A New Bible Series
“Our
Position in Christ # 5”
“Death and
Crucifixion; Our Liberation”
Fulfilling the Law in The Spirit
Romans
8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
o
In the Old
Testament, the house of Israel attempted to fulfill the Mosaic Law through the
flesh, resulting only in the knowledge of sin and the deteriorating process
which we just finished describing in our position # 4.
o
In the New
Testament the process is quite different.
o
The
fulfillment of the Law is defined as; the validation, or the fulfillment of all
the legal requirements pertaining to God’s law.
o
The glorious
beauty of what our Lord has done for us is that as we conduct our lives
habitually after the Holy Spirit, the fulfillment and validation of God’s
righteous Law will automatically transpire in us.
o
All of the
efforts that the house of Israel had to make in trying to fulfill the Mosaic
Law have become a guaranteed reality to us. Why is that?
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
q
Romans ten
and four tell us that Christ is the accomplishment, and the closure of God’s
righteous Law. Christ is also the
purpose, the aim, and the goal of God’s law.
q
The
principle of the “end of the Law” dwells within Christ. As we walk in the Spirit, the wonderful
Person of Christ is revealed within us.
The “end of the Law” resident in Him, is revealed with Him, and becomes
an experiential reality in us.
q
Positionally
speaking, we became as righteous as God is two thousand years ago, because
every one of His requirements and ordinances has been perfectly fulfilled in
us, by Christ, “the end of the law.
q
This is the
meaning behind second Corinthians five and twenty one.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Romans
8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate,
them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,
them he also glorified.
q Because we were made as righteous as God
is, we have been justified. That is, we have been pronounced as innocent as God
is of sin. Because we are as innocent as
God is, we were also glorified. We have received all of the attributes, which
makes God, God. All of His power, all
of His authority, all of His freedom, joys and liberties were given to us. Everything resides inside the Person of His
Son.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The End of the Law And the Revelation of The Son
1 Corinthians
1:23 But we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
o First Corinthians one and twenty three in
the Greek translation tells us; “ but we preach Christ, and
Him as being crucified...”
o As pertaining to “Christ, and Him as
being crucified.” I have termed this as the “law of the cross of
Christ”. As Christ is revealed in us,
the “law of the cross” within Him,
experientially puts to death all that is not of Christ. This we find in Romans eight and thirteen.
Romans
8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
q
If as
Christians we live in accordance to the flesh, we will simply bring forward the
reality of the knowledge of sin; and
the fullness of its activity
q
However, if
we conduct our lives in accordance to the voice of the Holy Spirit it will
reveal the “law of the cross” dwelling within Christ.
q This law exercised through the Holy Spirit
constantly kills off and extinguish the fleshly habitual practices of the body,
while the law exercised through the flesh promotes more and more sin.
Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
q
Galatians
six and fifteen tells us that the only thing that has inward strength in our
Christian lives is a “new creation”.
This new creation is no else than the revealed Person of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Gal
5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and
do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
o
Galatians five
and sixteen tells us that if we conduct our lives in accordance to the voice of
the Holy Spirit, it will be impossible for the desires of the flesh to be
executed and accomplished in us. Hallelujah!
o
It is
important that we realize one more thing.
We have died to sin, but sin has not died to us.
Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."
o This was exactly the Lord’s
admonition to Cain.
o Our protection then is to
habitually conduct our lives in accordance to the voice of the Holy Spirit
within us. Going back to serving the
Lord after the flesh will activate the sin which is still very much alive to
us!
Our Conclusion and the Dangers of Passivity
The greatest revelation that I have had in my
twenty-two years as a believer came the day that I comprehend that the answer
to all my struggles to overcome sin is the revelation of the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
On that day,
I realized that my responsibility was to spend as much time in the presence of
the Lord as possible. His presence,
which contains “my co crucifixion and co death together with Him”, would become
a reality in me. My life, consisting of
uncompromising obedience to Him would manifest the “the law of the cross”
likewise dwelling in Jesus. His
presence would experientially put to death the deeds of my body. Finally “my
dying off to the law” which also resides in Jesus, has given me a new and
wonderful way of serving the Lord. My
only responsibility is to live in accordance to His voice, no more and no less.
We must finish our teaching today by briefly
discussing an extremely important point taught by Watchman Nee. He called it “passivity” and classified as a potentially dangerous deception of the
enemy to those who would desire to walk in the Spirit.
From all that we have learned today it would appear
on the surface that we should not work for the Lord. It would seem that much of what we endeavor to do for the Lord
is in the flesh anyways, and it would be better not to do as much. It would also appear logical that since we
cannot overcome sin through our own efforts, which we should just sit down and
bask in the presence of Jesus. Finally
it appears like we should sit down, paralyzed, and do nothing until the voice
of the Spirit speaks to us.
Nothing is further from the truth and we must guard
against these potential lies of the enemy.
The life that manifests the revelation of the Son of
God is one of uncompromising obedience.
It is a life, which must yield time and time again in faith, obedience,
and sacrifice to the Lord so that it may become less, and the Lord may become
more.
The life in the Spirit is one, which spends countless
hours of prayers on its knees so that the presence of Jesus can permeate it,
speak to it through the voice of the Spirit, and reveal the Son of God within.
The life in the Spirit is one, which probes and
researches the word of God time and time again, until the Word teaches it how
to walk in the Spirit.
The life in the Spirit must always say yes to God; it
can never say no. God’s voice will
always take us from faith to faith. The
“God kind of faith” requires us to walk on the water with Him. The life of faith takes us out of our
comfort zone and yanks us out of our complacency.
The life in the Spirit is one in which, when the
resurrection of the Lord is experientially manifested in our lives, it will
take us to much fruitful ministry by the rhema word of God; fruitful yes, and
also sacrificing, for it will cause us to lay down our lives for the sake of
those to whom we minister.
The life in the Spirit is the most productive,
active, exciting and challenging life on the planet. If we are not led to be actively working for the Lord, we must
surely be active in our prayer life and in our time in the Word of God.
God Bless You,
Jose Alvarez
The Complete Greek New Testament Library
http://christianindiantv.homestead.com/ministryonline.html
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