Devotions

Rev Gav

Needle

Romans 8.1-11

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Reflect

“There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” In other words we are not condemned, because at our sentencing that took place in and through the cross of Jesus Christ, we were acquitted! But… the good news is even better than that!

In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome he describes the battle going on in every one of us, a battle between the desires of the ‘flesh’ and the desires of God. When we become a Christian, the Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us such that our desires change from seeking to fulfil our own needs and wants, to seeking to fulfil God’s will and purpose.

Without God — without the Spirit in our lives — we are powerless and rudderless. We exist, primarily to satisfy our own needs and wants, or to satisfy them vicariously through other people however, when the Spirit fills us and we are open to the Spirit transforming us from the inside out, we slowly begin to change and the needle swings from self to God.

Paul is not saying we won’t enjoy or like things that satisfy our bodies, emotions, or intellect! We don’t suddenly stop liking sex or chocolate cake or both at the same time! It just means that as we journey through life, we discover we want to serve God (and others) instead of ourselves. We start to see the world with God’s eyes and seek justice, peace, and the restoration of creation. Things to which we might have previously been indifferent about we discover have become important to us — especially regarding the poor, marginalised, and where God’s creation is being destroyed.

The change in us is real and wonderful and in theological terms we call this development in our inner-selves ‘formation’ as we become formed or moulded into people who are more Christlike.

The good news of the gospel is not only that we are no longer condemned, but that we are being formed — in the here and now — into the people God created us to be. And you know what? It makes everything else in life appear, taste, and feel just a little bit better too!

Pray

Holy God
Thank you that
through the cross
of Jesus Christ
I am set free
from the law
of sin and death,
but better than that,
thank you that
I am empowered
by your Holy Spirit
to become the person
you created me to be.
Yours Forever.