The Spirit gives life

Romans 8:5-11 (TNIV) -

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.6 The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.7 The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

My thoughts -

Are we controlled by our sinful natures? Are we "only human", with all of our faults and frailties destined to be stuck in our cycle of sin, forgiveness, sin again? Do we HAVE to do what we want not to do and have to NOT do what we want to do? In Romans 7:15 Paul describes this process in a way I identify with all too well: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." This is sin. I feel powerless to do what I know I ought to, and yet what I know I shouldn't comes far too easily. But does it HAVE to be this way? Is that just human nature and unavoidable? Is there no hope for me; for us?

Maybe I keep harping on this because I'm trying to get it through my thick head but Jesus didn't die for us for AFTER we're dead. Grace isn't our your-sins-are-forgiven-now-you-get-out-of-hell-free card. Grace frees us from sin. Grace breaks this cycle of sin. Grace doesn't just forgive us, but EMPOWERS us. It doesn't free us from past sins, but from present and future ones, as well. WE DON'T HAVE TO SIN. I can't say that enough.

Sure, maybe demanding perfection seems like it's too much. And expecting perfection is a way too be let down. But what about EMPOWERING perfection? Can we wrap our heads around that concept? Can we accept that Grace EMPOWERS us to no longer sin? That we CAN do that which we know God desires from us? That we can STOP doing that which we know is KILLING us?

Do we have hope for this life or just for the next? I need hope now. I need to be better now. I can't keep living like I've been living and I need to KNOW that's possible. I know everything I've done. I am acutely aware of all of my failings, even if I mask them well. I know what keeps me up at night. I don't want to live with it anymore. Jesus died to take it from me. All that I have done, all that I have failed to do, all of my shortcomings. Jesus died to take them from me and to let me live and love in the way that God has intended me to.

So now I have life. And now I GET to love. And now I GET to share that love with others. I don't follow God because I HAVE to, I GET to. I am EMPOWERED to. It's better here, living the way that your Designer?Creator/Sustainer intended. I have new life. More than that, I have LIFE.

What really brings this all home to me is verse 11: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you." This life is not for your soul. This life is not an afterlife. This isn't a get-out-of-hell thing. The Spirit gives life to your MORTAL bodies.

Grace that doesn't help us here is no grace at all. Jesus can help us here, right now, to break out of the cycle of sin that brings us this living death, and to help us to live in the way that God intended for us to live. Right here and right now. That this ABUNDANT life is ETERNAL as well is just icing on the cake. Who would want to live forever trapped in this cycle of sin?