Take a moment to read Romans 8:1-17 before reading the devotional below.
As we continue to follow Paul’s in-depth explanation of salvation through Jesus, he shows us a beautiful picture of how God’s justice and his love go together. God established a rule of law to protect his people. After all, no one wants to live in a lawless society because that only breeds evil. Laws require a backbone of some kind — a way of enforcing justice when people break the law. But because God’s laws reveal the perfection of his kingdom, we cannot follow all of them no matter how hard we try. As we discussed in yesterday’s post, God is not surprised by our inability to avoid sin.
Verse 3 tells us that “God did what the law could not do.” He upheld justice by allowing Jesus to fulfill the laws’ requirements of death. How is that fair? It isn’t. But in ways we can barely comprehend, it is just. Justice demands payment — like an overdue bill. The credit card company doesn’t care who pays, they just want the money. Justice is satisfied when the debt is paid. Our earthly legal system is inherently unjust, making it hard for us to understand fully God’s justice. But his love for us brought him to the point of being willing to cover for us. To pay what we could not.
Here’s your freedom for today: you don’t have to be afraid anymore. Living by the Spirit is a totally different kind of life. The power of the Holy Spirit gives you access to God’s ways from the inside-out, and you no longer owe a debt to sin. When you stay in tune with the Spirit, your flesh can’t control you. And it certainly won’t own you for eternity. In this fallen world, sometimes it is hard to remain aligned with the Spirit 100% of the time because your flesh tempts you to sin over and over again. Life in the Spirit is like a drink of fresh water in a desert — when you find it, you are restored and brought back to life once again.