The topic of our Conversation today is- The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
As soon as a man gives his life to Christ, a fierce struggle commences between his
flesh which is programmed to obey the sinful nature and his spirit which has just been
recreated and has assumed the nature of Christ.
Apostle Paul described this struggle in Romans 7:21-24 thus:
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I
delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from
this body of death?
Christians sometimes rely on Apostle Paul’s cry in Romans 7 to claim that the struggle
between the flesh and the spirit never subsides in the life of a Christian but remains
intense throughout his lifetime.
But this interpretation is wrong. Paul was actually describing the life of a person who
has just received Christ. He was describing the challenges of ‘A Baby Christian.’
Apostle Paul was explaining in this scripture that at the time a man is converted, the law
of sin-the Satanic nature ruling his flesh starts warring against his new nature. The new
convert is like a person being torn in two directions. But Apostle Paul did not stop there.
He gives the new convert hope. He goes further to state that the New Convert can
prevail against the Satanic nature with the help of the Spirit of God.
To his cry in Verse 24- O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death? He responds in verse 25: I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!
And he continues in Chapter 8:
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. Romans 8:1-
3. NKJV
According to Apostle Paul- the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has actually made
us free from the law of sin and death.
And this brings us to the topic of this Episode. There are two spiritual laws in operation
in the world and in the activities of men. The law of sin and death is the power and
authority of the devil which controls the kingdom of darkness; that power of evil that
keeps men in bondage to the flesh and the sinful nature. It is the law that operates in
the lives of people who have not received the gift of salvation. Sickness and death,
strife, hatred, poverty, wickedness, selfish ambition, immorality, condemnation and so
forth all flow from the law of sin and death.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus on the other hand, is the power and authority
of Jesus Christ that liberates a child of God and grants him the enablement to live a
victorious life. It is the law that operates in the life of the redeemed children of God.
According to this law, there is forgiveness of sin, healing and abundant life for the
redeemed.
Paul states in Romans 8:2 that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set the
children of God free from the law of sin and death. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has displaced the law of sin and death from the lives of the redeemed! Praise the
Lord!
So in summary, the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus operates in the lives of the
children God while the law of sin and death operates in the lives of the children of the
devil.
What happens when we are born again is that we are set free from bondage to sin. We
receive the ability to resist sin and to live a life pleasing to God.
Before we were born again, we operated in the law of sin and death; we had the nature
of the devil; we were slaves to sin and we could not resist sin, no matter how much we
tried.
But Chapter 8 of Romans not only tells us that we have been set free from bondage to
sin, it also shows us that the Spirit of God can transform our lives and help us to live in
dominion over the nature that was programmed into us before we were born again.
According to Romans 8:11:
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who
dwells in you. NKJV
So the situation now is that while before we were born again, we could never resist sin
even if we tried, now we have a choice. We have been given the power to resist the law
of sin and death if we chose to.
How then do we live in the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus if we chose to? Verse
11 of Romans 8 says that the Holy Spirit will give life to the mortal body, verse 13 says
that –if by the Spirit, you kill the deeds of the body, you will live, while verse 14 says that
those that are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. So clearly, the Holy Spirit is the
only power that can subdue the flesh. Struggling to subdue the flesh by your will power
cannot work.
From the several scriptures in Romans 8, the condition for activating the law of Life in
Christ Jesus is to be led by the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit. To be led by the Spirit of
God, we need to acknowledge His presence in our lives. We need to develop an
intimate relationship with Him by acknowledging Him and engaging with Him. We need
to pay attention to His promptings in our quiet moments and we need to listen to His
voice when He speaks to us through the Word of God. Being led by the Spirit or walking

with the Spirit means yielding to the directives and instructions of the Spirit on a routine
basis.
Brethren we are already partakers of the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. The
choice to activate that law, to allow it to gain ascendancy over the Law of sin and death
and to live in dominion over the flesh and the sin nature is ours. Romans 8 makes it
clear that the only way we can activate the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is by
having a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Let me reiterate that it is not by struggling to subdue the flesh; or by making a resolution
to stop acting in a certain way. It’s not by drawing up a list of dos and don’ts. It’s not by
going for deliverance sessions. It is only by being led by the Spirit of God; walking with
the Spirit of God and yielding to the Spirit of God. And I pray that by His Grace we will
learn to be deliberate about cultivating a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit