Life & Peace

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The beauty of new life, and new peace. 


Scripture:


Rom. 8:1   There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.


Observation:


This is an incredible thought that Paul lays out for all of us. The condemnation that was so easy to place upon self and others because of the law is completely transformed by the life that is in Christ. The power of the incarnation is revealed as it is Christ who deals with sin. Therefore, we are charged to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Sprit. “The mind-set of the Flesh leads to death; and the mind-set of the Spirit leads to life and peace. So inveterate is the disposition of the Flesh, preoccupied as it is with its merely human interests, that it is ‘hostile to God,’ indeed incapable of pleasing God (vv 7–8)” (Edlin & Modine). 


The condemnation is gone, the flesh no longer drives our lives, and we can have life and peace in the Spirit. 

 

Application:


Last week was Holy Week and we were journeying toward the cross. It is the gift that Christ gives us in the cross that makes all the difference. There is life and peace at the foot of the cross — there is life and peace in the Spirit. 


In Paul’s day there was a tendency to try and find peace and meaning in the flesh. Even the religious leaders were hoping to find meaning by their flesh responding to the law. The Gentile world was constantly seeking for satisfaction in the the desires of the flesh. What Paul had to share was counter-cultural, not just for the gentiles or secular world, but for the Jewish religious world as well. It’s easy to become condemning of others when we often fail to examine ourselves. The flesh can manifest power and control in any number of ways. 


Chrysostom challenges us by saying that if we continue to walk in the flesh, it is because of our laziness. “For now that we are in Christ Jesus we have the power to avoid walking after the flesh” (Homilies on Romans 13). 


This passage remains a challenge for all of those who truly want to know Christ. The desires of the flesh — no matter what they may be — must be crucified with Christ. Paul clearly says that the mind set on the flesh is actually “hostile” to God. This hostility begins to draw lines and actively fights against those who are living in the Spirit. The beauty of life in the Spirit is that it brings us life and peace. In a world struggling with anxiety and desperation, isn’t sharing the good news about life in the Spirit worth it? I think that’s what Paul was saying. 


Prayer:


Lord, thank you for the gift of life in the Spirit. Amen. 

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