The redeemed is no longer under the law of sin and death but under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Let me tell you a fictitious story of a lady called Abigail. She was married to a man called Nabal and he gave her hell. He had a list of do’s and don’ts. He gave Abigail this list of things she had to do as his wife. But it was simply impossible for her to meet them all.
No matter how hard she tried she would always find that she forgot to do something, or forgot to say something, or did something in a way that was different from the exact way he wanted it done.
He wanted his rice cooked in a particular way. His meat had to be boiled in a particular way. His shirt must be ironed in one way, or you won’t hear the last of it. If Abigail failed to meet even one of his many conditions, it was like she had failed to meet every condition.
God says: “The soul who sins shall die.”
Abigail contemplated suicide, but she did not have the courage. She thought of murdering her husband. On one occasion, she seriously considered poisoning his Edikaikong soup. But she was afraid of spending the rest of her life in jail.
And then there was this issue of divorce. She had nightmares about divorce. She was afraid that she would wake up one day and discover that she was divorced. Nabal made her understand that he could divorce her any day at any time for any cause. And then where would she be? Where would she go?
So what happened?
Nabal died
One day, Nabal had a stroke and died. He just fell and died. When he died, Abigail got married to David. When she moved into the house of David, she asked David for his list of do’s and don’ts.
But he said he had none. “I just love you,” he said. “There are no laws, no rules, no regulations, and no guidelines. Just love. For love makes up for many of our faults. Love covers a multitude of sins.”
This is what happens when we are redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ. We are dead to the law of sin and death and are now married under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 7:2-6).
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Righteousness of God
The passion of Jesus, His agony on the cross, and His death all came about because He chose to atone to God for the sins of mankind. As Isaiah prophesied:
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6).
God’s attitude to sin is so extreme that it cost Him the death of Jesus, His only begotten Son whom He loved before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24). He could not even make an exception for His beloved Jesus.
Jesus plea-bargained with God the Father in Gethsemane: “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” (Matthew 26:39).
In effect, God the Father said: “It is not possible.” It is impossible because God does not call back His words. God says: “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11).
God’s word that must be fulfilled in this case says: “The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4). Therefore, to redeem the sins of mankind, Jesus had to die.
Wages of sin
Let me tell you a parable. Most people did not know the Head of State was implacably determined to stamp out corruption in the land. Since he came to power, he has made speeches upon speeches that corruption would not be tolerated. “Any official caught stealing public funds would be executed,” he maintained.
It sounded so extreme that people did not believe him. All government officials were corrupt. Corruption had permeated every facet of the society. To implement his decision, the president would have to kill everybody one by one.
After several people were caught stealing and executed, a plot was hatched and the one and only son of the Head of State was arrested on trumped-up charges and accused of corruption. False witnesses testified that he also had been stealing government funds.
Many laughed and ridiculed the Head of State. They said: “We’ll see now about all your talk about fighting corruption.” “So what is going to happen to your son?” “Will you also execute him?”
The president’s son was charged in court. Everyone predicted that the trial would be fixed. Many anticipated the judge would be bought over and given instruction from above to throw out the case.
But something seemed to go wrong. The President’s son was declared guilty as charged. What about the sentence? The judge sentenced him to death by hanging.
The people could not believe it. Surely, the President would pardon his son. Surely, he would not allow his son to be executed.
But to everyone’s surprise, the president’s son was hanged without reprieve. He died and was buried in a common grave. The president did not even attend his son’s burial.
After the burial, the president addressed the nation and repeated his earlier declaration: “Anyone caught stealing public funds would suffer the same fate that happened to my son.”
This time, everybody believed him. They said: “This man is insane. This man is serious about fighting corruption. So serious that he did not even spare his son from death.
Extremist God
God’s judgement is pure and His attitude to sin is total. So total in fact that He destroyed the whole world in the Flood because of sin, saving only eight people out of all humanity. So total that he created the lake of fire and brimstone for the fallen angels where they are to be tormented for the ages of the ages. (Revelation 20:10).
So total that He turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes for the sins of the people. (2 Peter 2:6). So total that having saved His chosen people out of Egypt, He destroyed them all one by one in the wilderness, except for Joshua and Caleb.
So total that if anyone broke just a single one of the 613 laws of Moses, he is considered guilty of all the laws. (James 2:10). So total that even Moses, God’s dear friend who spoke to Him face to face, was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of one single infraction. (Deuteronomy 3:25-26).
No wonder, the writer of Hebrews concluded: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31).
Despising grace
Nevertheless, this is God’s word of prophecy: “For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.” (Isaiah 62:1).
Jesus was so determined that this prophecy be fulfilled that He left the glory of heaven to come down to earth to redeem us from our sins. He was so determined that He who created the heavens and the earth became a baby, crawled on the ground, sucked a woman’s breast, and grew in wisdom and stature, only to die a shameful death on the cross.
Therefore: “If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26—29).
The redeemed of Christ must be determined to live sinless lives. We must reckon ourselves to be freed from sin. We must carry our crosses daily and follow Jesus: “the way the truth and the life.” (John 14:6). We must acknowledge that we were crucified with Christ so we can have the newness of life in Him.
But we cannot be freed from sin if we continue to make provision for the flesh. We cannot be freed from sin if we continue to excite the flesh. Otherwise, we would jump down from the cross.
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behaviour, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” (Colossians 3:1-10).
CONCLUDED.