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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
March 1
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Today's Pathway:
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Romans 7 closed with Paul revealing that the law in and of itself could not overcome his sin nature, but that Jesus Christ could. Now in chapter 8 he shows the blessing of walking and living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Ray Pritchard said this about Romans 8:
"It's preeminently the chapter of Christian assurance... Romans 8 begins with 'no condemnation' and ends with 'no separation.' You start with no condemnation, you end with no separation, and in between you find no defeat."
Since Paul has been discussing the bondage that the law puts men under, he now shows the freedom that comes from yielding to the Spirit. The first freedom that he mentions is freedom from condemnation. In verse 1 he states that there is no condemnation to those who are saved. The word "condemnation" is translated from a Greek compound word that literally means "a judgment against". So before discussing the believer's walk, he emphasizes that once a man has received Christ as Savior, which means that he is "in Christ Jesus", he has no fear of eternal condemnation. In John 3:17-18 Jesus said,
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
This means that the believer can never lose his salvation. God offers the world salvation through His Son. Once that offer has been accepted by faith, eternal condemnation can never occur. Once you have believed you are not condemned and will not be condemned, but those who have not believed are in a state of condemnation unless they choose to repent and believe. Verse 2 reinforces this by stating that the spiritual life that was given to me through Christ freed me from the law of sin and death. Remember that the law said that if a man sinned he had to die. Therefore the law of sin and death condemned a man, but when the Holy Spirit of life comes in through Jesus Christ, that condemnation is removed.
In verses 3-4 Paul further explains how God is able to save us. The Mosaic law could not save anyone. It was weak, because it could only bring salvation if an individual was perfect throughout his entire life, and because of the sinfulness of the flesh no man was able to measure up to that standard. So, God sent His Son to save the world. Christ came "in the likeness of sinful flesh". Outwardly the flesh of Jesus' human body was exactly like that of other human bodies, but it was free from inherent sin because of His miraculous conception and virgin birth, and then it was kept free from actual sin by His sinless life. His flesh was sinless flesh, and because of this He could die as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of mankind, and, in fact, "condemned sin in the flesh". Jesus pronounced judgment against sin. He ordered its execution, and He killed its claim and its power for all who are in Christ.
The end result of this is in verse 4,
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us."
We'll look at that tomorrow.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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