Against such things there is no law

In his letters, Paul is always talking about the law. How we are under the law of sin and death and how Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of that law so that we aren't under it anymore. 

Lately I have been so challenged by Paul's exhortation to live in and by the Holy Spirit and in the freedom that Christ provided us. He talks A LOT about the sinful nature that our bodies are subject to and I know for me, the struggle to overcome addiction and avoidance in my own body has been a source of discouragement and defeat over many years. It's something that renders me ineffective and stuck. In my head, I believe the promises of what God has done and is doing in me but my body and its desires are so loud and contradict that belief. I am learning to trust God in and with my body, not just in and with my head.

This month, Romans 8 and Galatians 5 are my prayer and something I will be claiming daily (you can see my version below) but this one little verse in Galatians struck me today.

 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law."

The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 aren't a laundry list of goals I can tackle but they're outward signs of the work the Holy Spirit is doing in my heart. It's what the Holy Spirit looks like and feels like in our bodies internally and then externally. I can't master this checklist somehow. Instead, as I surrender my body, my thoughts, and my actions to the Holy Spirit, He makes those changes-- not me. 

But after that list of fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control) there is a little sentence: Against such things there is no law. 

Paul spent all of the book of Romans talking about the law-- the law everyone is under, how the Jewish people had the law, how no one could fulfill the law, how Jesus came to fulfill the law, how we are no longer under the law because Jesus fulfilled the requirements for us and how we no longer live by the law but by His Spirit. 

I always read "against such things there is no law" as in that it's not against "the law" to do or be that list of things. But I think Paul is saying more than that. I think he is underlining something that I (and apparently the Galatians) are just not getting. What if it's not so much that it's not against the law to do this stuff, but that against these things, there is NO LAW. 

When we walk in the Holy Spirit, there is no law. The law has no power over us. The law of death and sin and condemnation stands no chance then we are walking in step with the Spirit and exuding love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Our weapons aren't strength and power and speech and conviction. It's quiet peace and constant hope and abiding in Him. And there is no law that can stand against that. No condemnation, no discouragement, no deception, no addiction, no stronghold. 

You belong to Christ Jesus and these fruits are evidence that in your life, there is no law that can stand against Him. They are fruits that are offered to us and can be grown in us by His Spirit and the law has no power over us as we enjoy them. 

So my claim and my hope and my prayer for me (and you) is exactly what Paul urges us to do: 

As I live in the Spirit, let me keep in step with the Spirit. 

This is my prayer, reminder and bold claim that God has given me from these chapters as I "continually put to death the misdeeds of my body (Romans 8)" and live in the freedom of His Spirit. Maybe it will be helpful to you too. 

Romans 8: 

Life Through the Spirit

There is no condemnation for me. I am in Christ Jesus. Through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. God sent his Son to be a sin offering for me. He met the requirements and condemnation of the law. Because of this, I am free to live in His Spirit. 

I live in accordance with the Spirit. I set my mind on what the Spirit desires. My mind is controlled by the Spirit and He gives me life and peace. I am controlled by the Spirit, not by the sinful nature in my body. 

I belong to Christ. My body may be dead because of sin, but my spirit is alive because of His righteousness. The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me. He raised Christ from the dead and He will give life to my mortal body through his Spirit who lives in me.

By the Spirit, I can put to death the misdeeds of my body as they come up.The Spirit of God leads me and has the power to put these misdeeds to death. I live in the Spirit of God and I am God’s adopted daughter. I received the Spirit of adoption. Of daughterhood. I call God Abba Father because the Spirit has brought me into His family. The Spirit and my spirit testify that I am a daughter of God. I am God’s child. I am His child and His heir, an heir of God the Father and a co-heir with Christ. I share in his earthly sufferings but I also share in His glory. 

I am not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit of God who lives in me. Christ is in me so even though my body is dead because of sin, yet my spirit is alive because of righteousness. Because the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to my mortal body through his Spirit, who lives in me. 

So I owe a debt but not to the sinful nature and I don't have to live according to it. For if I live according to the sinful nature, I will die; but if by the Spirit I put to death the misdeeds of the body, I will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. 

For I did not receive a spirit that makes me a slave again to fear, but I received the Spirit of sonship and adoption. And by him I cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself testifies with my spirit that I am God's child. Now if I am His child, then I am His heir-- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed I share in his sufferings in order that I may also share in his glory.

Future Glory:

My hope is in God, in the glory he has for us. He predestined me, he called me, he justified me so he will also glorify me. 

Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things I are more than a conqueror through him who loved me. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Galatians 5: 

Freedom in Christ

It is for freedom that Christ has set me free. I will stand firm and not be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. By faith and with the Spirit, I eagerly wait and hope for righteousness. In Christ Jesus, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. 

Life by the Spirit:

So I will live by the Spirit and I will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other but I am led by the Spirit. I am not under law.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.

I belong to Christ Jesus and have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since I live by the Spirit, I will keep in step with the Spirit.