“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).
What Doesn’t Work
The law shows us how we fail. It is ineffective in changing people’s lives. When we are “under the law”, we feel that God is mad at us and that we get what we deserve. We try whatever we think it will take to get God to like us. We try by our own efforts to change, grow and solve our problems. Being under the law is the system of following commandments to be good and acceptable, or not following the commandments and being bad and condemned. This simple formula is no problem. If we know what we “should” do, we should “just do it”, and then we have cured the problem of sin. But the problem is we have a sinful nature and that is a reality we cannot change.
This nature has a desire for the things that are not good for us. Even worse, not only do we have a desire for doing the things against the law, but the law itself arouses in us a passion to do the very thing we shouldn’t do: “So I find the law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members” (Romans 7:21-23). We have a sin nature, and this nature erupts by the commandments. We want to do what we should not do. Three common forms of teaching the law in Christian circles fail with those caught up in something they cannot stop: (1) Insisting they repent with harsh, angry preaching against sin. (2) Legalistic rules to keep people in line. (3) Telling people, even lovingly, that the “way” out is to make better choices. While all of these contain some truth, none of them work because all of them assume a person’s ability to choose rightly. The Bible teaches that this will not work in its self: we have a sin nature and the law arouses a person to sin.
What Does Work
To change in the areas that we want to grow, we must first admit we are unable to change them by ourselves. Trying to just do better does not work. We are powerless over sin and we need a savior. The law cannot help us but Jesus can. We are set free by having an ongoing relationship with Jesus, who has taken care of the guilt and condemnation of the law. This is the Good News: He replaces living by the law with living by the Spirit. While the law sets us up for failure, the Spirit sets us up for success. This means we begin to live according to relationship with the Holy Spirit that lives in us and through us and not the law. To repent means to change but more is required for change to be effective. We must live in alignment with the guidance and direction of the Spirit: we must hear and do what He says. He searches our hearts and shows us what to change. He leads and directs us to truth. He guards and guides us making known He is always there. He gives us gifts and abilities to do what we need to do. He teaches us and helps us in every area of life. He corrects us and convicts us when we are tempted. Begin to enter in the whole process of spiritual growth. Have an overall attitude towards transformation. God has already given you everything you need to succeed. Remember it is a process that takes time and requires discipline: “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12).
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