Let's be completely transparent here for a moment. Most of us in the United States of America are not oppressed by the yokes of physical slavery. Even economic oppression for us is still many times better than economic oppression in other parts of the world. In this country, we are free.
We are still enslaved, though. We are still oppressed. Our oppression is not from overbearing parents who won't let us go to the party on Friday night. We are oppressed by our thoughts and habits. We are not enslaved anymore by someone who has kidnapped us from our home and sold us as property to another person. Instead, our slavery is to temptation and sin. We are not alone. The world fights this kind of oppression and slavery. This is why Jesus came to this world. He set us free.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 NIV)
The "law of sin and death" sounds strange to us as a phrase today. The original readers, though, would have understood this concept well. Whenever an Israelite sinned under the old covenant, they were told to take an animal to the temple as a sacrifice for their sin. They would watch as the priest would slaughter the animal in front of them, pour out the blood, sprinkle the blood on the altar, pour out the rest of the blood, and then burn up the animal on the altar (and, sometimes, outside the camp). This was a constant reminder of the cost of their sin. This was the law of sin and death.
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4 NIV)
God not only gave us Jesus as the final, perfect sacrifice for our sin. He also sent His Spirit to help us stop sinning as well. Now that we have received the Holy Spirit of God, we have the power of God within us. No temptation can overcome the power of God. No enemy, physical or spiritual, can win against the power of God. Through God's Spirit, we put to death the power of sin and death in our lives.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. (Romans 8:5-9a NIV)
When someone is captive to sin, especially a repetitive cycle of sin, I don't try to help them overcome the habit of sin. I introduce them to God. That's because the power of God changes everything. That's because God's Spirit comes to dwell in us when we return to the Father through the Son. That's because it is through the power of God that we can send away spiritual enemies, throw away tempting thoughts, see the escape for temptation, receive wisdom for that situation, receive peace in all circumstances, and walk together with God.
(And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all.) (Romans 8:9 NLT)
How about you? Have you received God's Spirit? Has God's Spirit given you freedom from the law of sin and death? Have you been set free?
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