| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Holy Spirit Becomes the Life of the Believer, #3
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. (Romans 8:13)
If by the power of the resurrection life of Christ the believer keeps on bringing his body under subjection to the will of Christ, he will live before God. The grace that already dwells in him will respond to the call of Jesus, at the coming of the Lord, and his mortal body will be made alive.
When we receive Christ we are given the authority to be a child of God (John 1:12). In order to transform this authority into the actual attainment of sonship we must take up our cross and follow the Holy Spirit of God.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
In the United States, each person has the authority to receive a high school education and his parents are prohibited by law from putting him out to work when he is a young child. Many American citizens do not achieve a high school education, even though they have the authority to do so, because they cease attending classes or become ill or some other problem develops.
So it is in Christ. Each person who receives Christ is given the authority to be a child of God. But in order to actually become a son of the Father he must follow the Holy Spirit just as Rebecca followed Eliezer of Damascus.
The Holy Spirit is the law of the new covenant. The Law of Moses, consisting of the Ten Commandments and the accompanying ordinances, was the law of the old covenant. When we died on the cross with Christ we became legally free from the Law of Moses so that we may live under the new law of the Spirit of life.
The new covenant is not an adherence to the letter of any law. Rather it is obedience to the Spirit of God. The letter of the law always kills us. The Spirit of God always gives us incorruptible resurrection life.
The Holy Spirit gives us life. What a difference there is between the old covenant and the new covenant! The law of God of the first covenant does not bring life, it brings death. "And the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death" (Romans 7:10).
Our first personality cannot fulfill the law of God.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
The "law of sin and death" consists of the Ten Commandments working together with the sin which dwells in our flesh. When the commandments come to our sinful nature and deeds the result is spiritual death. The Law of Moses is perfect—absolutely righteous and holy. The sin which dwells in us is contrary to the Law and will not obey the Law.
The Law of Moses makes one fact clear to us: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
The new covenant does not consist of a new set of laws that we are to obey. The new covenant is the Holy Spirit working in us.
To be continued.