December 21, 2008

Apart from the Spirit, our experience with the law is governed by our sin. Even though we may agree with the law in our minds, our slavery and bondage to sin causes us to disobey the law—and in fact, sin allows itself to be incited by the law to greater disobedience, leading only to death. However, as those who are in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit at work in us, giving us life and empowering us to overcome sin. The Spirit sets us free from any power other than Christ that would rule over us. Unlike the unbeliever in Romans 7, the Christian is never said to be wretched; instead, the Christian is said to be a new creation, an overcomer, one who is free and victorious. As believers, the reason we sin is not because we are still in bondage to sin; we sin because we refuse to walk in and find our strength in the Spirit. We will walk in victory as we walk in the Spirit.