Has set you free (1659) (eleutheroo = the ending " -oo" means not only will it be set free but it will be seen as set free) means to cause someone to be freed from domination. The picture is that of the emancipation of slaves. The idea is that the one set free is at liberty, capable of movement, exempt from obligation or liability, and unfettered. Although the act of setting free results in freedom and liberty we must understand that this new freedom is not a license to sin. In fact true liberty for the believer is now living as we should and not as we please. Related Resources: Studies on eleutheria and eleutheros Eleutheroo is used 7 times in the NT -- Jn 8:32, 36; Ro 6:18-note, Ro 6:22-note; Ro 8:2-note, Ro 8:21-note; Gal. 5:1 (and only in Pr 25:10 in the Septuagint) (Two times In Apocrypha - 2Macc 1:27, 2:22) John 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. Romans 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. In short, the Spirit, Who brought the life of God Himself into us, has set us free from the power of our flesh and free to be the person God wants us to be. In Romans 7:24 Paul asked "Who shall deliver me?" The answer given in this verse is that: "Christ has already delivered me!" The last part of Romans chapter 7 was a description of a believer's struggling, failing condition. In Romans 8 Paul encourages the believer to focus upon his perfect, unfailing position in Christ Jesus! The more we believe God’s facts about our position the more this will affect our actual condition! Pritchard writes that the fact that you have been set free means... You don't have to sin any more. You don't have to live in defeat any more. You don't have to be down any more. You don't have to go years and years and years committing the same old dumb sins over and over again. Why? Because the law of the spirit of life of Jesus Christ has set you free. Therefore, if you choose to dwell in sin, if you choose to be defeated, it's because you've chosen to live that way, not because you must live that way. (Romans 8:1-4: No Condemnation) Eleutheroo is used primarily in three ways in the NT, first describing as in the present verse, describing spiritual and moral freed. Jesus described this same freedom when He declared to those Jews who had believed Him... "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (eleutheroo)." (Jn 8:31, 32) MacDonald comments that the "Jews did not know the truth, and they were in a terrible form of bondage. They were in the bondage of ignorance, error, sin, law, and superstition. Those who truly know the Lord Jesus are delivered from sin, they walk in the light, and are led by the Holy Spirit of God." (MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) J Vernon McGee adds this pithy comment writing that Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone (see notes beginning in James 2:14 -- notes ). It will produce something. After a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he will want to “continue in His Word.” The proof of faith is continuing with the Savior." (Ed note: And that is the person who will truly experience the freedom that Jesus makes possible!) (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Nashville: Thomas Nelson) Secondly eleutheroo is used to describe the freedom from binding legalism as Paul taught in Galatians writing.. "It was for freedom that Christ set us free (eleutheroo); therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1). MacDonald has an excellent word on this verse writing that "This first verse of chapter 5 refers to his practice—he should live as a free man. Here we have a very good illustration of the difference between law and grace. The law would say: “If you earn your freedom, you will become free.” But grace says: “You have been made free at the tremendous cost of the death of Christ. In gratitude to Him, you should stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made you free.” Law commands but does not enable. Grace provides what law demands, then enables man to live a life consistent with his position by the power of the Holy Spirit and rewards him for doing it." (Ibid) Thirdly, eleutheroo is used to describe nature’s deliverance from decay and corruption, Paul writing... "that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom (related noun eleutheria = to enjoy the freedom of that golden era when we as God’s children will be revealed in glory) of the glory of the children of God. (Jn 8:36) Here in Romans 8:3, "has set you free" (eleutheroo) is in the aorist tense which signifies a once-for-all act of setting the captives free. It is a positional reality for every person who is in Christ. This is a past tense event. So what? Well, it means that now believers are not to struggle for freedom, but to stand firm by faith (not sight) in the freedom that we have in Christ (see similar truth in notes Ro 6:18 and Ro 6:22 where the apostle also used the verb eleutheroo, cf Gal 5:1). In a sense the ultimate (or perfect) realization of this freedom awaits our future glorification (see Romans 8:21-note). Note also that Paul is not teaching sinless perfection for remnants of our sinful flesh are the objects of the Spirit's ministry as long as we are in this physical flesh. What Paul does teach is at the time of regeneration the liberty began and will continue until it is perfected in glory. Chuck Swindoll in his book (highly recommended) "Embraced by the Spirit" (2011) has an excellent illustration of the meaning of the verb eleutheroo in his discussion of how the Spirit sets us free from besetting sins.... Let’s turn our thoughts now to the “how”—how does the Spirit set us free on a daily basis? We can live our lives thinking that we have figured it out, only to discover later there’s a whole other world going on that we missed in the process. I want to introduce to you an awareness that many (I’m tempted to say most) Christians do not have. I’m referring to slavery. That may surprise you. Most of us have never witnessed firsthand the raw reality of human slavery. We’ve watched television docudramas on the subject. We’re theoretically aware that it once went on, but chances are good that most of us have never witnessed it for ourselves. Tragically, another category of slavery goes on every day in the lives of Christians. But before we go there, let’s grasp a mental picture of slavery. Back in the nineteenth century our sixteenth president realized something radical must be done about slavery in our country. Unwilling to look the other way any longer, on September 22, 1862, he presented what came to be known as the Emancipation Proclamation, an official document condemning human slavery. Abraham Lincoln, realizing that slavery is completely against human dignity, officially abolished it from the United States on that day. Tragically, little changed in the daily life of our nation, even though the slaves were officially declared free. You know why; you’ve read the stories. The Civil War was still going on. The plantation owners never informed their slaves. The vast majority of the former slaves couldn’t read, so they had no idea what the news was carrying. There was no mass media then to announce those kinds of presidential pronouncements. And so for the longest time, slavery continued even though it had been officially brought to an end. The war ended in April 1865. Do you know when Lincoln’s declaration was officially enacted? When the people finally began to leave their enslaved lives and make their way toward freedom? December 18, 1865—more than three years after he first released his proclamation. Lincoln had been dead for months. The word traveled out of the streets of Washington and down into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, across the back roads of the Carolinas and into Georgia, then Alabama, then Mississippi, then Louisiana, then Texas, then Arkansas, announcing what had been true for more than a thousand days. Even then the word somehow either wasn’t believed or wasn’t acted upon. Those officially emancipated people, thinking slavery was the way they were condemned to exist, continued to live in bondage though they had been declared free men and women since the fall of 1862. Now if you think that seems shocking, let me tell you something equally as shocking: believers in Jesus Christ still live enslaved to the domination of a power that no longer has power over them. What has freed us is the great Emancipator, Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross set us free from the law of sin and the fear of death. Like an Emancipation Proclamation, it was made known to the world at large: Satan is defeated! Sin is overwhelmed! Death no longer has its sting! Listen to our Emancipation Proclamation, our Freedom Statement: “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin” (Ro 6:6-note). In simple terms, this freedom liberated us from the necessity to sin. Truth be told, you don’t have to sin. You know why you sin? Because you want to! That doesn’t sound very affirming but it’s the ugly truth. Every time you sinned last week, you wanted to. The same this week. You weren’t forced to. It certainly wasn’t the new nature operating within you. You gave in to the old nature that you had been enslaved to so much of your life. As a Christian living like this, you are under the false impression that you are as you’ve always been and things are just the same as they’ve always been: “There’s just that part of me that I can’t help. I just react like that. It’s just the way I am.” But it’s not the way you have to be. It’s the way you choose to be. Think of it like this. You’re driving in the mountains. You come to a very sharp series of curves. The state officials who work with traffic signs have options. They can build a clinic at the bottom of the curve so that when you go over the cliff and crash, emergency vehicles can come quickly to help you. Or they can put up a sign that says, “SLOW, CURVE AHEAD.” The favorite verse 1John 1:9-note is the clinic at the bottom of the hill. It’s mercy after the fact. The Lord is faithful to forgive us our sins. After we’ve sinned, thank God we are able to go to Him and say, “Lord, today I blew it” or “I reacted in a way that wasn’t appropriate” or “I lusted,” “I lost my temper,” “Greed took over and I walked through it at the time knowing completely that I was doing what’s wrong but I went ahead anyway. That’s sin and I lay it before You, I confess that to You.” That’s the clinic. But there’s a better way! You can read the sign and react differently. You don’t have to speed around this curve; you don’t have to go over the cliff. You can slow down. When you realize that you’re faced with a temptation, you can stand up against it. You don’t have to yield to it. That’s what Romans 6 means when it says we should no longer be slaves to sin: “He who has died [in Christ] is freed from sin” (Ro 6:7-note). It doesn’t mean we’re freed from ever sinning again; it means we’re freed from its domination. I can live my life in such dependence on the Spirit of God that the flesh does not get its way for an extended period of time. Now I can never live free of it because the old nature (flesh) hasn’t been eradicated. But thanks to the power of God I can be on the side of such victory in my life that I walk a whole new kind of life. (Embraced by the Spirit The Untold Blessings of Intimacy with God - 2011 - recommended reading) Ray Stedman makes this liberating law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus very practical noting that... Sometimes, even though we are very disturbed (feeling "self-condemned" forgetting that "God doesn't condemn us. He knows that there is a struggle, and he is not surprised or alarmed. It doesn't shock Him as it does us, because He expected nothing but failure all the time! He knows the flesh; He knows it can't do anything, and He's not surprised), the greatest moment in our life is when we come to God, and say, "Lord, I quit! I cannot do it." God says, "Good! That is what I have been waiting for. Now I'll do it." And, without a word of reproach or rebuke for our failure, he does through us what we struggled in vain to do -- that is "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus." Notice what he says: What neither the Ten Commandments, nor any other law, could ever accomplish, what no standard of perfection that we are trying to follow could ever do, because of our weak, sinful, unable flesh, is now fully accomplished in us by another principle: The indwelling life of Jesus Christ, ministered to us continually by the Spirit to do everything that life demands of us, fulfilling the Law, and more. However, the law of sin and barrenness still persists. It is still present, and ready to spring into action whenever we harbor sin or try to serve Christ by our own will or ability. We will discover this to be so, and that is why Paul puts this struggle in the present tense. But when we abide in Christ, as He abides in us, and we recognize that for everything we do, whether it is tying our shoe, washing the dishes, preaching a message, typing a letter, or whatever it is -- for everything we do, we must rely in total dependence upon the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus in us; then that law takes over and cancels out the law of sin and death. What we could not do by our own effort, we do through Him.... This is the exchanged life, the released life. It is a continual paradox. Life in the Spirit is a life of restful activity, and this is a paradox. It isn't simply sitting around waiting for orders from God. It is facing life with all its mystery and fascination, with a continual recognition of, and constant praise and thanksgiving for the fact that, within, is the indwelling life of Christ, ready to do instantly, through me, all that I need to do. As I rest upon it, I find that I can simply go ahead doing the normal, the natural, the obvious, and, in it and through it all, God is at work! Life becomes a continual matter of the expectation of miracles, of excitement, because of what God does through me -- and yet it is rest without struggle...(Romans 7:14-8:4: False Consecration) Paul explained the truth about the distinctive privilege of those who have been redeemed to the Galatians who were being tempted to get back up under the law writing that... "you were called to freedom (the noun form eleutheria), brethren; only do not turn your freedom (your independence, your liberty) into an opportunity (aphorme = literally the starting point or base of operations for an expedition, then generally the resources needed to carry through an undertaking) for the flesh (referring not to the physical body per se but to the old sin nature that still inhabits our flesh), but through love serve one another." (Galatians 5:13) (click related study) In a similar warning Peter encouraged the saints to "Act as free men (eleutheros = at liberty, capable of movement, "free ones", exempt from obligation or liability, unrestrained, unconstrained, unfettered, one set free from slavery to the mastery of the power of indwelling sin), and do not use your freedom as a covering (literally a "veil" = a pretext = motive alleged or an appearance assumed in order to cloak the real intention) for evil, but use it as bondslaves (Click word study of doulos) of God." (see note 1 Peter 2:16) Freedom in Jesus Christ is the great manifesto of Christianity. Christianity is liberation from slavery to Sin. Freedom is at the very heart of the gospel and of godly living. It is not a side benefit or an adjunct to the Christian life. Freedom is presented here at the beginning of Romans 8 as a signal blessing of the economy of grace, which, in contrast with the OT economy, is represented as including independence from religious regulations and legal restrictions (Galatians 2:4) and freedom from the yoke of the Mosaic Law (Galatians 5:1). As alluded to above, freedom in Christ is Not the right to do as one pleases But the power to do as he ought! This includes freedom from the dominion of sinful appetites and passions, as well as the temptations of the world system to rebel against God [Gal 5:24-note, Gal 6:14-note] Note that there is a balance we must remember when discussing our new freedom in Christ. Release from the law’s bondage and condemnation does not mean release from the law’s requirements and standards. The higher law of the Spirit produces obedience to the lower law of duties. Obedience to God cannot save a person, because no person in his unredeemed sinfulness wants to obey God and could not obey perfectly even if he had the desire. But genuine salvation will always produce obedience from a new heart. This obedience will never be perfect in this life but nonetheless it is always present to some extent. See the in depth discussion on the gospel which leads to the “obedience of faith” (click study of this phrase). Warren Wiersbe wrote that... Freedom does not mean I am able to do whatever I want to do. That’s the worst kind of bondage. Freedom means I have been set free to become all that God wants me to be, to achieve all that God wants me to achieve, to enjoy all that God wants me to enjoy. When God saved you, He gave you a new life, not a new law; as you yield to that life, you obey His law. A W Tozer said that ... The true character of a people is revealed in the uses it makes of its freedoms." In another place Tozer said "I think it might be well for us to check our spiritual condition occasionally by the simple test of compatibility. When we are free to go, where do we go! In what company do we feel most at home! Where do our thoughts turn when they are free to turn where they will! When the pressure of work or business or school has temporarily lifted and we are able to think of what we will instead of what we must, what do we think of then!" Edward Gibbons a secular historian makes an interesting comment on freedom worth pondering in light of the truth of the verb eleutheroo... When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free. Vance Havner applied the truth about freedom stating... I am thinking today of the liberty there is in Christ. In these days of light and loose thinking on all subjects, we are likely to forget that freedom comes through submission.. FROM THE LAW OF (the) SIN AND OF (the) DEATH: apo tou nomou tes hamartias kai tou thanatou: (Romans 5:21; 7:21,24,25) I have been delivered and set free from the law of sin and death. If I were still under the law of sin and death then I would be under God’s condemnation because sin demands judgment, death and condemnation -- the penalty for sin must be paid! One could interpret, “For the regulative principle of the Spirit, namely, the life which is in Christ Jesus,” this freed me from the regulative principle of sin and death (the evil nature), at the moment I put my trust in the Lord Jesus and was saved. Wayne Barber first gives a general definition of hamartia, the Greek word for sin First of all is a definition of sin. What is sin? If I’ve got to deal with it and it is very clear that I do, then what is sin? In 1Jn 1:8, 9, 10 we have just seen the word mentioned. It is used in 17 verses in the book of 1John, so it is kind of on John’s mind. It is a very prominent word in the study of 1 John. The Greek word for sin is hamartia. It comes from the hamartano, which means to miss the mark. It’s like taking a bow and arrow and shooting at a target. When you are shooting at something, you try to hit it. When you miss it, that is what sin is like. I want you to get the idea, shooting at a mark and missing the mark. That is what the whole thing is all about. When you put that in light of the Christian’s life, the Christian’s walk is when you shoot at something. Perhaps it is God’s mark for you but you go about it the wrong way and you miss it. You miss what God had intended in your life. It is when you choose to walk in darkness rather than light. It is when the Word of God has something very specific to say to you about your family, has something very specific to say to you about your finances, has something very specific to say about your future and everything else in your life, but you say, "I don’t need that Book. God, you leave it there. I am going to do my own thing." You just missed the mark. That is sin. (from 1 John 2:1 - The Believer and Sin - Part 2) Remember that in Romans 6-8, Paul uses the word Sin more for the predilection or propensity that we all inherited from Adam. It is that innate, indwelling "virus" called the Sin which energizes, coerces and leads us to commit the specific, individual sins. (which is what the previous discussion by Wayne Barber is primarily explaining) Wayne Barber writes that... The law of sin is that principle in us that pulls us downward into death and that used to control and condemn us. Now, it can only operate when it is put under law by our own foolish choices. It commands us to work "in the energy of our flesh," and then condemns all that we do. It has no control over us unless we foolishly fall into the trap of performance and law, which is the beachhead for this principle to operate. This is Romans 6 in a nutshell. Paul presents two opposite laws or principles. The characteristic principle of the Holy Spirit is to empower believers for holy living. The characteristic principle of indwelling sin is to drag a person down to death. It is like the law of gravity. When you throw a ball into the air, it comes back down because it is heavier than the air it displaces. A living bird is also heavier than the air it displaces, but when you toss it up in the air, it flies away. The law of life in the bird overcomes the law of gravity. So the Holy Spirit supplies the risen life of the Lord Jesus, making the believer free from the law of sin and death. The law of the sin and death reigns both strong and secure (as demonstrated by every sin we commit and every cemetery we see); but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ is stronger still, and frees us from the law of sin and death. We are free from the law of death; death no longer has any sting in it for the believer. But we are also free from the law of sin; the Christian does not have to sin (though he inevitably does) because we are freed from sin’s dominion. Romans 8:1 speaks of being free from the Guilt of sin Romans 8:2 speaks of being free from the Power of sin Morris, quoting Manson writes that... Moses’ law has right but not might. Sin’s law has might but not right The law of the Spirit has both right and might ><> ><> ><> This passage tells us that, though the law of sin and death keeps a Christian from living the kind of life God wants him to live, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death. In the same way, the law of gravity acts to keep a plane from flying. But when a plane reaches a certain speed, the law of aerodynamics takes over and frees the plane from the effects of gravitational force. ><> ><> ><> Wayne Barber explains these two opposing principles: "Paul begins to explain how we are now free from the CONDEMNATION OF THE LAW. Note that in this verse Paul does NOT use "law" as a synonym of the Mosaic Law. Here's the picture - think of the "law" (principle) of gravity. Throw a stone in the air and it will plunge back to earth. So "law" is simply the principle by which something works. Now what does Paul mean by "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus"? He is referring to how the Spirit of Christ, the life of God, works in believers. We are identified with Christ and His Holy Spirit lives in us as the embodiment of Christ's resurrected life. The Holy Spirit within us supplies the RISEN LIFE OF CHRIST & EMPOWERS & ENABLES us to live in the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus. It is the Spirit of God working within us. As one example of this principle or "law of the Spirit" consider how the Spirit won't let us "get away with" sin. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the One Who will let us know quickly and convict us that we have "missed God's mark". The Spirit is He Who is always "pulling us" (leading us) (see notes Romans 8:14) toward God, just as gravity pulls a stone to the earth. So this is the "law" of the Spirit - it is Christ's Spirit Who guides and gravitates us ever "Godward" toward the Father and towards that behavior in our life that pleases the Father. The contrasting principle or "law" is that of "SIN & OF DEATH" which "pulls us" downward into death, whereas the Spirit of Christ works to pull us upward toward God. When we were in Adam we had no choice but to be pulled by the "law of sin and of death". Now that we are in Christ this "law" has no control over a believer unless we foolishly fall into the trap of performance under the Law which creates the "beachhead" from which SIN is able to operate in our mortal bodies (see Romans 7:8-note "Sin"… takes… "OPPORTUNITY through the commandment" where "opportunity" was a Greek military term describing the base camp, in this case, the base camp from which sin launches its deadly assaults.). So there is a law or principle working (like gravity) and if I choose to ever try to live by the flesh again, this "law" is going to pull me downward and away from the "Godward" life that the Spirit is seeking to pull me toward. The law of the Spirit is higher and more powerful than the law of sin and of death and it has set your free. "Set you free" is the verb eleutheroo - The "-oo" means it not just simply gives you freedom but proves you to be free (it puts your freedom on display). Jesus used eleutheroo in John 8:32 "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall MAKE YOU FREE." The "law of the Spirit" in my life has proven me to be free from the law of sin and of death. This truth has set me free to be what God wants me to be because the Spirit of God living in me enables me. No longer am I bound by the law of sin and of death. God has so changed us on the inside with the indwelling Holy Spirit residing in us that the Spirit now compels us like a magnet towards God. Take the illustration of a huge and very heavy 747 jet. The law of gravity says that the 747 cannot get off the ground. But there is a law which supersedes the law of gravity - the law of aerodynamics. Because of the forward motion of the 747 the plane begins to lift off and the law of gravity is superseded. By analogy the law of the Spirit of life in believers supersedes the law of sin and of death. When you were in Adam, you had no power Source to allow you to supersede the law of sin & death and using the 747 analogy, it was "crash & burn" for us when we were in Adam. The message is clear -- don't try to live a supernatural life using natural means. ><> ><> ><> F B Meyer in Our Daily Walk has the following devotionals... WALKING NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. That the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."-- Rom 8:1-4 (R.V.). THE APOSTLE here is dealing with the conditions of a holy life; and the condemnation to which he refers is that caused by the constant failure so graphically described in the previous chapter. From my own experience, I think that the introspection which is often induced by ill-health and weakness makes us very sensitive to the failure and shortcoming of the inner life. We know that we are accepted in Christ, and that our sins are forgiven us for His sake; but we are deeply conscious that in us (i.e. in our flesh) dwelleth no good thing from. Rom 7:18-note). The Reservoir of Eternal Life.--"the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus." We perceive what physical life is when a child comes bounding into our room in a very ecstasy of health and joy. We know what intellectual life is as we see the mind developing under the process of education. We know what the moral life of a stoic is, repelling by force of will the appeal of the senses. But above all these, there is Life which is resident in Jesus Christ, stored in Him, abounding in Him, which He longs to communicate to every soul that trusts in Him. This was the witness of those who knew Jesus most intimately in His brief human life--that "God hath given unto us Eternal Life, and this Life is in His Son." "He that hath the Son hath the Life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the Life." This more than outweighs the down-pull of the serf-life. The aw of that life makes us free from the law of sin and death, for it has mastered death and the grave. This Life is communicated and sustained by the Holy Spirit. We must be one with Christ; we must be in Him, as the sponge is in the ocean. We must be in Him, not only in our standing, but also in our daily walk. We must be in Him as the branch is in the vine, and the vine-sap in the branch. And this must not only be a theory, but an hourly experience. We must abide in Him and He in us. But how can this become our daily experience? There is but one way. Through the co-operation of the Holy Spirit, as we walk in Him (Gal 5:16-note). He is the essence of the Life which is in Christ Jesus. "The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." PRAYER: Almighty God, I beseech Thee to raise me from the death of sin to the life of righteousness by that same power that brought the Lord Jesus from the dead, that I may walk in newness of life through the aid of the Holy Spirit. AMEN. (F B Meyer) ><> ><> ><> THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE "For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."-- Ro 8:2. THE SIMPLEST child knows something of the law of gravitation. The word is from the Latin gravitas, which is the attraction of weight by weight. What gravitation is to matter, the down-pull of the flesh is to the spirit. There is not a single one of us, who is seeking to live the better life, that is not conscious of this down-pull. Indeed the laws of gravitation in the natural world have their counterpart in our inward experience. There is always a down-pull to the centre of gravity, i.e. to self--what I like, what I choose, what I prefer! The fall of the soul toward the flesh--or self-life--becomes increasingly rapid, so that every time we yield it becomes easier to yield, and the velocity becomes headlong. The child of God would fall with velocity equal to that of the depraved sinner if it were not for the law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus which makes him free from the law of sin and death. Overcoming the Earth-pull. You may see it in the soaring of the lark, singing as it rises, until you think it will split its tiny throat with song. One of the delights of an ocean voyage is to watch the gulls, as regularly, evenly, and easily they keep level with the progress of the boat. The bird does not float in the air; it balances itself; it measures its wings against its weight, and defies the earth-pull. But if the means of flight are maimed, it drops helplessly on land or water. Alas for the bird, though it be an albatross, that happens to alight on water covered by the oil discharged from an oil-driven vessel. When once its wings have become glued to its body, by immersion in that oil-bath, there is nothing for it but a miserable end! The Spirit works according to law,--"the taw of the Spirit of Life." Do not grieve Him by any act of insincerity or hatred. If you are aware of the subsidence of His energy, go back till you have discovered where you dropped the thread of obedience to His gentle promptings. Pick it up by confession and restitution, and again you will become conscious of His mediation to you of a Law of Life that laughs at sin and death! Yours will be the wings of an eagle's flight, the soaring of a lark, sunward, heavenward, Godward! But you must take time to be holy--in meditation, in prayer, and especially in the use of the Bible. PRAYER: Help me, O Lord, to find my life according to Thy promise. I thank Thee that Thou hast implanted the germ of Thine own nature. Leave me not, neither forsake me in the upward climb. Teach me to change my strength and mount up with the wings of eagles. AMEN. (F B Meyer) ><> ><> ><> Like an eagle set free: "While walking through the forest one day, a man found a young eagle who had fallen out of his nest. He took it home and put it in his barnyard where it soon learned to eat and behave like the chickens. One day a naturalist passed by the farm and asked why it was that the king of all birds should be confined to live in the barnyard with the chickens. The farmer replied that since he had given it chicken feed and trained it to be a chicken, it had never learned to fly. Since it now behaved as the chickens, it was no longer an eagle. “Still it has the heart of an eagle,” replied the naturalist, “and can surely be taught to fly.” He lifted the eagle toward the sky and said, “You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle, however, was confused. He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again. The naturalist took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” But the eagle was afraid of his unknown self and world and jumped down once more for the chicken food. Finally the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. You belong to the sky. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and up to the sky. Then the naturalist lifted him straight towards the sun and it happened that the eagle began to tremble. Slowly he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, soared away into the heavens. It may be that the eagle still remembers the chickens with nostalgia. It may even be that he occasionally revisits the barnyard. But as far as anyone knows, he has never returned to lead the life of a chicken." (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) Romans 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, (NASB: Lockman) Greek: to gar adunaton tou nomou, en o esthenei (3SIAI) dia tes sarkos, o theos ton heautou huion pempsas (AAPMSN) en homoiomati sarkos hamartias kai peri hamartias katekrinen (3SAAI) ten hamartian en te sarki, Amplified: For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice] (Amplified Bible - Lockman) NLT: The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. (NLT - Tyndale House) Phillips: The Law never succeeded in producing righteousness - the failure was always the weakness of human nature. But God has met this by sending his own Son Jesus Christ to live in that human nature which causes the trouble. And, while Christ was actually taking upon himself the sins of men, God condemned that sinful nature. (Phillips: Touchstone) Wuest: For that which is an impossibility for the law, because it was weak through the sinful nature, God having sent His Son in likeness of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the sinful nature, in order that the righteous requirement of the law may be brought to completion in us who, not as dominated by the sinful nature are ordering our behavior but as dominated by the Spirit. (Eerdmans) Young's Literal: for what the law was not able to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, His own Son having sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, did condemn the sin in the flesh, FOR: to gar: (Ro 3:20; 7:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Acts 13:39; Gal 3:21; Heb 7:18,19; 10:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,14) As in Romans 8:2, the conjunction for (1063) (gar) in this verse carries the meaning of because. For introduces an explanation (Whenever you encounter a term of explanation, always stop and interrogate with the 5W/H'S -- questions such as "What the for there for?" which facilitates the discipline of Biblical Meditation which in turn God promises to richly reward - see Ps 1:2-note, Ps 1:3-note, Joshua 1:8-note). This verse which stresses the sacrificial work of Christ explains how we were set free and why there is therefore no condemnation. Believers are set free from the law of sin and death and are made alive by the law of the Spirit of life because of what Jesus Christ has done for them. The work of the Spirit in sanctification, referred to in verse two, is itself grounded in the work of redemption. Paul is once again emphasizing the impossibility of attaining freedom over Sin (and the flesh) through the instrumentality of the Law. Radical action is the only cure and Paul goes on to explain that our freedom was made possible only through the almighty Cross of Christ. WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO: to gar adunaton tou nomou: Rendered literally Paul describes “the impossible (thing) of the law." God condemned sin, which condemnation was an impossible thing on the part of the law. But note that "the impotence of the Law did not lie in itself; it lay in the material with which it had to work, man. Even a Rembrandt cannot produce a masterpiece on tissue paper." (S Lewis Johnson) The sense is that the Law could neither justify (give freedom from condemnation) nor impart life.