Reflection on Romans 7:24-8:2
Chapter seven of the Epistle to the Romans is quite difficult to understand though it contains the most fundamental truths concerning our salvation. It speaks about law – first about the Law of God which is holy, just and good and yet unable to ensure my salvation. It just convicts me of my sin and does not give me the power to overcome the law of sin and death. At the end of the chapter the Apostle calls on his behalf and on behalf of all sincere believers: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Deliverance is in Christ. Chapter 8, verse 2, speaks about the law of the Spirit which makes us free from the law of sin and death. This law of the Spirit gives life in Christ Jesus. And its fruit, at the same time, is freedom from the law of sin and death.
Law means that something is repeated time and again. There are physical laws. If we put a stone on the surface of water, it will sink down. But if we apply another law and put a board under the stone, the stone will float on the board and not sink because there is another law at work. The second law does not break the first one. But in a particular situation it prevails. Spiritual laws work on a similar principle.
What is the law of sin? The law of sin means that we all sin and that it is repeated time and again in spite of our best intentions. “The evil which I hate is what I keep on doing.” (Rom 7:15) Similarly, all men are subject to the law of death, whether they like it or not. So law is something that recurs, something we need to take into account if we are realists.
Another law is the law of the Spirit. What does it mean? It means a kind of recurrence in certain situations. One power resists another power, one law prevails over another law. The baptism with the Holy Spirit described in the Scripture is a single experience of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. The law of the Spirit, moreover, means that through repentance the Spirit of God can intervene in particular situations in our life time and again. But the most important thing is that the law of the Spirit gives me life in Christ Jesus.
Chapter 8 speaks many times about the Spirit of God. Verse 9 says that if the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. And then: If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And verse 11 reveals connection between the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection through the Spirit of God. In verse 14 we read that all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, in verse 15 that God’s Spirit cries in us “Abba, Father!” and in verse 16 that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
In verse 26 we find that the Spirit of God helps us in our weakness and that He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Verse 27 says that this intercession of the Spirit in us is according to the will of God.
The condition on our part for the law of the Spirit to work or for us to walk in the Spirit is to deny ourselves a little, enter into God’s presence and give our sins and problems to God. Then the Spirit of God brings us into communion with Christ time and time again, gives us life in Christ Jesus and makes us free from the law of sin and death. Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. (Jn 16:13)
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