It is not law, but rather the written Word within us that mortifies the flesh and defeats sin

... Continued from this post.

It is not law, but rather the written Word within us that mortifies the flesh and defeats sin

We, as humans, associate that which is good with law or morality. Society functions in relative peace and safety because of the law. We teach our children obedience to the law, believing it will protect them and serve them when they leave the proverbial nest. The law, rules, regulations, standards, general morality in practice, and any other term to describe a form of decency and acceptability in thought and action, is the base element that suppresses evil, curbs sins, and keeps us functioning in our relationships with others, and our faith in God.

Now, the law might be the common way that humans try to curb evil and keep morality in check, but the Word of God has different advice for this very issue. The Bible tells us that sin and evil is in the flesh, Rom.7:17-20, 24. It teaches us that although the law is good, Rom.7:7, 12, 14, it has little effect on the root cause of sin, Rom.7:9. The Word of God does not attempt to ‘band-aid’ the root of evil, it provides a different solution, one that mortifies the flesh, and in so doing, nullifies sin, Rom 6:7.

So, the big question is, how does the Word of God do this? Why does God tell us to abandon the law? How does one defeat sin without the law? Rom.6:14. What does Paul really mean when he says,

Rom 6:15-18  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

The written word instructs us that law brings the knowledge of sin and gives sin its power, Rom.3:20. Law will never defeat sin because it empowers it, 1 Cor.15:56. The way to defeat sin is by obedience to the doctrine that we learn in Romans, specifically chapters 5 to 8, which leads to righteousness. We need to learn, understand, and apply that form of doctrine that is delivered to us in these chapters. The message is that through justification, we have been transferred into the administration of Christ, which provides us with life, righteousness, and peace with God. Thus, there is no need to work for salvation and for right standing with God. God has done all the work necessary to provide us with this gift of grace. However, the administration of Christ requires us to respond to the Word. We have a responsibility to renew our minds by allowing the doctrine of God’s grace to influence our pattern of thinking, our actions, our reactions, and our language, Rom.12:1-2. The Word of God is to overwhelm our whole being. We are to allow it to change us from within. It is when we act out upon life’s circumstances by the reservoir of truth within us, when the Word becomes our source for decisions and choices, when we respond to life by the outflow of the written Word, and not our carnal reasoning, that we start to mortify the flesh. This is when sin gets defeated, without the need for laws. The key is the Word within us. The more truth we get inside us, the more truth flows out when the pressures of life put the squeeze on us. We feed righteousness by the written Word, whereas contrastingly, we feed sin by the law.

In the next post I will delve deeper into this process by looking at how the Word operates within us? If one understands the tri-part nature of a human being, spirit, soul, and body, and the two natures within us, the inner (new) man and the outer (old) man, which Paul often refers to, we will gain a clearer understanding of how the Word changes us from within, whilst mortifying the flesh. This will provide you with a more tangible way of understanding this spiritual work of the Word within us. Stay tuned for this post. It will be very informative.