Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Paul begins the verse with the conjunction “gar,” which introduces a reason or explanation for something. Why are we as Christians in a state of “no condemnation?” It is because we have been set free from the bondage of sin (the law of sin and death) by the law of the Spirit of life.
What is the law of the Spirit of life? It is the gospel of Christ. The gospel is God’s power to save.
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Thankfully, the gospel not only saved us when we initially obeyed it, but it also sustains us.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Do you see it? Peter said we are guarded through faith. The word guarded is from phroureō and means, “to hem in, protect:- keep [with a garrison]” (James Strong, Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary). Who is protecting or guarding us? It is God. How does he do it? By the gospel of Christ, which encompasses the totality of New Testament teaching. The doctrine of Christ keeps us safe from the assaults of the devil. Having said this, it is the original freedom we experience when we first obeyed the gospel that Paul has in mind in Romans 8:2.
No captivity is worse than the bondage of sin. Sin will keep you from enjoying the providential care of God. He promises to provide us with the necessities of life, but only if we seek Him first in our lives (Matthew 6:33), something we cannot do with unrepentant sin on our account. Sin will keep us from experiencing the joy of fellowship with God (1 John 1:4-7) and will keep us from the advantage of having access to Him through prayer (John 9:31).
The truth is, sin is our greatest enemy because in the end, it will keep us out of heaven, but we should not overlook its immediate consequences. The great news is that in Christ we have been set free from all the consequences of sin. Even death cannot have control over us.
1 Corinthians 15:55–57 (ESV)
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank God that we have been set free from the law of sin and death. Thank God for the law of the Spirit of life. Let us never take the gospel for granted. It saved us. It sustains us. It strengthens us and sets us free. All the glory should go to God because our deliverance was made possible only because of what God has done. Paul will tell us what that is next.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.