Romans 8:2 Meditation

Text (Rom 8:2, NIV):

"... because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."

Amplified Rendering:

Through the seminal work of Jesus and the unlimited grace of Almighty God, the Breath of God's Spirit has liberated us from the restraining shackles of our never-ending penchant to reject God in favor of created things and our own deluded cravings(1).

Furthermore, God has breathed us back to life(2) and, in doing so, freed us for all time from the deleterious (and snowballing) effects of the law, which in our sinful state breeds(3) vileness of thought, speech, and action; the almost overwhelming desire to do the exact opposite of what the law requires; guilt; shame; and a never-ending impulse to pursue comfort apart from God. It freed us also from the just recompense for our rebellion(4): Our eternal banishment from Almighty God (our intimate knowledge of Him and His joyful presence in our lives), ourselves, and everyone we've ever known or loved. This is the liberation to life—the finished work(5)—God won for us though Christ on the cross!

Consecrating Prayer:

Holy Father...

I'm free! Free to be me! Free to live for You! Free to be the person You created me to be(6)!

Thank You for sending Jesus not just to pay the price for my sin but to actually become sin itself so I might be made Your righteousness(7). When Jesus died, my sin, which was nailed to the cross(8), died with Him. And when Jesus rose from the dead, my sin stayed where it belongs: As far from me as the east is from the west(9). Alleluia!

I'm forgiven(10), and I've been set free(11). Come, O Spirit, and breathe afresh on me that my "old man," that conglomerate of false personas that's attached itself to my soul, might be exterminated completely and forever. May I, through Your dunamis power at work in me, learn to master the forces of sin trying to capture my heart(12).

Dear Father...I know I'm Your child(13). And I know, too, how pleased You are to see Jesus inside me. Because of this, my heart jumps to its feet and declares with all its might: "Enable me, Oh God, to do only that which pleases You(14)!"

You're my Daddy, oh God; I just want to be and do that which makes You proud.

In the Name of Jesus, I declare and ask these things...

Amen.

Notes:

1. See Ro 6:18.

2. See Ge 2:7 (a recapitulation of this original imparting of God's life into us) and Ro 8:11.

3. See 2Co 3:6.

4. See Ro 6:23.

5. See Jn 19:28-30.

6. Se Ga 5:1.

7. See 2Co 5:21.

8. See Co 2:14.

9. See Ep 1:7.

10. See Ps 103:12.

11. See Ga 5:1.

12. See Ge 4:7 and Ep 4:22-24.

13. See Jn 1:12.

14. See Ph 2:12-13.

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