, and to adjudge things, as the Father did. Jesus humbled Himself to do the Father’s will in all things.
The mind set upon the spirit is an aid for you to enjoy your proper marriage relationship with Christ, our Lord (kurious, controller). Thus Paul in Philip 4:8 gives us some suggestions for maintaining that mindset.
Philip. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
A mind set on the spirit is a mind set under the rulership of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:6).
Our Turning To Christ In Our Spirit - Is Simultaneously A Turning … From the Flesh
(See Chart “Two Potential States of Being”)
Please note a key in my chart - the two dotted lines indicate the part of our being that “is made of no effect” when we turn (2Cor 3:15-18) one way or the other. When we turn our soul-self one way toward the “Flesh” our Christ-filled spirit is “made of no effect”, or … when we turn the other way toward “Christ in our spirit”, our flesh is “made of no effect”.
When we turn our soul to submit to union with our Christ-filled spirit, our flesh is “made of no effect” (Rom 6:6, destroy from the Greek properly means made of no effect). When we turn our soul to an illicit union with our flesh, Christ in us is “made of no effect” (Gal 5:4). When we turn to our spirit we, so to speak, have our back turned to the flesh, and thus the one turn to Christ’s indwelling Spirit makes the flesh and body of sin of no effect (Rom 8:13).
Romans 8:13 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
When we turn our heart (principally our soul) to the Lord, the veil of the flesh is taken away or “made of no effect”.
2 Cor. 3:15-16 “But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken (Gk. kartargeo, made of no effect) away.” When we as Christians live by the outer law, which serves to energize sin in the flesh (1Cor 15:56), we “make Christ of no effect”.
Galatians 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect (Gk., kartargeo) unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace”.
I’ve heard some have said, “What you take hold of, takes hold of you”, and this is a true statement. Where we set our mind affects what we behold and what may then take hold of us (Rom 8:6). If we are occupied with and pay attention to the things of the flesh then the flesh may prevail, but if we “look away (Heb 12:2” and become occupied with the things of the spirit then we enjoy the life of Christ and His overcoming life and peace, as ours. This is why scripture says that the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of men. He keeps men from looking to and taking hold of God and the issues of true Life. Thus our mindset is what leads us to what we have in our consciousness at any given time.
It is a matter of our having and holding a conscious mindset that leads us to yield to or submit to Christ’s life in our spirit or not to assert ourselves, which brings us to liberty, or once again into bondage to the flesh. The illicit union of our soul-self with our flesh desires (corrupt or noble) is nonetheless a lifeless union resulting in sin and death. Conversely, our choosing union with Christ in us yields life, peace, and the fruit of His life flowing through us. If one finds they cannot hold that mindset, they can still be certain God is working in you toward that end.
Philip. 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
These verses should be of comfort when we see that we have not yet practically attained to that for which we have been apprehended of the Lord.
Choosing You Or Christ, as Lord
So, there is you, yourself, standing in the gap, between death in your flesh body and life in your Christ-filled spirit. We each make choices all day long as to whom we will yield. The wonder is that we are now, by our death with Christ on the cross, free to choose Christ as our Lord (kurious, controller), depending upon Him as our life, as our all.
There is what might be called a “You, You”, which is you as an illusory, independent, self-asserting you, wrongly taking the masculine position of independence, which actually is the position of an illicit union between the independent soul/self and the flesh-life of the body. The result is death (as a phone line is dead) to the communion and relationship between you and Him within you in your spirit. By this posture you have abandoned your place of union with Him who is your life and rest, as your husband, the head of each of the members of “His body, the Church”.
Alternatively, abiding submitted to Him permits ongoing fellowship and communion with Christ as your Lord, Christ who is our very life. Apart from such a dependent relationship, we are on your own, essentially making our self cut-off from Christ’s life in our spirit, making His indwelling life “of no effect”. So there is the “Christ You”, you as a proper soul-self abiding in Christ, submitted to Christ, as your life properly is by an ongoing union with Christ in your spirit, constrained by bands of love, having nothing to do with law.
Even when we try to “be good” and to be “be righteous” according to the “law of good and evil” in our mind, by our self-effort, we are separated from Him, because we are off on our own. We are powerless to live according to that dead law. Paul says it this way “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace”. Galatians 5:4
The result is a flow of life from Christ in our spirit to our soul. This yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, which is peace, and rest. This is the fruit of our union with Him who is our husband and our life (Gal 2:20). <END>