Sep 16
25
Throughout the book of Romans, when Paul refers to those who walk after
the flesh and those who walk after the Spirit he is speaking of
religious folks, not immoral folks.
The commandments of men teach that believers are yet under the law which
was given at Mt. Sinai. Most say that the believer is not under the
ceremonial law but that the believer is to be ruled by the ten
commandments. That is a precept of man. God never divides the law. Those
who are constrained by law mind the flesh. It is impossible to be
constrained by law without having your mind set on the letter of the law
and your own flesh. This passage declares that everything that is done
in religion, when constrained by law, is all “enmity against God.” The
reason is because the carnal mind “is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.”
Here is the good news for those born of the Spirit of God. The believer
does not have to worry about the carnal mind being enmity against God
because “ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you.” And the believer does not have to worry
about subjection to the law because the body of the law is dead to us
because Christ has taken care of our sin, “And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin.” Since Christ has taken care of our sin
when he laid down his life for us, the believer is dead to the law and
the whole body of the law is dead to the believer so that we are married
to Christ and worship him in newness of Spirit, not in the oldness of
the letter. (Rom 7: 4, 6) That is exactly what is declared in this
passage, if Christ be in you, the body of the law is dead, because
Christ has dealt with our sin before the law. And the Spirit of God
dwelling in us shall also do the same for our mortal bodies.
“Therefore brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. 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.” If we mind
the law, mind our flesh and try to live constrained by the law, we will
not have our hearts set on Christ alone, and we shall die. But as we
continually hear of the faithfulness of Christ through the preaching of
the gospel, the Spirit sets our affection on Christ above, strengthens
our inner man to rest in Christ and makes us treat our body, and the
body of the law, as God says they really are, dead. (Col 3: 1-4)
So if you are in religion, which are you? Are you constrained by men,
constrained by their precepts, constrained by the law? If so you have
your affection continually set on your flesh rather than on Christ. You
glory in appearance, not in heart. (2 Cor 5: 12) It is to have a carnal
mind. All such religion is enmity against God. You are not, and cannot
be, subject to the law given at Mt. Sinai nor subject to the gospel by
which God commands us to cease from our works and believe on Christ. (Jn
6: 28-29) God says that those who have not the Spirit of Christ are none
of us. All who worship this way are worshipping by works.
If you are constrained by the love of Christ for you, then you live unto
Christ rather than unto yourself. You have been given the Spirit, not of
bondage, but of adoption. You have discernment to judge that when Christ
died, right then, all things that needed to die, died before God: your
old man of sin died, you died to the law and the law died to you. (2 Cor
5: 14-15; Rom 6: 6-7; 7: 4, 6) You worship and live unto Christ in
newness of spirit because you are a new creation, old things are passed
away. All things are become new. The Spirit has revealed in you that you
are now a son of God. So now, you glory only in God and his Son, who has
worked this great work for us by his Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Cor
5: 17, 18) This is the true religion, the religion of grace.
Clay Curtis.