Into the Heart of Romans
A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter
The Spirit and the Messiah’s Death (1|3)
Pages 44-51
Galatians 2:19-20 (NIV) “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
John 7:37-39 (NIV) On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this, he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
John 20:21-22 (NIV) Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 8:1-4 (NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Where have you experienced the Spirit enabling you to live in ways you could never achieve by your own effort or by merely trying to keep rules?
Paul explains that God’s work through the Messiah and the Spirit accomplishes exactly what the Torah was always meant to do: condemn sin, give life, and create a renewed people. Can you think of ways in your spiritual life where God has brought about freedom or transformation through something that once felt restrictive, challenging, or misunderstood, much like Paul’s idea of dying “through the law” in order to truly live for God?
Paul argues that the Torah’s real limitation was not its inability to condemn sin, but its inability to give life. Where do you see the contrast between trying harder (as Paul once did) and receiving life through the Spirit showing up in your own walk with God?
Paul teaches that God condemned sin so that the law’s life-giving purpose could finally be fulfilled in us through the Spirit, God’s own presence dwelling within His people as a new kind of Temple. What areas of your life feel like they need God’s cleansing (or renewing) work in order for you to more fully experience and reflect His indwelling presence?
Paul says that God “condemned sin in the flesh” of Jesus, carrying out sin’s sentence so that His people could be set free. How does this view of the cross, as the place where sin itself is judged and broken, shape the way you understand Jesus’ death, God’s justice, and the meaning of salvation? What aspects of the cross become clearer or more compelling when you see it not as part of a theological system, but as God’s direct action against the power of sin for the sake of restoring His people?