Proverbs of a 38 yr old man
Holiness is a Spirit. The letter of the law kills. Its the spirit of the law that maintains grace, mercy, and true justice. Its not about the total enforcement of law but an actually living out of the spirit of it. Because we belong to Jesus, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have 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. This is why the letter kills when we beat people over the head with it. Those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. Holiness is a Spirit. You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. The penalty of the law can never take away your new Spirit, new heart that is within you. You can now uphold the law and pursue God and his holiness without fear of condemnation. Know Him more in the face of Christ as he shines his holy radiance in you and through you, conforming you into his image.
Study Rom. 7:6
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