Law Vs Spirit

Galatians 5:

16: I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
18:  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law

God gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel when the Israelites had come out of Egypt - breaking from the clutches of Pharaoh, crossing the Red Sea (spiritually it refers to the separation of GOD'S born-again children from the clutches of the world and the prince of the world, who is the devil). These commandments had to be given to the Israelites since they had no idea of GOD'S Holiness. In New Testament, we see that Jesus renews those laws (making it spiritual) and makes it more difficult. He says that if you simply lust after anything, even in your heart, you have already broken the law and committed a sin! Is it possible to keep these renewed laws when it was already difficult enough to follow the Old Testament laws? Of course, it is simply impossible! Then why has God, who knows that we cannot follow the laws, tighten it still?

   It is only to make us understand that it is impossible for a man to fulfill the laws all by himself and also to make him understand that he is a sinner. Sin is nothing but the breaking of the law. Without law, there is no place for sin, no knowledge of sin. Paul describes it in Romans chapter 7 verse 7 ”... I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet””.

If we still be determined to live by the law, what miseries do we have to face? Paul clearly puts those feelings in words in Romans 7: 19 “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me”. This verse looks more like a puzzle and by no doubt, our experience with law and sin is also equally puzzling. We love to keep the law in our hearts but sin (which is in our flesh till death) overcomes often and thereby we feel miserable - as we break the law which we so dearly love and wish to follow. This miserable feeling reaches its culmination, when we admit like Paul "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Only when we have utterly failed at keeping the law, do we actually seek to get freedom from the bondage of law. The good news is - Jesus Christ comes to our rescue! Paul, in Romans chapter 8, finds the way to Freedom!

Romans 8: 1,2

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.

2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." The Spirit gives us freedom and we are no longer enslaved by the law.

What does it mean? When we are in Christ Jesus, we are invariably led by the HOLY Spirit, and because of which, sin cannot overcome us and there is no breaking of law! So, if we live by the Spirit, that is, by the leading of the HOLY Spirit, we are freed from the clutches of sin and the slavery of law. With no self-efforts, but merely by the law of Grace - given by Jesus Christ, received by us and fulfilled on our behalf by the HOLY Spirit, we are no longer slaves to sin but rather the children of freedom in GOD'S kingdom.

         Theories apart, coming to our practical life, what do we do when we are tempted? Jesus is the ONLY example we can look up to – since in HIM alone was no sin. Jesus handled temptations by simply walking in the Spirit and never by the flesh, and that is how HE overcame temptations. Jesus was filled with the HOLY Spirit (100%) and was always led by HIM – for God, the Son and the Holy Spirit are ONE!

  

         Temptations come to every mortal and it is up to us to deal with it – either by ourselves (Self efforts:  trying to keep the commandments by “flesh” - which is controlled by sin) and utterly fail (since sin dwells in our flesh till death) or we can just hand over the job to the HOLY Spirit so that HE does it all for us through grace! What an amazing God we have! He makes the law difficult just to make us understand our weakness and HE gives us the HOLY Spirit by grace to empower us to overcome our weakness. It is so simple and sweet to live for God, to live by the Spirit - by simply leaning on the “Everlasting Arms” - for HE accomplishes everything for us! This is the only way to overcome temptations - to abide in Jesus Christ and to be led by the HOLY Spirit who will empower us to resist the temptations of sin! Every time we face temptations like - forced to go to a place where God doesn't want us to go (where there no importance to God, but only to worldly pleasures and entertainment); unnecessary gossip which might lead to sins like hypocrisy, accusation and pride; when we are about to tell a lie to escape some hard consequences; when we are about to do anything by which God might be offended - a small prayer to the HOLY Spirit for help is all that we need to do (As simple as that) and by that prayer we hand over the complete control to HIM (our flesh is put to death and so is sin!) who keeps us away from sin and brings us closer to God and we would witness how wonderfully the Spirit of God leads us and helps us overcome the temptations!

Once we truly admit that we are sinners by ourselves - since we can never keep the law by flesh, we would understand the need for dependence on the HOLY Spirit. Let us always ask for HIS guidance and all we have to do is simply trust, obey and follow HIM.