Romans 8:1-11 (NRSV)
Read Romans 8:1-11 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Verse 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Verse 3For 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 to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, Verse 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Verse 5For 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. Verse 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Verse 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law-indeed it cannot, Verse 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Verse 9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Verse 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Verse 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Devotion
At seven, while living in my original home, I was able to stay with my grandma for a week on a farm in central Nebraska. When I returned home, for the first time I realized that our house was dirty. That insight stayed with me and helped change me into being something of a “neatnik”.
Paul had a similar revelation in Romans. In chapter seven he came to the realization that he did not do the good he wanted because sin dwelt in him. He found solace in the news that Jesus overcame sin in the cross and resurrection, and that the Holy Spirit was nearby leading him in the ways of God. He (we) no longer had to be bound by visible, social systems and worldly realities; he (we) could instead live from the perspective and values of the Spirit. Even if flesh realities are close by, the Spirit is near us.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for your wonderful creation. May your Holy Spirit guide us so that we live from your values even while worldly values and systems are all around us. Amen.
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