Blog Audio:
Greetings,
After a great week in Bulgaria, I have now been in Ede, Netherlands for the weekend. It was great to connect with more of my Dutch family that I have not been able to see for some time. God’s presence is in the nations and the hope for tomorrow is alive and well. My past week has been filled with the presence of God in supernatural ways as God has poured out His love upon His family.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. NKJ
Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. NAS
The New King James Bible uses the Textus Receptus Greek text as its source of translation, but older Greek texts do not include the phrase “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”. It is true that to be in Christ is to no longer walk according to the flesh, but not walking in the flesh does not empower us to walk according to the Spirit. It is walking according to the Spirit that empowers us to no longer walk according to the flesh. It is not a matter of being free from the flesh, it is a matter of being joined to the Spirit. So, because there is no more condemnation we can be in Christ and receive our Father’s gift of the power of life in Christ. It is not a law of death, but a law of life. To be joined to God, who is life and love, empowers us to find the true freedom and liberty of life.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Being freed from the law of sin and death doesn’t give us life. It is being joined to life that destroys the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is the consequence of being disconnected from God. God is life and to be disconnected from Him is to be disconnected from life. To be joined to Him is to be filled with the abundance of life and that life is eternal life. Eternal life is a knowing of God the Father and a knowing Jesus the Son in our lives today.
Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Jesus condemned sin in the flesh by being the life of the Spirit of God in the flesh. He was fully connected to God His Father by an intimate connection of the Holy Spirit. By this He made a way for each of us to be the same. We can be joined to God our Father and Jesus the Son through an intimate connection with Holy Spirit in our hearts. This empowers us to have victory over the flesh because we are now indulging in the life of the Spirit. Abstaining from the flesh will not give us the life of God’s Spirit but indulging in the Spirit of God in our lives will give us victory over the power of selfish flesh.
Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
It is when we set our minds on the things of the Spirit of God that we passionately and creatively walk according to the spirit. It will manifest the increasing testimony of life and peace in our lives.
This is not a time to be distracted by those who walk according to the flesh. It is time to demonstrate what it looks like when someone lives their lives in connection with God by His Spirit. This is the testimony of a son or daughter of God. This is the testimony of those cry out to God as their Father from their spirits. We should practice being sons and daughters of God in a world of people who do not yet know this truth of life and peace. When we are connected to God in our hearts, we grow in knowing his peace. When we are connected to God in our hearts, we grow in knowing the life of God in all things. Let’s practice living as sons and daughters of God in our world! This is the day to know there is not condemnation, but only a connection to God that always brings life and peace.
Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
When we live according to the Spirit of God, we put to death the carnal deeds of the flesh. It is about life, not about death. It is not about putting to death the deeds of the flesh; it is about being joined to life. Keep it simple! You were born to be loved by God, let Him love you! It is not about being freed from bondage; it is about being joined to freedom. It is not about being free from fear, it is about being joined to love. We are adopted children of God. What a wonderful truth of life that is! We are children of God. We were born to be loved by God. We are inheritors of the life of God because we are children of God. Even in times of suffering, the fruit of our lives will be life because we are always joined to life.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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