By THE SPIRIT Paul wrote in Romans chapter 6:
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
All of us were born with death reigning over us through Adam’s sin as Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5. That reality is expressed in the news media throughout each day so there should be no debate concerning man’s fallen state. It was no different at the time Jesus walked the earth as the Jews were being treated as captives by the Romans who dominated the world by force. Even Paul (who was Saul) knew all too well how to use power in a corrupt fashion to further his agenda by dominating the enemies of his religion using the legal system to his advantage and promotion. What better vessel to pick to pen these words than one who had been an enemy of Christ and the life He offers.
We are not to continue our former path which leads toward death and destruction. A slave is a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. When we choose the path of sin and death we have become the legal “property” of that choice and thus are judged accordingly. Paul gives us a list of the fruit of this choice in Galatians chapter 5:
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The “fruit” of the broad path of destruction is easy to see by simply watching the world news on TV. Those who promote death and destruction are bloodthirsty and only seek more of the same. On the other hand we who have chosen to crucify our old man are no longer slaves to sin and now have the ability to walk in the newness of life. As we press in and take on that newness which is Christ in us the hope of glory, we begin producing new fruit which replaces the fruit of the old man. Paul lists the new fruit of THE SPIRIT:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
As we have united ourselves with His death, we must also purpose to unite IN HIM in His resurrection and walk in the newness and fullness of His anointing. Shouldn’t we expect the “whole package”? Shouldn’t we endeavor to pierce that veil which separates the Spiritual from the physical and no longer be slave to the lower realm? Jesus eluded to this higher realm when He spoke in John chapter 14:
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Jesus spoke of this higher realm to be occupied in the here and now as He proclaimed “where I am, there you may be also”. We don’t have to wait to walk in the newness of life but can live in it now as we take on His likeness. How do we take on such a likeness? By walking in Love and not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh as Paul wrote in Romans chapter 13:
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
We have a directive to walk IN THE SPIRIT and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. If we were not able to walk in THE SPIRIT, FATHER would not have commanded us to do so. Each of us has the ability to choose life and thus we are accountable to make that decision. Let us no longer rationalize why we can’t walk in the newness of life but purpose to walk in that manner with each and every step we take. Let us cast down those vain imaginations which would challenge this walk we have been commanded to embrace and let the fruit of THE SPIRIT abound in us and through us for those in need to eat and be nourished by the righteousness contained in the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is “life”.