Romans 8:1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin-offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Some would say that the Apostle Paul’s writing is difficult and dense.  In his Letter to the Romans, his manifesto for the Christian faith, it is certainly compact, hard-hitting and highly theological.  But he’s working with a code, which connects with an all-pervasive theme:  the violent clash of Laws.  Law, in Paul’s language, is domain and power, framing God’s order.  To catch Paul’s meaning, consider these competing authorities.

As in …

1. The Law given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai:  specifying God’s righteous requirements, the commands that define a way of life that honors God and edifies all human relationships.  Let’s try…

2. The Law of Sin and Death: when we disobey God, when we oppose his will, when we ignore his moral mandates … we deserve his judgment.  That’s the Law and there’s no getting around it.  Let’s die …

The Law, perfect as it is and demanding perfection, was provided as a good guide to help us, and it turns against us when we fall short.  The Law, intensified and enforced by The Law of Sin and Death, exposes our self-centeredness, our “flesh,” our sinful nature, for the disaster it is.  It prepares to exact the extreme punishment that is then due us — until, unexpectedly, another law is introduced …

3. The Law of the Spirit of Life that sets me Free!  This Law, conceived by God’s mercy, meets the requirements of The Law that ultimately gives up on us.  It satisfies The Law that demands my death for my sin by sending Christ to die on my cross.  It empowers us by implanting the Spirit of the Risen Christ in our hearts as the impetus to live in the freedom of surrender to God.  Let’s fly …

Lord, I cannot meet the requirements of your righteous Law, but Jesus did!  I can’t face the consequences of my sin, but Jesus did!  And so now I live by the Law that lifts me into the freedom of my new calling as your beloved.

Dialog discuss: Jesus was a wild man…If your answer to the question “What would Jesus do?” is that he would be conventional, safe, respectable and refined, then we suspect you didn’t find that answer in the Gospels. Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch – ReJesus

John 13:36-38 (NLT)

“Simon Peter said, “Lord, where are you going?” And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.” 37 “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I am ready to die for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Die for me? No, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

Peter didn’t know himself very well — not nearly as well as Jesus did.  Peter thought he was “all that,” one of the inner circle of the handpicked disciples of the Messiah Himself!  Dude, he was in!  And, as he said here, he was ready to go for it!

Yet Jesus knew that Peter, just as he was, was no match for what was about to happen.  And he surely wasn’t.

But later, when Peter had been refined by tragedy, bewilderment, and terror as Jesus was crucified; when he had eaten with and touched and worshipped the resurrected Jesus; when he was filled with the Holy Spirit—then he became a force with which to be reckoned!  Then he became someone who went with Jesus wherever Jesus went—even to death.  He did, as Jesus had promised, “follow Me later.”

We can’t really know ourselves, not the way the Lord does.  He sees us inside and out and knows what we are made of.  But if we will let God do the work in us that needs to be done—refining, shaping, pruning—then we will become someone who will follow Jesus wherever He goes, able to stand fast, able to carry the burden, able to be true.  If you want to be true, if you want to go all the way with Jesus, let God do what He needs to do inside you.

Jesus, I want to go with You; I want to be true.  Please do the work in me that is needed.

Dialog discuss: “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” It all boils down to this; you stand before people through self-assertion or self-less-ness, promotion or humility. Isn’t it interesting how many followers of Jesus revert to “power plays” of the world instead of the “humility of servanthood?” Bob Roberts, Globalization.

Have you tried servanthood? How did it go? Is that bad? Have you tried self-assertion? How did it go? Is that bad? Lord, continue to lead my heart into encounters and discoveries with you that make my faith contagious!