Lesson 16: Life in the Spirit – 8:1-11
 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Our verses today begin a chapter of great victory. We start by making two lists from our verses today – a list of what the Law gives us, and what the Spirit of God gives us.

The Law gives us:
* condemnation (verse 1)
* sin and death (verse 2)
* weakness (verse 3)
* walking in our flesh/worldly thinking (verse 4)
* mind set on the flesh (verse 5)
* death (verse 6)
* hostility toward God (verse 7)
* unable to please God (verse 8)
* not belonging to Him (verse 9)
* dying body (verse 10)
* hopelessness (verse 11)


The Spirit living in us gives us:
* no more condemnation forever (verse 1, verse 34)
* freedom in Jesus (verse 2, also John 8:32, 36)
* sin is defeated (verse 3, and Romans 6:10)
* Law has been fulfilled for us (verse 4, and Romans 13:10)
* mind set on eternal life (verse 5, and Galatians 5:22-25)
* life and peace (verse 6, and Romans 5:1)
* at peace with God (verse 7, and 1 John 2:15)
* able to please God (verse 8, and 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12)
* accepted as a child of God (verse 9, and John 1:12)
* clothed in His righteousness (verse 10, and Isaiah 61:10)
* eternal life with Him (verse 12, and 1 Thessalonians 4:17)

It is human nature to want to live by a set of rules rather than living by faith in Jesus. This is because we can justify our actions to ourselves when we break one of the rules. We can make excuses for ourselves and tell ourselves we are really not that bad. By doing this we damage our conscience so it can no longer function as God designed it to be. Then we learn to walk farther and farther away from Truth – one inch at a time.

Living by faith in Jesus sets us free from the Law because He fulfills all the requirements of the Law in us – in Romans 13:10 we will read this as the “law of love” in us because of His presence. We can contrast this with how we walk. If we want to follow the Law, it is as if we watch our feet for every step we take to be sure we will not stumble. If we live by faith in Jesus, it is as if we watch His face for every step we take, trusting Him to tell us when we must step high to walk over a stone. If we watch our feet, we will never be able to walk on water with Him – see Matthew 14:22-33.

*Which way of living your Christian life are you choosing – by the Law, or by faith in Jesus?